Your rating of this hotel:
9.0
from 10
Hotel ratings by criteria:
Rooms:
5.0
Service:
10.0
Cleanliness:
6.0
Food:
10.0
Amenities:
10.0
When it’s cold outside, snowing and a snowstorm, it’s especially nice to break out into the warm sun for a couple of weeks and swim in the sea. But in autumn rains or spring frosts, it is also no less pleasant.
My wife and I have been doing just that for 15 years.
The simplest and most economical vacation in this situation is Egypt. And we generally like the Red Sea with its corals more than all other seas and oceans.
Our priorities in rest are: beach, food, service (service), accommodation, entertainment.
In April, we visited the Lotus Bay Hotel in Safaga for the fourth time. I'll tell you about my impressions according to our priorities.
First, a few words about the hotel itself. He is not big. Rooms 150-200. Magnificent garden. Considering that this is a desert, the variety of plants is impressive. In this case, the paths are not laid straight. This gives the impression of a larger territory. At first it strained me, then after a little rest, I began to enjoy walking in the garden. Herons and many different birds walk in the garden. This year there are even more of them. It turns out that the grass clipper loosens the soil a little (the locals said) and the birds go looking for different living creatures in the ground.
An excellent playground is closed from the sun. Locals said that the hotel is family oriented. And on this site, either there is already, or there should be just about an animator-nanny who can be brought to hand over the child, and go for a swim, sunbathe or eat yourself. This question was irrelevant for us. But there really was a woman in the house on the landing.
Beach.
Sand with excellent entry into the sea from the shore for children and those who cannot or do not want to swim. At the same time, at a depth of a meter and a half (depending on the tide or low tide), corals rise from the sand and those who cannot swim can look at them through a mask simply by walking along the sand. Of the ten hotels in Egypt where I happened to stay, this is the best beach for families (children and the elderly).
The sand is black in places. At first we thought it was fuel oil from ships. Then it turned out that it turns out to be volcanic, healing, and many often come here to “treat” with this sand. I can’t say how effective this treatment is, but I met fans.
For the first time, we really liked the shady mushrooms on the beach. Firstly, there are fences made of vines next to them where in January-February you can hide from the wind without blocking the walls from other sunbeds and mattresses, and secondly, low palm trees grow all over the beach. It creates some comfort, some kind of atmosphere of relaxation.
And on the beach there is a cafe where you can drink something to your taste or smoke right on the seashore. It is especially pleasant in this cafe in the evening when it is dark. Then lighthouses light up in the sea, stars in the sky, and the moon illuminates the ships standing at the pier and in the roadstead.
This year, most of the wicker fences were replaced with new ones. New ones were put in front of us.
There is also a massage parlor on the beach. I will probably tell about massage in Egypt later in more detail, now I want to thank and recommend a massage therapist named Karim who, in 6 sessions (unfortunately, at first I didn’t get to him, and then there was no time) put my back in order with a broken spine and swollen legs.
Right in front of us on the beach organized a "recreation area". This is a fenced-off piece of the beach, where various "sales representatives" should not enter, offering massages, trips, a bald devil, or just catchy. I met this type of beach only in one hotel in Makadi where my friends and I really liked it. But here they decided to fence off this part of the beach in their own way, in the style of a garden hotel: they planted a wall of young plants along the entire beach. True, they did not put up any signs prohibiting the entry of "merchants" to this beach. Therefore, they continue to jump in there, breaking plants, and even outraged when you ask them not to pester. However, vacationers are not aware of which part of the beach they got to, so there is no organized rebuff to the “merchants”. But given that the process of organizing a “recreation zone” has just begun, I hope that by the next visit there it will be possible to really take a break from the annoying offers of life's blessings. It is enough to put 5 signs with a description of the features of the beach.
Beach cons. Over the ten years that have passed since my first visit to this hotel, the environment has deteriorated here. The number of ships moored at the berths on both sides of the beach and in the sea has significantly increased. Ships make it difficult to swim far. From these ships, various garbage is apparently blown into the sea by the wind, and it is not at all difficult to meet 2-3 plastic bags or a bag of chips while swimming. In my opinion, the number of fish and shells has decreased, but I cannot say how objectively this is.
Beach cleaning also leaves much to be desired. The cleaner walks along the beach regularly, but empty plastic bottles from the garbage cans may not be taken away from fungi for 2-3 days, and I am completely silent about cigarette butts, because he simply does not see them, or does not understand that they need to be removed.
In the afternoon, there may not be clean beach towels. But that's how lucky.
However, all this is typical of almost all the beaches of Egypt, including five-star ones. So we took it for granted.
Food.
Those who have visited different hotels in Egypt know that even in hotel restaurants it is not always possible to eat everything that is on the shelves without the risk of becoming a kid or getting an exacerbation of gastritis and ulcers. And how often the meat is chewed there... Gloom!
In the restaurant of this hotel I ate almost everything. It’s just that I don’t like some cereals or soups in principle. But even they are edible and not dangerous to ulcers. This year the choice of dishes was even greater than in previous visits. In the morning there were sweets, and at lunch and dinner fish, chicken and beef were every day. For 15 days, the food is not tired at all. All the time we fed our granddaughter (not 3 years old) from the common table. No problem.
By the way, in connection with this I want to note. Sometimes, reading reviews about poor nutrition, citizens of the Russian Federation, distraught from hunger, rush with plates overweight to the shelves with food and wrap everything in plates: meat, fish, chicken, liver, salads, pasta, potatoes, vegetables, side dishes, fruits , sweets, filling it all with wine, beer and gin with water, and then complaining about poor nutrition: "how I got poisoned. " And there are those who like to taste local dishes in the cafe opposite the hotel. Or somewhere else. All claims from these meals are the responsibility of the hotel. Read such reviews carefully.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the chef of the restaurant for the excellent food, and the staff for the excellent service.
Disadvantages of the restaurant The first week everything was great. In the second week, apparently, there were more tourists in the hotel and the restaurant began to “sew up”. All tables are occupied (including the veranda, where breakfast and lunch were not set at all), the waiters do not have time to clean and bring drinks. We just waited for a while when the influx subsided. There is enough food though. They bring out new ones all the time. It can only impoverish the assortment of sweets.
Still very meager breakfasts for long excursions.
Service.
There is no staff turnover. I have a very bad memory for faces, but I remember many waiters in cafes and restaurants from previous visits. The last one was 5 years ago.
Reception. The manager Kristin is very efficient and friendly. Normally and quickly resolves almost all issues.
Cashier (safe). I didn’t like the cashier: either he accepts card payments, or he makes you withdraw money from it at an ATM and takes only cash. He never gives up. Even exchanging local pounds for small bills is a problem.
Luggage packing. With this at all a pipe! Our luggage was properly packed in front of us. Our suitcases were driven off to be packed, we paid for the packaging along with lunch (with a check-out strictly: at 12-00 they cut off the bracelets and then pay for everything. Lunch, for example, is $ 9 from the nose), but nothing was done for an hour. Our bus arrived, but the luggage was not packed and the money could not be returned to us - there are no small ones.
Restaurant. Great job, great management. Visible team. But with a full hotel, they simply do not have time.
Kitchen. This is probably the criterion for 50% + by which I choose this hotel not for the first time. There is not much food, but you will not leave hungry even if you arrive 15-20 minutes before the restaurant closes.
Cafe, towels. Friendly.
Animation. I was satisfied with exactly the volume in which it was. Anamator Simba, without loading, invites to dances by the pool or volleyball, which are usual in such hotels, but this happens without noise and load. Those who want to hang out more actively on the beach during the day or in the evening at the dances can be recommended to visit the neighboring hotel, which is much more crowded and noisy. Access to it along the beach is free.
Room cleaning. Someone said that as a result of the crisis, the number of staff in this hotel was significantly reduced. Theoretically, the best should remain. But there is a standard Egyptian problem: the cleaner does not see the dirt. We stopped by a large company and the children and grandchildren just got into an uncleaned broken-down room. Next: Scandal. Reception. Christine. Surcharge (loyal). Relocation to a suite. Excursions of all to them in the room. Reception. Christine. Surcharge. All in suites. But even in the suite in the corners the dust is not wiped off, there is no place to hang your swimwear to dry after the beach. The telephone in our room did not work for 2 weeks. In a word, there is not enough European management. Although the cleaners are trying very hard. We put the baby to sleep in the room during the day. So the cleaner managed to clean the room in 30-40 minutes while we posted a sign on the door asking us to clean the room.
Service deficiencies. The lack of European management wherever there should be cleaning: the beach and rooms (this is a common drawback of almost all the hotels in Egypt where I happened to stay).
Lack of staff in the restaurant.
Accommodation.
The hotel has large, medium and small rooms. Small - double, medium and large - spirit-three local. There are rooms completely dead with an icy freezer without a door, like the one where our children got. And there are quite luxurious ones in which, apart from not quite clean cleaning and trifles, such as the lack of a rope for drying clothes, there is nothing to complain about. But the reviews about "furniture of the 60s" are delusional in themselves, because. in those years, there was still desert on this part of the beach. Which room you get depends on your luck and the fullness of the hotel. Rooms within the same price category change quite simply. One category higher - with a surcharge if there are free ones, but also without problems.
Several buildings were actively repaired with us, so there is hope that the number of those killed will come to naught in the near future.
But in fact, in terms of numbers, a lot depends on perception. Personally, I don't care where I sleep. During the day, as a rule, you never sit in the room. And I don’t see the dust in the corners in the same way as the Egyptian cleaner. My wife, on the contrary, for a long time could not get used to the fact that someone’s hair could be lying in the bathroom of a five-star hotel (like the first time in Meridian in Sharm), until she was surprised to find that “they simply don’t see them. ” And my daughter even climbed to wipe the top of the fan blades and the corners in the table niche.
Therefore, I put accommodation at the very end. But my friends who have it in the first or second place from our submission also came to this hotel several times and were satisfied with the rest. Perhaps the key to a good holiday in any hotel in Egypt will be "do not get excited, but negotiate. "
Here is an example. In a regular room, we had a regular iron key. The door could not be closed in the evening, and if necessary, leave the key at the reception. And the light in the room was at the same time constantly. The suite had an electronic key. Card. One for three. My wife - to sleep, me - to take a walk with friends, my daughter - to go to a cafe with the company. How to disperse with one key, if without it there is no electricity in the room and the door can only be opened from the inside? Asked at the reception for the second key. It became easier. Although it would probably be normal to give out one copy to each adult. At the same time, the key failed at least four times in 2 weeks. Calmly come to the reception and it will be reprogrammed for you in 3-5 minutes.
Disadvantages of living Lack of European management in cleaning. There are rooms with knocked down furniture.
One electronic room key per family upon check-in (the second is issued upon request).
No Wi-Fi in the rooms and throughout the hotel. Personally, I didn't care, because. I did not take with me anything connected to the Internet, even the phone took a simple dialer. And the wife and daughter suffered without Facebook and news. But on excursions in all TezTour buses there is Wi-Fi. And you can also go out across the street from the hotel in a cafe to drink a glass of fresh mango for a dollar and a half and use the free internet. By the way, having received the key, you can safely go to the hotel: the Internet from the cafe “finishes” not only at the reception, but even in some rooms.
Entertainment.
When the number of visits to Egypt has exceeded 10, entertainment begins to interest you a little. This hotel had exactly what our family needed. My wife and I had a massage on the beach, my daughter - aerobics by the pool and dancing in the evening. They also played volleyball with Simba on the beach. Those who wished to ride on the boards also. But apart from the masseurs, no one pressed brazenly. Perhaps because, as soon as we found out, we went to the “beach for relaxation” zone.
Those who like crowded noise can follow this to a nearby hotel.
I have to note the categorical deterioration of TezTour service. When transferring to the hotel, the guide was silent all the way. When transferring to the airport, they even wanted to bring us to the shops of Hurghada, but I was indignant and took us immediately to the airport, lamenting that there was no landing yet and very early. Registration has already taken place. After a 5-7 year break, my wife and I nevertheless went on an excursion to Abydos and somewhere else. Now you need to read on the Internet where we were and what we saw. The only thing that pleased us was that they didn’t drag us around the shops. Because friends who went to Cairo were outraged both by the distribution of time between museums and shops, and by the material presented.
In general, we were satisfied with the rest as expected. The food even exceeded expectations.
If the opportunity arises, we will gladly go to this hotel again.
My wife and I have been doing just that for 15 years.
The simplest and most economical vacation in this situation is Egypt. And we generally like the Red Sea with its corals more than all other seas and oceans.
Our priorities in rest are: beach, food, service (service), accommodation, entertainment.
In April, we visited the Lotus Bay Hotel in Safaga for the fourth time. I'll tell you about my impressions according to our priorities.
First, a few words about the hotel itself. He is not big. Rooms 150-200. Magnificent garden. Considering that this is a desert, the variety of plants is impressive. In this case, the paths are not laid straight. This gives the impression of a larger territory. At first it strained me, then after a little rest, I began to enjoy walking in the garden. Herons and many different birds walk in the garden. This year there are even more of them. It turns out that the grass clipper loosens the soil a little (the locals said) and the birds go looking for different living creatures in the ground.
An excellent playground is closed from the sun. Locals said that the hotel is family oriented. And on this site, either there is already, or there should be just about an animator-nanny who can be brought to hand over the child, and go for a swim, sunbathe or eat yourself. This question was irrelevant for us. But there really was a woman in the house on the landing.
Beach.
Sand with excellent entry into the sea from the shore for children and those who cannot or do not want to swim. At the same time, at a depth of a meter and a half (depending on the tide or low tide), corals rise from the sand and those who cannot swim can look at them through a mask simply by walking along the sand. Of the ten hotels in Egypt where I happened to stay, this is the best beach for families (children and the elderly).
The sand is black in places. At first we thought it was fuel oil from ships. Then it turned out that it turns out to be volcanic, healing, and many often come here to “treat” with this sand. I can’t say how effective this treatment is, but I met fans.
For the first time, we really liked the shady mushrooms on the beach. Firstly, there are fences made of vines next to them where in January-February you can hide from the wind without blocking the walls from other sunbeds and mattresses, and secondly, low palm trees grow all over the beach. It creates some comfort, some kind of atmosphere of relaxation.
And on the beach there is a cafe where you can drink something to your taste or smoke right on the seashore. It is especially pleasant in this cafe in the evening when it is dark. Then lighthouses light up in the sea, stars in the sky, and the moon illuminates the ships standing at the pier and in the roadstead.
This year, most of the wicker fences were replaced with new ones. New ones were put in front of us.
There is also a massage parlor on the beach. I will probably tell about massage in Egypt later in more detail, now I want to thank and recommend a massage therapist named Karim who, in 6 sessions (unfortunately, at first I didn’t get to him, and then there was no time) put my back in order with a broken spine and swollen legs.
Right in front of us on the beach organized a "recreation area". This is a fenced-off piece of the beach, where various "sales representatives" should not enter, offering massages, trips, a bald devil, or just catchy. I met this type of beach only in one hotel in Makadi where my friends and I really liked it. But here they decided to fence off this part of the beach in their own way, in the style of a garden hotel: they planted a wall of young plants along the entire beach. True, they did not put up any signs prohibiting the entry of "merchants" to this beach. Therefore, they continue to jump in there, breaking plants, and even outraged when you ask them not to pester. However, vacationers are not aware of which part of the beach they got to, so there is no organized rebuff to the “merchants”. But given that the process of organizing a “recreation zone” has just begun, I hope that by the next visit there it will be possible to really take a break from the annoying offers of life's blessings. It is enough to put 5 signs with a description of the features of the beach.
Beach cons. Over the ten years that have passed since my first visit to this hotel, the environment has deteriorated here. The number of ships moored at the berths on both sides of the beach and in the sea has significantly increased. Ships make it difficult to swim far. From these ships, various garbage is apparently blown into the sea by the wind, and it is not at all difficult to meet 2-3 plastic bags or a bag of chips while swimming. In my opinion, the number of fish and shells has decreased, but I cannot say how objectively this is.
Beach cleaning also leaves much to be desired. The cleaner walks along the beach regularly, but empty plastic bottles from the garbage cans may not be taken away from fungi for 2-3 days, and I am completely silent about cigarette butts, because he simply does not see them, or does not understand that they need to be removed.
In the afternoon, there may not be clean beach towels. But that's how lucky.
However, all this is typical of almost all the beaches of Egypt, including five-star ones. So we took it for granted.
Food.
Those who have visited different hotels in Egypt know that even in hotel restaurants it is not always possible to eat everything that is on the shelves without the risk of becoming a kid or getting an exacerbation of gastritis and ulcers. And how often the meat is chewed there... Gloom!
In the restaurant of this hotel I ate almost everything. It’s just that I don’t like some cereals or soups in principle. But even they are edible and not dangerous to ulcers. This year the choice of dishes was even greater than in previous visits. In the morning there were sweets, and at lunch and dinner fish, chicken and beef were every day. For 15 days, the food is not tired at all. All the time we fed our granddaughter (not 3 years old) from the common table. No problem.
By the way, in connection with this I want to note. Sometimes, reading reviews about poor nutrition, citizens of the Russian Federation, distraught from hunger, rush with plates overweight to the shelves with food and wrap everything in plates: meat, fish, chicken, liver, salads, pasta, potatoes, vegetables, side dishes, fruits , sweets, filling it all with wine, beer and gin with water, and then complaining about poor nutrition: "how I got poisoned. " And there are those who like to taste local dishes in the cafe opposite the hotel. Or somewhere else. All claims from these meals are the responsibility of the hotel. Read such reviews carefully.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the chef of the restaurant for the excellent food, and the staff for the excellent service.
Disadvantages of the restaurant The first week everything was great. In the second week, apparently, there were more tourists in the hotel and the restaurant began to “sew up”. All tables are occupied (including the veranda, where breakfast and lunch were not set at all), the waiters do not have time to clean and bring drinks. We just waited for a while when the influx subsided. There is enough food though. They bring out new ones all the time. It can only impoverish the assortment of sweets.
Still very meager breakfasts for long excursions.
Service.
There is no staff turnover. I have a very bad memory for faces, but I remember many waiters in cafes and restaurants from previous visits. The last one was 5 years ago.
Reception. The manager Kristin is very efficient and friendly. Normally and quickly resolves almost all issues.
Cashier (safe). I didn’t like the cashier: either he accepts card payments, or he makes you withdraw money from it at an ATM and takes only cash. He never gives up. Even exchanging local pounds for small bills is a problem.
Luggage packing. With this at all a pipe! Our luggage was properly packed in front of us. Our suitcases were driven off to be packed, we paid for the packaging along with lunch (with a check-out strictly: at 12-00 they cut off the bracelets and then pay for everything. Lunch, for example, is $ 9 from the nose), but nothing was done for an hour. Our bus arrived, but the luggage was not packed and the money could not be returned to us - there are no small ones.
Restaurant. Great job, great management. Visible team. But with a full hotel, they simply do not have time.
Kitchen. This is probably the criterion for 50% + by which I choose this hotel not for the first time. There is not much food, but you will not leave hungry even if you arrive 15-20 minutes before the restaurant closes.
Cafe, towels. Friendly.
Animation. I was satisfied with exactly the volume in which it was. Anamator Simba, without loading, invites to dances by the pool or volleyball, which are usual in such hotels, but this happens without noise and load. Those who want to hang out more actively on the beach during the day or in the evening at the dances can be recommended to visit the neighboring hotel, which is much more crowded and noisy. Access to it along the beach is free.
Room cleaning. Someone said that as a result of the crisis, the number of staff in this hotel was significantly reduced. Theoretically, the best should remain. But there is a standard Egyptian problem: the cleaner does not see the dirt. We stopped by a large company and the children and grandchildren just got into an uncleaned broken-down room. Next: Scandal. Reception. Christine. Surcharge (loyal). Relocation to a suite. Excursions of all to them in the room. Reception. Christine. Surcharge. All in suites. But even in the suite in the corners the dust is not wiped off, there is no place to hang your swimwear to dry after the beach. The telephone in our room did not work for 2 weeks. In a word, there is not enough European management. Although the cleaners are trying very hard. We put the baby to sleep in the room during the day. So the cleaner managed to clean the room in 30-40 minutes while we posted a sign on the door asking us to clean the room.
Service deficiencies. The lack of European management wherever there should be cleaning: the beach and rooms (this is a common drawback of almost all the hotels in Egypt where I happened to stay).
Lack of staff in the restaurant.
Accommodation.
The hotel has large, medium and small rooms. Small - double, medium and large - spirit-three local. There are rooms completely dead with an icy freezer without a door, like the one where our children got. And there are quite luxurious ones in which, apart from not quite clean cleaning and trifles, such as the lack of a rope for drying clothes, there is nothing to complain about. But the reviews about "furniture of the 60s" are delusional in themselves, because. in those years, there was still desert on this part of the beach. Which room you get depends on your luck and the fullness of the hotel. Rooms within the same price category change quite simply. One category higher - with a surcharge if there are free ones, but also without problems.
Several buildings were actively repaired with us, so there is hope that the number of those killed will come to naught in the near future.
But in fact, in terms of numbers, a lot depends on perception. Personally, I don't care where I sleep. During the day, as a rule, you never sit in the room. And I don’t see the dust in the corners in the same way as the Egyptian cleaner. My wife, on the contrary, for a long time could not get used to the fact that someone’s hair could be lying in the bathroom of a five-star hotel (like the first time in Meridian in Sharm), until she was surprised to find that “they simply don’t see them. ” And my daughter even climbed to wipe the top of the fan blades and the corners in the table niche.
Therefore, I put accommodation at the very end. But my friends who have it in the first or second place from our submission also came to this hotel several times and were satisfied with the rest. Perhaps the key to a good holiday in any hotel in Egypt will be "do not get excited, but negotiate. "
Here is an example. In a regular room, we had a regular iron key. The door could not be closed in the evening, and if necessary, leave the key at the reception. And the light in the room was at the same time constantly. The suite had an electronic key. Card. One for three. My wife - to sleep, me - to take a walk with friends, my daughter - to go to a cafe with the company. How to disperse with one key, if without it there is no electricity in the room and the door can only be opened from the inside? Asked at the reception for the second key. It became easier. Although it would probably be normal to give out one copy to each adult. At the same time, the key failed at least four times in 2 weeks. Calmly come to the reception and it will be reprogrammed for you in 3-5 minutes.
Disadvantages of living Lack of European management in cleaning. There are rooms with knocked down furniture.
One electronic room key per family upon check-in (the second is issued upon request).
No Wi-Fi in the rooms and throughout the hotel. Personally, I didn't care, because. I did not take with me anything connected to the Internet, even the phone took a simple dialer. And the wife and daughter suffered without Facebook and news. But on excursions in all TezTour buses there is Wi-Fi. And you can also go out across the street from the hotel in a cafe to drink a glass of fresh mango for a dollar and a half and use the free internet. By the way, having received the key, you can safely go to the hotel: the Internet from the cafe “finishes” not only at the reception, but even in some rooms.
Entertainment.
When the number of visits to Egypt has exceeded 10, entertainment begins to interest you a little. This hotel had exactly what our family needed. My wife and I had a massage on the beach, my daughter - aerobics by the pool and dancing in the evening. They also played volleyball with Simba on the beach. Those who wished to ride on the boards also. But apart from the masseurs, no one pressed brazenly. Perhaps because, as soon as we found out, we went to the “beach for relaxation” zone.
Those who like crowded noise can follow this to a nearby hotel.
I have to note the categorical deterioration of TezTour service. When transferring to the hotel, the guide was silent all the way. When transferring to the airport, they even wanted to bring us to the shops of Hurghada, but I was indignant and took us immediately to the airport, lamenting that there was no landing yet and very early. Registration has already taken place. After a 5-7 year break, my wife and I nevertheless went on an excursion to Abydos and somewhere else. Now you need to read on the Internet where we were and what we saw. The only thing that pleased us was that they didn’t drag us around the shops. Because friends who went to Cairo were outraged both by the distribution of time between museums and shops, and by the material presented.
In general, we were satisfied with the rest as expected. The food even exceeded expectations.
If the opportunity arises, we will gladly go to this hotel again.
Translated automatically from Russian. View original
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