We stayed at this hotel from 26/10/09-05/11/09.
The weather at this time of year is perfect, with beautiful sunny days which are not to hot, with a nice breexe to keep you cool.
The hotel check in was quick and we were given large inter connecting rooms 5301 + 5302. The only issue we had with the rooms was the fact they were on the 3rd floor and there is no lift. We were travelling with an 18 month old and the carrying of a pram, plus 18month old was a bit of a pain. The 2nd digit in your room number indicates the floor number so if you have any mobility issues its worth addressing this with reception when you are allocated a room.
The room were clean and large with 5302 having a large super king size bed, with a cot and 5301 having two single beds and a put up bed for the rest of our party. Both rooms had a colour tv with airconditioning and the TV had plenty of choice of channels.
For the first four days we were not left any water in our room, but this did change on day 5...maybe the maid sensed that a bigger tip would be left when we checked out!
The buffet in the main restaurant offered plenty of choice, the food for breakfast was good, luch I cant comment on as we never ate there, and evening meal was good. The only issue was service. This ruined the whole experience from having too wait for a knife and fork, to getting a drink. There are plenty of staff, but the way they are deployed needs to be addressed...to many tanding around looking for an opportunity to sell a trip, but actually not doing very much, and not enough clearing tables and serving drinks. As we suggested in our party those standing round trying to sell trips would be better utilised serving drinks and trying to sell at the same time, because they do nothing at the moment.
The high chairs were of a good standard, our 18 month old was never unwell. We did take our own antibacterial wipes to wipe down the table beforehand, to ensure it was clean, but they did appear to be fairly clean.
The Indian restaurant, we ate in once. There is a minimum spend of 100 egyptian £ per adult, the children were given Chicken and chips. The food and service was good, but I must warn that one of our party could not eat the vindaloo as this was too hot, to spicey! But taste is subjective. Would give this a 7/10 rating
We ate in the grill and to be honest this was a bit of a let down. (the grill is the pool snack bar at night). This serverd skewerd sea bass, chicken, lamb and squid which was bbq. The fish was the best, but the whole meal was nothing speacial. Give this a 5/10 rating.
For lunch we would eat in the pool snack bar, which serverd sald, chips, pizza, and kebabs and crepes. This was great as it was enough choice to tide you over til the evening meal.
The italian, I would highly recomend. There is no additional charge for the italian and too me the food was of a better standard to the indian. You are given choice of greek salad (?) or tomato and cheese salad, followed by soup, then lamb chops, and then desert. The was a singerr who played guitar whilst you ate, and the service was great. Would give this a 8/10 rating.
The romantic tent. This is a tent which is on the cliff edge overlooking the sea and the beach. We ate here once. I can not rate this higly enough. The food costs a minimum 300 egyptian £ per couple. The setting is amazing, as this is for you and your loved one only.It is a private dinning experince so you must book in advance. You have your own waiter for the evening and this ensures that the service is fantastic. The food was brilliant, to say there was too much is an understatement, the table was completly covered with the differrent salad starters, which by themselves would have been enough for any meal, but they are followed by soup, then a large mixed grill, then a large desert, with lots of carved fruit. To me this was the highlight of the week and if the opportunity presents itself you must take advantage. 10/10 rating. It was so good I was worried that I had signed for $300 or even £300 until check out!
The hotel pools are large and clean. They are still replacing the green felt with tiles, but they are on the final 1/5th so I would expect them to be finished in the next week or so. There are plenty of sun beds round the pool, the beach is a little harder to get a bed, as these tend to go first.
The hotel has one large slide and we had a day of trying to beat each others times using a stopwatch....8.2 secs is the record held by me. If anyone beats it let me know! Just a word of warning though, check the slide is empty yourself as on one occassion I hit a Russian who was going very slow down the slide after being told it was clear by the attendent!
The house reef is good, with a jetty to get across the coral. The flag was yellow the whole time we were there, but there was lots to sea, we even managed to see a lion fish!
The entertainment in the evening is very poor, we were in a group of 9 so didn't realyy bother us, but the shows are not up to much. Kids disco is pointless and only lasted 15 minutes!
Tummy upsets....I was ok, but 3 adults out of six did have a bad tummy at some point on the trip. We did use all preacations, like anti bacterial gel etc, the children were never unwell and we had kids of 8,4 and 18months, so maybe it is drink related?
There is nothing outide of the hotel in walking distance...so long as you are aware of this and are happy with pool+beach holidays, then this will be good for you!
Would we go again......YES! Loved it!
