наши воспоминания our memories

We arrived at the hotel at seven o'clock in the evening. Our guide Maria met us in the lobby. Offered to check in and follow for dinner. While at the reception they filled out questionnaires, they brought us a fruit drink from the bar in honor of the arrival.
The first overlay came out when they tried to open the door using the issued magnetic card. Didn't open. The porter opened it with his own and immediately ran to bring us a new one. Next, we checked the operability of sockets and the safe, the presence of a hair dryer. When the porter had already run away, a more thorough examination revealed that the shower was not working. Therefore, before dinner, we went to the reception to fill out an application for repairs. While we were taking a walk, an engineer came to us - as a result, a thin cold trickle flowed from the shower. We no longer had the strength to swear, so we finally decided the issue with the shower only the next day (treatment that way from the 3rd).
The prescribed two bottles of water were brought to us only on the third day, also after several reminders. But then they brought it every day and for free (at the beginning we were told that only the first 2 bottles were free).

We were placed in the wing where the lobby bar is located. We were given a room on the second floor with a double bed. The terrace overlooked the restaurant and pools. The sea was also very visible. The room has everything you need. True hangers did not appear immediately. But one day they were brought to everyone at once. Pictures were also hung up after our arrival.
As already mentioned, there are few Russian channels (only 1-2 out of 20). During our stay, they changed periodically: the religious channel TBN came across more often than others, and for a couple of days we were entertained by Music Box. Since we also came to rest, and not to watch TV, we did not suffer much.
The animators there are really great: exercises, aqua aerobics, water polo, yoga, darts, Latin American dances, volleyball... Almost every evening there is an entertainment program: belly dance, fakir performance, tandoor, Celtic dances and much more. True, for children, there is no program other than a mini-disco.
In the sea, we were advised to enter on the left side of the beach. The best entrance is 3-4 meters to the left of the hookah bar (there are practically no hedgehogs, the bottom is more or less even). On the way to the depth there is a small lagoon with a very flat bottom (usually those who are afraid to swim further flop there). After this lagoon, it is already better to swim further - the bottom is not even and it is easy to fall into the pit with your foot. We bought corals in advance, because we didn’t know how it was in a hotel with shops. There they are in huge quantities for $10 a pair (although some managed to bargain for $15 for two pairs). We really liked the reef. A lot of fish. They even found poisonous Lionfish and once almost crushed a stone fish. And some even saw a turtle. On calm days it was very pleasant to swim, and on days when it was stormy, there were a lot of jellyfish. They are not very pleasant to sting.

The food is pretty decent. I especially liked the pastries. Everything is always fresh and tasty. Bakers constantly baked some figures from the dough. We were subdued by two crocodiles. Alas, we were not allowed to eat them. Meat and chicken were every day, they also gave either fish or squid. On Kurban Bayram, which we found there, they baked lamb. Also once gave turkey. Tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce - always present. Side dishes - potatoes, rice, pasta and stewed vegetables. Chefs cook pasta in front of you. For fruit, there were always sliced ​ ​ melons, grapefruits and oranges for breakfast. Apples, both whole and sliced ​ ​ for lunch and dinner. They also periodically gave bananas, oranges, pears, guava, figs, dates, grapes and pomegranate seeds. there was not a single lunch-dinner without fruit. True, sometimes I had to hunt for fruit - they quickly dismantled it. Desserts are almost all too sweet, so they ate very little.
Drinks are all from bottles, declared local juices - something like UPI. Wine for the first days was given from bottles (quite nothing), then they brought tetra-packs with sour meat. They drank beer and other stronger local drinks. I really liked the cocktails that the bartender made in the lobby bar. It was very nice to come to sit in the lobby bar on the couch. In the evening, you could drink tea there, because the restaurant served tea only in the morning. The rest of the time - either on the beach in plastic cups, or in the lobby bar. Nescafe coffee bags. True, the last two days have been served more pleasant coffee in coffee pots for breakfast. I'm not really sure if it's natural.
As for excursions: we found several agencies on the Internet in advance and went on all excursions only with them. For communication, we bought a Mobile SIM card at the nearby Morgan Hotel ($8 - for the SIM card itself and $3 - replenishment of the balance by 10 pounds). Received a call from this number to arrange tours. We went
to Israel for $100, to Cairo for $65 with a group of 6 people and for a boat trip to Pharaoh Island for $35. We were satisfied with all the excursions, although we were very tired during the trip to Israel. Now a lot of people want to go there, so you have to stand at the border for up to 5 hours. But we visited everything that was promised in the program and almost everywhere we went through all the holy places without queues.
What I really liked about the hotel: you could order a dry breakfast for yourself on the road and a late dinner in case of a delay on the tour. Not to say that a very chic breakfast is collected, but you will not die of hunger. Moreover, you can always neatly carry something away from dinner.

For souvenirs and replenishment of the balance on the phone, we went to Taba Heights, which includes several large hotels, a golf center and a small settlement of local residents. There are several cafes, a pharmacy, various shops and a supermarket. As our guide Maria told us, there is a bus every day from 20:00 to 22:00 for $ 5 round trip. At the reception we were told another time: from 20:30 to 22:30. Never caught the bus at the specified time. At the reception we were offered a taxi for $ 25 round trip (despite the fact that a liter of gasoline costs 1.5 pounds). In the end, they decided to go on foot. It turned out that walking in one direction is no more than 2.5 km, if you do not wander around the hotels, but immediately go to the center.
In the end, I would like to note that somewhat overshadowed our holiday. The first is the holiday of Eid al-Adha, which fell during our vacation. At this time (for 4 days) a lot of large Muslim families came to the hotel. Therefore, there was noise and din in the pool, rolls floated. It was impossible to squeeze through to the bar, children were running everywhere (including over their heads during our yoga class). At this time, all of our sunbathing went away to the beach. The second is an unpleasant smell from the air conditioning system. Apparently someone somewhere died and for several days they could not clean it. Well, the third is the lack of a curtain in the shower and the wrong water drain. During water procedures, water was sprayed all over the toilet room and remained there in the form of puddles.
Despite everything, we really liked the hotel and the rest. I hope that my information will not scare you, and that it can be useful in some way.