Отличный отдых Great stay

Rested with my husband at the Zahabia Village & Beach Resort in Hurghada (Egypt) from 04 to 13 May 2010. Tour operator - Tez-tour. Departure was from Moscow (Vnukovo airport) at 12:30, Atlant-Soyuz airline, departed without flight delay. The Boeing-737 plane, all the way they were afraid that its wings would fall off (so he waved them), but nothing, they flew normally. There was no hot meals (stewardesses said that Atlant-Soyuz had been flying for eight months without hot meals). At the airport in Hurghada, a visa was bought from Tez-tour for $17, but it could be bought for $15 right here in an Egyptian bank, but you would still have to stand in line with the tour operator to check in on arrival. We went through passport control quickly, got our luggage, then met with guides and saw off to the buses. In short, at 17:00 (local time) we were already sitting in an air-conditioned bus. Our bus took tourists to four hotels, we were brought third, it took about 30 minutes for the whole journey. The hotel filled out immigration cards, took our passports (which were returned the next morning) and immediately escorted to room 1003. The room on the first floor, separate entrance from the terrace. We did not pay anything extra for accommodation, everything suited us. In the room: a large double bed, two bedside tables, a large wardrobe, a dressing table with a large mirror, a clothes dryer, a TV (showing the first Russian channel), a refrigerator, air conditioning, a telephone, a shower, a washbasin, a toilet - everything worked, except for the safe. (there is in the closet, but does not work), used the safe at the reception for free. The decor in all rooms is the same, the only difference in the 5th building is the furniture is more modern. There were no insects in the room, sometimes a few mosquitoes flew in (and our "raptor" does not really affect them). They cleaned the room normally, changed the towel, once they left $ 1 on the bed, they made swans out of towels for us, but after that the cleaners relaxed and began to clean worse (the last 2 days they didn’t clean at all). Meals we had half board (breakfast and dinner) buffet. At first we ate in a separate restaurant, there were no queues at all. The food is the same every day (rice, pasta, potatoes, salads, fish, chicken, maso-beef, sausage, sausages, mashed soups, cakes, buns, mousses, jellies, jams, tea, coffee, milk, yuppie-type juices) , boiled eggs, scrambled eggs, scrambled eggs, cereals, butter, cheese, cheese, there were pancakes several times, oranges, guava and dates were given from fruits). Half board includes unlimited non-alcoholic drinks for breakfast, but drinks for dinner are at an additional cost. We did not take drinks in the evening, we drank juices and ate fruits that we bought in the city. On May 7, we were transferred to eat at the main restaurant in the 5th building. There were never queues for breakfast, and once they came to dinner at 19:15, there was a long queue, then they began to go later (about 20 hours), there were already fewer people, there were always enough tables and appliances. The waiters clean everything up quickly. Almost all the staff at the hotel speaks Russian, everyone is smiling. You can’t take food out of the restaurant, but many times we have observed that tourists come with large bags and take various food with them, pour drinks into bottles. But we had enough and so, you definitely won’t stay hungry. And at the expense of food - food in Egypt is monotonous everywhere, we went on excursions and ate in restaurants of 4 and 5 stars, so there is the same thing + french fries. The hotel area is not very large, but clean, comfortable, lots of greenery, everything is in bloom. There is a swimming pool, but we never swam in it, because the water temperature in the sea was +26. There are shops on the territory of the hotel (products, souvenir, with aromatic oils, with disks, etc. ). Water was bought here - 6 liters costs 5 pounds. The hotel hosts an entertainment program every evening at 21:00 in a separate building across the road (Zahabiya tent). Every day a different program: belly dance, Mr. Zahabiya, Miss Zahabiya, Nubian show, Egyptian show, original show, disco after the show, but for some reason people don’t stay for it. The hotel has two beaches (sand and coral). Walk to the sea for 10 minutes (if at a leisurely pace). Towels are provided free of charge both on the beach and by the pool. The sea on the sandy beach is shallow, gently sloping (low tide in the morning, high tide in the evening), you can reach the coral reefs by sea. Coral beach a little further away (300 meters), there are also sun loungers and umbrellas. But here the entrance to the sea is by stairs immediately to the depth. Here you can swim with masks, very beautiful fish swim up, you can see them right from the shore (yellow, blue, green, black, striped, needle fish, we saw a stingray once). If you don’t touch the fish with your hands, then they won’t touch you either, but it’s so cool to swim with them, such an adrenaline rush. Only it’s better not to climb there barefoot, otherwise on the very first day I pierced my heel there with some shells with spikes. The heel instantly became numb, blood began to flow, but on the beach they gave me first aid (they smeared it with hot vegetable oil), and the spikes remained in the heel (they still have not all resolved). After that, we immediately bought special slippers for swimming. Money was changed at a nearby hotel across the street (Sunny Days), the exchange rate is almost the same everywhere, we changed $ 1 for 5.54 pounds, in the city they changed it for 5.59 pounds. The hotel is located between the old city (Dahar) and the new city (Sakalla). We went to Dahar on foot, but there was nothing to do there, terrible dirt all around: Arab quarters, confusing streets, there are almost no hotels, there are few tourists, but we found a bazaar (food, souvenirs), you can buy a little cheaper than in Sakalla, but you have to bargain. It is better for girls and women not to go there, especially alone. We went to Sakalla once on foot (but it's far), then we went by minibus 1 pound per person, by taxi $ 2. In minibuses, give money without change, and with taxi drivers you need to negotiate the cost in advance, bargain with them, then they always agree to your price. There is one central street in Sakalla, where all hotels, shops, restaurants, cafes have duty-free. But alcoholic drinks in duty free can be bought only within 2 days from the moment of arrival and only with a passport, we were not sold vodka on the 5th day. In souvenir shops they sell everything the same, but the prices are different, you have to bargain. T-shirts (100% cotton) can be bought for $3, they bought summer shoes for my husband for $10 (they asked for $30 at first). Arafats (cotton) cost $3, synthetics can be bought for $1. You can buy high-quality jeans, we didn’t look at leather goods, but in the store the average price for jackets is $100. There are shops "Karkusha" 100% cotton, they sell blankets, towels, T-shirts and other clothes. There is the Abu Ashara Market, an inexpensive fixed-price store. They bought juices for 6-7 pounds, very tasty (like freshly squeezed). Fruits were also bought in Sakalla: strawberries for 7 pounds, peaches, nectarines for 8 pounds, melons for 5 pounds, apricots and grapes were out of season, so they cost 15 pounds each, very ripe, juicy mango - 45 pounds. Excursions (Cairo, El Gouna, Motto safari (afternoon), Jungle Park water park) were ordered from the tour operator immediately at the first meeting with the guide at the hotel. We were given discounts from each excursion for $ 5 and it turned out for two instead of $ 440 they paid $ 390. On the organization of excursions at the Tez-tour, everything is clearly worked out, they arrive exactly at the appointed time. It’s bad that they don’t have a transfer to the water park, you have to go by taxi yourself, but there are several hotels in Hurghada with the name Albatross, and we were first brought to another hotel, then we had to walk about 3 kilometers to the desired hotel. Other than that, all tours are great. . The return flight from Hurghada was supposed to be at 16:25, but only at the airport they found out that we had changed the airline from Atlant-Soyuz to Fly and flew out only at 18:20. As a result, they arrived in Moscow at 23:40. The plane was already a Boeing 757. We were fed hot meals. In general, the holiday was a success. The hotel justifies its 3+ stars, excellent value for money.