Have a great time in Sharjah
Hello to all travelers! We chose a tour to the UAE quite carefully: we read reviews, looked at the location of the hotel, the infrastructure around on GOOGLE. There were four of us: 2 adults, 1 "child" 22 years old and the second 10 years old. We went not so much to swim as to look at the country. We considered hotels in Dubai and Sharjah (as it is near Dubai), beach and city hotels. As a result, we bought a tour from the tour operator PEGAS Touristik to the Tulip inn Sharjah 4 * hotel for the May holidays of 2013. Of all the proposed ones, he suited both the price and the location (not far from the city center and 10 meters across the road from the MEGAMOLL supermarket). Since we decided to devote more time to excursions, we ordered a tour with breakfast (absolutely the right decision: it allows you to be mobile in terms of spending time and choosing where and how to eat). We had a great rest, we arrived full of impressions. BUT. . .
Hotel: although it positions itself as a 4 * hotel, it was like this in the year of construction. After that, only cosmetic repairs were made, the furniture was solid, but old and shabby. The studio room is well equipped (microwave, refrigerator, kettle, TV, hair dryer, safe, air conditioning, cutlery) and everything worked. Toiletries were present and replenished daily, bathrobes. Towels were changed and cleaned in the room daily, the bed was changed 3 times in 7 nights.
Meals at the hotel: breakfast was a buffet. Quite decent (three types of cheeses, fresh vegetables and fruits, 4 types of side dishes, fried and boiled eggs, local bean dishes, yogurts, tea, coffee, cold and boiled milk, toast, butter). But the meat was only 3 times, and so only sausages (well, at least tasty). In general, they are satisfied with the food, even the youngest child, who is very picky about food, did not go hungry. Everything is clean, the dishes are snow-white, our empty plates are immediately taken away. In a word, there are NO complaints about the restaurant. We dined in different places in Sharjah and Dubai, but once we dined at the hotel restaurant and in the end we liked it the most (buffet, variety of dishes and inexpensive - 55 dirhams per person).
Service: normal. Suitcases are brought in, taxis are called, various requests (iron, ironing board) are fulfilled instantly, they smile. Were satisfied with the staff.
Tour operator PEGAS: transfer, information, support, bus delivery for excursions on time, guides Osman and Gulnas are excellent - travel time passes unnoticed. We took three excursions from PEGASA: a desert safari on off-road vehicles with dinner and a concert program is great!! ! Visiting Sheikh Zayed MOSQUE in Abu Dhabi and Emirates Palace - great!!!
A trip to the Indian Ocean with swimming and fishing (Musandam sea cruise) - DIVORCE of clean water!! ! ($100 per person for taking out to a dirty bay with muddy water and imitation fishing is too much). The negative was compensated by the contemplation of trading at the local fish market.
We climbed the Burj Khalifa on our own (tickets were bought two weeks in advance via the Internet at 18.00 to see the sunset and the fountain in the dark from above). Visiting Palma and hotel ATLANTIS, riding on the elevated monorail was pleasant. Al MAMZAR park area and view wheel at Al Kazba SHARJAH. Dubai MALL is beautiful, other malls are interesting, but no more (the original equipment is more expensive than in Ukraine, branded items are not cheaper, but what is cheap is India and China). We didn’t sit at home, on the beach only in the morning (it’s really possible to get burned in 15 minutes in the midday sun). Therefore, we rode the subway and taxi to "I can't" (if you are 4 people, then traveling by taxi costs the same as the subway, but much more convenient).
A bit of negativity about local taxi drivers: BE AWARE!! ! Three times they tried to clearly deceive us with a change (always have small denomination banknotes for trips). One played a whole show: instead of 90 dirhams change from a banknote of 100 dirhams, he tried to put in bills folded in half in the amount of 45 dirhams. Five times he allegedly gave out the remaining amount in small amounts, but when recalculated, it turned out that again it was not enough to reach the coveted number 90. Everyone was spoiled with tips (since they traveled a lot, they left a maximum of 2 dirhams). 7 days is not enough. Will have to come again.
