Your rating of this hotel:
7.0
from 10
Hotel ratings by criteria:
Rooms:
7.0
Service:
7.0
Cleanliness:
8.0
Food:
8.0
Amenities:
7.0
general information
The city of Hurghada is a former fishing village, and now a tourist-oriented city, stretching for several tens of kilometers along the Red Sea coast. This area is actually a desert, because trees, shrubs and grasses with flowers in hotels and on the streets are all planted by people. The population of the city is 16.000 people, about 80.000 more annually come to work, and in addition, almost 200.000 tourists visit Hurghada every year. The national currency is the pound (LE, where L is the international designation of the pound, E is the Egyptian one). 1 pound is equal to 100 piastres, ~5.4 Russian rubles, ~5.7 US dollars. At the hotel reception, the dollar can be changed at “their” rate, for example, 4 pounds per dollar. But often, in hotels and in the city, there are normal exchangers, although they work from 9 to 12 in the morning and from 18 to 21 in the evening. Coins in circulation are 25.50 piastres and 1 pound. Banknotes - 1.5, 10.20, 50.100 and 200 pounds.
In Egypt, there is a tourist police, whose tasks include solving questions and problems that have arisen among tourists. All sorts of merchants, taxi drivers and other local people are very afraid of the tourist police and the police in general, so you can scare someone with a call to these authorities.
Hotel
"Triton Empire Beach Resort" (or as foreigners call it - Triton EB) is part of a group of hotels managed by the Belgian company "The Three Corners Company". In addition to Triton EB, the single hotel system includes Triton Empire Hotel (or simply Empire), Triton Empire Inn and Sunny Beach Resort, which provides certain amenities for vacationers. I want to note right away that this hotel does not impress with luxury and decoration, it is aimed at the average European tourist who is not very used to overpaying. By the standards of Hurghada, this is a hotel of average respectability, and is perfect for those tourists who are determined to just relax on the sea, enjoy the sun, sea and serenity.
There is no water park, noisy disco clubs and other objects of unbridled entertainment.
Triton EB is located in the old city, called Dahar (Al Dahar), on the first line from the sea. Actually, this is a whole hotel complex with its own small beach. Approaching the reception building from the street, my wife and I were a little discouraged: a small one-story building, a policeman and a couple of Arabs at the entrance, equipped with a metal detector. Inside the reception was also small, even modest. We were brought to the hotel at 6 in the morning, and check-in was at 12. So we handed over our things to a "type" storage room - just a little room, locked with a key, and went to explore the resting place. We went out onto the territory of the hotel, and were immediately pleasantly surprised - a fairly large area, palm trees, grass, flowers, swimming pools, play areas, shops, a bar, a restaurant, a terrace, they say, the beach and the sea, finally.
To the left and to the right of the reception there are rooms, those on the first floor - with their own small terrace, on which there is a table and a couple of chairs. Each room on the second floor has its own balcony. Each has a toilet with shower, air conditioning, refrigerator, TV and telephone.
When we moved in, we were given room 80, this is one of the few rooms WITHOUT A WINDOW! ! ! More precisely, the window is built into the door there . The calculation, apparently, was for an “additional reward” if we didn’t like the room, but by this time we were 38 hours without sleep, exhausted by expectations, flights and formalities, hungry, so we just threw our things, changed clothes and ran away to have dinner and to the beach. Looking ahead, I’ll say that you can live without a window, with an open window or not - it’s still hot; besides, the rooms on the right side are in the sun all day, the windows have to be curtained, so…
At the reception, when you check in, if you have All Inclusive / All inclusive (AI), they put a red bracelet on your hand, according to which the hotel staff will find out what you can and cannot. The bracelet must be worn until the last day of your stay and try not to lose it. Owners of red bracelets need to remember that AI ends at 23:00, and then everything and for everyone is paid. Also, a plastic card is issued on a towel (towel card), which is returned upon departure from the hotel. Loss of a card or towel - a fine of 10 euros! And yet, I'm not sure exactly, but next to the towels, on the right, you can take fins with a mask for free.
Each guest with AI has the right to use an individual safe box at the reception for free, which is a wooden cabinet with compartments that can be locked with a key. Therefore, it is better not to take especially valuable things with you.
There are a couple of shops on the territory of the hotel, as well as to the left of the exit from it, where you can buy a mask with a snorkel, flippers, cigarettes. Traders on the territory of the hotel try not to deceive much, because they have nowhere to run from an angry buyer, they don’t need a scandal either, they can easily be driven out of the territory. But more about the features of trade in Hurghada - below.
Nutrition
Meals according to the "Swedish table" system. Not to say that varied, but quite acceptable. Some selection of sweets and pastries, fruits - grapefruits, grapes, dates, sometimes finely chopped melon. Local drinks - tea, sprite, fanta, cola, beer, vodka, rum, gin, whiskey - free for AI. Coffee is also free, but it's such coffee that I didn't drink it for free. Juices, those that are free, are a mixture of water and powder of the appropriate taste and color, yuppies, in short.
In addition, there is a heating element in the restaurant and on the terrace, where you can pour normal drinking water. Everything else - freshly squeezed juices, brewed coffee, Stella bottled beer, etc. - is paid, even for AI. Breakfast (07:00 - 10:00), lunch (12:00 - 15:00) and dinner (19:00 - 22:00). In addition, there is something like an afternoon snack, from 15:00 on the terrace, first they make hamburgers and pizza for AI, and then you can have a snack with pastries. In addition to Triton EB guests, tourists from Empire come for lunch because their restaurant is closed for lunch. The hotel is big and there are a lot of people. By the way, it was in Empire that we went to have dinner. The assortment is richer there, sometimes chicken and lamb dishes are served. There's also a "like" Italian restaurant "Dolce vita" in Empire, where the AIs have a £.30 discount on food and £.15 on drinks. By the way, the pizza there is so-so, and the service is a meager C grade.
A little about drinks. Draft beer is often scolded in hotels in Egypt.
You need to understand that the hotel administration does not want the vacationer to get drunk on the beach in the heat and damage his health. Draft beer is served there exclusively as a refreshing drink, and in this capacity, "Sahara Lager" is very good, especially since its strength is not higher than 3.5%. Also, I noticed that the staff, seeing that the tourist "went through", try not to pour him more under any pretext. Tourists often order rum and cola, gin and tonic there, but in general, you can ask the bartender to make some kind of cocktail. And he won't refuse. And in the courtyard of the Empire, there is generally a large selection of cocktails (Biverages), as indicated by a small cardboard advertisement on the bar counter.
Tourists with AI have the right to receive a daily bottle of drinking water 1.5 liters per person at the bar for free. It is extremely undesirable to drink water from the tap, because it is desalinated sea water, it can be washed, washed, but no more.
Staff
To start, a little background. The standard of living in Egypt is low.
There are, of course, people with incomes of different levels, but the average Egyptian working in a hotel is a married man from out of town, aged 20-30, with 3-5 grades of education (well, parents don’t have money to teach their child all 11 classes), often from the village, but there are also from other cities, like Luxor. Exactly the same contingent trades on the streets of the city. Low-ranking hotel workers, like room cleaners, earn only 250 pounds (1350 rubles! ! ! ) a month, their main source of income is tips, so they try to work well, decorate beds with artwork from towels and flower petals. They work in hotels on a rotational basis - from one month to six months, and then go home, on leave. As if the sea is walking.
Also, low-paid employees - beach workers who carry sunbeds, mattresses and give out towels, and clean sand with rakes, technical staff who water the vegetation, process the territory from various unwanted animals. , of different ranks, and managers - restaurant managers, the administrator and his assistants at the reception, who actually stand behind the reception desk, help tourists with luggage and, in general, solve various minor issues. All of these people will be happy to receive a small raise from you, and many of them well deserve it. But it’s not necessary to unfasten $ 5 to the beach worker for bringing a mattress, to the manager from the reception for bringing you luggage, or to the bartender for pouring you whiskey, which is already free for you.
The fact is that you are unlikely to want to give them a few dollars constantly, and without this they will quickly lose their desire to do their job for you. Therefore, giving a hotel worker 1-2 pounds is quite enough. Foreigners, most often, do not give more than one euro or dollar. As already mentioned, people from the villages work in hotels, for them tourists are a curiosity, good-natured fools with money (this is not only my opinion, but our local Arab guide). So, do not leave in the room, on the beach, and generally do not forget more or less valuable things. They will not steal them, no, the Koran is strict in this sense. They may well decide that it was left for them. Although, most often they are afraid to lose their place, therefore, rarely when something disappears.
Of particular note are the hotel staff who came to work from other countries. I saw Russian girls, and English and German women. Here they are - special thanks for the fact that they will never be left unattended.
They will always help with advice, explain everything, show and tell. By the way, they work there for the same salary as the locals. That is, they live mainly on tips, and they probably have more success in this. A Russian girl also works at Triton EB, and either a German or an Englishwoman works at Empire. In addition, a representative of the travel agency that sold you the ticket visits Triton EB and Empire every day, so you can get some necessary information from them.
So, in both Triton EB and Empire, the staff is very friendly, calm and nice. Well, sometimes you come across slightly cheeky bartenders who consider it necessary to express their opinion about your order, or in general, either jokingly or not, declare that you have had enough already. In Triton EB it was even like this: me, a couple of Scandinavians and a German at the counter. There is no bartender. Ask the waiter to call him. He comes and says - we are already closed, 9 pm, go to the Oasis (this is a disco bar next to the reception). And leaves.
I follow him and see that he and half a dozen other waiters are sitting watching football on TV in a pub. I turn around and go to the restaurant manager. I ask you, what's the matter? He goes to the pub, screams are immediately heard from there, and a minute later the bar is already working, as it should be. Waiters allow themselves to omit inappropriate jokes (for example, wishing them good morning in the evening), or release equally inappropriate compliments. At the reception, in general, there are some self-satisfied rednecks, such as Mr. Ali, a plump Arab of small stature, with some kind of plastic smile, who loves to pretend not to notice you, and is generally very busy. Constantly looking for something on the computer and grabs the phone. And in general, the Egyptians understand everything when they need it, and they don’t understand anything when they don’t want to, and this fully applies to reception workers.
On the second day of our stay, we found that we had a broken tap and shower, reported to the reception, and Mr. Ali, who worked that day, stubbornly did not want to understand me either in Russian or in English, until our guide from the travel agency approached. The plumber appeared only after a couple of days (!!! ), fiddled around for a long time, left either for washers or for a key, disappearing either for 5 or 20 minutes. Deciding that he was waiting for an advance tip, I took the adjustable wrench from him and tightened everything myself and sent him out. A couple of minutes later, the cleaner came, and, wiping the floor, said that the plumber was from the village, in fact, he was not a plumber at all, but simply positioned himself that way. But in fact, his job is to water the bushes and grass. When this plumber is assigned to work in the rooms, he is accompanied by a janitor, for he has the keys to all the rooms. And then, if after the work of the plumber there were complaints, the cleaner also falls, they say, why didn’t he check it?
In addition, local employees constantly walk along the beach and offer either a massage, or attend a party at the Oasis, or something else. Oddly enough, here they were very polite and friendly. Animators in Triton EB are working fine, another thing is that the animation program in the hotel is weak. Hydroshaping classes, belly dancing, something else, from sports activities - table tennis, darts, water polo and volleyball are offered. The time of certain events can be found on the stand between the beach and the pools. By the way, I went to volleyball all the time, and that's what I want to note. The Arab animator constantly strives to play in a team, although in theory he should follow the game and announce the score, he also loves all sorts of jokes, but on the other hand, he often left us the ball, even if the volleyball hours were over, and generally noticeably enlivened the situation and the game in particular .
Beach
A small beach, 100 meters wide, the hotel is limited to the left and right by piers, and the right one belongs to the neighboring hotel. There are many sun loungers, they stand both on the sand itself, and on the pier, and around the pool. But there are still more people who want to use them. The sunbeds, of course, are not new, they are wooden, some of them have adjustable headrests. Mattresses for sun loungers are taken in the same place as towels, they, of course, are also not new, some foam rubber tends to the outside, others are stained with something, but in general it will do. On the beach and the pier there are mushrooms with an arched screen that can be turned as convenient. The sand resembles a quarry, large fraction, and there are a lot of pebbles in it. The bottom is mostly clean, in places there are large stones and pieces of reef, along the right pier there are especially many of them, by the way, there are also many beautiful fish and sea urchins. The depth near the coast is one and a half meters, further - 4-5 meters. The water is clean. Transparent and very salty, and therefore it is extremely easy to stay afloat.
The “spare parts” necessary for this are sold in the old town, 15 minutes walk from the hotel, opposite the Mitry Market store, or rather, across the road. And also, between Dahar and Sekalla, there is an area called Marina, it is full of fishing shops. It is better to catch on all sorts of mormyshki and rubber baits or pieces of fish, cheese. Bread and dough are swept away instantly. But for those who take fishing more seriously, there is a “Dive Center” on the beach on the right, where you can arrange for a fee to go fishing on a boat in the open sea. Here, of course, you can arrange diving. They also have an instructor. And scuba gear and everything you need. Of course, this is a paid service.
Most importantly, swimming in the sea after sunset is highly discouraged. The fact is that with the onset of darkness, life in the sea is just beginning, and all sorts of different marine inhabitants go hunting ...
City life
In Dahar, life is in full swing on the shopping streets, you can walk there in 15 minutes.
Trade goes, basically, with any consumer goods, often made in China (even souvenirs in the form of pyramids, sphinxes, magnets with Egyptian paraphernalia are made in China). There are many shops selling clothes, shoes, masks, fins, copper products, various spices, oils, perfumes, papyri, hookahs, souvenirs, etc. Various teahouses are squeezed between the shops, where mostly locals drink exclusively tea or smoke hookah; all sorts of establishments where they cook food for local traders and taxi drivers; they sell coffee beans, they immediately grind it, mix it with various spices, such as cardamom, and sell it again; hardware stores, moped and bicycle repair shops, stalls selling mobile phones, as well as small outlets proudly called the super market. Trade goes along busy streets, it is worth turning into the gateway - there is complete devastation, darkness and dirt.
There is a lot of garbage on the streets of the old city, in the new city it is cleaner, this is due to the fact that the authorities have installed few garbage bins, and also to the fact that local Arabs are not very worried about garbage.
At many busy intersections and roads, police officers with pistols and even machine guns are on duty. Do not think that this is due to the high level of crime, it is not at all the case. People with weapons on the streets of Hurghada solely to maintain order.
Every second, taxis pass by, which attract attention to themselves through a horn, or they can even stop near you and honk yell until you pay attention to it. The noise, sometimes, is unimaginable, you get tired quickly.
Trade and its features.
The merchants are very annoying, pestering constantly, blocking the road and calling to their store “just to look”, shouting across the street, climbing with questions “where are you from? ”, “how are you”.
Surprisingly, they immediately recognize Russians in the crowd and begin to invite us in our language, using tricks like: “very low prices only today! ", " Let's go and see! ”, etc. There was also such a trick: you walk along the sidewalk, which is filled with all sorts of junk, from time to time you are forced to go onto the roadway and then the merchant starts shouting: “Beware of the car! ”, you bounce onto the sidewalk and find yourself already on the threshold of his store, he picks you up and drags you inside ...In short, their importunity knows no bounds, they constantly yell and beckon, in general, their annoyance is very, very strong In the new city, Sekalle, everything is the same only much more. In fact, there is the only center of city life there - a street with the powerful name "Sheraton Street" and several adjacent streets. This street is very long, noisy, but all the tourists rush here for shopping.
There are cafes, fish restaurants, cotton shops.
And now about the features of trade. Dear tourists! Of course, bargaining is accepted, yes ...But merchants, first of all, do not want to bargain with you, they want more money, even if this requires deceit and deceit. For us, their tricks are nothing but petty fraud, but for them it is work, they do not consider such tricks as anything criminal. So how do they fool our brother? The most common technique is to roll out the price of a product three to four times higher than it actually is. The most popular goods here are: jewelry, cosmetics, hookahs and tobacco for him, beach accessories. Let's look at some real examples.
Really good jewelry is not sold in all stores. A normal jeweler will not follow you down the street and drag you to him. He sits with dignity inside, and waits for the visitor.
You go in to see him, and you see - the store looks decent, the window is beautiful, the goods are like a selection, the owner has a normal business card and all that. And most importantly, to the question “How much? » He will not twist the brain, but simply weigh the product in front of you, calculate it on a calculator and tell you the price. Yes Yes! Jewelery is sold by the weight. Normal silverware costs $2-3 per gram. But unscrupulous merchants often have a decent-looking store outwardly, but they don’t immediately say the price. They promise that the price is normal, they insist on trying it on, they begin to seat you on the sofa and offer tea, in short, they try to lull your vigilance, to make you a little obliged for a warm welcome. As a result, they can roll out the price for silver at 7-10 dollars per gram. You can bargain a little and bring down to 3-4 dollars, but remember, for this money you can buy a real quality product in a decent store.
In addition, dishonest merchants pass off their goods as 925 sterling silver, moreover, this test is even applied to the product, but in fact it is the 700th test!
Move on. Cosmetics. Women often want to buy themselves Aloe Vera gel, essence perfume. Creams, oils. There are no real sellers for this item. Fool like that - first they say an inflated price. For example, for 200 grams of Aloe Vera gel, they ask for $ 85 or 2.5 pounds per gram. Many people, having bargained up to 50-60 dollars, are happy to leave with the goods. But in fact, this gel costs 1 (one) pound per gram. Thus, a 200 gram can can be bought for 40 bucks. Essences and perfumes are not worth buying at all, you put a couple of drops on your skin for testing, buy perfume, but a few minutes after you leave the store, there will be no trace of the smell. And if you decide to come back and quarrel, they won’t recognize you anymore . Well, you bought Aloe Vera for 40 bucks and came to the hotel satisfied.
Well, we decided to see how much this gel costs in a local shop? Well, everything seems to be fine. The same $40 for 200 grams. But upon closer examination, it suddenly turns out that your two-hundred-gram bottle turns out to be only 150 grams! Or another option - in the hotel store, this gel is much more saturated green than what you bought. Yes, gentlemen vacationers, in order to get their profit, merchants dilute their gels, essences and oils. Or slip you containers of a smaller volume. And one more feature with "Aloe Vera": on the window it stands in a large jar. You buy, for example, 200 grams. Suppose you are aware of how they cheat with these jars, and made sure in advance that the jar is exactly 200 grams. The gel is very thick. You can't just pour it from one container to another. The merchant boils a kettle and pours boiling water over a large jar of gel. The gel melts, becomes thinner and flows beautifully into your jar.
You pay and leave. After 20-30 minutes, when the gel in your jar cools down, it will slightly decrease in volume, and you will never get your 200 grams. Well, you say, let it be 198 grams, why waste time on trifles? Yes, the buyer in this case is not even offended, but the merchant has two or three dozen such buyers a day.
Well, with beach accessories and other goods, everything is simple - they take you to the store, treat you to tea or something else, make compliments and small presents, ask about where you came from, how you like it here, tell about yourself. The seller is flooded with how decent he is, and everyone around is deceivers, even tells how they can deceive. As a result, when you have already practically made friends, and proceed to the purchase itself, they tell you that the price is three times too high, but even if you feel a catch, it is somehow inconvenient to bargain. This is the calculation. Between Triton EB and Empire, there is an Arab shop that introduces itself as Thomas.
He sells all sorts of junk. On his doors there are cardboard boxes in different languages with slogans: “Cool store! Cool conversations! ”, etc. So, this Thomas is a scammer and a bastard;
A mask with a snorkel costs no more than 75 pounds, the most expensive bathing slippers - well, a maximum of 45 pounds!
Always insistently ask the price, no matter what the merchant offers and mumbles, insist on your own. The first price said out loud is 100% overpriced three times. Feel free to offer three times less. Feel free to bargain, if you're tired - feel free to leave, there are plenty of shops. And in general, it’s better to first go to 3-4 stores in search of the right product, take a closer look, in some places there are price tags on the product. You can bargain a little, but you don't have to buy.
And one more trick from local traders - fraud with money.
In general, gentlemen tourists, be careful. And patient.
Transport
There are many taxis in Hurghada. Tourists prefer to use them. But, before boarding, always negotiate the fare! Otherwise, you will have to pay as much as he says. When negotiating in advance, remember that the three of us to travel from the old city to the new one for more than $ 10 is already too much. Taxis are cheaper in the morning, more expensive in the evening. We took a taxi once, in the morning, from our hotel to Sheraton Street for 20 pounds.
And then we started using minibuses. Small minibuses, no dirtier than taxis, seats - 12-14, took us to the Sheraton for ...1 (one) pound per person. Yes exactly. But there is wisdom. The bus can be stopped anywhere. You need to agree on the passage right away, tell the driver: “Sheraton street, one pound! ". If you agree, feel free to sit down and go.
In short, minibuses can be used safely. In time, from Triton EB to Sheraton Street it takes about 10 minutes.
If you decide to cross the street, then at least at the crossing, at least in any other place - you will have to do this with caution. Just wait until the cars are far away or you can't see them at all, or join some Arab who is about to cross the street, and then go.
In a word, gentlemen tourists, be very careful and patient.
Phone and communication.
If you need to make a call, you can do it at the reception, 3 minutes of a conversation with any subscriber in Russia cost about $ 7 in Triton hotels, each next minute costs $ 2.
You can buy a local SIM card and a phone card for 10 or more pounds in the store. For ten pounds, you can talk for a minute. In general, it turns out that buying a SIM card and a phone card in Hurghada, which in advance - in Russia - is the same.
Among mobile operators, they also have Vodafone.
Well, you can buy a card for a payphone, it's the cheapest way to call, but not all payphones work.
In many cafes, hotels, on busy streets, there are small Internet rooms where you can surf the Internet for 6-10 pounds.
Finally, I wish you a successful holiday in Egypt, a lot of impressions, sun and good mood!
The city of Hurghada is a former fishing village, and now a tourist-oriented city, stretching for several tens of kilometers along the Red Sea coast. This area is actually a desert, because trees, shrubs and grasses with flowers in hotels and on the streets are all planted by people. The population of the city is 16.000 people, about 80.000 more annually come to work, and in addition, almost 200.000 tourists visit Hurghada every year. The national currency is the pound (LE, where L is the international designation of the pound, E is the Egyptian one). 1 pound is equal to 100 piastres, ~5.4 Russian rubles, ~5.7 US dollars. At the hotel reception, the dollar can be changed at “their” rate, for example, 4 pounds per dollar. But often, in hotels and in the city, there are normal exchangers, although they work from 9 to 12 in the morning and from 18 to 21 in the evening. Coins in circulation are 25.50 piastres and 1 pound. Banknotes - 1.5, 10.20, 50.100 and 200 pounds.
In Egypt, there is a tourist police, whose tasks include solving questions and problems that have arisen among tourists. All sorts of merchants, taxi drivers and other local people are very afraid of the tourist police and the police in general, so you can scare someone with a call to these authorities.
Hotel
"Triton Empire Beach Resort" (or as foreigners call it - Triton EB) is part of a group of hotels managed by the Belgian company "The Three Corners Company". In addition to Triton EB, the single hotel system includes Triton Empire Hotel (or simply Empire), Triton Empire Inn and Sunny Beach Resort, which provides certain amenities for vacationers. I want to note right away that this hotel does not impress with luxury and decoration, it is aimed at the average European tourist who is not very used to overpaying. By the standards of Hurghada, this is a hotel of average respectability, and is perfect for those tourists who are determined to just relax on the sea, enjoy the sun, sea and serenity.
There is no water park, noisy disco clubs and other objects of unbridled entertainment.
Triton EB is located in the old city, called Dahar (Al Dahar), on the first line from the sea. Actually, this is a whole hotel complex with its own small beach. Approaching the reception building from the street, my wife and I were a little discouraged: a small one-story building, a policeman and a couple of Arabs at the entrance, equipped with a metal detector. Inside the reception was also small, even modest. We were brought to the hotel at 6 in the morning, and check-in was at 12. So we handed over our things to a "type" storage room - just a little room, locked with a key, and went to explore the resting place. We went out onto the territory of the hotel, and were immediately pleasantly surprised - a fairly large area, palm trees, grass, flowers, swimming pools, play areas, shops, a bar, a restaurant, a terrace, they say, the beach and the sea, finally.
To the left and to the right of the reception there are rooms, those on the first floor - with their own small terrace, on which there is a table and a couple of chairs. Each room on the second floor has its own balcony. Each has a toilet with shower, air conditioning, refrigerator, TV and telephone.
When we moved in, we were given room 80, this is one of the few rooms WITHOUT A WINDOW! ! ! More precisely, the window is built into the door there . The calculation, apparently, was for an “additional reward” if we didn’t like the room, but by this time we were 38 hours without sleep, exhausted by expectations, flights and formalities, hungry, so we just threw our things, changed clothes and ran away to have dinner and to the beach. Looking ahead, I’ll say that you can live without a window, with an open window or not - it’s still hot; besides, the rooms on the right side are in the sun all day, the windows have to be curtained, so…
At the reception, when you check in, if you have All Inclusive / All inclusive (AI), they put a red bracelet on your hand, according to which the hotel staff will find out what you can and cannot. The bracelet must be worn until the last day of your stay and try not to lose it. Owners of red bracelets need to remember that AI ends at 23:00, and then everything and for everyone is paid. Also, a plastic card is issued on a towel (towel card), which is returned upon departure from the hotel. Loss of a card or towel - a fine of 10 euros! And yet, I'm not sure exactly, but next to the towels, on the right, you can take fins with a mask for free.
Each guest with AI has the right to use an individual safe box at the reception for free, which is a wooden cabinet with compartments that can be locked with a key. Therefore, it is better not to take especially valuable things with you.
There are a couple of shops on the territory of the hotel, as well as to the left of the exit from it, where you can buy a mask with a snorkel, flippers, cigarettes. Traders on the territory of the hotel try not to deceive much, because they have nowhere to run from an angry buyer, they don’t need a scandal either, they can easily be driven out of the territory. But more about the features of trade in Hurghada - below.
Nutrition
Meals according to the "Swedish table" system. Not to say that varied, but quite acceptable. Some selection of sweets and pastries, fruits - grapefruits, grapes, dates, sometimes finely chopped melon. Local drinks - tea, sprite, fanta, cola, beer, vodka, rum, gin, whiskey - free for AI. Coffee is also free, but it's such coffee that I didn't drink it for free. Juices, those that are free, are a mixture of water and powder of the appropriate taste and color, yuppies, in short.
In addition, there is a heating element in the restaurant and on the terrace, where you can pour normal drinking water. Everything else - freshly squeezed juices, brewed coffee, Stella bottled beer, etc. - is paid, even for AI. Breakfast (07:00 - 10:00), lunch (12:00 - 15:00) and dinner (19:00 - 22:00). In addition, there is something like an afternoon snack, from 15:00 on the terrace, first they make hamburgers and pizza for AI, and then you can have a snack with pastries. In addition to Triton EB guests, tourists from Empire come for lunch because their restaurant is closed for lunch. The hotel is big and there are a lot of people. By the way, it was in Empire that we went to have dinner. The assortment is richer there, sometimes chicken and lamb dishes are served. There's also a "like" Italian restaurant "Dolce vita" in Empire, where the AIs have a £.30 discount on food and £.15 on drinks. By the way, the pizza there is so-so, and the service is a meager C grade.
A little about drinks. Draft beer is often scolded in hotels in Egypt.
You need to understand that the hotel administration does not want the vacationer to get drunk on the beach in the heat and damage his health. Draft beer is served there exclusively as a refreshing drink, and in this capacity, "Sahara Lager" is very good, especially since its strength is not higher than 3.5%. Also, I noticed that the staff, seeing that the tourist "went through", try not to pour him more under any pretext. Tourists often order rum and cola, gin and tonic there, but in general, you can ask the bartender to make some kind of cocktail. And he won't refuse. And in the courtyard of the Empire, there is generally a large selection of cocktails (Biverages), as indicated by a small cardboard advertisement on the bar counter.
Tourists with AI have the right to receive a daily bottle of drinking water 1.5 liters per person at the bar for free. It is extremely undesirable to drink water from the tap, because it is desalinated sea water, it can be washed, washed, but no more.
Staff
To start, a little background. The standard of living in Egypt is low.
There are, of course, people with incomes of different levels, but the average Egyptian working in a hotel is a married man from out of town, aged 20-30, with 3-5 grades of education (well, parents don’t have money to teach their child all 11 classes), often from the village, but there are also from other cities, like Luxor. Exactly the same contingent trades on the streets of the city. Low-ranking hotel workers, like room cleaners, earn only 250 pounds (1350 rubles! ! ! ) a month, their main source of income is tips, so they try to work well, decorate beds with artwork from towels and flower petals. They work in hotels on a rotational basis - from one month to six months, and then go home, on leave. As if the sea is walking.
Also, low-paid employees - beach workers who carry sunbeds, mattresses and give out towels, and clean sand with rakes, technical staff who water the vegetation, process the territory from various unwanted animals. , of different ranks, and managers - restaurant managers, the administrator and his assistants at the reception, who actually stand behind the reception desk, help tourists with luggage and, in general, solve various minor issues. All of these people will be happy to receive a small raise from you, and many of them well deserve it. But it’s not necessary to unfasten $ 5 to the beach worker for bringing a mattress, to the manager from the reception for bringing you luggage, or to the bartender for pouring you whiskey, which is already free for you.
The fact is that you are unlikely to want to give them a few dollars constantly, and without this they will quickly lose their desire to do their job for you. Therefore, giving a hotel worker 1-2 pounds is quite enough. Foreigners, most often, do not give more than one euro or dollar. As already mentioned, people from the villages work in hotels, for them tourists are a curiosity, good-natured fools with money (this is not only my opinion, but our local Arab guide). So, do not leave in the room, on the beach, and generally do not forget more or less valuable things. They will not steal them, no, the Koran is strict in this sense. They may well decide that it was left for them. Although, most often they are afraid to lose their place, therefore, rarely when something disappears.
Of particular note are the hotel staff who came to work from other countries. I saw Russian girls, and English and German women. Here they are - special thanks for the fact that they will never be left unattended.
They will always help with advice, explain everything, show and tell. By the way, they work there for the same salary as the locals. That is, they live mainly on tips, and they probably have more success in this. A Russian girl also works at Triton EB, and either a German or an Englishwoman works at Empire. In addition, a representative of the travel agency that sold you the ticket visits Triton EB and Empire every day, so you can get some necessary information from them.
So, in both Triton EB and Empire, the staff is very friendly, calm and nice. Well, sometimes you come across slightly cheeky bartenders who consider it necessary to express their opinion about your order, or in general, either jokingly or not, declare that you have had enough already. In Triton EB it was even like this: me, a couple of Scandinavians and a German at the counter. There is no bartender. Ask the waiter to call him. He comes and says - we are already closed, 9 pm, go to the Oasis (this is a disco bar next to the reception). And leaves.
I follow him and see that he and half a dozen other waiters are sitting watching football on TV in a pub. I turn around and go to the restaurant manager. I ask you, what's the matter? He goes to the pub, screams are immediately heard from there, and a minute later the bar is already working, as it should be. Waiters allow themselves to omit inappropriate jokes (for example, wishing them good morning in the evening), or release equally inappropriate compliments. At the reception, in general, there are some self-satisfied rednecks, such as Mr. Ali, a plump Arab of small stature, with some kind of plastic smile, who loves to pretend not to notice you, and is generally very busy. Constantly looking for something on the computer and grabs the phone. And in general, the Egyptians understand everything when they need it, and they don’t understand anything when they don’t want to, and this fully applies to reception workers.
On the second day of our stay, we found that we had a broken tap and shower, reported to the reception, and Mr. Ali, who worked that day, stubbornly did not want to understand me either in Russian or in English, until our guide from the travel agency approached. The plumber appeared only after a couple of days (!!! ), fiddled around for a long time, left either for washers or for a key, disappearing either for 5 or 20 minutes. Deciding that he was waiting for an advance tip, I took the adjustable wrench from him and tightened everything myself and sent him out. A couple of minutes later, the cleaner came, and, wiping the floor, said that the plumber was from the village, in fact, he was not a plumber at all, but simply positioned himself that way. But in fact, his job is to water the bushes and grass. When this plumber is assigned to work in the rooms, he is accompanied by a janitor, for he has the keys to all the rooms. And then, if after the work of the plumber there were complaints, the cleaner also falls, they say, why didn’t he check it?
In addition, local employees constantly walk along the beach and offer either a massage, or attend a party at the Oasis, or something else. Oddly enough, here they were very polite and friendly. Animators in Triton EB are working fine, another thing is that the animation program in the hotel is weak. Hydroshaping classes, belly dancing, something else, from sports activities - table tennis, darts, water polo and volleyball are offered. The time of certain events can be found on the stand between the beach and the pools. By the way, I went to volleyball all the time, and that's what I want to note. The Arab animator constantly strives to play in a team, although in theory he should follow the game and announce the score, he also loves all sorts of jokes, but on the other hand, he often left us the ball, even if the volleyball hours were over, and generally noticeably enlivened the situation and the game in particular .
Beach
A small beach, 100 meters wide, the hotel is limited to the left and right by piers, and the right one belongs to the neighboring hotel. There are many sun loungers, they stand both on the sand itself, and on the pier, and around the pool. But there are still more people who want to use them. The sunbeds, of course, are not new, they are wooden, some of them have adjustable headrests. Mattresses for sun loungers are taken in the same place as towels, they, of course, are also not new, some foam rubber tends to the outside, others are stained with something, but in general it will do. On the beach and the pier there are mushrooms with an arched screen that can be turned as convenient. The sand resembles a quarry, large fraction, and there are a lot of pebbles in it. The bottom is mostly clean, in places there are large stones and pieces of reef, along the right pier there are especially many of them, by the way, there are also many beautiful fish and sea urchins. The depth near the coast is one and a half meters, further - 4-5 meters. The water is clean. Transparent and very salty, and therefore it is extremely easy to stay afloat.
The “spare parts” necessary for this are sold in the old town, 15 minutes walk from the hotel, opposite the Mitry Market store, or rather, across the road. And also, between Dahar and Sekalla, there is an area called Marina, it is full of fishing shops. It is better to catch on all sorts of mormyshki and rubber baits or pieces of fish, cheese. Bread and dough are swept away instantly. But for those who take fishing more seriously, there is a “Dive Center” on the beach on the right, where you can arrange for a fee to go fishing on a boat in the open sea. Here, of course, you can arrange diving. They also have an instructor. And scuba gear and everything you need. Of course, this is a paid service.
Most importantly, swimming in the sea after sunset is highly discouraged. The fact is that with the onset of darkness, life in the sea is just beginning, and all sorts of different marine inhabitants go hunting ...
City life
In Dahar, life is in full swing on the shopping streets, you can walk there in 15 minutes.
Trade goes, basically, with any consumer goods, often made in China (even souvenirs in the form of pyramids, sphinxes, magnets with Egyptian paraphernalia are made in China). There are many shops selling clothes, shoes, masks, fins, copper products, various spices, oils, perfumes, papyri, hookahs, souvenirs, etc. Various teahouses are squeezed between the shops, where mostly locals drink exclusively tea or smoke hookah; all sorts of establishments where they cook food for local traders and taxi drivers; they sell coffee beans, they immediately grind it, mix it with various spices, such as cardamom, and sell it again; hardware stores, moped and bicycle repair shops, stalls selling mobile phones, as well as small outlets proudly called the super market. Trade goes along busy streets, it is worth turning into the gateway - there is complete devastation, darkness and dirt.
There is a lot of garbage on the streets of the old city, in the new city it is cleaner, this is due to the fact that the authorities have installed few garbage bins, and also to the fact that local Arabs are not very worried about garbage.
At many busy intersections and roads, police officers with pistols and even machine guns are on duty. Do not think that this is due to the high level of crime, it is not at all the case. People with weapons on the streets of Hurghada solely to maintain order.
Every second, taxis pass by, which attract attention to themselves through a horn, or they can even stop near you and honk yell until you pay attention to it. The noise, sometimes, is unimaginable, you get tired quickly.
Trade and its features.
The merchants are very annoying, pestering constantly, blocking the road and calling to their store “just to look”, shouting across the street, climbing with questions “where are you from? ”, “how are you”.
Surprisingly, they immediately recognize Russians in the crowd and begin to invite us in our language, using tricks like: “very low prices only today! ", " Let's go and see! ”, etc. There was also such a trick: you walk along the sidewalk, which is filled with all sorts of junk, from time to time you are forced to go onto the roadway and then the merchant starts shouting: “Beware of the car! ”, you bounce onto the sidewalk and find yourself already on the threshold of his store, he picks you up and drags you inside ...In short, their importunity knows no bounds, they constantly yell and beckon, in general, their annoyance is very, very strong In the new city, Sekalle, everything is the same only much more. In fact, there is the only center of city life there - a street with the powerful name "Sheraton Street" and several adjacent streets. This street is very long, noisy, but all the tourists rush here for shopping.
There are cafes, fish restaurants, cotton shops.
And now about the features of trade. Dear tourists! Of course, bargaining is accepted, yes ...But merchants, first of all, do not want to bargain with you, they want more money, even if this requires deceit and deceit. For us, their tricks are nothing but petty fraud, but for them it is work, they do not consider such tricks as anything criminal. So how do they fool our brother? The most common technique is to roll out the price of a product three to four times higher than it actually is. The most popular goods here are: jewelry, cosmetics, hookahs and tobacco for him, beach accessories. Let's look at some real examples.
Really good jewelry is not sold in all stores. A normal jeweler will not follow you down the street and drag you to him. He sits with dignity inside, and waits for the visitor.
You go in to see him, and you see - the store looks decent, the window is beautiful, the goods are like a selection, the owner has a normal business card and all that. And most importantly, to the question “How much? » He will not twist the brain, but simply weigh the product in front of you, calculate it on a calculator and tell you the price. Yes Yes! Jewelery is sold by the weight. Normal silverware costs $2-3 per gram. But unscrupulous merchants often have a decent-looking store outwardly, but they don’t immediately say the price. They promise that the price is normal, they insist on trying it on, they begin to seat you on the sofa and offer tea, in short, they try to lull your vigilance, to make you a little obliged for a warm welcome. As a result, they can roll out the price for silver at 7-10 dollars per gram. You can bargain a little and bring down to 3-4 dollars, but remember, for this money you can buy a real quality product in a decent store.
In addition, dishonest merchants pass off their goods as 925 sterling silver, moreover, this test is even applied to the product, but in fact it is the 700th test!
Move on. Cosmetics. Women often want to buy themselves Aloe Vera gel, essence perfume. Creams, oils. There are no real sellers for this item. Fool like that - first they say an inflated price. For example, for 200 grams of Aloe Vera gel, they ask for $ 85 or 2.5 pounds per gram. Many people, having bargained up to 50-60 dollars, are happy to leave with the goods. But in fact, this gel costs 1 (one) pound per gram. Thus, a 200 gram can can be bought for 40 bucks. Essences and perfumes are not worth buying at all, you put a couple of drops on your skin for testing, buy perfume, but a few minutes after you leave the store, there will be no trace of the smell. And if you decide to come back and quarrel, they won’t recognize you anymore . Well, you bought Aloe Vera for 40 bucks and came to the hotel satisfied.
Well, we decided to see how much this gel costs in a local shop? Well, everything seems to be fine. The same $40 for 200 grams. But upon closer examination, it suddenly turns out that your two-hundred-gram bottle turns out to be only 150 grams! Or another option - in the hotel store, this gel is much more saturated green than what you bought. Yes, gentlemen vacationers, in order to get their profit, merchants dilute their gels, essences and oils. Or slip you containers of a smaller volume. And one more feature with "Aloe Vera": on the window it stands in a large jar. You buy, for example, 200 grams. Suppose you are aware of how they cheat with these jars, and made sure in advance that the jar is exactly 200 grams. The gel is very thick. You can't just pour it from one container to another. The merchant boils a kettle and pours boiling water over a large jar of gel. The gel melts, becomes thinner and flows beautifully into your jar.
You pay and leave. After 20-30 minutes, when the gel in your jar cools down, it will slightly decrease in volume, and you will never get your 200 grams. Well, you say, let it be 198 grams, why waste time on trifles? Yes, the buyer in this case is not even offended, but the merchant has two or three dozen such buyers a day.
Well, with beach accessories and other goods, everything is simple - they take you to the store, treat you to tea or something else, make compliments and small presents, ask about where you came from, how you like it here, tell about yourself. The seller is flooded with how decent he is, and everyone around is deceivers, even tells how they can deceive. As a result, when you have already practically made friends, and proceed to the purchase itself, they tell you that the price is three times too high, but even if you feel a catch, it is somehow inconvenient to bargain. This is the calculation. Between Triton EB and Empire, there is an Arab shop that introduces itself as Thomas.
He sells all sorts of junk. On his doors there are cardboard boxes in different languages with slogans: “Cool store! Cool conversations! ”, etc. So, this Thomas is a scammer and a bastard;
A mask with a snorkel costs no more than 75 pounds, the most expensive bathing slippers - well, a maximum of 45 pounds!
Always insistently ask the price, no matter what the merchant offers and mumbles, insist on your own. The first price said out loud is 100% overpriced three times. Feel free to offer three times less. Feel free to bargain, if you're tired - feel free to leave, there are plenty of shops. And in general, it’s better to first go to 3-4 stores in search of the right product, take a closer look, in some places there are price tags on the product. You can bargain a little, but you don't have to buy.
And one more trick from local traders - fraud with money.
In general, gentlemen tourists, be careful. And patient.
Transport
There are many taxis in Hurghada. Tourists prefer to use them. But, before boarding, always negotiate the fare! Otherwise, you will have to pay as much as he says. When negotiating in advance, remember that the three of us to travel from the old city to the new one for more than $ 10 is already too much. Taxis are cheaper in the morning, more expensive in the evening. We took a taxi once, in the morning, from our hotel to Sheraton Street for 20 pounds.
And then we started using minibuses. Small minibuses, no dirtier than taxis, seats - 12-14, took us to the Sheraton for ...1 (one) pound per person. Yes exactly. But there is wisdom. The bus can be stopped anywhere. You need to agree on the passage right away, tell the driver: “Sheraton street, one pound! ". If you agree, feel free to sit down and go.
In short, minibuses can be used safely. In time, from Triton EB to Sheraton Street it takes about 10 minutes.
If you decide to cross the street, then at least at the crossing, at least in any other place - you will have to do this with caution. Just wait until the cars are far away or you can't see them at all, or join some Arab who is about to cross the street, and then go.
In a word, gentlemen tourists, be very careful and patient.
Phone and communication.
If you need to make a call, you can do it at the reception, 3 minutes of a conversation with any subscriber in Russia cost about $ 7 in Triton hotels, each next minute costs $ 2.
You can buy a local SIM card and a phone card for 10 or more pounds in the store. For ten pounds, you can talk for a minute. In general, it turns out that buying a SIM card and a phone card in Hurghada, which in advance - in Russia - is the same.
Among mobile operators, they also have Vodafone.
Well, you can buy a card for a payphone, it's the cheapest way to call, but not all payphones work.
In many cafes, hotels, on busy streets, there are small Internet rooms where you can surf the Internet for 6-10 pounds.
Finally, I wish you a successful holiday in Egypt, a lot of impressions, sun and good mood!
Translated automatically from Russian. View original
Comments (2)
leave a comment
Show other comments …