Весенний отдых в уютном отеле Giftun Azur 3* Spring break in a cozy hotel Giftun Azur 3*

From May 3 to May 14, we rested at the Giftun Azur hotel. The beginning of May in Hurghada feels like real summer! Above 20 at night, 30 - 36 degrees during the day. The wind blows almost always, sometimes light, sometimes strong, but it was comfortable, not cold. Sometimes I put on a denim jacket and thin pants so that mosquitoes do not bite) The water in the sea is about 22 - 24 degrees. At first it seems cool, then you don’t want to get out of the water)
The hotel is 10-15 minutes drive from the airport. We flew from Prague with Smartwings. You can carry water on the plane, they also gave a glass of water on the plane. In duty-free prices in kroons and euros. In euro - more expensive.
When we flew back, they took water at the Hurghada airport, I had to buy it, at the airport a bottle cost about 2 dollars. Nobody's suitcases were examined, so I brought all the medicines, pills, shampoos, and cosmetics to Prague.

We were checked into the hotel at 9 am, almost as soon as we arrived. We did not go to the meeting with the guide on the same day.
The hotel has shells and bungalows with letters from A to X.
We bought tickets online, for some reason the four-story building was cheaper than a bungalow. For a ticket for 12 days paid about 1500 euros. It could be cheaper to find, but we were limited in time.
I am very glad that we lived on the 3rd floor overlooking the palm trees, the pool and the sea, and not in a small bungalow. Many bungalows are located so that you look at the neighbor opposite.
There are a lot on the territory, more than 20 cats. There is even a cat corner where you can play and feed the cats. They are different - and shy, and affectionate, well-fed. Cats do not interfere, not arrogant.
I was delighted with the beautiful sunrises on the balcony with a cup of coffee. Several times we went to meet the sunrise at sea.
I liked the very green area, cut grass and bushes, many high and low palm trees, petunias, mallows, bougainvilleas, and other bright colors. There were mosquitoes, although the territory was treated.
Long sandy beach with palm trees - super! And given that you could walk along the beaches of the neighboring 3 hotels and go to 2 piers, you can easily burn out in the scorching sun while walking.
The boats, which were many in front of the hotels, did not interfere with swimming. There was no smell or oil stains. Maybe it depends on the wind, but for almost all 12 days the wind blew towards the sea. When there were several calm days, rubbish, cups, the remains of fruit washed ashore, which, probably, guests or staff threw from the yachts. Sunset in the sea - a clean pleasant sand, there were no fish. Several times we observed how a flock of some dim shiny ones jumped out of the water. It seemed that these fish can jump on a person)
It was possible to climb to the roof of the two-story building X and admire the beautiful sea views and the sunset.

I recommend walking at low tide to the left, on a sandy spit, about 500 m into the sea from the Siva Grand Hotel (you may have to give $ 1 to the guard).
Also, at low tide, you can watch tiny crabs on the beach of the Albatros White beach, Albatros Blu Spa hotels on the right.
It was very disappointing that just before our arrival, they began to make repairs in the beach restaurant, where guests used to have breakfast and dinner overlooking the sea. To the left on the beach there was another restaurant where you could go for lunch, but the choice of dishes there is very small.
In the afternoon we often took ice cream, pizza, sweet little donuts, fresh french fries for a snack.
On the beach and near the large pool there is a shower and toilet. The depth of the pool is 1.65 cm - 2 m. The water temperature is the same as in the sea, and in winter it is heated.
For children there is a small swimming pool, playground and games room, children's animation in the evenings.
The beach is sandy, long, sun loungers and umbrellas stand in 6 rows. Not very spacious.
The beach has a "red flag" service for those who do not want to be disturbed and constantly offered excursions, massages, pigtails, tattoos.
I am no longer surprised that in the morning most of the sun loungers are occupied with towels. To rest on lines 1-2, you need to have time to take a seat at 7 - 7.30. Because then the beach boys laid out their towels, and for the money they gave to the guests who came later.
German grandmothers and other foreign guests thank 1-10 euros for a sun lounger, for bringing towels, for free drinks, and even for a free toilet on the beach.
The attendants are spoiled, a dollar or a chocolate bar for cleaning the room does not affect anything. Sometimes foreign guests give euro coins for their favorite table in the dining room. By the way, the tables in the dining room require better cleaning, they are sticky in places.
The furniture in the room is tired and not very clean.

But knowing that Giftun is an old hotel, built in 1984, and that this is Egypt, I try not to pay much attention to everyday little things. The main thing is that the bed, towels are clean both in the room and on the beach. Floor without sand and dust, balcony too. Cosmetic cleaning is well done.
The rooms of the building have a free safe, but the bungalows do not have a safe. There is a refrigerator, air conditioning, hair dryer, enough sockets, kettle, tea / coffee / milk powder, water (2 bottles of 1.5 liters) replenished daily. There is a small clothes dryer on the balcony. You can bring your own rope and clothespins. Free Wi-Fi at the reception, near the pool, weakly caught on the balcony, sometimes on the beach. But we bought a Vodafone SIM card in some trading shop and distributed it to two phones. The airport didn't want to buy as there was already a bad experience in January, the internet ended quickly.
It took me a long time to get used to the fact that on the beach, middle-aged German grandparents, who always had the best seats in the front row, hung their "modest" bikinis on umbrellas, like in a clothing market. I want to look at the sea from the 2-3rd row, but you see swimsuits and swimming trunks before your eyes. But this did not bother the German guests.
The hotel has animation. Various activities were constantly held in German, less often with translation into English. Every evening after dinner - shows and entertainment.
I liked the food, a variety of lunches and dinners. But for breakfast the same thing - we did different combinations) They don’t know how to cook scrambled eggs there, only some kind of incomprehensible mix. For the first time, I only ate boiled eggs! I was surprised that the 3 * hotel had dishes with large shrimp and squid. I saw crabs on the table, but most likely they were put for beauty. Sweets were, different buns, but nothing special. Buns are sometimes mixed fresh and yesterday.
They weren't into alcohol. There were a lot of beers. German guests love beer and drink it all the time!
Mandatory birthday cake!

The hotel is located on the beautiful El Mamsha street with expensive hotels and numerous shops. The street stretches for 4 km from the Marlin Inn Azur to Gravity (Samra Bay). The merchants on this promenade are not particularly picky. If you just walk around and do not look at their goods, they will not notice you. On the street there are many peculiar sculptures made of metal and plastic, fountains, photo zones.
Not far from the hotel (you can ask and look at the Google map) there is a pharmacy with fixed prices (Russian), Corfur shop and Abu Ashara market. In the market we bought delicious guava juice and mango juice, halva, Vatika shampoos. Not far from the hotel - a fruit shop, which opened in the afternoon.
We liked the rest in Giftun Azur. 12 days flew by quickly. There will be an opportunity, we will come again!
For a change, we went on an excursion to the Egyptian Maldives - Orange Bay. There are super beautiful views and locations for photos. After the tour, we had lunch (salad, rice, pasta, fish) and those who wished to ride on the "tablet" and "banana", swam with fish near the reefs. The pier from where we sailed is not far, in the non-working hotel El Samaka beach. There were about 30 people on the boat - locals, foreigners and a few Russian/Ukrainian speakers. The tour is well organized. I ordered via the Internet.