Good quality cheeses. Every evening there are themed dinners and festivals. Skucheo does not work, there are always animators. Volleyball, football, water polo, yoga, all sorts of competitions in swimming pools. The area is very green, many huge palm trees, shrubs, flowers, orange and lemon trees. Peacocks are walking. The week of relaxation flew by unnoticed, thanks to all the staff for our vacation. Well done to all of you!
Settlement. Upon arrival at the hotel at about 10 am, we were aware of the check-in only at 15-00. When asked about early check-in, it was announced that all rooms were occupied. After filling out the questionnaire, we were told that we could have a snack at the pool with fast food, since breakfast had already ended, but we would be wearing bracelets in 30 minutes. The manager at the reception did not want to answer questions and showed with his whole appearance that he was very busy. Came up after 30 minutes to put on the bracelets, and reluctantly put them on for us. A little later, they asked for an information sheet about the hotel in order to understand what was located where, with obvious displeasure, they gave it to us. At the same time, at about 11:00 a group of German tourists was brought in, and the reception immediately began to check them in.
Quite by accident, we caught the guide of the meeting company, explained the situation that we were with a child, he spoke with the manager and we were settled at 13-00. We asked for an additional key card from the room, after three requests, they gave it to us with obvious dissatisfaction.
Number. We got a room on the third floor of an improved layout, two beds: a double bed and a single bed (it’s good that on the third floor, on the first floors, the guests complained about the presence of ants and mosquitoes, which indicates that the hotel saves on insecticidal treatment). The air conditioner didn't work well, the fridge was leaking. We left a request through the guest-relationship, the problems were quickly eliminated.
There was also a TV in the room, as well as a safe, all in working order. There is absolutely nothing to watch on TV, there is rabid anti-Russian propaganda on all channels. The minibar is paid, the prices for the contents are inadequate (for example, a can of local beer 0.25 costs 4.5 euros).
The condition of the room betrays the age of the hotel, the finishes and furniture are pretty worn. As for the cleaning of the rooms, we can say that they were cleaned purely symbolically, they simply covered the blankets, folded the towels in a pile. During our stay, the dust on the table, shelves and balcony was not wiped at all. They do wet cleaning, probably, before settling new guests (this is purely an assumption). Tipping does not affect the quality of cleaning at all. Tea and coffee in the room were supposed to be replenished daily, as used, however, during our stay they were replenished only once. In the bathroom there is a standard set: shower gel, body lotion; there are no paper handkerchiefs and bags for used feminine hygiene products (also saved).
Beach towels in the room, change from 9-00 to 17-00, i. e. , you need to get off the beach, find your cleaner (namely, your own, who cleans your room) and only then you can change the towels.
Territory. The area is beautiful, lots of greenery. However, the maintenance of the paths leaves much to be desired, petunia bushes were lying on the paths, under them there was rubbish that was not swept up during the entire period of our stay.
Pools. The facing tiles around the pools are badly worn, badly chipped in places, which would be forgivable for a semi-abandoned three-star hotel, and not for a five-star one. The pool itself, apparently, does not undergo proper treatment (chlorination), the child was carried away after swimming in it. The information sheet states that you can not swim in long bathing suits, but no one forbids Egyptians to swim in their robes. There is a bar in the middle of the large pool, the guys at the pool bar work well, they serve quickly. From 10-00 to 16-00 in front of the pool you can have a fast food snack (french fries, fish sandwich, sausage, liver).
From 12 to 15 o'clock you can take ice cream by the pool, but for a fee (which is also strange for a five). There is also a quiet pool, it is better than the large pool, but children are not allowed.
Beach. The beach is large enough, equipped with umbrellas, massive wooden deck chairs (which probably saw Napoleon's troops). It is better to come before 7-00, come at 9-00 most of the sun loungers will already be occupied. Beach workers, apparently, for an additional fee, took places for someone. Garbage on the beach is simply covered with sand, the mattresses on the sun loungers are all sticky, stained after spilled drinks, no one wipes the tables by the umbrella and does not remove the garbage from the ashtrays. The shower on the beach is also battered, plumbing equipment does not work well, sand is rarely removed from the pan. On the beach, annoying flies and no less annoying sellers of excursions, boat trips, etc.
On the last day of rest, along with hell, blood-sucking insects appeared, something like fleas.
Sea. The hotel beach has an artificial bay, a convenient sandy entry. If you want to look at the fish and corals, then you need to swim 200 meters or order a sea excursion. At the beginning of the holiday, the water was pleasantly cool, the last few days have been infernal hell, and the water in the bay by lunchtime began to bloom, turning into a radical green color. From time to time, all kinds of garbage were brought to the shore, which no one was in a hurry to clean up.
Restaurants. Breakfast and dinner were at the beach restaurant (the restaurant, of course, loudly said, rather - the dining room). Very conveniently located near the beach. The room is outdoors, covered with mesh, it can be very hot at lunchtime, despite the fans. There is a small room with air conditioning, there are fruits, vegetables and sweets. Tables are always sticky, crumbs on chairs.
Unwashed dishes, with cracks and chips, are also in the order of things. The wine glasses are not washed, all are stained. Also, no one is in a hurry to clean up the empty dishes from your table. It’s easier to take drinks for lunch yourself, you won’t expect anything from the waiters, they mostly court German tourists. It is almost impossible to shake out the contents of the salt and pepper shakers, inside everything has turned into a monolith, there are basically no toothpicks anywhere (this also applies to the main restaurant). Also, in the beach "restaurant" sparrows are rampant, if you leave food unattended, everyone will be taken away. Part of the food was cooked on gas stoves, and the gas cylinders were in the immediate vicinity of the stoves, right in the restaurant (according to our standards, this is prohibited, according to Egyptian, I think, too), at times there was a smell of gas.
The situation in the main restaurant is little better.
It is also better to go for drinks yourself, the waiters instead of rosé wine brought either white or red wine, instead of vodka they brought water. Chipped wine glasses and dishes are also found here. Salt and pepper, as well as at a beach restaurant, do not get enough sleep from salt and pepper shakers, there are no toothpicks, napkins too.
Food. The food is monotonous and not tasty. Assortment for lunch and dinner is almost always the same. There is fish (the cheapest, such as pangasius), chicken, beef stew, side dishes are always the same. For lunch and dinner, they prepared some kind of “delicacy”, such as baked duck or turkey, but they gave out strictly one piece at a time, even to the Germans. There was no seafood from the word at all, during the rest there was fried sea fish twice for lunch. To eat seafood was invited to a paid restaurant.
Of the fruits there were dates (by the way, tasty, but not always), green tasteless melons, grapefruits, oranges, apples (all cut into pieces), grapes, sometimes there were unripe apricots or peaches for dinner. For the entire holiday, watermelons were served three times, although May in Egypt is the season for watermelons and they are very inexpensive. The rest of the time, watermelon was sold on the beach and in a beach restaurant for 2 euros for 3 small pieces. There was no mango, strawberry or guava at all. The greens were often not the first freshness, then the parsley was dried and yellowed, then the lettuce was overgrown, with flowers already, the bell pepper is always green, underripe, the tomatoes are sinewy, oak.
In general, you won’t stay hungry, but you don’t feel like going for a supplement either (we even lost a little weight). It’s not that I’m nitpicking, but we haven’t seen anything like this in the “five”, even the Egyptian one.
Beverages.
Those who are not the first time in Egypt know that alcohol is so-so here, and in this hotel it seemed that it was also diluted (obviously, so that tourists would not get drunk in the heat), according to my feelings, only ouzo (aniseed) was not diluted vodka), because it is not popular with vacationers. Wine in Egypt of three categories (in descending order): Omar Khayyam is a good wine, you could order for a fee, if I’m not mistaken for 18 euros (for comparison, I bought a bottle at the airport when I flew home for $ 6), then the Obelisk is also not bad wine, a little simpler than Omar Khayam, was sort of served at dinner in the main restaurant and bars, and the simplest and cheapest - Pharaoh, was at lunch at the beach restaurant. However, I witnessed, as during dinner at the bar, that at the main restaurant, the waiter bottled cheap Pharaoh from the Obelisk, so that's a bummer.
Cocktails offered 5-6 types, in fact, some kind of soda with the addition of alcohol, there were also non-alcoholic cocktails. They drank mostly rum-cola and gin and tonic, the rest was nothing. I asked to cook a mojito, they refused, they said - this is for a fee, although there are all the ingredients in front of the bartender - rum, and sprite, and mint with lime.
As for juices, there were none at all. Served some kind of diluted water chemistry. Even a child preferred to drink plain water. Freshly squeezed juices - for a fee (2 euros per glass). Also present were cola, sprite and just sparkling water. Bottled water was supplied in the rooms, one and a half, in bars and on the beach you could take small bottles, there were no problems with this.
A la carte restaurants. Almost the same food as in canteens, only you still have to wait and they bring you in a clean and unbroken plate. Three tickets for visiting a la carte restaurants are given per room.
Were in Italian 2 times, 1 time in Greek. In Italian, delicious pizza and a large beef steak, fish steak is delicious. Salads about anything, confectionery is delicious. Wine is opened and bottled. In Italian they serve smarter, in Greek they didn’t like it, first of all, all attention was paid to the Germans, they didn’t pay attention to us, they asked us to refill our glasses, so no one moved before we left the restaurant.
Internet. If you want to stay in touch consistently, then it is better to buy a local SIM card, there is practically no Internet in Labrand. Wi-fi only works in the lobby, and then through the stump-deck, as soon as you leave from there, it starts to hang, you can’t talk or connect, it doesn’t automatically reconnect, you constantly need to log in.
Public toilets. These establishments are located near the beach restaurant, the main restaurant and the hotel lobby.
The plumbing is very tired, the tiles on the walls are pretty worn, but one could turn a blind eye to this, but you can’t get anywhere with the smell. It stank in all the toilets, including the one in the lobby, so sometimes I preferred to go to the room.
Animation. There are no questions about the work of these guys, although we did not participate in these events. The set, however, is standard - exercises, gymnastics, aqua aerobics, volleyball, boccia. In the evenings in the amphitheater of the neighboring hotel - some kind of show.
Summarizing the above, in general, the rest in this hotel was not pleasant. It does not correspond to five stars, a maximum of four (and the price should be appropriate, thirty percent lower, at least). In the next four, everything is the same, only cheaper. We won't go there again and won't recommend it to others either.
Close to the beach, smooth entry. Right by the shore we saw shoals of fish, though not very beautiful, grey. For beautiful ones, they went to the island and the ship. There is a lionfish, and a terrible Surena. If you go to the island, be sure to take coral slippers with you. I found mine and my son at the last minute, very useful. The rooms are clean and have everything you need. We are very satisfied with the animation program. I sent my son to the kids club with peace of mind. In the evening we went to a show at the amphitheater together. Not even embarrassed that the amphitheater is located on the territory of another hotel. We enjoyed the 5 minute walk. I especially remember the fire show. We also caught the evening of the Bedouins.
Of course, it was not easy to take a table, there were a lot of guests, and waiting in line to take food is an adventure for strong nerves, but camels and horses fixed the matter. I don’t know by what miracle, but my son was chosen among other children and put on a horse. There was a screech. Of course, there are downsides to everything. This hotel is no exception. Weak wi-fi, plastic glasses and mostly UPI instead of juice (freshly squeezed, of course, for money), as well as noisy CocoLoco. My son was able to sleep, but I had difficulty. But all the minuses are blocked by people from Labranda, both guests and all the staff. It was a good time, want to go back??????? ?
The hotel is good, I will say this - the average five, good value for money, if I still went to Egypt, I think again in the same hotel.
The food is good, there is always a choice of what to eat, fruits are different every day, during our stay there were strawberries, melons, oranges, tangerines, pomegranates, something else local, etc. , breakfasts are cool, I really want everything at once, for dinner in addition to the main dishes, every day there is some kind of themed dish, afternoon snacks on the beach - oriental pies, french fries, with 4-5 chicken vegetables rice in another cafe).
Any two Ala Carte restaurants are free of charge (there are 6 of them, maybe even more, they cook deliciously).
Alcohol is not bad, whiskey, brandy, tequila, gin are nice to drink (in Turkey, for example, I can’t drink whiskey at all), cocktails are not very good, beer, wine are like everywhere else.
The animators are cool, evening activities, once karaoke was just fun (now everything takes place in the lobby because it's cool outside), a children's disco every day.
At 23.00, a disco begins on the beach in the club, there is a fire burning there, so it’s not cold (there’s face control like your own alcohol is not allowed, only they have paid Moscow prices, if you order a cocktail they give you a fruit plate as a gift).
3 swimming pools 1 is the largest heated pool, it is shallow at first (well, suitable for children) and then the depth begins.
Constantly at the hotel they were interested in how the hotel service is for you, etc. , I think it is important for them, they all immediately solve some issues of the problem.
In general, lovers of culinary delights do not come here, although, I repeat, they have never been hungry, and they cook a lot of things just fine. Nothing to do in the hotel for families with children. The hotel is imprisoned for elderly Germans. From the children's there is one miserable playground, hidden behind a beach restaurant. This time we were not asked to pay for the room. But they looked into the eyes. Having received nothing, they settled in a room with a view not to the sea. And God be with him. It's not worth giving twenty bucks to the paw, in Labrand all numbers are normal. This is the plus of this hotel, the territory is both spacious and compact.
Great beach, heated pools. Every year there are good animation teams in Labrand. We did not go to meet the guide this time, although we had bought excursions from him with a 20 percent mark-up for the previous two years. On the sites and on the beach you will be offered cheaper. All the stories of the guide that if you do not buy from him, then it is illegal, that in which case, it will not be covered by medical insurance - impudent scratch.
The hotel staff is friendly. They do not refuse rewards, but they do not extort either. An exception is sometimes direct attempts at the reception to knock down money for a room upon arrival. The territory of the hotel is always well-groomed and not just cleaned, but straight licked. There is a great reef, but it will take a little time and effort to get to it. The gym is rather poor, besides the two hotels Labrand Royal and Labrand Club. Last year, I complained to the hotel management that there was always a queue for the only treadmill. They said that they had already ordered a second one and she was allegedly already on her way to the hotel. They lied, bastards)) Bottom line: the hotel has disadvantages, but I see a lot more pluses, that's why I went there to rest for the third time.
Fresh on the beach $2.
Until 00:00, alcohol is free, after that, in the lobby above the restaurant, pay according to the price list.
Excursions were taken from the guide Ali coral travel:
1. Luxor full 1 day - $85 per adult, $40 per child (9 years old). Time from 5 am to 10 pm. Lunch including juices 0.2l and water for free. I recommend.
2. Sightseeing tour of Hurghada + fish restaurant (5 points, except for drinks they are paid), adults and children only $ 40. Time from 11 am to 7 pm.
3. Safari (quads) per person $35, a child with one of the parents $10. They took it on the beach and bargained, it cost only $ 60 for 3. Rode for 2 hours.
In principle, everything, the hotel has a pharmacy and souvenir shops. It's cheaper to go to the nearby hotel Stella, there is a bazaar, the prices are much lower.
A Christmas tree was put up in the lobby, the hotel was decorated very nicely.
This hotel is 70% foreigners (French and German), so the staff speaks English more often. There are also a few Russian speakers)))
Many thanks for the welcome at the hotel to all the staff. Special thanks to the guide Ali, as he sells excursions in an interesting way, even children listen)))
The flight was delayed for 12 hours, I will tell about the ANEX Tour company below. At the Boryspil airport "terminal D" all the formalities went through quite quickly, they registered online, PCR tests were checked formally. Upon arrival in Hurghada, we immediately went to passport control, since the tour agent gave us migration cards and we filled them out at home, a visa for citizens of Ukraine costs $ 27, I think this “ANEX Tour” heated us $ 2. PCR tests were checked. Baggage received quickly. After receiving the luggage, I went to buy a local SIM card, at the exit there are three stalls "Vodafone", "Orange", "Etisalat". In Vodafone, the largest queue, I bought 16 gigabytes from Vodafone for $ 14. After 6 days, the Internet disappeared, after some clarifications, the limit turned out to be exhausted. Surprisingly, at home it takes me up to 5 gigabytes in a month, in Egypt, with a minimum viewing of YouTube and Facebook, 16 gigabytes in 6 days, amazing. It is impossible to see the traffic consumption in the SIM card there is no such possibility. Although I used to buy from Vodafone only in Sharm there were no problems.
The road to the hotel from Hurghada airport took about 40 minutes, we were lucky, we were the first to be brought to the hotel. Normal road. Big bus.
We arrived at the hotel at 18:00. At the reception, they took the documents for settling in and offered to move in, but there is an option to improve the room for $ 20, to which we agreed. After 3 minutes, they provided a room with a view of the sea and the pool, issued an electronic key (later they issued another key) and three cards for towels. Our room 1452 was in the building opposite the pool, on the second floor. There are two single beds in the room, later they brought another one, a wardrobe, a large TV, a safe, a refrigerator (two bottles of 1.5 liters of drinking water are replenished every day) there is also a mini bar in the refrigerator for money, on the balcony, two chairs, a small table. The TV turned on once on the channels, I won’t say anything, it’s impossible to insert a USB flash drive to view the content brought. The bathroom and toilet are standard, bottles for women were delivered the next day after the request, they also gave slippers and bathrobes upon request. Towels are changed every day. The bed is also changed regularly, I didn’t specifically track it.
The room is ok, the furniture needs to be replaced.
The Internet was on the territory, sometimes it crashes, you just need to authorize again. For viewing news and correspondence is enough.
A little about the weather. It was very hot, on the third day a strong north wind blew, it became a little easier, after three days the wind stopped, it became very hot again, burned out three times, cream 50 did not help.
The beach is clean, sunbeds mattresses are already on the verge. Bars are open from 10 o'clock, refrigerators with water are also closed until 10:00, so even take water from your room. Towels are issued only in one place, near the pool, they are mostly changed for new ones, no one takes the cards. The sea is clean, the entrance to the lagoon is sandy (there are no fish), there are no low tides, there is no pier. To see the fish, you need to go to the pier of the Stella Di Mare Beach Resort hotel, there is a pretty lively reef, we saw rays, lionfish, turtles were not seen. The charm of the fish is much brighter, even on a boat trip nothing surprised.
The drinks at the beach bar and in the hotel are terrible, you can only drink beer. Who uses - buy in "Duty Free".
One dining room - you can’t even call it a restaurant, plus five A La carte by appointment (Italian, Cuban, Oriental, Arabic, Asian), you can visit it twice for free. No service (drinks not brought). The food is monotonous, the fish (pangasius) is very fatty, chicken, side dishes, fresh vegetables (in poor condition and few), they make pizza, in the evening they fry something on the grill. Fruits: melon, orange, sometimes grapes, twice there was a watermelon party. A small table of desserts. Everything is very modest. Don't get better.
A la carte is also sad. Were in the East, I didn’t like anything, neither the food nor the service, we didn’t wait for dessert - they left, in Cuban - not bad hamburgers, but to go halfway around the world to have a hamburger chain for dinner?
Animation. This is the nicest thing about the hotel. The guys are working hard and giving 100%. The territory of the hotel is cozy, cleaned, but everything is in need of repair for a long time. It seems to me that everything needs to be put in for repairs, or the hotel will simply “die”. Once it was a high-level hotel, now it is a level, not a very good trio. On the territory of 3 pools. There are no slides. You can play volleyball, football, especially liked "bocha". In the evenings, performances are held in the amphitheater, by animation forces, quite interesting. Then you can go to a disco on the beach, there are drinks for money.
Hurghada is 40 km away, it makes no sense to go shopping there, the price of a taxi will kill all the benefits. There is nowhere to go outside the hotel. All entertainment is on site only. The hotel offered shrimp, 1 kg $ 20, we have in Kyiv, 1 kg. tiger prawns $13. There is nowhere to buy fruit. There is a quad bike safari $25 for one, with a child $30. Also water activities Kitesurfing, Windsurfing price $50. We also went on a boat trip on a yacht, $ 50 per person. There were two stops for snorkeling, nothing to see, the Egyptian Maldives is so-so, but very long, fishing for children. We closed the issue, we will not go again.
Our flight was postponed 12 hours ago, it turned out exactly minus one day. The ANEX Tour hotel guide, after realizing that we would not buy excursions from him, forgot that he had such tourists, at 22:00 we contacted him to find out about the departure time, and lo and behold, our flight was postponed from 18:50 but 7:50 and we leave the hotel at 3:20. At the stand, information about the departure did not change for three days. It seems to me that such things need to be warned in advance, at least things need to be collected. At the Hurghada airport, everything is quite democratic, compared to Sharm - heaven and earth, in favor of Hurghada.
I can't help but say a few words about the ANEX Tour company. Perhaps this is a special case, but it seems to me that the level of customer service they have is falling along with the level of Hurghada hotels. My personal opinion, they slipped from a solid four to three with a minus.
Let me summarize. Territory - 4 (with a minus). Rooms - 3 (with a plus). Meals - 2. Service - 3. The rest left a double impression - a good sea, a bad hotel. Would I go to this hotel again, definitely not. Would I recommend it to my friends - no (I want to explain why: the hotel is in crisis and it does not have any zest, for which you need to go only to this hotel).
The problem is that all sites show a rating much higher than average, although everything is sad there.
The food for 5 full days of stay was almost monotonous but tasty, there was no seafood (except for fried fish), juices were diluted from concentrates with water (delicious fresh fruit cost 2 dollars).
The bars were open from 10:00 to 23:00 (although on the counter, the mode of operation of the descriptions until 00:00).
We came to the beach from 8:00, and had to wait until the bar opens, or the refrigerator to drink water (until 10:00 the refrigerator on the beach closes)
Alcoholic drinks were delicious, especially different cocktails ...A couple of times after 15:00 in the pool bar, beer was running out, the workers just told me to go to another ...
For an hour of rest received two certificates for visiting restaurants on site. The first one was "Texas" - they ate delicious burgers, the second one "Italian" - Caesar salad included a lot of cabbage, 3 crackers and 1 small piece of chicken (they were shocked), half an hour later they served veal, which could not be cut even with a knife. after another 40 minutes we received one pizza, after 20 minutes another, after another 20 minutes a dissertation. They were very dissatisfied with the hour of service, because they booked it in advance at 20:00 ...They sat waiting (feeding mosquitoes) more than they ate.
All hotel staff are friendly, if you have any questions, feel free to ask for help. I didn't like the clinging of additional service sellers on the beach, but after two days of rest they didn't come. Sea / beach The sea is calm, warm, deep and clean, sandy beach, clean with a good sunset (the children really liked)
In general, the hotel is a little less than 5 stars, personally my rating is 4 stars
Outside the hotel once walked, but every day there is nothing to do, once went on a trip to Luxor, followed us, picked up and returned the same way. Organized by camitourcom, this is not the first trip with them and as always everything is at the highest level at a fair price.
Luxor was very impressive, though hot, but moving on a good tourist bus with air conditioning saved. Guys are great guys, nothing to complain about.
The food at the hotel can be said without remarks, in general it was enough, a normal choice, the queues were sometimes stressful, but the guys at the distribution did what they could. In general, the staff is smart, everyone was friendly, thank you all. Great vacation, great sea I really want to come back. We recommend the hotel.
2. Labranda royal makadi was chosen according to reviews - the territory is not enough greenery, the rooms are not bad, the food is terrible - monotonous, only the animators pulled out the whole rest - a special thank you to them. Twice in 11 days the locals came for some of their holidays (noise, hubbub, you can’t go to the bar - it’s a queue, it’s scary to go to the pool).
I won’t go to Labranda and Hurghada in general for any money and I don’t advise anyone!! ! If you go to Egypt, then only in Sharm el-Sheikh