The hotel was designed by Ernest Jaspar as part of the larger Heliopolis project being done by Édouard Empain.

During the First World War, the Heliopolis Palace Hotel was transformed into a military hospital for Australian troops.

"[6] It made use of ambulances and had beds and tents lined up for miles along the road, making it able to treat thousands of Commonwealth troops at a time.

In the 1980s, after extensive renovation and restoration efforts, the building became an Egyptian presidential palace and the headquarters of the administration of the new president, Hosni Mubarak.

It was built by the contracting firms Leon Rolin & Co. and Padova, Dentamaro & Ferro, the two largest civil contractors in Egypt then.

The Central Hall's dome, awe inspiring to guests, measured 55 metres (180 ft) from floor to ceiling.

The 589 square metres (6,340 sq ft) hall's architectural interior was designed by Alexander Marcel of the French Institute, and decorated by Georges-Louis Claude.