Подробный рассказ об отеле и экскурсиях Detailed description of the hotel and excursions

Rested in the Hilton from 9 to 19.11. 09. Who cares in a nutshell: a 5 * hotel does not pull. According to the school grading system, 4-, or even 3+.
Who is not too lazy to read when there are "a lot of bukuff" - below I will sign everything in detail. In the first part there will be a story about the hotel, and in the second - about excursions. So…
1. Hotel of modern European (or American) type. Who is looking for Arabic flavor, that is not here. Everything is clean, compact, neat, modern, but in the end... nothing.

2. The hotel does not have a fitness room or an indoor pool. Sauna / hammam, they say, was, but did not work. Personally, I didn’t need either one or the other, but the absence of these things excludes the right of the hotel to carry 5 * by star standards. And the lack of free internet seems to take the stars off too. Now free Wi-Fi (albeit not very fast, since it is free, albeit only at the reception or in the lobby) is available throughout Europe, in Turkey and even in Russia. There is also in Palestine, where there is not even roaming for Russian mobile operators! They don't have it at the Hilton. And paid Internet costs some sky-high money: $ 6 for 15 minutes. More is cheaper, but the package of minutes cannot be divided into several times - you can connect only once, unused minutes burn out.
3. The territory is very green, beautiful, many bushes, flowers and deciduous trees, and not just palm trees. But the whole territory is only one alley 200-300 meters along the sea, leading to the neighboring Movenpick. But there is a complete "vice versa" - a lot of winding paths in the middle of lawns and palm trees at the rate of one per 250 square meters. meters. On the territory of the hotel there is a so-called. a Tax Free shop, where there is nothing to do at all, and very good shopping arcades with souvenirs, bathing accessories (masks, fins, etc. for every taste and quite inexpensively) and some rags.
4. Numbers. Lived in a std with a mountain view. You can live. Something buzzed a little on the roof under the windows, but with the window closed, the rumble did not bother. Those who lived in the sea view sometimes suffered from the smoke of a kindled grill and the sound of dishes in a restaurant. And the price difference is 20 bucks a day. Moreover, this is an official, fixed price, no fifty dollars and even a stolnik enclosed in a passport will not help. But, if you are the last in line, you can get a room with a balcony on the sea for free. Well, I mean no extra charge. This is if by that time the standards that go to the other side will end.
5. Service. At the reception everything is normal. There is a Russian-speaking guy. Cleaning in the rooms... she was. But the linen for 10 days I have not changed even once. Although I'm lying! Once changed, shifting the blanket from one bed to another. (It originally had a noticeably unwashed stain). At the same time, at first he left the dollar, and then stopped (for what to pay it, if the cleaners still hack) - there is no difference. In the main restaurant, the boys ran fast and ordered drinks were not long in coming. But in the bar on the beach, the attitude is worse - they could “hang out” among themselves for 5 minutes, discussing the Egypt-Algeria match, and not paying attention to anyone at all. The notorious invoices for signing are not particularly annoying, especially since, according to previously read reviews, I was ready for this. One thing is surprising - they are given only in one case out of four or five. What's the point of them then? And it was also surprising that at the entrance to the hotel you could get a towel not just by leaving a card, but also by giving the room number, and there was generally self-service on the beach! I threw a card - I took a towel (this is only in the morning, because after dinner the towels were running out) and back also all by myself. At the same time, no one even checked the correspondence between the number of returned towels and the cards taken. Or maybe they have a surveillance camera there, and if someone cheated, then they will get it! ? ; )

6. Beach. A great! There are terrible stones at the main building of the hotel, but only those who have just arrived and did not have time to reach the main beach swim there. : ) The entrance to the water is sand, slippers are not needed. There are quite enough sunbeds for everyone, even despite the fact that vacationers (well, this is our Russian mentality) occupied them from 7 in the morning, or even earlier. There is a place in the sun, and under umbrellas, and in the canopy of palm trees, and even a free hammock is not a problem to find. There are a couple of reefs, that is, you can admire the beauty of the corals and fish of the Red Sea. For those who are not professional divers, just great! Well, the latter do not go to Taboo at all. : ) The only thing that just killed me (I was in Egypt for the first time, but they say that this is the case everywhere) is the lack of changing cabins on the beach. At least you crack - either put shorts on wet swimming trunks, or wait until they are completely dry. Indeed, in the main building of the hotel in swimsuits is not allowed - civilization, damn it! There are two more options - to change clothes in an unsuitable toilet, where the employees first sent me in response to my question, or use the pioneer-towel method. The last one I ended up with.
7. Animation. During the day there was regular gymnastics and water aerobics. Volleyball twice a day, though the animator Sam only interfered with the game. In the evening, once a week, karaoke and bingo, periodically some local dances. In general, there is nothing to watch, nothing to do - the melancholy is golden. I saw a kids club there. I don't know anything about filling it. But there is no children's pool in the hotel!! ! (by the way, this is also a minus in its stardom). And a playground with one swing and two slides for 30 sq. meters, it seems to me, too scarcely.
8. Nutrition. To put it mildly: bad. : ) Do not just think, I'm not a gourmet and not picky. But worse than the buffet, I have not seen even in the canteens, where we stopped by for lunch, leaving on excursions. From meat: only one, rarely two, beef dishes. Chicken and fish don't interest me. When two - one is grilled and the second is cooked in a pot in the kitchen. I do not consider sausages a meat dish for a restaurant. Moreover, they are not tasty. There is always a queue to the grill, sometimes waiting for 15 minutes. And after 20:00, there may, in principle, be nothing left. Meat "from the pan" consisted of 50 percent of the sinew. It was difficult to chew it. We must pay tribute - on the grill every day a different meat (or non-meat). Chicken and fish from day to day without change. I don't like either one or the other. Side dishes - rice, pasta, steamed vegetables and for some reason always raw boiled potatoes. Once there was mashed potatoes and one - french fries. There were no vegetable appetizers at all. There were separately planed tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbage, lettuce, radishes... And a couple of dressings for them. A do-it-yourself kit. Breakfast is also a problem. What looked like cottage cheese was more like cheese. It was very salty. Sometimes there was some kind of yogurt. Kas was not in principle. There was something similar to milk soup in a ratio of 1:1 (one grain of cereal per liter of milk). There was an omelette in a common pan or scrambled eggs at your request, but after 10-20 minutes standing in line to the cook. And further. They don't seem to know what green tea is! Only black Lipton in bags. My friends once had a prank: they threw a few green ones brought from home into a bowl with tea bags. They were taken apart in two seconds, and those who managed to notice them (bags), but did not manage to grab them, began to pester the staff to bring them green tea. It was funny to see the indignation of vacationers and bewilderment of the staff. : ) Yes, and the wines there are good! Both red and white - who prefers what. Beer is ok. But the annoying thing is that in the bar on the beach it (however, like everything else) is poured into 200-gram disposable cups. They would have poured beer into glasses! I won’t say anything about strong drinks - they didn’t interest me.
In general, the conclusion is this: rest, in principle, is good. A good rest is even better. But the last sentence does not apply to Hilton Taba. The hotel did not live up to my expectations. He does not pull on any of the declared stardom, and does not correspond to the rave reviews that I read on this and other similar sites. Those who praise food, apparently, eat at home exclusively sandwiches or dumplings from a pack. On a five-point system, I would give him an estimate of 3.5-3.8.

Part two. About excursions.
I chose the taboo specifically to go on excursions to Israel and Petra. I read in advance on the Internet reviews about various organizers (native Pegasus and local Abdullah and Ibrahim). He decided that Pegasus was not doing well with his compatriots, ripping us off for 50-70 bucks from a two-day trip to Israel and 40-50 greens in one day to Jordan. And I chose in the end Abdullah.
PEOPLE!! ! Never, you hear, NEVER! do not mess with Abdullah and his manager Tatyana. I, the fool, stepped on this rake twice. Do not repeat my mistakes yourself and tell all your acquaintances, unfamiliar and completely unfamiliar people, give a link to this review of mine on other sites...
Now more. At first, Tatyana (namely, she represents Abdullah both by e-mail and by phone) was politeness and punctuality itself. In the letter, she described in detail the program of excursions, promised a discount for the purchase of two. Then she called the hotel strictly at the appointed time, at least check the clock. And here is the tour itself.

Looking ahead, I’ll say that crossing the border and putting “those” or “wrong” stamps in the passport, which Russian operators scare tourists with, is the same procedure for everyone. And then how lucky you are - either you will slip through in an hour or you will hang for six hours. (We walked in two. ) The bus, transfers, guide and hotels for two-day excursions are also the same conditions for Pegasus and Ibrahim and others. BUT! I am a believer. I went to Israel for two days in order to visit the holy places to the maximum (although I understood that two days for this is simply ridiculous). By the way, who just needs to go to the shrines, “so that it is”, that is, check the box in their biography that the person was in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, you can safely go with a 1-day excursion, and with any operator (except for Abdullah, of course ). At first everything was fine. Well, we visited the Wailing Wall. I don’t know why the Orthodox need it, it’s a Jewish shrine (no one in our group showed belonging to this religion). Well, they looked, and okay. Then there was Bethlehem and the Church of the Nativity. I will not describe the feelings that gripped me. Everyone has their own. Let me just say that I, as an Orthodox person, was delighted! Well, we lost extra money and an invaluable hour of time in a shamelessly expensive souvenir and icon shop. But this is the scourge of all guides and all tour operators. Then we had a good lunch and returned to Jerusalem. We went to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Not along Via Dolorosa, as promised, but from above, as a shorter one. We galloped through the old city and through the temple itself, without touching either Golgotha ​ ​ or entering Edicule (it was necessary to stand in lines for 20-30 minutes)... But at 15:15 we were already taken out of the Jaffa Gate (and even with the words, how we were delayed! ), seated on buses (some to Jordan, some back to Egypt, and some to Bethlehem for the night) and EVERYTHING! To our fair indignation, they say, where is the Room of the Last Supper, where is the panorama of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, where is the Garden of Gethsemane, where is the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin, we were told that all this closes at 17:00, maximum at 17:45, and you are very tired - go to the hotel for a rest. Excuse me, but there are still 2.5 hours before closing, and we were driving to see these places, even if we were exhausted. It's no use. . . They loaded us (9 people into a seven-seater minibus) and took us to a hotel in the Palestinian territory. In general, less than half of what Tatyana promised us on this excursion was shown to us. But for half a day we spent half a day in a deep hole, where we couldn’t go out for a walk or drink properly... I must say that the second day (Nazareth and the Jordan River) was great! Separate respect and many thanks to the guide Dima (Rachman is his last name). On the first day, our guide was terrible. If you come across an aunt named Nonna, chase her in the neck and demand a replacement guide. He knows little, tells the story in tongue-tied language, behaves shamelessly, calls Abraham Abrasha, and so on.
By the way, when I complained about the tour to Tatyana, she pretended to be so surprised, said that this was all the guide’s arbitrariness, that this couldn’t be... I’m sure that the guide, although we had a terrible one, was not the point. The fact is that on the second day we were united with a group that had come from Ibrahim! : ) They have exactly the same song, only they were sent to the hotel even earlier, at 14:00, and they managed to get to Jerusalem and walk on their own, for their own money. Later, I talked with those who traveled from Ibrahim and Abdullah at other times. They also had the same half-hearted program. But those who traveled from Pegasus or TezTour saw everything that could be done before 19:00. They really fell off their feet, but they were satisfied and happy from what they saw. By the way, you may well go on an excursion with Pegasus, even if you came to Egypt with Tez and vice versa. Pegasus is better because on the first day they go to Nazareth, and on the second, after resting in a hotel, they walk around Jerusalem.
CONCLUSION: If you are going to Israel for two days, choose only a Russian tour operator! The $50-$70 difference is worth it.
Then there was a trip to Petra. Tatyana sang so sweetly, apologized so much, promised a large discount on this excursion as compensation, that my heart could not stand it, and I again went through Abdulla. Looking ahead, I’ll say that everyone with whom I traveled to Israel together from Abdullah bought a tour to Jordan already from Ibrahim. As a result, we were loaded onto one ferry and no longer differentiated. And the price of Tatyana with a "grand" discount turned out to be exactly the same as that of Ibrahim for everyone.

So. Tatyana did not call at the appointed time. Sent an SMS with the time of departure. At 6:40 am. At 6:38 I was waiting for the bus at the barrier of the hotel. He stood there alone, "like three poplars on Plyushchikha. " That is, apart from me and the border police there was not a single soul, not a single piece of equipment. I also decided not to take my phone with me… There is no bus at the appointed time, no bus at 6:50, no at 7:00… By 7:20 Ibrahim's group began to gather. Full and satisfied (breakfast at the hotel from 6:30, so I didn’t have time to eat, but they had a normal breakfast). I scold Abdulla and Tatiana for what the world is worth, and even more myself - well, how could I step on the same rake a second time. Exactly at 7:20 a bus came for them. People call me with them, “keep” their bus while I ran for the phone. I call Tatyana (note that this is my money, and a lot of it - calls are expensive in Egypt! ), She cynically tells me that the bus has already been waiting for me. Then he says that he, it turns out, is late and is about to come for me. Meanwhile, my roommates traveling with Ibrahim found out that he could take me to their group. I haven't paid anyone yet. And a visa (to Jordan an application for it is submitted in advance) I had to issue Abdullah. I declare this to Tatyana and press "hang up". Two minutes later, Abdullah himself, unknown before, calls me. He speaks disgusting Russian, so, not intending to spend my money on asking again what he meant, I press the end call again and do not answer calls anymore. Upon arrival at the port (it is said loudly - in fact, to the pier : ) ), Abdulla's people are looking for me, they put the phone in my ear... I understood what he was so excited about - he had already paid for my visa, and I gave the entire amount to Ibrahim. I don't care about money. But at least some moral compensation - that this freak spent money on me, and a good man (Ibrahim), on the contrary, received more money.
The tour itself was great, except for the bad weather. The ferry is very fast, the border is a pure formality. Pegasus with TezTour will scare you. who are transported to Jordan by bus, through two borders there and through two back (Israel and Jordan), that it is dangerous to sail on a ferry, that you can sail there, and on the way back a storm will break out and you will hang in Jordan for who knows how long... Can you imagine a storm in a glass of water? Where are the storms in the Gulf of Aqaba? : ) It is smaller in width than the same Volga for the most part. Of course, there are waves on the Volga too, so I can’t vouch for it completely.
So, conclusion. Excursion to Israel for 2 days - only with Pegasus or TezTour. Israel for 1 day - all the same. Everyone has the same program, but Ibrahim will have a cheaper one. But Jordan (Petra) is better with Ibrahim. Cheaper, faster and without hemorrhoids with two borders. And once again, do not contact Abdullah under any circumstances. Remember these numbers: +20166641978 and +20122486321, but only in the sense that you CAN'T CALL THEM!!!
Good luck everyone! ; )