In a time when airbnb usage in Egypt is steadily rising and other similar platforms like Book2Trip are emerging, the cult of online-holiday-booking is certainly is on the verge of becoming part-and-parcel of our out-of-city adventuring.

The newest kid on this still rather under-serviced block comes in the form of 3al Ba7r - a self-proclaimed 'community driven hospitality company', aka a website that lets you rent out holiday homes across Egypt's coastal hot-spots.

Feeding off of the perceived lack of options and the nightmare that is 'finding out that everything is booked and not having a plan b', 3al Ba7r's M.O. is to take the hassle of this particular element, by offering rental options in everywhere from Sahel, Gouna and Sokhna, to Marsa Allam, Siwa, Fayoum, Nuweiba and Aswan.

Like its peers, 3al Ba7r gives you a range of different options in terms of honing down exactly what you're looking for, letting you filter through rental price, number of guests and size, but also amenities, facilities and house rules.

With 250 holiday homes and 60 camps and lodges already listed on the beta version of the site, 3al Ba7r is said to be aiming to have 2000 homes and 300 camps within the next six months.

The site will also, of course, give property owners and easy way to showcase their holiday homes and there will be plenty of takers in that sense. But one of the more interesting features of 3al Ba7r is the recruitment of ambassadors Galal Zekri-Chatila and Nour El Din, who, along with imparting their their acute knowledge of travel in Egypt, have also been on a mission to liaise with property owners - which could open up even more options in some of the country's more off-the-beaten-track locations.

This touches on one of 3al Ba7r's pillars - to help encourage local travel by making it as easy as possible for holidaymakers. Check it all out for yourself here.
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By Kalam El Qahaira