Your rating of this hotel:
3.0
from 10
Hotel ratings by criteria:
Rooms:
4.0
Service:
2.0
Cleanliness:
3.0
Food:
2.0
Amenities:
10.0
Rested in New Tirana from 14 to 21 April. I'll start with the fact that we went for the sun, the sea and the fish. Everyone got it. Everything is fair: price / quality.
HOTEL - first about the good: the location of the Hotel is IDEAL. On the one hand - the Central street of Naama Bay, all the shops, entertainment centers, disco, shopping centers, supermarkets, in short, the whole life. On the other hand - access to a private beach (SAND).
SEE PHOTO - MAP (look for number 72 (you are here)).
By the way, we gave a color copy of this map to the Hotel, so ask for a copy upon arrival at the reception or from the director of the Hotel Mohammed, exactly like this: “Slava and Anya from Odessa gave your Hotel a map of where, what is located - so please give us a FREE copy / photocopier of this card. ".
OVERALL CARD RATE: 7 stars (SUPER USEFUL).
IMPORTANT - at the very beginning of your vacation, make copies of your passports and vouchers (all this can be done at home and put in things SEPARATELY from passports), and upon arrival at the Hotel, leave all valuables in the safe (including passports and money), and copies take your passports with you, if they steal your bag, then only with a copy of your passport and the money you took for the day. If there is no safe in the room, tell us and they will bring it to you FREE OF CHARGE.
SECURITY - there are police everywhere and people in civilian clothes with weapons walk around. Look at the MAP for the location of police posts (in reality there are always 3-4 police officers there). When leaving the Naama Bay area, no one will tell you anything, and upon returning, 99% will be asked to show the contents of the bag and, possibly, will ask for a voucher (although we were asked only once). The voucher is the only document that you have the right to enter the territory of Naama Bay.
OVERALL SAFETY RATING: solid 5 (EXCELLENT).
The BEACH is generally a separate issue - SANDY (not coral), you calmly go into the water, the coast is shallow, the bottom is flat, you swim (10-15 meters) to beautiful corals with fish. The water is more transparent. Fish are unmeasured. In the morning (at about 6-7 am) it is easier to photograph the fish, but it is BETTER NOT to swim at this time - there are poisonous fish and tuna hunts. On the beach of the Hotel there is YOUR coral reef and 2 (two) more on the neighboring beach (after 15 meters, there is a landmark - there is a CHAIR AT THE BOTTOM). The beach is cleaned and the same manager is constantly working, his name is Tata (this is an employee of the Hotel) and there is also a local Banderas (he has a nameplate from the Hotel on his hand, but as we understand, he has nothing to do with the Hotel). What is inconvenient - there is NO bar from the Hotel on the beach, it was rented out, so there are NO freebies on the beach. Beer for 4 dollars. , we don’t know the rest, there seems to be no food, but there are fresh juices (they really squeeze fruits / citruses) for 2 dollars.
And there are a couple of moments along the beach, namely: next to the BERTH for boats and in calm weather, the aroma of gasoline is quite acute, the sun loungers are “tired”, it is very uncomfortable to lie down, since the mattress is NOT provided at all - well, they don’t have mattresses ...Therefore come early and drag pillows from the chairs from the bar - it will be much more comfortable to lie on the sun loungers. True, after dinner they (pillows) can be stolen by your neighbors who will not go to dinner (hehehe).
In addition, the local population is allowed to the beach for an additional fee. Therefore, there are more local Egyptians on the beach than tourists.
And on the beach, the Egyptians will constantly ask you to take pictures with them, on the one hand, this is a local flavor, and on the other hand, besides the fact that you feel like a monkey in front of the photographer, you can still be distracted while photographing and you will be on one beach smaller bag...
By the way, take towels for the beach on the day of your arrival at the Hotel, while they give it, otherwise you go and ask, and every time they tell you after five minutes and they don’t give it. In general, we took bedding with us from home and explained to other vacationers the whole vacation that they don’t give such in the Hotel and they don’t sell them in shops on the street and in general our bedding is from different countries!
A massage therapist is constantly working on the beach - we don’t know the exact prices, but there is something without hands for 10 dollars. , and with other parts of the body (full contact), something like 15 dollars.
Also at the entrance there is a master of tattoos and drawings from henna Fatima. Prices from 3 dollars. and higher. The name on the hand / finger in Arabic script costs at least $ 1. And she really wants everyone to do real tattoos. She speaks English very badly, she doesn’t understand anything in Russian, so before starting a drawing lesson (Fine art in the old way), make sure that she understands you correctly.
In fact, she is a great master, so if instead of a tiger or an elephant (due to a misunderstanding) she draws an ornament like on a carpet, or some local living creature, the drawing will still be very stylish and clear.
GENERAL BEACH RATING: almost 5 (EXCELLENT) if you took pillows from a bar chair under your ass and lay down away from the locals and if there is wind and does not stink of exhaust from all boats and boats and boats and so on.
The POOL on the territory of the Hotel is sufficient for the number of guests and it is cleaned several times a day - it is always clean, but again there are no mattresses ...The bar, which is on the territory of the Hotel, of course, near the pool, but for some reason you have to carry drinks from the bar to the pool yourself. We didn’t swim in the pool, but why, because there are pools everywhere, and the Red Sea is one! There is also a speaker / amplifier near the pool, so you will hear the music well, even very well, even if you don’t want to, but you still will.
OVERALL POOL RATING: 5 (or almost 5 (EXCELLENT)).
ROOMS - very, very "tired". The hotel has not been renovated for 100 or 150 years, the furniture is a bit old, the rooms are not well maintained, the curtains open, but can be opened in parts (the seam diverges), there are spots of absolutely incomprehensible origin on the walls and, attention, on the ceiling. When you check in, immediately check the cleanliness of bed linen. The bed is often not changed after previous tourists. Immediately demand towels and toilet paper, otherwise for three days the staff will tell you “okay, in 5 minutes” and disappear for the whole day, and tomorrow the story repeats itself and the day after tomorrow too, so don’t delay. When you check in, you are given a bottle of water (0.5 liters), demand immediately at the bar in the Hotel (near the reception), then do not interrogate. IMPORTANT: You will be told not to throw away the empty bottle, but during your stay in the hotel dining room, fill it with drinking water.
DO NOT LISTEN: the water in the cooler is not potable, it is drawn from a regular faucet. The bar is open from 10 am to 10 pm. To be honest, we only drank coffee and sprite at the bar, since the local rum in a dirty PLASTIC bottle costs 3 (three) dollars. for half a liter caused great doubts about the quality. Room cleaning is practically non-existent. We need to catch the staff and demand cleaning. But, if you immediately agree with the cleaner for 1 dollar a day, or better for two, then you will have cleaning, towels, and toiletries every day without additional nerves!
GENERAL RATING OF THE ROOM: 3- or 2+ (SOMETHING THEY HAVE NOT FINISHED HERE).
FOOD - in the Hotel more, more than modest and too monotonous. Morning uneaten mashed potatoes are seasoned with slices of sausage and feta for lunch, calling it a salad, which again turns into a grated side dish in the evening.
There is always a shortage of vegetable salads, fish and meat, but if you have time, in addition, the chef SAM distributes only a piece. Fruits for the week were only 2 times: toooooooooo slices of oranges and sooooooooooooooooooooo slices of guava. But food is not a problem! ! ! The most important thing is to get cutlery. The plates are almost all broken and they are sorely lacking, as well as forks. Therefore, even if there is still food left, you simply have nowhere to put it and nothing to eat. We had to wait 2 times for someone to eat, they will wash his dishes and give us a clean plate and fork ...Although the food is delicious.
So every morning in the Hotel starts with a battle for a plate and a fork, then a cleaning war to get a towel, then you literally beg to set up a router to get at least some internet. Please note that WI-FI is available only at the reception, and sometimes in the morning, sometimes in the evening.
ONCE AGAIN: WI-FI is ONLY at the reception and WI-FI, of course, is NOT in the rooms. The staff shrugs their shoulders in surprise, saying: "...it's strange, but it works for me ... ". Trust me, nothing works. Therefore, on the first day upon arrival, in order not to waste your nerves, you simply buy for $ 5. SIM card (Vodafone) and you have a connection. All this is sold on the street from the reception (three shops).
OVERALL WI-FI AND FOOD RATING: 2, well 2+, and without a plug at all 1 (RADER BAD).
The STAFF at the Hotel is terribly lazy. Only one girl, Anya, understands Russian (very good, polite - well done), all the rest do not understand either Russian or English, they do not understand anything except basic things. The only exception is the director of the Hotel Mohammed - he knows English, but he does not speak Russian well. Another character "linguist" is the animator Felix (this one knows English quite well), but SIMULTANEOUSLY speaks Russian, English and 2-3 words in Ukrainian.
As for the HOTEL - a compact area and a convenient location. Once he was more than excellent. BUT the laziness of the staff, the lack of repair - did their job. It's a shame...
GENERAL CONCLUSION on the HOTEL - if you are ready from the first day to defend your rights to toilet paper and cleaning, you are not embarrassed by tired furniture and a little chipped dishes in the canteen, but, at the same time, on the one hand, SANDY beach with its CORAL, and on the other On the side of the Hotel there is a CENTRAL STREET with bars and shops, then this is the Hotel for you, and if you want to buy a ticket cheaper, thinking that it is 4 * and there is WI-FI in all rooms and you can drink water from coolers, then you are in this The hotel is better not to go.
OVERALL RATING OF THE HOTEL: 3+ (maybe even just 3 (SATISFACTORY)).
GUIDE AT THE HOTEL - oh, this is a separate issue! Anekstur's hotel guide is Ahmed (full name AHMED ZARIF ABDEL KARIM).
I specifically write this: a hotel guide, and not a guide at the Hotel - this is a person who lies, wastes your time, does not help in any way. At the meeting, not a word about the Hotel, the rules and everything important, which the guides usually talk about. From this friend (and he is NOT my friend) only information about how cool he is (for 40 minutes), then for another hour he will sell you a trip to Israel. He is very nervous when you try to clarify something with him, does not answer questions, starts to swear! Can you imagine? ! ! You have just settled down and the one who at the beginning of the conversation promises to help you if someone swears at you begins to swear at you! Here is such a type. At the same time, he promises to solve problems in the Hotel - in fact, he does not solve ANYTHING. After 2 hours of stories about him beautiful, we bought 3 (three) excursions from him. Before each excursion, he needs to call, specify what time the departure is, he never knows, you have to call back again, ask.
Moreover, before the last excursion there was an unpleasant incident, namely: we call him for hours at 9 pm and then it turns out that there will be no excursion tomorrow, come, he says tomorrow at 11 am, you will choose another one. I answer him - it doesn’t fit, I’m flying out the day after tomorrow at 4 in the morning - return the money. And then the circus began: he has no money, he will return it only in a day and all sorts of nonsense. Naturally, I start to get nervous, how in a day, I'm leaving, to whom will I return it? After 20 minutes of negotiations, we agreed that he would return the money to us, but tomorrow. We received no apology or explanation from him. We were glad that the money was returned, I didn’t want to contact him anymore.
In general, this hotel guide is a rare boor and a deceiver, why he works in a company is not at all clear (at the same time, before departure, we read reviews about the Hotel and the guys had the same story, that is, we were somehow ready to meet this type , but the fact that he did not want to return our money to us - that's all! ).
OVERALL RATING OF THE HOTEL GUIDE: banana (ZERO).
EXCURSIONS - prices for excursions in Egypt have increased significantly. We decided NOT to risk and NOT to buy excursions on the street and from beach barkers. The situation in Egypt is unstable, terrorist attacks and the like, so they wanted to be sure of the operator. Prices for official and street operators differ significantly, for example, Jordan at an official costs $ 350. , on the street - 200 dollars.
per person - we went on a huge ship (a yacht ala on sails, but goes on a motor): 3 (three) stops, 2 (two) swimming, while masks and fins are free, awesome corals are taken to the Ras Mohamed reserve (and not Tiran Island, where the guys from the beach take it cheaper) and one stop in the most beautiful place - the White Island - beautiful white sand, turquoise sea, extraordinary beauty. The food was excellent on the yacht - for lunch, squid soup with shrimp, fried fish, huge shrimp, in general, a great trip. And more importantly, certified divers who are with you all the time in the water and help, and everything is ok. There is also a similar excursion, but with a pirate show - the yacht is called the "Black Pearl" (very well decorated), so if you have children with you, then you are better off on this excursion, and if you are more interested in the White Island from the azure coast, then do not take a pirate yacht.
IN GENERAL EVALUATION OF THE EXCURSION YACHT: 5+ (EXCELLENT) or even 6 (taking into account the amount of food (namely seafood, not chicken and fish) or even 7 (taking into account that, as White Island was promised, they were taken to enjoy the beauty).
OVERVIEW - this is the second excursion that we took - 40 dollars. per person - our hotel guide (see above) promised to visit the mosque - he deceived, just looked at the mosque from the side, then the Coptic church and the museum. ADVICE FROM US: if you want to get inside the mosque - you are in the Old City / Old Market (preferably in the evening) and they let you in freely (if your clothes are open, you will be given blankets at the entrance for free). The sightseeing tour also includes a visit to the museum. I must say right away that ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING in the museum is a COPY, there is not a single genuine exhibit, although this hotel guide (see above) promised original things from the tomb of Tutankhamun.
After that, dinner (included in the price of the tour) - everything is great (we compared the prices, how much this dinner costs - about half of the cost of the tour, so it turns out that this tour is not so expensive as it seemed at first). Then we were taken to shopping - just in the middle of the desert, a store with oils and creams is 10 times more expensive than in the market. Basically, a divorce. Don't get fooled. And after that they are still being taken to one place - specifically, we were taken to Hollywood (this is a former cool entertainment center, and now there are only 3 out of 100 stores working there). Given the terrible economic situation and the number of open shops out of the total, prices here are about half of the prices in Naama Bay, so magnets (10 for 1 USD), key chains (2 for 1 USD), a golden mask (5 USD - a bottle (look ONLY in glass)) and beach bags (3 for 10 dollars) feel free to take, there is also cheap yellow tea and tea with guava (about 2 dollars per 100 grams).
OVERALL EVALUATION OF THE SIGHTSEEING TOUR: a solid 4 (GOOD), and if you are lucky with an accompanying guide (like us), then the overall rating of this excursion is 4+ (VERY GOOD).
MONASTERY OF SAINT CATHERINE and DAHAB - 50 USD. per person - this is a very good excursion (we didn’t go - it was canceled without explanation), but there were vacationers on it a little earlier, we asked them - everything coincided with what they promise when selling this excursion. The tour does NOT include climbing Mount Moses (this is a different tour), but on this one you may be lucky to get to the service in the monastery and on the way back you will be brought to the small town of Dahab - this is a diving center, everything is very beautiful, but on this tour you will NOT be offered swimming - there will be an opportunity to have a snack and buy souvenirs or jeans or towels (there prices are slightly lower for jeans, bags, cotton, etc. ).
OVERALL EVALUATION OF THE EXCURSION ST. CATHERINE MONASTERY and DAHAB: 5+ (EXCELLENT).
SEPARATELY: if you take an excursion WITH A CLIMB to Mount Moses, then, personally, I recommend it to everyone - this is an unforgettable experience (we were - see PHOTO (this is from the last trip)). Klaaaaass! Only this is not an excursion, namely: a pilgrimage and you, for one day, can turn from a tourist into a real pilgrim! IMPORTANT - take comfortable shoes (preferably boots), your flashlight (although they give out there), water, things to change (a T-shirt and a little lower) and it is advisable to take things in a backpack.
ATTENTION - VERY IMPORTANT: your Voucher number matches the insurance number (SHOULD MATCH), so when buying an excursion, CAREFULLY look at the receipt so that the CORRECT number of your Voucher is indicated, and not someone else's !!! ! ! ! !
SHOPPING - this tour is free - given the crisis in Egypt and the lack of tourists, we expected at least some respect for those who did come. But NO: sellers think that you simply HAVE to buy something from them.
Passing by a shop or store, do not try to find out the price, they won’t tell you on the street, they will drag you to the store, and there they will “load” to the fullest and promise breathtaking discounts. Moreover, if you don’t buy anything from them, they are also rude, the common phrase is “LEAVE, GLORY GOD. ” Of course, on the Naama Bay Central Street (near the Hotel) and in the NAAMA CENTER / NAAMA MALL Shopping Center (right opposite the Hotel) you can still find something NOT Chinese, and if you bargain, then come the next day, then good towels can be buy 3 pieces for 10 dollars. , and leather slippers for 3-4 dollars. , and tea at a normal price. Look at the towels carefully, their goods have been lying for a very long time (they sell towels with the inscription Sharm El Sheikh 2013) and stains, faded color, etc. are visible. Despite the crisis, they are traded very reluctantly. Therefore, if you really want to buy something, remember the BASIC RULE of shopping in Egypt: the price depends on the tan - the blacker the tan, the lower the prices!
PRICES (as the locals say "measurably", that is, approximately):
$0.00 – NO room cleaning at the Hotel
$1 or $2 per day - THERE IS room cleaning at the Hotel + toilet paper + towels + carcadilla (see PHOTO)
$0.00 - NO WI-FI at all (or SOMETIMES at the reception in the Hotel)
$5 - always have WI-FI (Vodafone SIM card)
$0.00 - 0.5 liters of water (once at the bar on the first day when checking into the Hotel)
$0.00 - water from the cooler in the hotel dining room (do not advise ... )
$0.00 - 1 beach towel (on the first day of check-in at the Hotel)
$10 - Lose your beach towel
$0.5 - Nestle water 1.5 liters (in Carrefour supermarket)
$0.5 - Lamar guava natural juice 1 liter (in Carrefour supermarket)
$ 0.5 - water 0.6 liters Aquafina (in the Carrefour supermarket)
$0.5 - Orientiy natural juice in a glass of 0.4 liters (to the left of the Hotel there is a mini-supermarket at the intersection of two Central streets)
$0.8-$1 - natural juice from the UAE and Thailand in a glass (see PHOTO) (mini-supermarket to the left of the Hotel)
$0.5 - local natural juice in cans (in shops and supermarkets)
$2 per pack (Marlboro gold cigarettes)
$2 - per pack (Winston "blue" cigarettes are too small)
$1 - per pack (their local cigarettes, menthol, like, nothing so so)
$4 - beer (local) 0.5 liters can (on the beach)
$ 1 and more - beer 0.5 liters can in stores (supermarkets)
$3 - local rum 0.5 liters in a PLASTIC bottle (well, I don't know, for the thrill-seeker... )
$42 - for 1 liter of whiskey at the local DUTY FREE (read below how to find it and why you don't have to go there)
$2 - one glass of juice (on the beach)
$2 - one glass of juice (in the Old City / Old Market)
$0.55 - one glass of sugarcane juice (only in the Old City / Old Market)
$1 - 1 kg guava
$1-$2 for one bag of strawberries (McDonald's store)
$4 - 1 kg mango
$ 2 - 1 kg melon (in a store under McDonald's)
$2.5 - 1 kg watermelon (McDonald's store)
$2.5 - seafood soup in a restaurant
$10-$15 - a set (plate) of seafood in a restaurant (do not take crabs alone - there is nothing to eat)
$2 - natural juice in a restaurant
$1 - ointment for joint pain in a pharmacy (Farmacia right behind McDonald's)
$1-$3 - sunburn oil (you can take their local one, very good)
$1-$3 face and hand creams (very good quality locally)
$2 - gold face mask in a tube (DO NOT TAKE - chemistry)
$5 - gold face mask in a small glass jar (TAKE only in glass)
$10-$15 - gold face mask in a large glass jar (TAKE only in glass)
$2 - tea per 100 grams (this is a good price)
$10 - Bedouin tea for one tourniquet of 200 grams
$2 and more - sweets per box (minimum prices in the Carrefour supermarket)
$ 1 - a jar of jam / jam 7 types: strawberries, dates, raspberries, cherries, apricots, oranges and so on (large jar - 340 grams) in glass (in Carrefour supermarket)
$0.2 - the same jam, but in small jars in glass (in the Carrefour supermarket)
$0.8 - local Shaheen coffee in a 100 gram bag (in Carrefour supermarket)
$1-$2 canned tuna 140 grams (green can - in oil, red - spicy sauce), we bought at a promotion for $0.5
$ 10 - women's bloomers "aladins" (cotton or silk), you can bargain two for 14 dollars.
$ 14 - long (full-length) women's dress
$ 5 - children's little things (and you can buy a top or bottom separately from the suit, but this is the price per piece, so the suits turn out to be $ 10, but - bargain! )
$15 - T-shirts, shorts, tunics, 100% cotton (you can bargain up to $ 8 per piece)
$20-$25 T-shirts and shorts for locals (no fashion labels, says made in Egypt) and these things are very, very hard to bargain
$3 - women's flip flops (like flip flops)
$10 - women's leather slippers (like sandals)
$15 and up - normal quality men's flip flops (flip flops)
$5 - men's leather slippers
$10 minimum - men's leather slippers (like sandals)
$10 - beach bag or canvas backpack (cheaper only in Hollywood - you can buy three for $10)
$5 - men's beret / small backpack (fake famous brands)
$10-$15 - men's beret / small backpack (leather)
$ 15 - a normal leather men's belt (like a copy of the brand), we don’t know how much the rest
$40 and up - Kanz camel leather women's bags / backpacks (we didn't like everything else) - found one store in the square (left) near the Carrefour supermarket
$40 and up - Kanz leather briefcase (initially wants $60)
$25 - ORIGINAL branded T-shirts, swimwear (3rd floor in the NAAMA CENTER / NAAMA MALL, which is opposite the Hotel) there are two stores: a stock store (Lacoste, Tommy Hilfiger, Philipp Plein) and a type of store with only Ed Hardy products
$35 (landmark) - watch (quartz) (seems like a good store to the left of the main entrance to the Carrefour supermarket)
$25 (landmark) - clock (quartz)
$50 and above - watch (sapphire crystal, mechanics - Japanese movement)
$5 - Ice watch (this is the same price in all of Egypt), we bought for $3
$15 - box for branded watches, very similar to the original (in two watch stores, see above)
$5-$10 Sunglasses (the only place where $2 glasses are the clock shop to the left of the main entrance to the Carrefour supermarket)
$ 5 and more - cases for branded glasses, very similar to the original (not available everywhere - you have to look)
$50 and more - original sunglasses of famous brands - stock store: 3rd floor (on the right hand side of the center) in the NAAMA CENTER / NAAMA MALL in front of the Hotel
$30 (reference point) - silver bracelet (many stores - great choice)
$10 - jewelry (steel) - a good shop on the left side of the NAAMA CENTER / NAAMA MALL (outside the street, almost immediately behind the ice cream parlor)
$5 - like a real good cotton towel
$ 15 - like a real good cotton towel for divers (thin, light)
$10 - three towels for $10. (so we bought)
$20 - bedspread, 100% cotton, beige, no pattern (negotiated for $8)
$31-$41 Camel Blanket in Old City/Old Market (Naama Bay traded for $17)
$3 and up - figurines made of alabaster (neatly, there are a lot of fakes made of plastic)
$1-$5 - wristbands
$1-$3 - arafatka (very few quality ones)
$18 - REAL Egyptian cotton scarf
$5-$10 - standard swimming mask
$50-$100 - non-standard swimming mask (see PHOTO)
$ 3 and more - lie down on someone else's beach (the price is per person per day, and it doesn’t matter if you come in the morning or in the evening - the price is still the same)
$5-$10 - parachute (Banderes on the beach)
$5 - banana / tortilla (Banderes on the beach)
$30 per hour - rent a motorboat (such as a sea taxi)
$7 - scuba diving 10 meters from the beach (Banderes on the beach)
$30-$60 Scuba Diving Tour
$ 7 - wetsuit rental (this is everywhere both from the official and from the partisans)
$10 - professional photo on the tour (may give a few bonuses, such as a plate or a calendar with your photo)
$0.00 - masks, fins, life jacket on a boat trip from the official
$5 - standard taxi price (for all) one way
$2 - non-standard taxi price (for all) one way
$0.00 - packing a suitcase at the airport
$500 - airport fine for coral / shell / dead turtle
So OUR SHOPPING RATING: 99.99 (and this is without a discount), well, if you consider that they are rude and pestering until the last day, then RATING: 3 (SATISFACTORY).
MONEY EXCHANGE (EXCHANGE) - everything is just cool - ATMs (ATM inscription) are poked all over Naama Bay, where you can perform basic operations on your card (like our ATMs) and there is an EXCHANGE menu (there is one EXCHANGE button on the screen at the bottom right).
For example, there is such an ATM right in front of the Hotel under the sign of the Bank and there is in the NAAMA CENTER / NAAMA MALL Shopping Center opposite the Hotel (if you go through). The instruction is very simple - an interactive screen. You are asked several times before the operation whether everything is correct and if so, the ATM makes an exchange and gives a check with your operation and exchange rates. All this is very convenient. We changed for 10 dollars, and suddenly "eat" and will not change, but there were no problems. If you do not want to contact the ATM - there is an exchanger with two LIVE Egyptians - you left the Hotel to the right, go to the very end along the main street, run into a "T" shaped intersection, to the left and after about five meters there will be an exchanger. Now ATTENTION - the dollar exchange rate in Egypt changes every day (everything was stable during our vacation: 18.05 pounds for one US dollar), but they said that there were jumps down to 14.
Again ATTENTION - in stores it is cheaper to buy everything in pounds than in dollar terms.
And one more thing - the whole life (including in stores and the exchange office) usually starts after 19-00, BUT if you walk during the day in 40-degree heat and the seller does not eat at this time, then you can buy something cheaper, than in the evening.
More about ENTERTAINMENT from the Hotel and animator Felix - there are offers of walks in nightlife (some are OUTSIDE the territory of Naama Bay), including organized trips to the disco. Price - 10 dollars. per person, including transfer from the Hotel to the disco, entrance and one cocktail and transfer back to the Hotel. What is the plus - the animator is with you from the beginning to sunset. It is very important. But then in the morning there will be no exercises - Felix was tired, Felix was drinking ...In general, he (Felix) is trying.
Felix's OVERALL RATING: a solid 4 (GOOD), and if you ask him at the bar in the Hotel to make coffee WITHOUT milk, as we asked, then the way he makes coffee WITHOUT milk FROM coffee WITH MILK, his score increases to 4+ (LUNCH) .
IN GENERAL INDEPENDENT movement around Naama Bay and Sharm El Sheikh - Your / our Hotel is located between the Embankment and the Central Street. Walking, as in my opinion, is possible only early in the morning and in the evening. If you walk along the Embankment, there will be small restaurants and cafes, both from other hotels and independent ones, but there will be NO empty seats there in the evening. But in the evening on the Embankment it’s more or less quiet and the smell of the sea and generally it’s getting dark, it’s getting dark ...
So, from the Hotel (from the reception) you will go RIGHT (see Fig.
MAP) - barchiki on both sides, Vanila ice cream cafe, STURBUCKS cafe-bar, in the middle is a fashionable place PACHA disco what is there and how, we don’t know - they weren’t), in the first lane there is a shop with expensive wine and expensive cigarettes, but with cheap local rum, then McDonald's and under it a small fruit shop, then a good pharmacy (FARMACIA) and at the very end of the street to the left (almost immediately around the corner) an exchanger and further along the way (from the sea) behind the DUTY FREE intersection (DO NOT enter) , and behind it is a good mini-supermarket (here are the cheapest cigarettes).
From the Hotel (from the reception side) you will DIRECTLY go to the other side (see MAP) - NAAMA CENTER / NAAMA MALL Shopping Center (minus the first floor - carpets, the first floor are shops and an exchanger (ATM) and the third floor is a restaurant and 3 stores of really branded things and glasses. The restaurant on the third floor is cool: you can see the whole street from above. Almost immediately behind the NAAMA CENTER / NAAMA MALL there is a HARD ROCK cafe.
Well, you will go to the LEFT from the Hotel (from the reception) (see photo).
MAP) - you will go out to another Central Street along which there are shops and good bars with a program (magicians, dances and, attention, there is WI-FI). By the way, there is NO WI-FI in any store where we were and restaurants. This street ends at the taxi stand. Here you can take a taxi, for example, to the Old Town / Old Market. First they want 5 dollars. , we bargained for 3 dollars. , our neighbors in the Hotel rode for 2 dollars. (these prices are NOT per person, but ONLY for the trip). A huge disadvantage of traveling in a taxi is the volume of music and the speed of movement. Knowing this, before starting the journey, we promised the taxi driver a bonus of $ 1 and he drove, gritting his teeth (tormented), but all the time within 60 km per hour. Here you can wait for public transport / bus and get there, but cheaper. You arrive at the Old City / Old Market stop - everyone is let out in front of the Central Square (there is a new mosque) - they opened just a couple of months ago.
You will not pass - the building is very high, everything is illuminated. There is a police post at this stop (there are 4-5 policemen at all times). Opposite is a taxi and bus stop. In general, calmly. Back there, you don’t have to go anywhere - taxi drivers stop by themselves and you can be picked up and returned back to Naama Bay. In the Old City around the mosque there are shops and rude sellers. If you look at the mosque, then to the right of it there are 2 (two) street bars with jus (1 dollar citrus juice or 10 pounds sugar cane juice), by the way, this is the only place where you can drink sugar cane juice. Also in the Old Town / Old Market there are restaurants where fresh fish and seafood lie at the entrance, and in front of your astonished eyes they can cook it all, what you show. The price for dinner will be around 25 dollars. for two (soup about 50 pounds, a set plate of seafood for 185-200 pounds, juice 35-50 pounds).
Also, on the right hand side of the mosque, there is a restaurant / disco with a show program. BE WARNED - the cost of the music / show program and service is INCLUDED IN THE PRICE of your order (plus about 40% of the bill), so ice cream and coffee can cost you $ 40, like my friends. Prices in the Old Town / Old Market are higher than in Naama Bay, although EVERYONE will tell you that bags and leather are CHEAPER there, but this is NOT true! And the choice in Naama Bay is better.
You can also safely walk around the entire territory of Naama Bay on your own - we saw that the police are following suspicious individuals. We did NOT hear any talk of robberies or anything like that. But the sellers in the stores behave simply boorishly, at least call the police, by the way, if you can scare them with this - TOURIST POLICE.
And yet, if you are strongly pestered, you can say “HALAS” - it means “ENOUGH” (it's easy to remember from ours in response to how are you? - khalaso ... ).
95 pounds (by the way, this juice in a glass is from a mango or a peach - the peach tastes better). Here cigarettes are also cheaper, but the choice is small.
SPICES / TEA - if you go THROUGH the Carrefour supermarket and go up from the minus the first floor to the surface along the non-working escalator (path), then going outside on the opposite side on the left hand right under the store (with a Duty free sign on the second floor) there will be a shop with teas and so on - it seems to us that this is one of the shops where it seems that the price / quality and a sane seller.
ANY OTHER useful product like Abidas and Roleh and so on - there are a lot of fakes and at the same time of low quality. If you walk from the Carrefour supermarket back towards the Hotel along the parallel Central street (see photo).
MAP), then there will be such a mini square in the middle with a fountain that does not work, and on the left side there is the only store with original Egyptian camel leather products from KANZ, but here the prices for everything are from 50 dollars. If you are looking for any copies (bags, watches, belts, etc. ) at an affordable price, it is best to look for them in the NAAMA CENTER / NAAMA MALL shopping center opposite the Hotel, and there are also stock stores (that is, original things, such as , on the 3rd floor, a glasses store, about $ 50. This is a good price for the original).
Now - everyone is bargaining (there are few tourists and discounts can be knocked out really real). At the same time, sellers simply put you in front of the fact that they have a crisis and let's buy.
COTTON and TOWELS - it feels like it should all be, but instead a bunch of junk from China and some faded, stale towels and bedspreads from previous years, and in all stores the same thing. There are no white towels at all.
I see they have a problem with towels in general ...They covered all hard two colors (turquoise and pink), without drawings. There is no bed at all. Lots of synthetics. For cotton they want from 5 dollars. and higher. We decided to tell EVERYONE that in Egypt there is an unshakable rule: 3 (three) towels for 10 (ten) dollars. We made it. Bought. Not far from the Hotel to the right, behind McDonald's there is a 2-storey house, a sign "World of Cotton" (they read that this is an official store from factories), but somehow it is "thin" and there are doubts that the store is not from factories, but from some warehouses of unsold items ...
If you go along the parallel street (lane) of the Central Street from the square, which is near the Carrefour supermarket, towards the Hotel (see MAP), on your left hand, approximately in the middle of this street, there will be an exhibition of hookahs, followed by a bag store in the direction of travel (always all for 10 dollars.
DUTY FREE in Naama Bay is NOT a DUTY FREE store at all - it's just the name of the store "DUTY FREE", something like the name "Pearl Necklace" does not mean at all that this is a pearl necklace, but just such a name ....Prices in this store is about 3 times higher than at home. For some light drinks, the price is 5 times higher. It is located there, as indicated on the MAP, it is better not to go during the day - the store is almost always closed during the day: the seller eats ...
GENERAL ASSESSMENT of a store with the name DUTY FREE: just a scam (DO NOT BE FUCKED). Take everything with you, like us.
Departure back - the day before departure at the reception there will be a list with full name and flight number. Now, more often than before, it is necessary to specify not only the time of departure, but also the date. Until recently, we had no departure - the airport in Odessa was closed for arrival. But no one began to renew and we were stuffed into the plane.
There are new rules at the airport - everyone is scammed 4 times. Girls separately, boys separately.
They check several times after checking in the luggage. Take off shoes. Take off the clock. Show chains around your neck. Selfie stick (if you liked it) can be taken away. A lighter in his pocket - the man was taken away. On the one hand, this is good: you can’t carry anything superfluous onto the plane, but, on the other hand, NO ONE told us about it or warned us, so we will tell EVERYONE:
If there are few tourists from the Hotel, then not a bus, but a minibus will be served, then your things will go on the roof of this small bus (minibus), so you will be given light suitcases with you to the salon (so that they are not blown off the roof).
Our Hotel is located 15 minutes from the airport - the ride is generally unnoticed.
At the airport, the guide from the bus will say goodbye to you and tell you to just go ahead.
There are NO carts.
There will be carts near the bus, but it's NOT free - it's for money (it's okay: there is ONLY 10-20 meters to go from the bus to the line - we were brought right to the entrance, apparently so that they would not run away and return to their hotels (NOBODY WANTED LEAVE)).
There are two queues at the entrance and there is a service out of turn (the green corridor - we don’t know how much it costs). Here, for the first time, go through the detector and take off everything (except clothes) and go on to the main hall. Find a flight and near the queue, an airport employee will absolutely FREE OF CHARGE pack your suitcase in cling film with your hands (like a chicken twirls, you can probably better pack it yourself before leaving in the Hotel room). Everything is weighed on the scales, both luggage and hand luggage - on our flight, for some reason, the weight was not per person but per couple: max 20 kg per suitcase for each - a total of 40 kg, but hand luggage for some reason not for everyone, but for two only 9 kg , total for some reason for two you can only 49 kg.
It’s somehow strange, logically, there should be 20 kg luggage for one person and 9 kg hand luggage (that is, 29 kg each) and, accordingly, a total of about 58 kg for two people, but for us this is important: there are 2 suitcases in total 21 kg, and back the same suitcases (minus booze), but plus souvenirs (31 kg) = 49.5 kg in total! Well, okay ...Right there, when you check in for the flight, you are given cards (the same ones that were filled out upon arrival) - but there are NO free pens (prepare IN ADVANCE), but these cards must be filled out again (by yourself) and forward to passport control. They don’t cheat here yet, but after that they again scoff: GIVE WATER HERE, what’s in sneakers, what’s around your neck, what’s in a bag, etc. and here the boys are on the right, the girls are on the left. After that, those who do not like it - to the detector / trap - such a device is worth it. AND AFTER ALL THIS, if THEY don't like something, ONE AGAIN check of hand luggage. And here personal belongings can be taken away… We didn't give anything away! Then down the escalator and waiting.
Shmon, oh, sorry, the inspection took us almost 2 (two) hours TOTAL!
By the way, as soon as you go downstairs, it is not necessary to stand in a huge queue for the toilet on the FIRST floor - on the SECOND floor there is exactly the same one without a queue (the escalator works and there are signs).
Smoking immediately to the right as they went down, but the prices in the bar in the smoking room mama mia: wine 150 grams for 6 dollars. , of course, we are immediately in DUTY FREE (see below).
DUTY FREE at the airport - everything is very simple: arithmetic - you take the price of the most expensive DUTY FREE in the World and multiply the prices by 3, then you write that the discount is 10% and you tell eared fraers that we have a crisis and let's buy and therefore the prices are just space: whiskey 42 dollars , lip gloss min 24 USD BTW, there is NOT a single store / stall with souvenirs, magnets, silver, towels, postcards, bracelets, hookahs, tea and so on at the airport, only 2 DUTY FREE stores and one tray with faded watches (probably taken in the same warehouse, where are the towels... ).
They don’t feed you back either (before leaving, ask the Hotel for a dry breakfast - they gave us, although they said that it was their first time).
That's basically it...
And it's good at home!
HOTEL - first about the good: the location of the Hotel is IDEAL. On the one hand - the Central street of Naama Bay, all the shops, entertainment centers, disco, shopping centers, supermarkets, in short, the whole life. On the other hand - access to a private beach (SAND).
SEE PHOTO - MAP (look for number 72 (you are here)).
By the way, we gave a color copy of this map to the Hotel, so ask for a copy upon arrival at the reception or from the director of the Hotel Mohammed, exactly like this: “Slava and Anya from Odessa gave your Hotel a map of where, what is located - so please give us a FREE copy / photocopier of this card. ".
OVERALL CARD RATE: 7 stars (SUPER USEFUL).
IMPORTANT - at the very beginning of your vacation, make copies of your passports and vouchers (all this can be done at home and put in things SEPARATELY from passports), and upon arrival at the Hotel, leave all valuables in the safe (including passports and money), and copies take your passports with you, if they steal your bag, then only with a copy of your passport and the money you took for the day. If there is no safe in the room, tell us and they will bring it to you FREE OF CHARGE.
SECURITY - there are police everywhere and people in civilian clothes with weapons walk around. Look at the MAP for the location of police posts (in reality there are always 3-4 police officers there). When leaving the Naama Bay area, no one will tell you anything, and upon returning, 99% will be asked to show the contents of the bag and, possibly, will ask for a voucher (although we were asked only once). The voucher is the only document that you have the right to enter the territory of Naama Bay.
OVERALL SAFETY RATING: solid 5 (EXCELLENT).
The BEACH is generally a separate issue - SANDY (not coral), you calmly go into the water, the coast is shallow, the bottom is flat, you swim (10-15 meters) to beautiful corals with fish. The water is more transparent. Fish are unmeasured. In the morning (at about 6-7 am) it is easier to photograph the fish, but it is BETTER NOT to swim at this time - there are poisonous fish and tuna hunts. On the beach of the Hotel there is YOUR coral reef and 2 (two) more on the neighboring beach (after 15 meters, there is a landmark - there is a CHAIR AT THE BOTTOM). The beach is cleaned and the same manager is constantly working, his name is Tata (this is an employee of the Hotel) and there is also a local Banderas (he has a nameplate from the Hotel on his hand, but as we understand, he has nothing to do with the Hotel). What is inconvenient - there is NO bar from the Hotel on the beach, it was rented out, so there are NO freebies on the beach. Beer for 4 dollars. , we don’t know the rest, there seems to be no food, but there are fresh juices (they really squeeze fruits / citruses) for 2 dollars.
And there are a couple of moments along the beach, namely: next to the BERTH for boats and in calm weather, the aroma of gasoline is quite acute, the sun loungers are “tired”, it is very uncomfortable to lie down, since the mattress is NOT provided at all - well, they don’t have mattresses ...Therefore come early and drag pillows from the chairs from the bar - it will be much more comfortable to lie on the sun loungers. True, after dinner they (pillows) can be stolen by your neighbors who will not go to dinner (hehehe).
In addition, the local population is allowed to the beach for an additional fee. Therefore, there are more local Egyptians on the beach than tourists.
And on the beach, the Egyptians will constantly ask you to take pictures with them, on the one hand, this is a local flavor, and on the other hand, besides the fact that you feel like a monkey in front of the photographer, you can still be distracted while photographing and you will be on one beach smaller bag...
By the way, take towels for the beach on the day of your arrival at the Hotel, while they give it, otherwise you go and ask, and every time they tell you after five minutes and they don’t give it. In general, we took bedding with us from home and explained to other vacationers the whole vacation that they don’t give such in the Hotel and they don’t sell them in shops on the street and in general our bedding is from different countries!
A massage therapist is constantly working on the beach - we don’t know the exact prices, but there is something without hands for 10 dollars. , and with other parts of the body (full contact), something like 15 dollars.
Also at the entrance there is a master of tattoos and drawings from henna Fatima. Prices from 3 dollars. and higher. The name on the hand / finger in Arabic script costs at least $ 1. And she really wants everyone to do real tattoos. She speaks English very badly, she doesn’t understand anything in Russian, so before starting a drawing lesson (Fine art in the old way), make sure that she understands you correctly.
In fact, she is a great master, so if instead of a tiger or an elephant (due to a misunderstanding) she draws an ornament like on a carpet, or some local living creature, the drawing will still be very stylish and clear.
GENERAL BEACH RATING: almost 5 (EXCELLENT) if you took pillows from a bar chair under your ass and lay down away from the locals and if there is wind and does not stink of exhaust from all boats and boats and boats and so on.
The POOL on the territory of the Hotel is sufficient for the number of guests and it is cleaned several times a day - it is always clean, but again there are no mattresses ...The bar, which is on the territory of the Hotel, of course, near the pool, but for some reason you have to carry drinks from the bar to the pool yourself. We didn’t swim in the pool, but why, because there are pools everywhere, and the Red Sea is one! There is also a speaker / amplifier near the pool, so you will hear the music well, even very well, even if you don’t want to, but you still will.
OVERALL POOL RATING: 5 (or almost 5 (EXCELLENT)).
ROOMS - very, very "tired". The hotel has not been renovated for 100 or 150 years, the furniture is a bit old, the rooms are not well maintained, the curtains open, but can be opened in parts (the seam diverges), there are spots of absolutely incomprehensible origin on the walls and, attention, on the ceiling. When you check in, immediately check the cleanliness of bed linen. The bed is often not changed after previous tourists. Immediately demand towels and toilet paper, otherwise for three days the staff will tell you “okay, in 5 minutes” and disappear for the whole day, and tomorrow the story repeats itself and the day after tomorrow too, so don’t delay. When you check in, you are given a bottle of water (0.5 liters), demand immediately at the bar in the Hotel (near the reception), then do not interrogate. IMPORTANT: You will be told not to throw away the empty bottle, but during your stay in the hotel dining room, fill it with drinking water.
DO NOT LISTEN: the water in the cooler is not potable, it is drawn from a regular faucet. The bar is open from 10 am to 10 pm. To be honest, we only drank coffee and sprite at the bar, since the local rum in a dirty PLASTIC bottle costs 3 (three) dollars. for half a liter caused great doubts about the quality. Room cleaning is practically non-existent. We need to catch the staff and demand cleaning. But, if you immediately agree with the cleaner for 1 dollar a day, or better for two, then you will have cleaning, towels, and toiletries every day without additional nerves!
GENERAL RATING OF THE ROOM: 3- or 2+ (SOMETHING THEY HAVE NOT FINISHED HERE).
FOOD - in the Hotel more, more than modest and too monotonous. Morning uneaten mashed potatoes are seasoned with slices of sausage and feta for lunch, calling it a salad, which again turns into a grated side dish in the evening.
There is always a shortage of vegetable salads, fish and meat, but if you have time, in addition, the chef SAM distributes only a piece. Fruits for the week were only 2 times: toooooooooo slices of oranges and sooooooooooooooooooooo slices of guava. But food is not a problem! ! ! The most important thing is to get cutlery. The plates are almost all broken and they are sorely lacking, as well as forks. Therefore, even if there is still food left, you simply have nowhere to put it and nothing to eat. We had to wait 2 times for someone to eat, they will wash his dishes and give us a clean plate and fork ...Although the food is delicious.
So every morning in the Hotel starts with a battle for a plate and a fork, then a cleaning war to get a towel, then you literally beg to set up a router to get at least some internet. Please note that WI-FI is available only at the reception, and sometimes in the morning, sometimes in the evening.
ONCE AGAIN: WI-FI is ONLY at the reception and WI-FI, of course, is NOT in the rooms. The staff shrugs their shoulders in surprise, saying: "...it's strange, but it works for me ... ". Trust me, nothing works. Therefore, on the first day upon arrival, in order not to waste your nerves, you simply buy for $ 5. SIM card (Vodafone) and you have a connection. All this is sold on the street from the reception (three shops).
OVERALL WI-FI AND FOOD RATING: 2, well 2+, and without a plug at all 1 (RADER BAD).
The STAFF at the Hotel is terribly lazy. Only one girl, Anya, understands Russian (very good, polite - well done), all the rest do not understand either Russian or English, they do not understand anything except basic things. The only exception is the director of the Hotel Mohammed - he knows English, but he does not speak Russian well. Another character "linguist" is the animator Felix (this one knows English quite well), but SIMULTANEOUSLY speaks Russian, English and 2-3 words in Ukrainian.
As for the HOTEL - a compact area and a convenient location. Once he was more than excellent. BUT the laziness of the staff, the lack of repair - did their job. It's a shame...
GENERAL CONCLUSION on the HOTEL - if you are ready from the first day to defend your rights to toilet paper and cleaning, you are not embarrassed by tired furniture and a little chipped dishes in the canteen, but, at the same time, on the one hand, SANDY beach with its CORAL, and on the other On the side of the Hotel there is a CENTRAL STREET with bars and shops, then this is the Hotel for you, and if you want to buy a ticket cheaper, thinking that it is 4 * and there is WI-FI in all rooms and you can drink water from coolers, then you are in this The hotel is better not to go.
OVERALL RATING OF THE HOTEL: 3+ (maybe even just 3 (SATISFACTORY)).
GUIDE AT THE HOTEL - oh, this is a separate issue! Anekstur's hotel guide is Ahmed (full name AHMED ZARIF ABDEL KARIM).
I specifically write this: a hotel guide, and not a guide at the Hotel - this is a person who lies, wastes your time, does not help in any way. At the meeting, not a word about the Hotel, the rules and everything important, which the guides usually talk about. From this friend (and he is NOT my friend) only information about how cool he is (for 40 minutes), then for another hour he will sell you a trip to Israel. He is very nervous when you try to clarify something with him, does not answer questions, starts to swear! Can you imagine? ! ! You have just settled down and the one who at the beginning of the conversation promises to help you if someone swears at you begins to swear at you! Here is such a type. At the same time, he promises to solve problems in the Hotel - in fact, he does not solve ANYTHING. After 2 hours of stories about him beautiful, we bought 3 (three) excursions from him. Before each excursion, he needs to call, specify what time the departure is, he never knows, you have to call back again, ask.
Moreover, before the last excursion there was an unpleasant incident, namely: we call him for hours at 9 pm and then it turns out that there will be no excursion tomorrow, come, he says tomorrow at 11 am, you will choose another one. I answer him - it doesn’t fit, I’m flying out the day after tomorrow at 4 in the morning - return the money. And then the circus began: he has no money, he will return it only in a day and all sorts of nonsense. Naturally, I start to get nervous, how in a day, I'm leaving, to whom will I return it? After 20 minutes of negotiations, we agreed that he would return the money to us, but tomorrow. We received no apology or explanation from him. We were glad that the money was returned, I didn’t want to contact him anymore.
In general, this hotel guide is a rare boor and a deceiver, why he works in a company is not at all clear (at the same time, before departure, we read reviews about the Hotel and the guys had the same story, that is, we were somehow ready to meet this type , but the fact that he did not want to return our money to us - that's all! ).
OVERALL RATING OF THE HOTEL GUIDE: banana (ZERO).
EXCURSIONS - prices for excursions in Egypt have increased significantly. We decided NOT to risk and NOT to buy excursions on the street and from beach barkers. The situation in Egypt is unstable, terrorist attacks and the like, so they wanted to be sure of the operator. Prices for official and street operators differ significantly, for example, Jordan at an official costs $ 350. , on the street - 200 dollars.
per person - we went on a huge ship (a yacht ala on sails, but goes on a motor): 3 (three) stops, 2 (two) swimming, while masks and fins are free, awesome corals are taken to the Ras Mohamed reserve (and not Tiran Island, where the guys from the beach take it cheaper) and one stop in the most beautiful place - the White Island - beautiful white sand, turquoise sea, extraordinary beauty. The food was excellent on the yacht - for lunch, squid soup with shrimp, fried fish, huge shrimp, in general, a great trip. And more importantly, certified divers who are with you all the time in the water and help, and everything is ok. There is also a similar excursion, but with a pirate show - the yacht is called the "Black Pearl" (very well decorated), so if you have children with you, then you are better off on this excursion, and if you are more interested in the White Island from the azure coast, then do not take a pirate yacht.
IN GENERAL EVALUATION OF THE EXCURSION YACHT: 5+ (EXCELLENT) or even 6 (taking into account the amount of food (namely seafood, not chicken and fish) or even 7 (taking into account that, as White Island was promised, they were taken to enjoy the beauty).
OVERVIEW - this is the second excursion that we took - 40 dollars. per person - our hotel guide (see above) promised to visit the mosque - he deceived, just looked at the mosque from the side, then the Coptic church and the museum. ADVICE FROM US: if you want to get inside the mosque - you are in the Old City / Old Market (preferably in the evening) and they let you in freely (if your clothes are open, you will be given blankets at the entrance for free). The sightseeing tour also includes a visit to the museum. I must say right away that ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING in the museum is a COPY, there is not a single genuine exhibit, although this hotel guide (see above) promised original things from the tomb of Tutankhamun.
After that, dinner (included in the price of the tour) - everything is great (we compared the prices, how much this dinner costs - about half of the cost of the tour, so it turns out that this tour is not so expensive as it seemed at first). Then we were taken to shopping - just in the middle of the desert, a store with oils and creams is 10 times more expensive than in the market. Basically, a divorce. Don't get fooled. And after that they are still being taken to one place - specifically, we were taken to Hollywood (this is a former cool entertainment center, and now there are only 3 out of 100 stores working there). Given the terrible economic situation and the number of open shops out of the total, prices here are about half of the prices in Naama Bay, so magnets (10 for 1 USD), key chains (2 for 1 USD), a golden mask (5 USD - a bottle (look ONLY in glass)) and beach bags (3 for 10 dollars) feel free to take, there is also cheap yellow tea and tea with guava (about 2 dollars per 100 grams).
OVERALL EVALUATION OF THE SIGHTSEEING TOUR: a solid 4 (GOOD), and if you are lucky with an accompanying guide (like us), then the overall rating of this excursion is 4+ (VERY GOOD).
MONASTERY OF SAINT CATHERINE and DAHAB - 50 USD. per person - this is a very good excursion (we didn’t go - it was canceled without explanation), but there were vacationers on it a little earlier, we asked them - everything coincided with what they promise when selling this excursion. The tour does NOT include climbing Mount Moses (this is a different tour), but on this one you may be lucky to get to the service in the monastery and on the way back you will be brought to the small town of Dahab - this is a diving center, everything is very beautiful, but on this tour you will NOT be offered swimming - there will be an opportunity to have a snack and buy souvenirs or jeans or towels (there prices are slightly lower for jeans, bags, cotton, etc. ).
OVERALL EVALUATION OF THE EXCURSION ST. CATHERINE MONASTERY and DAHAB: 5+ (EXCELLENT).
SEPARATELY: if you take an excursion WITH A CLIMB to Mount Moses, then, personally, I recommend it to everyone - this is an unforgettable experience (we were - see PHOTO (this is from the last trip)). Klaaaaass! Only this is not an excursion, namely: a pilgrimage and you, for one day, can turn from a tourist into a real pilgrim! IMPORTANT - take comfortable shoes (preferably boots), your flashlight (although they give out there), water, things to change (a T-shirt and a little lower) and it is advisable to take things in a backpack.
ATTENTION - VERY IMPORTANT: your Voucher number matches the insurance number (SHOULD MATCH), so when buying an excursion, CAREFULLY look at the receipt so that the CORRECT number of your Voucher is indicated, and not someone else's !!! ! ! ! !
SHOPPING - this tour is free - given the crisis in Egypt and the lack of tourists, we expected at least some respect for those who did come. But NO: sellers think that you simply HAVE to buy something from them.
Passing by a shop or store, do not try to find out the price, they won’t tell you on the street, they will drag you to the store, and there they will “load” to the fullest and promise breathtaking discounts. Moreover, if you don’t buy anything from them, they are also rude, the common phrase is “LEAVE, GLORY GOD. ” Of course, on the Naama Bay Central Street (near the Hotel) and in the NAAMA CENTER / NAAMA MALL Shopping Center (right opposite the Hotel) you can still find something NOT Chinese, and if you bargain, then come the next day, then good towels can be buy 3 pieces for 10 dollars. , and leather slippers for 3-4 dollars. , and tea at a normal price. Look at the towels carefully, their goods have been lying for a very long time (they sell towels with the inscription Sharm El Sheikh 2013) and stains, faded color, etc. are visible. Despite the crisis, they are traded very reluctantly. Therefore, if you really want to buy something, remember the BASIC RULE of shopping in Egypt: the price depends on the tan - the blacker the tan, the lower the prices!
PRICES (as the locals say "measurably", that is, approximately):
$0.00 – NO room cleaning at the Hotel
$1 or $2 per day - THERE IS room cleaning at the Hotel + toilet paper + towels + carcadilla (see PHOTO)
$0.00 - NO WI-FI at all (or SOMETIMES at the reception in the Hotel)
$5 - always have WI-FI (Vodafone SIM card)
$0.00 - 0.5 liters of water (once at the bar on the first day when checking into the Hotel)
$0.00 - water from the cooler in the hotel dining room (do not advise ... )
$0.00 - 1 beach towel (on the first day of check-in at the Hotel)
$10 - Lose your beach towel
$0.5 - Nestle water 1.5 liters (in Carrefour supermarket)
$0.5 - Lamar guava natural juice 1 liter (in Carrefour supermarket)
$ 0.5 - water 0.6 liters Aquafina (in the Carrefour supermarket)
$0.5 - Orientiy natural juice in a glass of 0.4 liters (to the left of the Hotel there is a mini-supermarket at the intersection of two Central streets)
$0.8-$1 - natural juice from the UAE and Thailand in a glass (see PHOTO) (mini-supermarket to the left of the Hotel)
$0.5 - local natural juice in cans (in shops and supermarkets)
$2 per pack (Marlboro gold cigarettes)
$2 - per pack (Winston "blue" cigarettes are too small)
$1 - per pack (their local cigarettes, menthol, like, nothing so so)
$4 - beer (local) 0.5 liters can (on the beach)
$ 1 and more - beer 0.5 liters can in stores (supermarkets)
$3 - local rum 0.5 liters in a PLASTIC bottle (well, I don't know, for the thrill-seeker... )
$42 - for 1 liter of whiskey at the local DUTY FREE (read below how to find it and why you don't have to go there)
$2 - one glass of juice (on the beach)
$2 - one glass of juice (in the Old City / Old Market)
$0.55 - one glass of sugarcane juice (only in the Old City / Old Market)
$1 - 1 kg guava
$1-$2 for one bag of strawberries (McDonald's store)
$4 - 1 kg mango
$ 2 - 1 kg melon (in a store under McDonald's)
$2.5 - 1 kg watermelon (McDonald's store)
$2.5 - seafood soup in a restaurant
$10-$15 - a set (plate) of seafood in a restaurant (do not take crabs alone - there is nothing to eat)
$2 - natural juice in a restaurant
$1 - ointment for joint pain in a pharmacy (Farmacia right behind McDonald's)
$1-$3 - sunburn oil (you can take their local one, very good)
$1-$3 face and hand creams (very good quality locally)
$2 - gold face mask in a tube (DO NOT TAKE - chemistry)
$5 - gold face mask in a small glass jar (TAKE only in glass)
$10-$15 - gold face mask in a large glass jar (TAKE only in glass)
$2 - tea per 100 grams (this is a good price)
$10 - Bedouin tea for one tourniquet of 200 grams
$2 and more - sweets per box (minimum prices in the Carrefour supermarket)
$ 1 - a jar of jam / jam 7 types: strawberries, dates, raspberries, cherries, apricots, oranges and so on (large jar - 340 grams) in glass (in Carrefour supermarket)
$0.2 - the same jam, but in small jars in glass (in the Carrefour supermarket)
$0.8 - local Shaheen coffee in a 100 gram bag (in Carrefour supermarket)
$1-$2 canned tuna 140 grams (green can - in oil, red - spicy sauce), we bought at a promotion for $0.5
$ 10 - women's bloomers "aladins" (cotton or silk), you can bargain two for 14 dollars.
$ 14 - long (full-length) women's dress
$ 5 - children's little things (and you can buy a top or bottom separately from the suit, but this is the price per piece, so the suits turn out to be $ 10, but - bargain! )
$15 - T-shirts, shorts, tunics, 100% cotton (you can bargain up to $ 8 per piece)
$20-$25 T-shirts and shorts for locals (no fashion labels, says made in Egypt) and these things are very, very hard to bargain
$3 - women's flip flops (like flip flops)
$10 - women's leather slippers (like sandals)
$15 and up - normal quality men's flip flops (flip flops)
$5 - men's leather slippers
$10 minimum - men's leather slippers (like sandals)
$10 - beach bag or canvas backpack (cheaper only in Hollywood - you can buy three for $10)
$5 - men's beret / small backpack (fake famous brands)
$10-$15 - men's beret / small backpack (leather)
$ 15 - a normal leather men's belt (like a copy of the brand), we don’t know how much the rest
$40 and up - Kanz camel leather women's bags / backpacks (we didn't like everything else) - found one store in the square (left) near the Carrefour supermarket
$40 and up - Kanz leather briefcase (initially wants $60)
$25 - ORIGINAL branded T-shirts, swimwear (3rd floor in the NAAMA CENTER / NAAMA MALL, which is opposite the Hotel) there are two stores: a stock store (Lacoste, Tommy Hilfiger, Philipp Plein) and a type of store with only Ed Hardy products
$35 (landmark) - watch (quartz) (seems like a good store to the left of the main entrance to the Carrefour supermarket)
$25 (landmark) - clock (quartz)
$50 and above - watch (sapphire crystal, mechanics - Japanese movement)
$5 - Ice watch (this is the same price in all of Egypt), we bought for $3
$15 - box for branded watches, very similar to the original (in two watch stores, see above)
$5-$10 Sunglasses (the only place where $2 glasses are the clock shop to the left of the main entrance to the Carrefour supermarket)
$ 5 and more - cases for branded glasses, very similar to the original (not available everywhere - you have to look)
$50 and more - original sunglasses of famous brands - stock store: 3rd floor (on the right hand side of the center) in the NAAMA CENTER / NAAMA MALL in front of the Hotel
$30 (reference point) - silver bracelet (many stores - great choice)
$10 - jewelry (steel) - a good shop on the left side of the NAAMA CENTER / NAAMA MALL (outside the street, almost immediately behind the ice cream parlor)
$5 - like a real good cotton towel
$ 15 - like a real good cotton towel for divers (thin, light)
$10 - three towels for $10. (so we bought)
$20 - bedspread, 100% cotton, beige, no pattern (negotiated for $8)
$31-$41 Camel Blanket in Old City/Old Market (Naama Bay traded for $17)
$3 and up - figurines made of alabaster (neatly, there are a lot of fakes made of plastic)
$1-$5 - wristbands
$1-$3 - arafatka (very few quality ones)
$18 - REAL Egyptian cotton scarf
$5-$10 - standard swimming mask
$50-$100 - non-standard swimming mask (see PHOTO)
$ 3 and more - lie down on someone else's beach (the price is per person per day, and it doesn’t matter if you come in the morning or in the evening - the price is still the same)
$5-$10 - parachute (Banderes on the beach)
$5 - banana / tortilla (Banderes on the beach)
$30 per hour - rent a motorboat (such as a sea taxi)
$7 - scuba diving 10 meters from the beach (Banderes on the beach)
$30-$60 Scuba Diving Tour
$ 7 - wetsuit rental (this is everywhere both from the official and from the partisans)
$10 - professional photo on the tour (may give a few bonuses, such as a plate or a calendar with your photo)
$0.00 - masks, fins, life jacket on a boat trip from the official
$5 - standard taxi price (for all) one way
$2 - non-standard taxi price (for all) one way
$0.00 - packing a suitcase at the airport
$500 - airport fine for coral / shell / dead turtle
So OUR SHOPPING RATING: 99.99 (and this is without a discount), well, if you consider that they are rude and pestering until the last day, then RATING: 3 (SATISFACTORY).
MONEY EXCHANGE (EXCHANGE) - everything is just cool - ATMs (ATM inscription) are poked all over Naama Bay, where you can perform basic operations on your card (like our ATMs) and there is an EXCHANGE menu (there is one EXCHANGE button on the screen at the bottom right).
For example, there is such an ATM right in front of the Hotel under the sign of the Bank and there is in the NAAMA CENTER / NAAMA MALL Shopping Center opposite the Hotel (if you go through). The instruction is very simple - an interactive screen. You are asked several times before the operation whether everything is correct and if so, the ATM makes an exchange and gives a check with your operation and exchange rates. All this is very convenient. We changed for 10 dollars, and suddenly "eat" and will not change, but there were no problems. If you do not want to contact the ATM - there is an exchanger with two LIVE Egyptians - you left the Hotel to the right, go to the very end along the main street, run into a "T" shaped intersection, to the left and after about five meters there will be an exchanger. Now ATTENTION - the dollar exchange rate in Egypt changes every day (everything was stable during our vacation: 18.05 pounds for one US dollar), but they said that there were jumps down to 14.
Again ATTENTION - in stores it is cheaper to buy everything in pounds than in dollar terms.
And one more thing - the whole life (including in stores and the exchange office) usually starts after 19-00, BUT if you walk during the day in 40-degree heat and the seller does not eat at this time, then you can buy something cheaper, than in the evening.
More about ENTERTAINMENT from the Hotel and animator Felix - there are offers of walks in nightlife (some are OUTSIDE the territory of Naama Bay), including organized trips to the disco. Price - 10 dollars. per person, including transfer from the Hotel to the disco, entrance and one cocktail and transfer back to the Hotel. What is the plus - the animator is with you from the beginning to sunset. It is very important. But then in the morning there will be no exercises - Felix was tired, Felix was drinking ...In general, he (Felix) is trying.
Felix's OVERALL RATING: a solid 4 (GOOD), and if you ask him at the bar in the Hotel to make coffee WITHOUT milk, as we asked, then the way he makes coffee WITHOUT milk FROM coffee WITH MILK, his score increases to 4+ (LUNCH) .
IN GENERAL INDEPENDENT movement around Naama Bay and Sharm El Sheikh - Your / our Hotel is located between the Embankment and the Central Street. Walking, as in my opinion, is possible only early in the morning and in the evening. If you walk along the Embankment, there will be small restaurants and cafes, both from other hotels and independent ones, but there will be NO empty seats there in the evening. But in the evening on the Embankment it’s more or less quiet and the smell of the sea and generally it’s getting dark, it’s getting dark ...
So, from the Hotel (from the reception) you will go RIGHT (see Fig.
MAP) - barchiki on both sides, Vanila ice cream cafe, STURBUCKS cafe-bar, in the middle is a fashionable place PACHA disco what is there and how, we don’t know - they weren’t), in the first lane there is a shop with expensive wine and expensive cigarettes, but with cheap local rum, then McDonald's and under it a small fruit shop, then a good pharmacy (FARMACIA) and at the very end of the street to the left (almost immediately around the corner) an exchanger and further along the way (from the sea) behind the DUTY FREE intersection (DO NOT enter) , and behind it is a good mini-supermarket (here are the cheapest cigarettes).
From the Hotel (from the reception side) you will DIRECTLY go to the other side (see MAP) - NAAMA CENTER / NAAMA MALL Shopping Center (minus the first floor - carpets, the first floor are shops and an exchanger (ATM) and the third floor is a restaurant and 3 stores of really branded things and glasses. The restaurant on the third floor is cool: you can see the whole street from above. Almost immediately behind the NAAMA CENTER / NAAMA MALL there is a HARD ROCK cafe.
Well, you will go to the LEFT from the Hotel (from the reception) (see photo).
MAP) - you will go out to another Central Street along which there are shops and good bars with a program (magicians, dances and, attention, there is WI-FI). By the way, there is NO WI-FI in any store where we were and restaurants. This street ends at the taxi stand. Here you can take a taxi, for example, to the Old Town / Old Market. First they want 5 dollars. , we bargained for 3 dollars. , our neighbors in the Hotel rode for 2 dollars. (these prices are NOT per person, but ONLY for the trip). A huge disadvantage of traveling in a taxi is the volume of music and the speed of movement. Knowing this, before starting the journey, we promised the taxi driver a bonus of $ 1 and he drove, gritting his teeth (tormented), but all the time within 60 km per hour. Here you can wait for public transport / bus and get there, but cheaper. You arrive at the Old City / Old Market stop - everyone is let out in front of the Central Square (there is a new mosque) - they opened just a couple of months ago.
You will not pass - the building is very high, everything is illuminated. There is a police post at this stop (there are 4-5 policemen at all times). Opposite is a taxi and bus stop. In general, calmly. Back there, you don’t have to go anywhere - taxi drivers stop by themselves and you can be picked up and returned back to Naama Bay. In the Old City around the mosque there are shops and rude sellers. If you look at the mosque, then to the right of it there are 2 (two) street bars with jus (1 dollar citrus juice or 10 pounds sugar cane juice), by the way, this is the only place where you can drink sugar cane juice. Also in the Old Town / Old Market there are restaurants where fresh fish and seafood lie at the entrance, and in front of your astonished eyes they can cook it all, what you show. The price for dinner will be around 25 dollars. for two (soup about 50 pounds, a set plate of seafood for 185-200 pounds, juice 35-50 pounds).
Also, on the right hand side of the mosque, there is a restaurant / disco with a show program. BE WARNED - the cost of the music / show program and service is INCLUDED IN THE PRICE of your order (plus about 40% of the bill), so ice cream and coffee can cost you $ 40, like my friends. Prices in the Old Town / Old Market are higher than in Naama Bay, although EVERYONE will tell you that bags and leather are CHEAPER there, but this is NOT true! And the choice in Naama Bay is better.
You can also safely walk around the entire territory of Naama Bay on your own - we saw that the police are following suspicious individuals. We did NOT hear any talk of robberies or anything like that. But the sellers in the stores behave simply boorishly, at least call the police, by the way, if you can scare them with this - TOURIST POLICE.
And yet, if you are strongly pestered, you can say “HALAS” - it means “ENOUGH” (it's easy to remember from ours in response to how are you? - khalaso ... ).
95 pounds (by the way, this juice in a glass is from a mango or a peach - the peach tastes better). Here cigarettes are also cheaper, but the choice is small.
SPICES / TEA - if you go THROUGH the Carrefour supermarket and go up from the minus the first floor to the surface along the non-working escalator (path), then going outside on the opposite side on the left hand right under the store (with a Duty free sign on the second floor) there will be a shop with teas and so on - it seems to us that this is one of the shops where it seems that the price / quality and a sane seller.
ANY OTHER useful product like Abidas and Roleh and so on - there are a lot of fakes and at the same time of low quality. If you walk from the Carrefour supermarket back towards the Hotel along the parallel Central street (see photo).
MAP), then there will be such a mini square in the middle with a fountain that does not work, and on the left side there is the only store with original Egyptian camel leather products from KANZ, but here the prices for everything are from 50 dollars. If you are looking for any copies (bags, watches, belts, etc. ) at an affordable price, it is best to look for them in the NAAMA CENTER / NAAMA MALL shopping center opposite the Hotel, and there are also stock stores (that is, original things, such as , on the 3rd floor, a glasses store, about $ 50. This is a good price for the original).
Now - everyone is bargaining (there are few tourists and discounts can be knocked out really real). At the same time, sellers simply put you in front of the fact that they have a crisis and let's buy.
COTTON and TOWELS - it feels like it should all be, but instead a bunch of junk from China and some faded, stale towels and bedspreads from previous years, and in all stores the same thing. There are no white towels at all.
I see they have a problem with towels in general ...They covered all hard two colors (turquoise and pink), without drawings. There is no bed at all. Lots of synthetics. For cotton they want from 5 dollars. and higher. We decided to tell EVERYONE that in Egypt there is an unshakable rule: 3 (three) towels for 10 (ten) dollars. We made it. Bought. Not far from the Hotel to the right, behind McDonald's there is a 2-storey house, a sign "World of Cotton" (they read that this is an official store from factories), but somehow it is "thin" and there are doubts that the store is not from factories, but from some warehouses of unsold items ...
If you go along the parallel street (lane) of the Central Street from the square, which is near the Carrefour supermarket, towards the Hotel (see MAP), on your left hand, approximately in the middle of this street, there will be an exhibition of hookahs, followed by a bag store in the direction of travel (always all for 10 dollars.
DUTY FREE in Naama Bay is NOT a DUTY FREE store at all - it's just the name of the store "DUTY FREE", something like the name "Pearl Necklace" does not mean at all that this is a pearl necklace, but just such a name ....Prices in this store is about 3 times higher than at home. For some light drinks, the price is 5 times higher. It is located there, as indicated on the MAP, it is better not to go during the day - the store is almost always closed during the day: the seller eats ...
GENERAL ASSESSMENT of a store with the name DUTY FREE: just a scam (DO NOT BE FUCKED). Take everything with you, like us.
Departure back - the day before departure at the reception there will be a list with full name and flight number. Now, more often than before, it is necessary to specify not only the time of departure, but also the date. Until recently, we had no departure - the airport in Odessa was closed for arrival. But no one began to renew and we were stuffed into the plane.
There are new rules at the airport - everyone is scammed 4 times. Girls separately, boys separately.
They check several times after checking in the luggage. Take off shoes. Take off the clock. Show chains around your neck. Selfie stick (if you liked it) can be taken away. A lighter in his pocket - the man was taken away. On the one hand, this is good: you can’t carry anything superfluous onto the plane, but, on the other hand, NO ONE told us about it or warned us, so we will tell EVERYONE:
If there are few tourists from the Hotel, then not a bus, but a minibus will be served, then your things will go on the roof of this small bus (minibus), so you will be given light suitcases with you to the salon (so that they are not blown off the roof).
Our Hotel is located 15 minutes from the airport - the ride is generally unnoticed.
At the airport, the guide from the bus will say goodbye to you and tell you to just go ahead.
There are NO carts.
There will be carts near the bus, but it's NOT free - it's for money (it's okay: there is ONLY 10-20 meters to go from the bus to the line - we were brought right to the entrance, apparently so that they would not run away and return to their hotels (NOBODY WANTED LEAVE)).
There are two queues at the entrance and there is a service out of turn (the green corridor - we don’t know how much it costs). Here, for the first time, go through the detector and take off everything (except clothes) and go on to the main hall. Find a flight and near the queue, an airport employee will absolutely FREE OF CHARGE pack your suitcase in cling film with your hands (like a chicken twirls, you can probably better pack it yourself before leaving in the Hotel room). Everything is weighed on the scales, both luggage and hand luggage - on our flight, for some reason, the weight was not per person but per couple: max 20 kg per suitcase for each - a total of 40 kg, but hand luggage for some reason not for everyone, but for two only 9 kg , total for some reason for two you can only 49 kg.
It’s somehow strange, logically, there should be 20 kg luggage for one person and 9 kg hand luggage (that is, 29 kg each) and, accordingly, a total of about 58 kg for two people, but for us this is important: there are 2 suitcases in total 21 kg, and back the same suitcases (minus booze), but plus souvenirs (31 kg) = 49.5 kg in total! Well, okay ...Right there, when you check in for the flight, you are given cards (the same ones that were filled out upon arrival) - but there are NO free pens (prepare IN ADVANCE), but these cards must be filled out again (by yourself) and forward to passport control. They don’t cheat here yet, but after that they again scoff: GIVE WATER HERE, what’s in sneakers, what’s around your neck, what’s in a bag, etc. and here the boys are on the right, the girls are on the left. After that, those who do not like it - to the detector / trap - such a device is worth it. AND AFTER ALL THIS, if THEY don't like something, ONE AGAIN check of hand luggage. And here personal belongings can be taken away… We didn't give anything away! Then down the escalator and waiting.
Shmon, oh, sorry, the inspection took us almost 2 (two) hours TOTAL!
By the way, as soon as you go downstairs, it is not necessary to stand in a huge queue for the toilet on the FIRST floor - on the SECOND floor there is exactly the same one without a queue (the escalator works and there are signs).
Smoking immediately to the right as they went down, but the prices in the bar in the smoking room mama mia: wine 150 grams for 6 dollars. , of course, we are immediately in DUTY FREE (see below).
DUTY FREE at the airport - everything is very simple: arithmetic - you take the price of the most expensive DUTY FREE in the World and multiply the prices by 3, then you write that the discount is 10% and you tell eared fraers that we have a crisis and let's buy and therefore the prices are just space: whiskey 42 dollars , lip gloss min 24 USD BTW, there is NOT a single store / stall with souvenirs, magnets, silver, towels, postcards, bracelets, hookahs, tea and so on at the airport, only 2 DUTY FREE stores and one tray with faded watches (probably taken in the same warehouse, where are the towels... ).
They don’t feed you back either (before leaving, ask the Hotel for a dry breakfast - they gave us, although they said that it was their first time).
That's basically it...
And it's good at home!
Translated automatically from Russian. View original
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