I want to share my impressions of our 33rd holiday in Egypt. Stayed in Marsa Alam in "Utopia Beach Club 4*", system "all inclusive". In this hotel for the first time, I chose based on reviews. The main priority is a good house reef for snorkeling.
Transfer from the airport takes about 60 minutes. We arrived at the hotel in the afternoon. They moved in immediately. Room on the second floor, remote sea view. The room is pleasant and clean, 2 beds, a wardrobe with a mirror, a safe, a refrigerator. The bathroom has a shower, a small hair dryer, no cosmetic products except liquid soap, bring your own. Everything works, but there is a need for repair. Quality cleaning, water refilled. There is a comfortable balcony.
The advantage of this hotel is very beautiful architecture in the oriental style. The territory is large, green, the plants are taken care of. There are shops, a gym, a spa center. The hotel is located in the desert. There is a paid shuttle to El Quseira.
Food for 4*.
The choice of dishes is normal, you will not be hungry. The dishes are delicious. In addition to the main restaurant, there is an a la carte restaurant, but there is the same buffet as in the main restaurant, only for a fee. By the way, we found out that there is a fee when we put the fruit on the plate and were about to eat it. It was unpleasant. A strange concept. Fries, hamburgers and hot dogs are served by the pool during the day.
There are several all-inclusive bars. The Marsa Alam resort is aimed at European tourists, so alcohol in most hotels is of normal quality (for Egypt). But in this particular hotel, apart from beer, the quality of alcohol is low. Wine is very diluted with water, and strong alcohol has a strong unpleasant taste and smell.
The service at "Utopia Beach Club 4*" is normal, the guys are friendly and polite.
Animation is present in the hotel, there are 2 teams, separate shows are held for guests from Italy, separately for all others. I liked the animation.
Beach. The hotel is located on the first line from the beach.
The beach is sandy, there are enough sunbeds and umbrellas. For the first time, we found ourselves in a situation where there are many empty sunbeds, but you cannot lie down on them because they are reserved. You need to book a sunbed with a lifeguard. He writes down the numbers of the sunbeds in a notebook. Thus, many guests book sunbeds near the sea, and go to the pool themselves, or go on an excursion. Half of the sunbeds are empty, and we were allocated a sunbed at the very end of the beach. Very uncomfortable and unpleasant.
Sea. Going into the sea is not easy, on pebbles. The hotel's house reef was disappointing. There are some very nice areas with small fish, but we saw much nicer coral. In addition, there is a very strong current in the bay. You plan to swim in one direction, but the current carries you in another. It can be difficult for people who are not very good swimmers. We went specifically for snorkeling, so we decided to move to another hotel.
Let me sum up: if you paid a little money, want a passive vacation, if snorkeling is not the main thing for you, then this is a pretty good hotel with a very nice area, normal service and food. I do not recommend this hotel to snorkelers with great experience and boundless love for the underwater world of the Red Sea.
Have a nice rest everyone, there will be questions, write, I will answer!
The guide from anex Mohammed is unobtrusive, does not have aggressive sales of excursions. We even bought a sea excursion to Mars Mubarak Bay from him. Enjoyed 100% lucky to swim with dugong and turtles.
And so - the sea and the beach of the hotel are gorgeous, even at low tide there is water in the lagoons and you can fully swim. The entrance from the shore is sandy. The reef on this beach is fantastic!!! ! ! A wide variety of fish and marine life, saw a stingray - bracken, shell, crocodile fish. There are also sellers of excursions walking along the beach and various barkers, in my opinion obsessively. They decided to buy an excursion from one, ''like'' a walk around the city of Quseir with dinner at a fish restaurant. There is nothing to say about the restaurant ...They served some fried fish, there were more onions, but there were about 10 shrimp, which also had to be found, and a bunch of fried onions, no soup.
Walking around the city is a call to the souvenir shop. The mood was spoiled. Check-out at 12 o'clock, the bracelets are immediately cut off, if you need to wait a long time for the transfer, then you have to pay for lunch. So, the conclusion is that the hotel is not for a whimsical tourist, here for those who want to get high from the sea ! ! !
The food is not bad, everything is varied - you will definitely not be hungry.
There was a female room, quite spacious.
The territory is large, beautiful and well-kept. There is no heated pool (
There are shops on the territory where you can buy everything you need.
We arrived at 10 am, settled at 11 in an excellent room of the highest category than was purchased in the tour. A little $ and a chocolate present, as always, will not be superfluous. But no one demanded anything, everything is optional.
The cuisine is simple, no frills, chicken, veal, fish, potatoes, rice. Everything is fresh and tasty. Many vegetables in different forms, delicious fruits, ripe guava, melon, pomegranates, dates, citrus fruits, grapes. Just enough.
Animation, SPA services, excursions - everything is unobtrusively offered and of good quality, if you want to actively relax, you can be busy all day.
Special thanks for the mega convenient idea of reserving sunbeds for the entire stay. No one borrows anything, no one runs around with towels. I have never seen this in Sharm, the eternal battle for places.
The reef is indescribable. There are no such fish and corals anywhere.
I recommend it for those who do not need discos, movement, crowds on the promenade, alleys of shops and pharmacies. It is calm, comfortable, sincere and of high quality.
AIRPORT + TRANSFER. Very small home-type airport, only our plane flew in and out. There is duty free, but it is very small (it is better to buy everything you need in Kyiv). After receiving your luggage, you can buy a mobile card. Only EtiSalat operator on sale. We paid $ 13 for 18 GB, but in fact there was 9 GB (you can install the application and check the balance there). The Internet worked perfectly and throughout the hotel and even by sea during the tour. Transfer to the hotel in 40 minutes.
Settlement. We arrived at the hotel at 8.00. We were not wearing bracelets. We waited until 10.00 and then gave the bracelets and sent for brunch. Everyone who arrived was also settled immediately. We needed 2 rooms next door and that was a problem. They said either take what you have, or wait until 14.00. With the help of the guest manager, we took one room, and the other came at 14.00.
All staff speak English, it is difficult to agree on something with them. We did not go to the meeting with the guide.
ROOMS. These are probably the worst numbers of all my 7 times in Egypt. Furniture is standard-old. TV is not plasma. And the biggest disappointment from the bathroom. Low bath, with fabric curtain. Mirror with rust across the plane. From cosmetics - soap from dispensers and all. The safe is working. Leave 2 bottles of water in the room daily and can be replenished at the restaurant with coolers. But maybe such rooms only overlook the pool, we were told that the standard is better.
FOOD. Breakfast is standard - omelets, eggs, vegetables, sausages, sausage, cheese, feta, pastries. For 2E fresh juice. Lunch - soup, meat, chicken, fish, vegetables, a couple of side dishes, fruit. Dinner - meat, chicken, fish, vegetables, a couple of side dishes, desserts. The kitchen is simple but very tasty. At the pool bar, which is closer to the sea, there are daily french fries and burgers.
Pizza at a nearby bar is very tasty, but it is not made constantly, but every other day, or even in 2 days.
ALCOHOL. Beer and wine are delicious. There is whiskey, rum, gin. Cocktails don't do or do anything. Normal only for money, for example, Mojito 5E. Gratitude in the amount of 1 dollar gives nothing).
Beach. At once it is necessary to approach the person who gives out towels and to reserve to itself chaise longues for all rest. You do not need to look for yourself, he leads to a free place. And every morning, when you get the towels, he follows you and brings the mattresses (because they fold them at night). The sea has 2 childbirth entrances. Corals are not needed. There is no pontoon. The water was quite warm. During our vacation there was an ebb and flow, and a strong current. Corals and the underwater world are very beautiful. We saw stingrays. And the more water, the more fish swim. One day we walked along the beach to the left, there was a very good photo) You could swim there.
The best snorkeling near the ruined pontoon and there you can see dolphins in the morning (we were told so).
ANIMATION. Quite active. The animation team is international. There were 2 Ukrainian girls. They are very sociable and helped us in many matters. For entertainment - during the day yoga, aqua aerobics, volleyball, bocce, towns. Evening at 21:15 entertainment programs. I liked the fire show the most. And in general, if before there were few Ukrainian guests in this hotel, now about 30%, the rest are Germans, Poles, Italians.
EXCURSION. We went to the bay of Mars Mubarak. We were promised dolphins, turtles and dugongs. But ...Turtles were seen swimming right next to them. Very nice. They gave a delicious lunch. Everything was also well organized. Bought on the beach, on the right near the volleyball court. Price $ 45
The receptionist greeted us with a beaming smile at the reception. I will note at once that the staff does not know Ukrainian or Russian well, because the hotel is focused on Europeans. The area is well maintained several water slides.
Number. The view from our room is normal - on the next hotel, nothing special. What they gave, they took (they didn't pay anything extra). But inside - pleasantly surprised. Everything works.
The bed is perfectly clean and ironed, two pillows per person.
I came here to rest my soul and I succeeded, instead of inspecting the hotel with a white glove. Would I come here again? Definitely so. It is because of this incredible sea and the warm, friendly atmosphere of the hotel.
The food can be said to be good, the chef is credited, special thanks to the local woman for the tortillas for dinner, it's just fantastic. Not enough fruit.
Internet - paid, for 2 weeks we paid $ 23, not only did it not work well in room 2056, it often cut off for a couple of hours in general. Interestingly, Wi-Fi worked on the beach, but not in the room. Can something be done? And another problem with the Internet. We thought that the whole family would be able to connect, but the pipes, the connection to only one device, as a result, the son and wife were left without communication, there was no desire to pay another $46.
Beach - umbrellas must be assigned to you at all times, but we were moved 3 times. A particularly impudent type is Mohamed Saber, who stands on towels, he is in the photo. All the time he tried to deceive us, then he would not give towels, then cards upon delivery. He simply threw the mattresses on the sand, although for the Germans and Poles, in addition to the best places, he also covered the sunbeds with towels. In the hotel, in general, on the part of the entire staff, a disdainful attitude towards Ukrainians and Russians, apparently they consider us an inferior race. The staff does not understand Russian, English is rather weak for many, but they know the words dollar and euro well.
On the beach, a metal umbrella fell on a child (there is in the photo, the child was not injured), another 2 fell nearby a little later. Vacationers, be careful, this is dangerous to health! Fortunately we were lucky, otherwise we can not avoid injuries. At the same time, this guy (Mohamed Saber) was just passing by and seeing that the metal structure was falling on the child, he didn’t come up, didn’t help, didn’t apologize, probably the Koran does not allow it. In the middle of the day, when the beach is full of vacationers, it is in the order of things for the Arabs to drag a welding machine (there is in the photo) and work with it (safety, your mother! ) Or dig holes for new umbrellas. Fortunately, all negative emotions from such a service were brightened up by the sea, I have not seen such a rich marine world anywhere in Egypt, this is a paradise for snorkelers and divers.
The animation worked perfectly, there are no complaints about them. Especially many thanks to the animator Dasha for an individual approach to children!
I recommend the hotel for a quiet family vacation for undemanding and unpretentious people, I will not go here a second time.
In September, the weather is not hot - it fries literally during the day from 13-00 to 15-00, then it’s comfortable) the sea is warm, gentle and chic) in Egypt, not for the first time, but in Mars for the first time. Food for 4 as stated, this is Egypt) there is a lot of food, you definitely won’t be hungry) Now about the reef itself, it’s gorgeous, to the left of the hotel, stingrays and various fish are something))) In general, entering the sea itself is for everyone - you want a seal lie down, but he wants to swim and see something, swim a couple of meters) the only thing was on the ebb and flow, but it's not scary)
We took excursions to the bay of dolphins and turtles - I don’t advise you, you won’t see anything, unless you swim on a yacht, I saw a big turtle alone, but it was fast. the guy Hanza walks on the beach - I recommend taking ATVs to the desert from him - everything is well organized, well done guys) in general, who is positive and does not pay attention to the little things - this hotel is budget and good for relaxing)) The only thing that overshadowed our vacation, so this is the Joint Up operator, who took almost a day from us, moving the flight back from 17-00 pm to 4 am the previous day ((but this is not the fault of the hotel and the country itself!