Contradictory impressions, but more positive

Written: 8 january 2014
Travel time: 21 — 29 december 2013
Who does the author recommend the hotel to?: For a relaxing holiday; For families with children
Your rating of this hotel:
6.0
from 10
Hotel ratings by criteria:
Rooms: 6.0
Service: 6.0
Cleanliness: 6.0
Food: 5.0
Amenities: 7.0
I thought for a long time what review I would write about this hotel....Some conflicting impressions....I must say right away that in August 2013 I quite successfully went to rest in Tunisia in a 4 * hotel, so, apparently, a lot comes from comparisons with that hotel - those impressions are still very fresh. But, I will write how I saw it here.
So, we rested together with my mother from December 21 to December 29.2013. The essence of the trip was to take my mother on vacation for the first time, so I wanted something good. The entire purchase of the tour was via the Internet, I didn’t book a room separately, the only thing (according to reviews - thanks to everyone who writes objective reviews) immediately decided to take a superior room, having overpaid about 5 thousand rubles for this. But, in my personal opinion, it's worth it. I also chose the flights myself, so it turned out well - an early departure from Moscow, a late departure from Sharm. The flight there was Orenburg Airlines Boeing 777 (I liked everything very much), back Nord Wind Airbus 321 (most of the flight was spent in the turbulence zone). The cost of a tour for two turned out to be 49 thousand rubles. for 9 days. For such money, probably, even a sin to complain. : ))
Settlement. Upon entering the hotel, you immediately feel that the hotel has long been far from new. The reception itself, to be honest, surprised me - small, cramped, with a bunch of people arriving / leaving somehow everything is uncomfortable. But then you don't notice it at all. We arrived at the hotel around 12 noon. They gave cards to fill out and immediately began to put on bracelets for everyone, everyone was asked for the first time or not for the first time. Whoever is the first time - the green bracelets, who is not the first time - the golden ones. I’ll make a reservation right away that I didn’t notice any special privileges for gold bracelets during the rest. After filling out the cards, we were told that the room would be at 2 pm For me, this is not news, I did not even butt heads, we left our suitcases and went to inspect the territory. We walked, looked and decided to go for lunch. The topic of food will be a little lower separately. But in the course of the action, I’ll write right away that I was upset - this is not at all how I imagined it and how I would like to show my mother.

Anyway. Let's go further. We came to the reception at 14.15, we were asked to wait 15 minutes. Ok, let's sit in the lobby. Indeed, after 15 minutes. called to the counter and the administrator smilingly said that what a delight awaits us - a room with a sea view! I smiled like “I know you, they’ll be tangled forever from the 3rd box! ”, But when I received the keychain with the number 823, I immediately realized that the number was really on those lines that everyone likes. They showed us roughly where it was and we went, the suitcases were brought in 5 minutes later.
Number. Superior room, 2nd floor. Upon entering, the built-in wardrobes are immediately evident - old and shabby. The door to the toilet/bathroom is also all shabby and painted. The room itself is spacious, 2 beds for adults and one more like an ottoman, apparently for a child. Large plasma, shows 3-4 Russian channels. What I didn’t like right away was the tiled floor (cold). But this is subjectively probably better than the carpet in other hotels, which is incomprehensibly worn and washed / unwashed by anyone. To my surprise, when I opened the balcony and went out on it, I really saw that we had a sea view, a side view, but still a view! And yes - a view of the owner's villa. Later, yes - companies gathered there and sat on the terrace for a long time, but personally they did not interfere with us. Next is the bathroom. The bathroom is combined and stupidly huge! Upon arrival, bath and soap accessories are placed. There are shampoo and shower gel dispensers in the shower cabin. Hair balm was put 1 tube, we had enough for two. Cotton buds, discs, etc. - we bring with us. Slippers and bathrobes, of course - no in principle. Everything seemed to work and was clean. Later, during the operation, it turned out that the water in the shower cabin was very badly drained, and the hair dryer quickly overheated and stopped working..... But oh well - all these are trifles. A safe was found in the closet, it is free, they used it, everything was fine. On the balcony there is an attached dryer for things - it's convenient. Room cleaning was not early - in the afternoon. I left $ 1 every day, they seemed to clean up normally, they never forgot to put water on. Beach towels are now changed by the maids. We had it even more often than once every 3 days (the maid himself took them from us and quickly brought fresh ones). Bed linen is changed frequently. There is air conditioning in the room so we never used it.
Hotel, area. It seemed to us personally that the territory is well monitored - something is constantly cleaned, washed, cleaned. We constantly saw how certain green spaces rule. Plantings, it is clear that they are already quite old. In the evenings, there are lanterns and lighting around - trees, fungi....In general, I liked the construction of the complex. A couple of times they saw from the beach how they sprayed something, apparently, they fought insects. Yes, it was necessary, because one evening, Egyptian mosquitoes nearly ate me and my mother on the balcony. : ))) True, it was only 1 day. Darkness-darkness of kittens, cats, cats walks around the territory. For some, it's probably unpleasant, especially for ordinary rooms on the 1st floor. They didn't worry us at all. There are also many crows flying around. Separately, I want to note the annoying Egyptian flies !!! ! : ))) But this is the theme of the beach. : ))
Beach. I read, read about booking sunbeds....So it is. Although, even when the hotel is fully loaded, you can always find sunbeds during the day, even if on 3-4 lines, but they are! Because we got up early, then at 7.00-7.30 in the morning we also occupied sunbeds, at this time they are also on the 1st line. It is immediately clear that most of the "thieves" places have been occupied since yesterday - they are so wonderfully tied together with a film from suitcases....The beach is quite long. There is both a gentle sandy descent into the water (this is to the right, closer to the pontoon), and with steps, but also sandy (this is to the left). Closer to the pontoon on the shore in the mornings, all the activities of the animators take place - aqua aerobics, club dances. There are also columns on umbrellas. Therefore, who did not like the noise - went to the left along the beach. We have always been in the thick of things. : ) The entrance to the sea is convenient - for "small things" there is where to frolic, and adults, in general, do not have to go 100 meters behind the depth. In the morning, a flock of small fish swims right next to the shore and - attention - a few lionfish! True, they are all shy and quickly blur from a person. From the pontoon in the morning you can always see a bunch of different inhabitants of the Red Sea - beauty !!! ! Even sailing close to the shore with a mask / snorkel, you can see all kinds of beautiful fish! But most go to the wild reef (we also went 1 time) to the left along the beach for about 15 minutes. Yes, there is something to see. And there are no "wild Egyptians" behind the rocks, who, sitting behind the rocks, watch the tourists (at least I have not seen this). Yes, there is no one to look after your things, and there are a lot of tourists there.

Distracted, but well. We walked to the left along the beach past Beach Albatros, to the right past the Iberotel. Therefore, my subjective opinion is that both the beach and the sunbeds at our hotel are many times better. But again, this is IMHO. I’ll immediately note the weather on our arrival - there was a strong wind for the first 2 days, and on the last day. Speaking of "golden" bracelets, this is quite unusual for this hotel, because it is in a bay, and usually the winter wind did not touch this hotel. I can't say anything about this. Our vacationers were sunbathing and swimming at the same time, and foreigners walking along the beach somewhere, it was clear from their eyes - they were shocked - they were walking dressed quite warmly. That's such a different mentality! : ))
Food, staff. Phew, a difficult section of the story....I always tell everyone - we are not going to eat, but we are going to rest. But here, I somehow broke down, especially in the first 2 days. Broken - in the sense of upset. No, no, we have never been poisoned, we have never been left hungry, but the general impression of this action is not very pleasant. Food - yes, there is. Diversity is one of a kind. But this is where comparisons begin, and these comparisons are not in favor of Dessole. These are constant queues, this is a lack of tables, these are crazy waiters....To understand - breakfast and dinner are held in the main restaurant, lunch is always in a restaurant on the beach, here it is much smaller and that is where the eternal problem with free tables. After 2 days, I realized how it is more convenient for me to live with all this, and the rest improved.
So, we have an early rise, so the best time for breakfast is before 8 am. At this time, there are no queues for omelettes and scrambled eggs, everything is ready, there are no queues for vending machines with drinks. Dinner. The best time in my opinion is from 14.20 to 15.00. The whole wave of hungry vacationers was satisfied and left, there are free tables, the food is still replenished. Separately, I would like to note that a barbecue is open for lunch and dinner. And he constantly does not keep up with our starving people. Therefore, there is always a queue - once, if the party is fried, then after 3 seconds everything is swept away, two! I somehow developed a good smiling relationship with the barbecue man Mahmud (a very unusual name, right? ) And when he saw me, he prepared, as it were, a separate plate for two. This may have been very incomprehensible to everyone else, but something like this. Then somehow relations with several waiters improved, and for a smile and a couple of phrases they found a table, served it, and even brought wine in glasses themselves. In general, a positive attitude and a different approach to the situation corrected the attitude towards all this for the better. We often skipped dinner, so I can say one thing - just go not to the very beginning.
In the afternoon from 10 am to 3 pm on the beach itself there are french fries, salads, some hamburgers. Therefore, from breakfast to lunch, you can safely survive.

Juices - UPI, hot drinks - OK, except for tea. Alcohol - not really in the know, because they practically did not drink. We tried white and red wine and beer. Stopped for white wine for lunch/dinner, sometimes rum-cola on the beach during the day. Something like this. The most important thing for me is that the nutrition section completely satisfied my mother, because she has nothing to compare with. But this is already a big plus.
Animation. I'm not a particularly involved person in all this, so I just watched it all. In general, from the outside, I liked the animators - active, groovy, people followed them. We did not see any evening program, because we always rested in the room. There were attempts to live up to a night disco, but, unfortunately, they were unsuccessful. : )) I liked that in the evenings the singer sang live in good Russian at the reception area. The older generation danced to it with might and main! I liked that the children are shown cartoons in the evening, but the children's disco is everywhere and everywhere - like Turkey, like Egypt. But the kids love it.
Pool, slides. On the territory of 2 pools - at the reception and near the beach. The reception was not heated and there was never anyone there, on the beach - the water was heated and people frolicked with might and main. All 3 slides worked, but intermittently. But that was enough. The pool was not seen in the dirt - in the morning I saw how it was being cleaned.
Pegasus guides. Went to an info meeting. They take our vouchers and put some kind of mark on them, like local registration. It was with them that we went to the city. Yes, at the meeting they scare with conceivable and unimaginable horrors about the local population and the situation. But here everyone decides for himself. I didn’t really want to go on excursions, but still my mother decided to go to the monastery of St. Catherine. Well, I'm with her, of course. In a nutshell - it would be better if I spent a day at sea - far, expensive and stupid. Again, my mom loved it. I didn’t have to deal with Pegasus guides anymore, and that’s good. Several times, passing by their tables, I heard some kind of "showdown" with vacationers, but I did not delve into what and how. Those who encountered problems said that Pegasus guides do not solve anything and cannot influence anything. But this is from other people's words, I can not confirm or deny.

SPA-center. A diverse crowd of touts walks along the shore. There are parachutes / catamarans / bananas, and beauty salons, and a photographer, and tattoos, and spa representatives. In general, we were not averse to going to the spa, so we signed up for a 5-day course of massage + face masks. We paid $300 for two. In general, we liked it. We arrived early, warmed up in the sauna (for some reason, our feet were constantly freezing - the sand on the beach did not warm up), we could lie in the jacuzzi, then the body massage itself (except for the stomach), a small facial massage and a mask of your choice. In general - beauty!
Market. Went 3 times. It is located to the left and across the road and a small ruined square. We bought fruits there - strawberries $1 per package (about 900 gr), dates $1 per package (about 600 gr), bananas $1 per kg, guava $1.5 per 1 kg and mangoes. With mango - a separate song. The first time they sold us a large mango for $7 per kg. On my other visit to the market, I told a friend that I didn’t like it at all, then he sold me a small and ugly one (but really unrealistically tasty !!!! ) and we agreed on a price of $ 5 per kg. I got this mango both in the room and home (about 6 kg) - lie down, keep up. I distributed gifts to everyone at home, they themselves ate, ate, and now, one remained - the taste of Egypt. Eh!
Also, those who do not like market pesters - not far from the hotel there is a shopping center Tiran. Everything is a little more expensive there, but in general it is somehow calmer.
The hotel is entirely devoted to the Russians and the CIS. Therefore, the contingent is understandable. On the eve of the departure, it became clear that on December 29-30 there would be a complete change in the composition of vacationers, because loud drunken songs began to be heard in the evenings. Apparently, people who are preparing to "speak" on New Year's Eve stopped by. : )) There are also more people on the beach who had a good walk yesterday and who are sick today. But all the same, I would like to note the people with whom I managed to meet and talk there - much more adequate people were noted during our stay there.
In general, I would like to note that vacationers can be safely divided into 2 groups - pensioners + pre-retirement age and young families with children of all ages. For the first group, I honestly - very happy! Still, some people have the opportunity to relax.

About Tagil. Was not particularly noticed. Only once, a far from very sober comrade landed on club dances on the shore at 11.00 and tried to portray something there with the animators, after which he climbed into the water and began to take off his underpants and show everyone his fifth point. To which the animator asked him to put his shorts back on and get out of the water, a hotel employee almost immediately ran up, climbed into the water right in uniform, forcibly put them on a friend and took them away under white hands in an unknown direction, probably to the room. The beach, of course, had fun, someone filmed what was happening on camera, but if there were foreigners in the hotel, I would be many times more disgusted and insulting for our compatriots.
Wow, what a lot! Thanks to everyone who read. : )) I hope that this epic will be useful to someone.
Will I go here again on my own? Probably not. Here for my mother or my other relatives - for the first time - that's it. Besides - if the person without special claims.
In general, the "gold" bracelets note that every year it gets worse here. But they come here because of the location and familiarity. Many, however, say that they will not come again. I have not seen this hotel before, so I can not compare with the past years.
Thank you all for your attention. If you have any questions - ask. : )
Translated automatically from Russian. View original