ОЧЕНЬ НЕОДНОЗНАЧНЫЙ ОТЕЛЬ В ШИКАРНОМ МЕСТЕ. VERY DIFFERENT HOTEL IN A GORGEOUS LOCATION.

This is the first time I have such an attitude with the hotel, which has changed from the thought “where did we get, urgently change the hotel” to “now I will only go here”, the hotel is very ambiguous and, choosing accommodation here, you need to be aware of this.
Initially, the hotel was chosen solely because of its location in a good calm bay, the first line from the sea and the price. Flew for 8 nights for less than $700 with my husband and I. We rested from 31.01. 19 to 08.02. 19 The review is long, there are many letters, so the sections are highlighted by CAPS, scroll through the excess, if anything.
Our journey began with the postponement of the departure for 8 hours ahead, a long wait for the departure from the airport, associated with the introduction of a new pass system, and we will increase the time of passage through the checkpoints by several times, so we arrived at the hotel somewhat cocked about 16.00, although we planned already on that day start to fully relax at sea.

SETTLEMENT - this is the first thing that shocked.
Despite the fact that from 14.00 our paid time at the hotel was already going on and we had already missed lunch, we were in no hurry to settle us and our neighbors on the bus, the not very sociable and polite hotel employee, like a “sheep driver”, tried everything to drive the tourists away into a herd and drove away from the reception with the words "wait there" towards the sofas and tables in the lobby near the bar. The Faraana Reef reception staff spoke Russian and English well. First they collected passports and vouchers, then we were offered to enter passport numbers by hand into the questionnaires and sign (moreover, all the other data had already been entered by the receptionist, the meaning of this action remained unclear), then they offered us a glass of cold hibiscus and put on bracelets for everyone. After that, they began to let the reception in and little by little to arrange, and the keys to the room (by the way, the only hotel we were in had an ordinary key!
and on it with a key fob blocking the power supply of the room) they didn’t give it to their hands, they were taken by the very employee who “met” us, but they were given a sticker with the room number, which had to be pasted on their suitcase. They settled everyone in 9xx rooms, to the left of the reception, when viewed from the sea, next to the kids club and the main restaurant. For us personally, this seemed to be the worst location in the entire hotel, noisy, children under the windows can scream, but we wanted silence and relaxation. After reading on the Internet, tourists mostly asked for 2xx rooms closer to the sea, but they were supposedly all occupied. As before, they were forced to wait until all new arrivals were registered.
We could not stand it, went for a run around the territory, examined the proposed building and confirmed our fears that this room did not suit us categorically, but since almost all the new arrivals wanted to change rooms and crowded at the reception, we decided not to waste time, check in anyhow, have time take a dip in the sea, have a bite to eat and return to the issue of the room later. Returning to the reception, we found that the registration process was coming to an end and the same “sheep driver” with the keys to our rooms in his hands was collecting tourists to lead to the rooms, the process was slow, the tourists wanted to scatter again to the reception with requests to change the room and just scatter around the hotel, the “ram driver” delayed the whole group because of this, and we moved these 100 meters to the hull extremely slowly.

Having his plans for the time being, my husband almost rudely took the key to our room from the “ram driver” and we went to change into bathing suits packed in hand luggage. We were simply shocked from the room, except for the terrible location of the building itself (for us), room 928 was on the first floor overlooking the kids club, there were 3 separate rooms in the room! beds, an antediluvian safe that, fortunately, worked, and a cracked door with a lock that I could not close or open at all. Returning to the reception, we found almost all of our arrivals, who came with claims to the rooms, including one married couple, who were also placed in a room with 3 single beds, and also on the 2nd floor of a person with a leg in a cast. The receptionist did not see a problem in separate beds - but let's move it. We, having decided not to waste time in vain and not to wait for the luggage, changed our clothes and went to plunge into the sea before it got dark.
The road to the sea went downhill, the hotel itself looked quite decent, a large area with many pools and a claim to style, but neglected, before descending, we expected to see beautiful white and blue buildings, but then we were again shocked: at the fork to the left, a staircase went down to Farsha cafe, to the right - a gentle road to the beach, which was littered with garbage and building materials, we went along this road, suppressing indignation. The entrance to the sea from the shore was quite comfortable, we swam a little without masks and fins in the lagoon, so to speak, refreshed ourselves, and went up to the room, looking for a bite to eat at that time along the way, since it was still a long time before dinner. As a result, we took tea at the main pool in the bar and had a bite to eat with the remains of a biscuit, which had to be taken directly into a napkin, even without a plate. There was nothing else, but I wanted to have a bite to eat on the way.
This completely shocked me and I burst into tears, knowing the simplicity of the Egyptian approach to some moments and already expecting anything after such a reception, even that they would bring us slops in shards for dinner. Our pleasant acquaintance with the hotel did not end there. We returned to the room and found that our suitcase was still not in the room or at the room, despite the fact that they promised to bring it even before our trip to the sea. At the reception, the suitcase was also not found, that is, it was taken away in an indefinite direction. No one could answer where the suitcase had gone, wait - they will bring it now. I started to get hysterical, I wanted only one thing - to urgently run to Vodafone for a SIM card and contact a travel agent in Kyiv with a request to urgently move us to another hotel. Stopped only by the desire to swim normally in this bay once, swim to the right and left and see if it is worth what they say about it.
Purely by chance, my husband and I remembered that on the sticker for the suitcase “sheep driver” wrote the number 938, and the number they gave us was 928 ... In general, the husband went up to the second floor in our building and found, among others standing, our suitcase, fortunately, the employees did not bring suitcases into the rooms. Having taken the suitcase, we tore off the sticker from it and, together with the key to the room, went to the reception. And then the white stripe began. There was also a manager at the reception, who later introduced himself as George, after listening to my husband's indignation with the adventure of our suitcase and our request to change the room to a room with one bed, he looked at the computer that there were really few rooms, but found an option in the 8xx building near the main pool and reception, but the side of the neighboring hotel Reef Oasis Beach, and we went to see it.

I can’t say that I really liked the room, but there was a large bed, relatively fresh plumbing and cosmetic repairs, although the doors were the same with locks, but without cracks, old carpentry, outdated appliances, safe, electrics, as in the previous one. They agreed to replace it with this number, although at first they asked to see another free one closer to the sea and promised to reward it, but George only offered to come up the next morning, when the rooms were free and change to a better one. The husband said that he would bring the suitcase himself, because he did not want to look for it again for a long time, and we moved very quickly, since things, of course, were not unpacked.
As a result, we didn’t go to change the room in the morning, as it turned out to be very quiet and the swimsuits dried superbly even in the bathroom, although this is usually a problem on the 1st floor, and the location itself turned out to be quite convenient, walking close to the main restaurant, taking and returning towels, the pool bar, which is open until late, is relatively close, but not so close that noise can reach, the only minuses are far from the sea (but in the morning and in the afternoon the route number-restaurant-room-beach was shorter because of this, only to the grill the restaurant was too hot to walk) and a view of the side pool and side “toilet view” - the building where public showers and toilets are located, although it was not very in demand, the large pool was not heated and there was almost no one around it ever.
ROOMS in the hotel, as we later looked, are almost all the same. The rooms are located in two-story buildings, 8 on the first and 8 on the second floor, on the 2nd floor there are balconies.
Almost all rooms in the hotel are standard, except for a small number of rooms with sea views and direct beach views, as well as large family rooms, so accommodation is at the discretion of the staff. The 3xx rooms are one-story bungalows close to the sea, now they are generally closed. Some buildings in the middle of the hotel are also being renovated. Rooms 2xx in appearance differed only in the new carpentry of the balconies, the doors are still the same with old keys, the situation inside, judging by the photos from the reviews, does not differ. In some of the renovated, there are new metal-plastic windows, these are 2 rooms closer to the beach, everywhere is relatively fresh cosmetic repairs, whitewashed, painted. Everything in the room is very well thought out and convenient: the location of sockets for charging - one at each bedside table, at the trellis, in the bathroom for a hair dryer, a socket, a very good hood, which instantly dried swimsuits even in the bathroom.

The rooms themselves have a claim to style, carved wooden headboards, locker doors and trellises, stone, as almost everywhere in hotels in Egypt, countertops, in our room there was a large bed with two bedside tables without drawers, a trellis, two armchairs and a small table, wardrobe, a table-stand for a suitcase, a cabinet with a refrigerator and an old kinescope TV on it, which we did not turn on and were not going to turn on. The air conditioning control panel, the panel with the do not disturb and please clean lights were advanced once in a past life. The lighting above the bed was turned on either by switches in the headboard or with a card at the entrance to the room. The bed linen is old and not of very high quality, a couple of times a week they definitely replaced the pillowcase, the rest was not noticed, but we didn’t get it dirty, the towels were not bad, changed daily.
In the bathroom, a sink in a stone countertop, a toilet bowl and a shower cabin are a standard set and nothing more. There were no problems with hot water, just had to drain a little right away. The showers are stationary, not changing the angle of inclination, which is not for everybody. Liquid soap was replenished in the shower and at the sink, there was nothing else from cosmetics. In the shower there are convenient shelves for cosmetics, outside the room there is a dryer for towels or swimwear. In general, there was an impression of a once very thoughtful approach to the convenience of guests, but now everything is somewhat careless. Drinking water, at least for brushing your teeth, is not provided at the hotel even upon arrival, you can either buy water in the city or collect it in your own bottles in bar coolers, but this was not a surprise for us.
With cleaning, probably, the human factor - we were lucky, our housekeeper George tried very hard, the floor was licked daily, even under the bed, clean towels, clean mirrors and plumbing, daily new animals from towels, small tips were left with pleasure, although not everyone day.
The Faraana Reef TERRITORY is large and well planned. There are 3 large pools: one huge at the reception with sometimes turned on artificial waves and 2 hydromassage units, there is a bar next to it, the second at the entertainment complex also with hydromassage units, and the third closer to the sea with a small jumping tower and an island with a heated jacuzzi under a mushroom -roof, this pool also has a bar. There is only one item with towels at the main pool at the reception, there is none on the beach, which is somewhat inconvenient, you have to carry them around the mountains with you.
There is a playground and a small pool with about 9 rooms and reception, but the animators are not seen there.

LOCATION. The Faraana Reef Hotel is perfectly located within walking distance of the Leila Wa Leila complex and the Il Mercato promenade to the right of the exit and a small shopping complex to the left of the exit, if you wish, you can walk for 40 minutes to the Old Town or take a taxi - it's very close. The whole civilization - shops, banks, official offices of mobile operators Vodafone, Orange - is in Il Mercato, where one of the legendary fish restaurants Fares is located. The transfer to the airport is quite long, about 22 km.
BEACH one of the best in Sharm El Sheikh. Large, spacious, with excellent photo views, there are a lot of sunbeds and modern comfortable plastic beds, although the mattresses on them are tired in places. With such a load of the hotel, as it was on our arrival, the beach is almost empty, you can always find a relatively secluded place.
The sunset is sandy, then a strip of dead coral and a lagoon with blue water warm during the day and invigorating in the morning, a strip of living coral, over which you can swim in the real sea of ​ ​ Sharm el-Sheikh with depth, coral islands and many colorful fish. Fish, by the way, often swim into the lagoon between the beach and the coral, we even saw a stingray there, so those who swim uncertainly can see fish with a mask near the shore. Special footwear is required, as there are not many sea urchins even stranded in dead coral. For swimmers with fins like us, there is either a city stationary pontoon, to which you need to decently walk to the right, or swim across the lagoon and the strip of corals and expanse from the beach - even to the right, even to the left, beauty and there is almost never wind and waves.
When you swim, especially in the area of ​ ​ the Reef Oasis Beach Resort, Jaz Fanara hotels, there are places with dead corals, but in general it’s beautiful right up to Fanara beach, which is to the left at the very end of the bay, or sail to the right to the city’s pontoon and further, where the ships are. Due to the excellent location of the bay, you can always swim, long and far. Vacationers with children and uncertain swimmers can also splash around the shore, the main thing is to remember hedgehogs. There is a bar on the beach near the steps from the Farsha cafe: tea, instant coffee from the machine, soft drinks and beer, we didn’t see any snacks. But at the time of our vacation, a bar was being actively built closer to the diving center and the Reef Oasis Beach Resort, perhaps the menu will be expanded. There is a shower and a toilet on the beach in the Farsha cafe, halfway up the stairs on the left, but not all vacationers know about it, and not so much with information signs.

The biggest problem is stupid vacationers who impudently trample on living corals with flippers and corals, both at our hotel and at the Reef Oasis Beach Resort, Jaz Fanara, apparently thanks to them, gray islands of lifeless coral appear instead of multi-colored living splendor. Again, there is no information on this issue anywhere, and as such there are no lifeguards on the beach, who usually whistle and drive tourists off the corals, again, the coastline is very long and difficult to trace, and there are few staff on the beach, so they do everything that they like to feed fish and trample coral ... The transition between the Reef Oasis Beach Resort and Faraana Reef hotels is guarded for two by an employee of the Oasis Reef, from Faraana Reef does not let Reef Oasis Beach on the pontoon, and from the overcrowded Reef Oasis Beach those wishing to get to the expanses of Faraana Reef.
CATERING Three meals a day at the main restaurant and lunch by appointment at the grill restaurant on the beach overlooking the bay. Breakfast 07.00-09.30, lunch 13.00-14.30, dinner 19.00-21.
00 is the shortest time slot we've seen, so there were probably a bit of a crowd and a queue from the start of the meal. The range of dishes is quite sufficient, the chefs try to diversify the menu, many dishes are repeated about once a week, but, most importantly, everything is very tasty cooked, although the breakfasts are not pleasing with variety. For lunch and dinner always: meat, chicken and fish for 1 minimum option and a sea of ​ ​ side dishes, vegetables, salads, sweets, with fruits in our time was not very good. Nans: there are no plates with the name of the dishes at all, but all hot dishes are given out in portions by the cook and you can ask what it is, they give what portions you ask for, while holding the plate, put them on a piece. The dishes in the restaurant are of high quality, without chips, as sometimes happens in budget Egypt; cutlery, glasses, plates - all of a fairly high level. In the bar on the beach and by the pool, plastic cups and paper cups for hot, in the restaurant - glass.
Very tasty bottled beer in the main restaurant, in the bars by the main pool and in the Zodiac discos, in other places - from draft kegs, but also quite a level. There are no restrictions on the number, they pour as much as you want into small glasses, at least 10 at a time - just take it away, if necessary, they will also give a tray. Bartenders don't really know how to make cocktails. Instant coffee from coffee machines in bars and restaurants - quite digestible latte and coffee with milk. The bar and restaurant staff are very friendly and helpful. There are no snacks during the day, except for a couple of times we saw the remains of cakes from lunch in the bar by the main pool, so you need to adapt to a kind of hotel meal schedule in time if you don’t want to stay hungry. Given the number of holidaymakers in the low season, this is enough, but perhaps not always convenient.

The nightly mini-disco for kids is a bit for show, but present. Guest artists lived at the hotel and occasionally entertained with costume dances and on the beach during the day.
SUMMARY. Despite certain, let's say, features of the hotel, we want to come back here again and again. The hotel is colorful and many things are of a high enough standard, compared to much more expensive hotels, most of the staff are very pleasant and friendly people. The worst impression was made by the reception as the face of the hotel. If the hotel does not radically change its pricing policy, we personally will become frequent guests. But for those who are traveling for the first time, I can advise with reservations - depending on how scrupulous you are, and in what matters, there are many very satisfied guests and there are guests who, in horror, change the hotel upon arrival, as we almost did.