Concorde El Salam (Sports Area) Concorde El Salam (Sports Area)

Flight from Tui
Let's start with the flight. The tour operator Tui, carries its tourists with the Kul-Avia airline, these are the former Kogalym Airlines, bought out by this large transnational tour operator specifically for their charters. In general, the company is quite worthy, the service on board is attentive, the flight attendants behave politely and, in case of delays, sincerely try to alleviate the fate of passengers - they serve food and drinks, explain the situation. (we were detained on the plane for 1.5 hours).
Everything is good, except for one thing - quite decent planes are made on special order, people are stuffed into the plane one and a half times more than normal bourgeois airlines, the rows are very crowded, if, God forbid, you have the "happiness" to be somewhat larger than a 10 year old child , then in 3-4 hours of the flight you have every chance to go berserk from being in an unnatural position - it’s terribly uncomfortable, and if the person sitting in front leans back a little, then there’s just no room left ...We will think hard about whether we should fly somewhere else with this airline . We fly quite often and sometimes over considerable distances - we have a certain experience of flights, and there is something to compare with! Well, at least over long distances, more than 6 hours is definitely NOT. Only not "Kagalym Airlines" from Tui!

Sharm El Sheikh Airport
Further, upon arrival at the airport of Sharm El Sheikh, a banal and rude money scam begins on the part of the meeting guides.
The whole plane is driven in line to their place and fill out an immigration card, like they help - they extort 5 dollars for this. We really had a fight, demanding to give us cards and explaining that we do not need their services. We were rudely asked to stand in line with everyone and not show off. I wonder what market the lower levels of travel companies are recruiting from, behave as if everyone owes them money and does not give them back! Normal companies distribute these same immigration cards on the plane, so that passengers can fill out everything without haste and flight attendants advise what and how to write. Further - everyone is driven to buy a visa. Yes, it’s “only” $15, and if you arrive on the 4th, it’s already $60. They can be spent with more benefits than just giving them to Egypt. With a direct question to the host - “Why, we will not go anywhere! ?
» They start talking nonsense about the police, document checks and other heresy - they say, pay 15 dollars and you will be calmer. They prefer not to talk about the “Sinai Stamp” at all, or they carry even more nonsense that this is only for Taba and not for the Russians. Some zealous abrek, from among those meeting, almost by force tried to send us to the window to pay for the visa, they say, you go there. Has been ignored. And for a long time he saw us off with a frankly evil look. At passport control, after a couple of phrases that we only need the sea, we do not plan to leave the territory of the Sinai Peninsula anywhere, we were slapped "Sinian stamp". Welcome to Sinai! (Sinai only was written in large letters on the card. )
Hotel Concord Sport.
Next Bus, plunged and drove quickly, a maximum of 30 minutes. The hotel is located on the other side of the airport, one of the runways practically rests against it. The noise from aircraft is quite noticeable from time to time.

The hotel was settled quickly, they did not extort money, they gave a room in a good building - in the extreme, next to the children's club and the Spa complex, and the closest to the sea. The number of meters is 30 square meters. we had one double bed and two smaller ones - for children, a safe in the room - included in the price, a refrigerator (empty) put drinking water. Bath room is quite comfortable. There is a TV, near the room, on the street there is a plastic table and two chairs, such as a verandah. Nearby there was a room with billiards, a gym with a very impressive-looking coach, and a very good set of pumping chairs, a sauna with a jacuzzi. Children, however, are allowed there from the age of 10. The hotel itself makes a dual impression - a large area, somewhat bald. A swimming pool with slides, a paddling pool for children, a stadium, a stable with a large arena and very good and well-groomed riding horses.
In the immediate vicinity there is a skating rink, although it is paid, but you can catch the days when it is open for free for hotel guests. Meals at the hotel, according to the all-inclusive system, in fact, are three meals a day in one restaurant. Breakfast lunch dinner.
Some snacks in between are present by the hour in the lobby, at the reception. Drinks are poured without restrictions in bars, including on the beach. Meals in restaurants are organized extremely stupid. 1. Food warmers with hot dishes stand along the wall in a row, the approach is only from one side, and a queue immediately forms for them. Dishes quickly run out, the queue starts to slow down, and many go to catch something from cold tables that can be taken without crowding and without wasting time
In a free, normal, access table with sweets and fruits. By the way, the choice of fruits is rather poor!
It would be necessary to put exactly hot dishes in its place, it would be easier for everyone, well, probably the chefs would have to take 10 more steps 2. Large plates are laid out so hot that they are often simply impossible to take. (children try to take it and practically throw it on the floor!! ) 3. Constant problems with cups, teaspoons, and just cutlery. The waiters work, in principle, not bad, but they are often sewn up and do not have time to keep up everywhere.
On the street, at dinner, something is fried on the grill - peppers, zucchini, eggplant, onions, and meat, liver, or chicken. In general, you can get by with grilled dishes and salads - grass from cold tables, and not even stand in line for no reason. If you didn’t come to dinner exactly at 18.30, and were late for 15 minutes, then it is very likely that you simply won’t have enough space. There are actually fewer tables than hotel guests. And everyone pretends that this is how it should be. Or come to dinner for 5.

10 minutes and break in with the opening, or already closer to 20 hours, but not all hot dishes are already there, some are replaced with simpler ones, there may be no fruit. In general, this state of affairs does not fit in with the declared 5-star hotel. True, during dinner on the stage, near the restaurant, “live” music plays, and the artists perform some of their repertoires to the “plywood”. It somehow enlivens the atmosphere, after dinner you can dance - at least for children! You can have breakfast from 8 in the morning with cafes near the beach, on the territory of the Front Hotel. There, breakfasts are much simpler, but time is not lost on transitions and travel back and forth. By the way, you can also have lunch there.
Beach.
A bus runs from the reception of the Sport Hotel to the Front reception, and there is still 200 meters to the sea. In general, from the restaurant to the sea is about a kilometer.
The beach and the sea. It is quite conditional to call it a beach - crowded, crowded, entering the sea along a pontoon.
The steep, rocky shore, somehow parodies the beach. There is a small piece of land where a dozen sunbeds and surf strips intervene directly, and children can splash there, the depth is up to 1 meter, but you need to take places there in the morning, as well as any other places. At 10 in the morning, you can no longer find a place, you will have to stuff things somewhere on the stones - there will be no place to lie down. On the pier, low-minded observers are on duty, if vacationers try to swim over the reef, or lift something from the bottom, almost threats and boorish attacks against them in the style of overseers begin. Phrases like, “Don’t you care? “Do you need prapbleems? » Pasleyadny races I warn you! ” sound constantly, at the same time such terrible faces are twisted that a cobblestone will just take it and throw it.

The place for swimming is fenced with ropes with buoys, it is extremely limited and often you swim, like in a pool in the evening - in a natural crush. There is always a hustle and bustle at the ladders from the pontoon, they may well get drunk, the contingent of Russian speakers who come to the hotel is clearly not overloaded with moral and cultural conventions. We ignored the buoys and sailed away to the neighboring, more expensive and non-Russian-oriented hotels, there is nothing like that - and you can swim over the reef, and it’s freer and none of the “watchers” comes to mind not only to threaten, but even to raise a voice. And the beaches themselves are better there, and the situation is calmer. Such restrictions are motivated by concern for the sea and the reef, they say, from the fact that you swim above the reef, it dies. And from the fact that hotels are set up in several rows, and a tiny piece of the sea accounts for, in principle, not a normal number of people, the reef and marine life only get healthier and feel better?
By the way, we have not been to Sharm since 2004, and it is very likely that we will not appear here for the same amount. The situation worsened, the sea became noticeably poorer and less beautiful. The prices for Egypt are completely unjustified (if we consider something more or less decent, with its own beach - look, for fun, the prices for Iberotel, near the Old Market, Magic Life, Reef Oasis) the number of people has increased significantly, service and quality rest falls, in general, all the revolutionary changes did not benefit. For those who remember the times when Sinai was a closed zone, the Egyptians could not freely come there, and it was possible to freely, without restrictions, snorkel along the coast wherever you want and without fear to go to the same Nayama or Old Market, the current state of affairs will seem not normal and completely not acceptable.
Actually, the trip itself was focused exclusively on them - to take them away, at least not for a long time from the Moscow bacillus, vile weather, to hold them in the sun and in warm sea water - they really liked it, and that's it! And the pool and the food in the restaurant and the sea and the horses and all the activities organized by the hotel! They are all waterfowl and swam with pleasure in mask-fins - they watched fish, corals, and the whole underwater world.
The water slides in the pool enliven life very much, children and adults can ride there quite fun, they work, however, by the hour from 14 to 18 ...
You can always go to the stable and treat the horses with apples and sugar from the restaurant - they are very sociable and friendly. If you wish, you can also ride yourself. 20 euros 30 minutes.
If you want to run in the morning - around the stadium, on the grass, no one bothers ...
If you want to pretend to be Schwerzenegger - you are welcome to the rocking chair, to carry pieces of iron!
Warm up in the sauna - please, no one minds!
Pour beer - be kind ...
Roll balls in billiards - for health ...

Yes, here's another thing, there are a lot of mosquitoes - they are small, quiet and not noticeable, but they bite quite sensitively, and then itches for a long time and disgustingly. Apparently, some kind of stylized river on the territory of the hotel serves as a breeding ground for mosquitoes. A raptor for the room, and body repellants for the evening, are a must. In November and further in the evening, after sunset (and this is 17 hours), it can be chilly outside, and a rather bad wind.
Excursion.
Further. We bought a sea excursion on a boat to the island of Tiran on the beach. The ship sails not far from the hotel, built something like a tourist port for small boats.
The excursion is not straining, several stops at sea over reef banks, much more lively and richer reefs, an abundance of small fish, marine plants and animals that you will not see offshore, no comparison with the "house" reef at the hotel. There were no dolphins. Stingrays, moray eels, lionfish, barracudas, tunas - they were not even seen there. In any case, it's worth a trip, some kind of variety from the beach - hotel life.
About 500 meters from the hotel there is Soho - an entertainment area with shops, bars, discos, duty free, where you can buy alcohol and cigarettes. It’s quite a long way to go to Nayama from the hotel, and here there is some kind of similarity right next to it. Go and spend money! However, there was no desire to buy something there - the quality of things did not seem adequate to the prices. On the territory of this complex there is a Wi-Fi network, but it is possible to go to the Internet there only during the day, when there are few people, in the evening there is simply no way - the channel cannot cope ...
The children liked the light and musical fountain in Soho.

On the way to the sea there is a line of shops, where you can buy all sorts of souvenirs and some themed summer clothes for yourself or children. You can bargain, the prices, in principle, are acceptable. In general, you can go to Egypt only if you have an offer that is adequate in terms of cost, and if you do not remember and compare with other resorts in civilized and not very countries. During the school holidays, PRACTICALLY ALL prices go up completely shamelessly and not motivated, simply based on the fact that people have nowhere to go - they will still buy and go! At the same time, a two-fold increase in the price does not imply any improvement in services, rather, on the contrary, they simplify everything to the maximum, there’s nothing to be done, either you go when it’s officially possible, or you pull the children out of the educational process – that’s where and where the imagination is enough .
In a general summary, you can deduce this - a very good hotel, if you do not go there on vacation, and it is for a hotel holiday, without moving and fuss, the infrastructure of the hotel is very decent! There is simply no beach - for a beach holiday it is suitable with a big, big stretch! There will be questions - write 3110775-gaf-gaf-mailru