First time in Egypt. Hotel. Tours. Video

Written: 17 january 2021
Travel time: 19 — 26 october 2020
Who does the author recommend the hotel to?: For a relaxing holiday; For business travel; For families with children; For recreation with friends, for young people
Your rating of this hotel:
10.0
from 10
Hotel ratings by criteria:
Rooms: 10.0
Service: 9.0
Cleanliness: 9.0
Food: 8.0
Amenities: 10.0
Imperceptibly "rolled up" another semicircular anniversary. These events no longer bring much joy because of the large numbers, and in the congratulations of friends, oohs and sighs with notes of sympathy are increasingly heard.
Yes, you need to accept your years gratefully (as the song says), but it’s better to celebrate birthdays on your next trip.
My wife reproaches me that I was born in the wrong month - it is difficult to choose a vacation destination at the end of October.
And Egypt? Surprisingly, we have never been there ...Soviet times do not count ...
“Tourists in hotels in Egypt are being killed… by food”, “300 British tourists were evacuated with poisoning…”, “An elderly couple of British people died in a hotel on the same day”, “Mass poisoning of Russian tourists in a hotel in Hurghada…”, and finally – “Hurghada ranked first in the world! in the ranking of resorts with the most frequent cases of poisoning among tourists! ".
A serious squeamish alertness settled in my head.

After such information on the Internet, we decided to prepare ourselves well for the trip - pills for all cases of poisoning, including antibiotics, antiseptic wipes are spread out in all bags and pockets.
Disinfection training began right on board the aircraft - they thoroughly wiped the armchairs, tables, porthole ...J
Naturally, the place of rest is not Hurghada, and the choice of the hotel was reduced to a greater extent to hotels with good food reviews. Pontoons, corals, fish and everything else - do not count.
This is how the tour operator Tez Tour appeared, Sharm el-Sheikh, Savoy Hotel, 5 *****.

Watch the video at the link - https://www. youtube. com/watch? v=LE9j6yT7uSo

I’ll sum up the results of the rest right away: delight! Of course, there were minor problems ...with food, but ...we revised our attitude towards Egypt and now I began to understand the participants in a dozen Egyptian topics on the site's forum, where there is only sadness and nostalgia ...
TWO IN ONE.
Convenient location - from the airport / to the airport they bring the first, and pick up the last. The journey takes only 15 minutes. We didn't even have time to look around.
The Savoy Hotel and SOHO Square are two in one. The exit from the hotel is the entrance to the square.
On the territory of the Savoy Hotel there is another Royal Savoy Hotel. This is a more expensive hotel, which includes separate buildings with good views from the rooms (only the pool and the sea) and 2-storey villas on the first line with their own private and private small territory and a swimming pool.
The kitchen (restaurant), bars, a piece of the beach at the Royal Savoy Hotel are also their own.
They say that Kirkorov himself rested in one of the villas, but, rather, this is just a publicity stunt. Maybe 19 years ago, when the hotel was first built…
I'll start with what worried us so much - food.
NUTRITION. A BOTTLE OF WATER FOR $30.
I wasn't hungry, but it was just magical... soup. Twice I went to the boiler for more. There was also this...

The food at the hotel is decent, a solid "four", but the choice of dishes was very selective. We excluded salads, weed, some vegetables and fruits, freshly squeezed juices, tried not to take drinks at the bar on the beach (the seagulls failed once). They drank mainly "cola-like" drinks in cans, and beer and wine in bottles.
In restaurants, they asked us to open bottles of wine only at our table. And, as they say, it seems to have passed!
Well ...just a couple of times)))
Eating at a hotel is a very confusing topic. There are many types of food - "E-Class", "S-Class", "ALL", "HARD ALL INCLUSIVE", BB, etc. The most common among tour operators are the first two.
We had "E-Class", which suggests the familiar type of All Inclusive food with some restrictions. It is better to study the "subtleties" of nutrition according to your type in advance, download the file from the tour operator's website or find an information sheet in your room.
There is no public access to food and drinks throughout the hotel, with the exception of cherry and tonic drinks in the hotel lobby. In the bars, the next picture is empty counters, behind which are smiling bartenders. You approach, you order - the bartender takes out your order "from under the floor". Happy, you leave.
To see what they give, you must first watch people, what they take, and then order it yourself. There is also an option with a menu, but we learned about this later. I ask you to blame the Turks for my erroneous actions))) Everything is in plain sight in Turkish hotels.
All drinks that you order in the main restaurant, all food and drinks in bars and a la carte restaurants are issued only by waiters (bartenders) on a card from your room, followed by a receipt for your room number, which you must sign.
The receipt lists all items and the price of your order.
If the price of the order is different from zero, this means that you have gone beyond your free package, but something cannot be fixed, unless it is a bartender's mistake. Everything must be paid upon departure.
Therefore, before ordering something, ask how much it will cost.
Control your balance, which can be seen on one of the TV channels.

I did it on the day of departure and was "pleasantly" surprised. We had $32 in debt on our account. Where? I began to remember that some checks "waving" without looking.
But the matter turned out to be quite different. As per hotel policy, our complimentary package includes only ONE restaurant per day for dinner. If you visit two or more restaurants, the lowest amount will be billed.
One evening, while waiting for the appointed time at the See Food Island restaurant, we went to the main restaurant to drink some water. They took a bottle and, of course, signed the check.
No, I knew about these rules and we even laughed at a certain tourist who first sat in one a la carte restaurant and then moved to another. But I didn’t even think about the main restaurant, which can also be the SECOND one. Total: $32 for a bottle of water)))
So our package included:
- breakfast, lunch, dinner - buffet in the main restaurant "Tirana". Dinner can be spent in A la Carte restaurants by appointment. Alcoholic drinks are locally produced only.
- tea, coffee, cookies, ice cream, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks of local production - in bars.
During the week we managed to visit three different restaurants four times. I personally didn't like the food in restaurants. Their environment is nice, yes. Loved the fish restaurant overlooking the sea. Musical accompaniment - professional violin or guitar. Waiters are courteous and hard working. As in good restaurants in Europe, bread and butter are brought to the beginning of the meal.
Well, so as not to get tipsy ahead of time. Only wine and beer are served. Strong - not allowed.
By the way, the local rose wine Omar Khayyam is not bad. A bottle of Italian wine is offered starting at $29. Local whiskey is a rare drink. You can bring your own alcohol to the restaurant - corkage fee is not applied, the opening of brought bottles is free of charge.
My “claims” about the restaurant menu:
Firstly, because of the rules: “Dinner at an a la carte restaurant includes one item each of appetizers, soups, main courses and desserts. Dishes are not duplicated and cannot be replaced, otherwise an additionally ordered dish must be paid.

If for some reason the dish did not suit you, you may remain hungry. I wrote and mentally laughed at my own words ...
Secondly, the range of free dishes from the restaurant menu depends on your type of food and was very "shrunken" in our "E-class".
And finally, on nutrition: there are two bars and one disco on Soho Square, in which drinks, wine and beer are sold free of charge for tourists of the Savoy Hotel with the E-Class package.
HOTEL. HULLS. ROOM TYPES.
The hotel is well designed. It consists of a main 4-storey building with elevators and seven buildings.
Such two ...three-story buildings))), built in the form of arcs adjacent to the main building on four levels - L, K, H, P (the lowest).
Different buildings have a different number of rooms - from 20 or more on one floor. That is, you can get to the main building (reception, lobby, restaurants, shops, etc. ) very quickly from any building. Although, the first impression is a huge territory and long distances, which are a little alarming. Behind a very high fence on one side of the hotel, a new hotel is being built, but the construction is quiet. On the other hand, the Island View Resort is located.
If you walk along the fence from our 7th building to the sea, it will be 550 steps. If you go through the main building and use the elevator, it will be almost 2 times closer.
The windows and loggias of the rooms of all buildings (1.2, 3.4, 5.6, 7) are directed to the sea, but not all rooms can see this sea. Therefore, there are rooms overlooking the sea, the pool, the garden. And if on the first floor of a building there will be only rooms overlooking the garden (the front building interferes), then already on the second, third floor - with a view of the sea. The first building is the closest to the sea - it only has rooms overlooking the pool and the sea. In the fourth building - all rooms overlooking the pool and the sea.
The top one is building 7, where we were settled. All rooms in the building are so-called "family" (Family Room, 50m2). In front of the building there is a children's pool and a playground.

Rooms with a fresh renovation, everything is new - plumbing, tiles, only the furniture remained old, but restored.
The room size is slightly larger than in other buildings.
The bar is filled with drinks on the second day of your stay at the hotel and only once.
Electric kettle with tea and coffee set, bathrobes, slippers…
VOLUNTARY AND FORCED ACQUAINTANCE.
On the first day, we were settled in room 7019 (7 is the building number, 0 is the floor in the building, 19 is the serial number of the room). Sometime after midnight, we were awakened by Natasha and Katya from the next room, who, in a state of extreme intoxication, discussed the personalities of Roma and Valera, their boyfriends, who came with them, but exchanged them for other women (vocabulary saved) on the very first night on disco.
Then Katya discovered the loss of a phone for 60 thousand rubles ...they went to look for ...they found ...
What happened when the guys returned to the room is difficult to describe in simple words, or rather, simple words were not used at all!
The next night passed in a less tense atmosphere, but we had already contacted the reception with a request to change the room.
The rest of the nights were quietly spent in the new 7004 room (see video).
TERRITORY. BEACH. WEATHER. SEA. PONTOON. REEF. CORALS. FISH.
As you remember, we chose the hotel for food, but we were lucky in the rest.
The hotel area is large and all buried in flowers and palm trees.
The beach is sandy, the coastline is 300 meters, but half of the beach belongs to the Sierra Hotel, located on the second line. They have their own territory, their own bar, their own pontoon, their own sun loungers (of a different color). Naturally, you can use their pontoon.
Every half an hour, a red bus brings - takes tourists to the beach of the Sierra Hotel,
The pontoon is short - 40 meters. Swimming and snorkeling, mainly from the pontoon, but to the left of the pontoon there is a narrow passage to the reef directly from the shore.
Sunrise at 6 am, sunset at 5 pm, dark in half an hour. Bathing ends at 17:00.

I have nothing to compare with (probably incorrect with the Maldives), but the reef and marine fauna made us very happy both in quantity and diversity, and the warm sea (27-28 degrees, people came with a thermometer, measured) allowed us to snorkel without time limits . The sea is clear, the color is amazing.
The weather in the third decade of October was so comfortable that we could not remember anything similar in the entire history of our travels. The perfect combination of air and water temperature. Air temperature during the day: 28-32 degrees, at night 24-28 degrees, and a constant light breeze easily made it possible to spend at least the whole day on the beach in the shade of palm trees or umbrellas.
TOURS.
Excursions were purchased from a representative of Tez Tour. Number of offers - 46!
We chose two excursions.
The first tour is called "White Island".
Boat trip on a yacht (I would call a yacht a large 2-deck boat). The cost is $65.
Three stops on the high seas for diving and snorkeling, including a landing on the White Island. Time 07:45 - 17:00.
No more than 30 people are taken on board, there can be no overpopulation in principle, since the excursion includes diving for everyone, and there are only three instructors. All diving equipment is provided on board. A little briefing - and overboard. My daughter and I tried diving for the first time and were very satisfied. By the way, the hotel also offers very inexpensive ($25) diving on the hotel's reef.
The second stop is White Island. The yacht anchors some distance from the island. All - overboard and under its own power to the island. The island is like in the Maldives (see video).
Third stop at a reef in the open sea. The yacht is drifting, does not anchor. All - overboard in two groups. Each group has an instructor and one lifeline.
We walk along the reef, the yacht is moving away, already almost beyond the horizon ...we sail for about 30 minutes, a quiet panic begins in the group, many are exhausted and rush to the lifebuoy, but there is not enough space for everyone around the circle, no one is looking into the water, although the reef is very interesting. I admire a 12-year-old girl who very calmly continues to inspect the reef, not paying attention to anyone.

Finally, the instructor joyfully exclaims that the yacht (boat) has started moving in our direction.
The ship's cook prepared a good dinner for us. We had lunch with the crew.
Swimming with extreme elements! ? You have to warn!
The second excursion is called "Moto-Safari".
Desert quad bike ride.
Time 14:00 - 18:00. Cost - $25/$30 per adult (two on one ATV/one on one). Previously, we bought in SOHO for 1 euro each Bedouin shawls - keffiyeh.
Scarves and glasses are required - there will be a lot of dust.
Rights are not needed))) Briefing in one sentence: "Brake at the same time with a foot and hand brake. " They started moving - everyone beat each other in the stern, like on old Soviet rides with electric cars. Two stops: one between the mountains - catching an echo, the second - tea drinking at the Bedouins. Tea, of course, was politely refused. Those who wish to ride on camels.
I really liked this tour.
Conclusion number two: if you really want to, you can not wait for the opening of charters from the country.
Translated automatically from Russian. View original