Rested with my husband in this hotel (now called Sea Shell) in November 2012. The hotel is really for a very relaxing holiday. The territory is small but very green, the beach is also small, but the entrance is good and deep. Sunbeds were always free, as there were few people. There is practically no animation, but the boys tried their best.
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Rested with my husband in this hotel (now called Sea Shell) in November 2012. The hotel is really for a very relaxing holiday. The territory is small but very green, the beach is also small, but the entrance is good and deep. Sunbeds were always free, as there were few people. There is practically no animation, but the boys tried their best. The food was good, there were no complaints about the food, and the dishes were always clean and not broken. And everything would have been fine if not for the boorish behavior of the hotel staff. Moreover, those who clean on the street, on the beach and in the rooms are all pretty friendly, they smile, say hello, but the reception and the restaurant require separate words. Before you check in, everyone says that the room is very good and they charge 10 dollars (I want to say that all rooms with sea views are the same), rooms with garden views are all different across the road, but to get a good room you need from 20 up to 30 dollars, so that the requisitions on the face. Suitcases are almost torn out of hands and they also demand money for delivery to the room. . I want to warn everyone that they steal money in the safes at the reception and you won’t prove anything to anyone, they have mutual responsibility there, and the guides just shrug, they say you probably didn’t close the safe yourself and the tourists took the money, although the safe is locked with two keys in the presence hotel staff. So be very careful if you want to visit this hotel. Now about the restaurant. Just don’t sit where you want in the restaurant, you should be seated by the attendants, though when there are a lot of people they don’t have time to do this. Very fond of serving the Germans. Good wine and beer are brought to them on a tray, and everyone else is poured wine from plastic bottles diluted with water and some strange drinks from which our people are poisoned and maddened. The conclusions can be drawn as follows: We will never go to this hotel again, and for those who go, I want to say be very careful and take care of your things.
Review from — vOtpusk.ru
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In this hotel we rested with a young man for 4 days in June 2012. Upon arrival, I wanted to write a bunch of nasty things at once, but I restrained myself. Therefore, I am writing now, when the emotions have subsided. We chose the hotel according to the principle: to meet the budget, since there was not enough money.
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In this hotel we rested with a young man for 4 days in June 2012. Upon arrival, I wanted to write a bunch of nasty things at once, but I restrained myself. Therefore, I am writing now, when the emotions have subsided. We chose the hotel according to the principle: to meet the budget, since there was not enough money. Although 32000 for 4 nights is not so little. In general, the girl in the travel agency advised this hotel, but in my opinion she was not very competent, as she was talking about hotels stupidly reading the description from the computer. I can do the same. I couldn't offer any advice. But we bought a ticket. (I won’t go there again, it doesn’t smell of competence. ) We arrived at the hotel at 7:30 in the morning and they immediately told us that the room would be given at 12, and a good room at 14, or now but for a fee. And this despite the fact that the hotel was not full and half. But if I agree with the numbers, then the statement that "All inclusive" they also start at 12 just plunged me into SHOCK! I rested many times in Egypt and Turkey, and nowhere did this happen during early arrivals! They didn’t offer us breakfast (we overslept breakfast on the plane, as we flew at 4:30 in the morning), they didn’t even give us simple water to drink, we had to buy a liter bottle of water from them for $ 2. With this bottle, we sat on the sofas at the reception and sat for a long time. The comrade at the counter kept fussing, then called me, then asked me to wait, then said that the room would be in 15 minutes, then at 12 o'clock. Apparently he wanted money. So we decided not to wait, but to go swimming. I began to open a suitcase on the floor, look for a swimsuit there, and at that moment the hosteler said that they would give us a room now ("But this is only for you"). They took me to a room. The room is good for 4*. The bed is absolutely great! Though along sleep, even across. TV takes one Russian channel. Balcony overlooking the sea and pool. In general, the room is the only good thing about this hotel. . When they came to the reception to ask something about the hotel, the hostelier smiled sweetly and said that he would give beautiful bracelets just for me! Just finished breakfast! Thank you friend! Nothing to do went for a walk around the hotel. The territory is scanty, the pool is tiny, the beach is small (in the photo it all seems larger). And the place for swimming (that is, the sea) is a small paddock between two piers. 100 meters wide, also long, then buoys. In the mornings and evenings, the entire view of the sea is blocked by a yacht that parks at one of the piers parallel to the beach. She brings and brings tourists every day! The mattresses on the sunbeds turned out to be terribly dirty, put the T-shirt on for a minute, lifted it - in the wash! And the beds themselves are wooden, you can’t lie down without a mattress. The tables and chairs by the pool are the same. Towels are terribly dilapidated, not washable, gray. Twigs, leaves and other plant debris float in the pool, which no one cleans up. Now about food! She wasn't enough. In terms of diversity. For example, at lunch you could eat pasta or fries, chicken or meat And that's it! . And it's every day. Dinner is about the same, though sometimes fish was given instead of meat. From fruits, either oranges or dates. ALL! This is the first time I've come across such a meager menu. Although before that she always rested in fours, she ate herself there as best she could. From the drinks they drank only water, beer, cola and local juice from the powder. In general, drinks are like everywhere else. Now for the entertainment! THEY ARE NOT HERE!! ! NO! No animation at all. They have a disco bar on the 1st floor of the main building, but it didn't work, and apparently for a long time. As we were later told by the guide of the host, this hotel is chosen only to spend the night and have breakfast, those who came to Egypt for daily excursions. Mostly they are not Russians. At first there were no Russians besides us. At the end, we arrived, in total, with children, about 15 people. Of course, we learned the pluses: the absence of noisy Russian comrades yelling "TAGIL", and the fact that 4 days seemed like a week to me and such a rest was really enough for me! In general, go there if you are not going to spend time in the hotel, just sleep. There is nothing else to do there!! ! Not for children, not for adults, and even more so for young people. But for pensioners just right. In general, it’s better to save up, borrow and buy a ticket to a good hotel! Personally, I learned my lesson, and I won’t fall for unverified cheap stuff anymore.
Review from — vOtpusk.ru
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We chose a hotel near the sea. In this regard, everything is excellent. The rest is crap. Nerves frayed even before the settlement. The room turned out to be just terrible, overlooking the road, although it was indicated that it overlooked the garden. Hence the sleepless nights. No entertainment. The disco did not work, there was no gym at all.
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We chose a hotel near the sea. In this regard, everything is excellent. The rest is crap. Nerves frayed even before the settlement. The room turned out to be just terrible, overlooking the road, although it was indicated that it overlooked the garden. Hence the sleepless nights. No entertainment. The disco did not work, there was no gym at all. In general, if you are over 50, then this hotel is for you. And we won't go there again. Ugh.......
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At the reception, before settling, they exhausted all the nerves. Be prepared for the fact that the windows of a good room will look not just at an abandoned construction site, but at a natural garbage dump. How much effort and nerves had to be spent to change the room. There is no service at the hotel . Good food adapted for Europeans, but the restaurant is more like a trade union canteen - crush, queues, plates are pulled out from under your nose.
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At the reception, before settling, they exhausted all the nerves. Be prepared for the fact that the windows of a good room will look not just at an abandoned construction site, but at a natural garbage dump. How much effort and nerves had to be spent to change the room. There is no service at the hotel . Good food adapted for Europeans, but the restaurant is more like a trade union canteen - crush, queues, plates are pulled out from under your nose. they go crowded, and you don’t particularly stay with children. It seems that the hotel management does not control the work of the hotel at all.
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We decided to relax by the warm sea. My brother loves to scuba dive, so they didn’t hesitate for a long time. It is quite obvious that this is Egypt, Hurghada. The choice is up to the hotel. We chose Safir because it is located close (15 minutes walk) to the Frogman Diving Center, which my brother likes. And I read all sorts of "negatives" about the hotel and sad.
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We decided to relax by the warm sea. My brother loves to scuba dive, so they didn’t hesitate for a long time. It is quite obvious that this is Egypt, Hurghada. The choice is up to the hotel. We chose Safir because it is located close (15 minutes walk) to the Frogman Diving Center, which my brother likes. And I read all sorts of "negatives" about the hotel and sad. But she did not stop her search. In the end, I managed to find reassuring "fresh" comments from 2010. Let's go with peace of mind.
Our path was more or less calm. Transaero Airlines delivered efficiently and politely. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to visit the Duty Free shop at Hurghada airport, and we didn’t stock up on drinking water (you can’t drink tap water, and the prices at the hotel are “mom don’t cry”), so we had to go to the city (from the main building of the hotel - to the right) - to change money and look for water.
***
About money. You need to change them only in banks or exchange offices. The dollar is approximately 5.9 pounds, the euro is 8.4. At the airport and hotel, the exchange rate is unfavorable. So tourists still need to look. The bank exchange office (near the Abu Ashara shopping center, where we bought water, juices and sweets) is open from 18.00 to 21.00 and offers the most successful exchange rate. If you do not have time to exchange at this time, go further along the main street in the direction "from the hotel" and look at the exchangers for the exchange rate. The Egyptians are doing well.
Paper piastres have been replaced with coins.
***
About prices. At the Abu Ashara mall I mentioned, Baraka drinking water costs £.1. 70 per 1.5 liter. Fanta, Coca Cola, Sprite - about 6 pounds for 2 liters. Juice 35% (guava, mango) - 6 pounds per 1 liter (but there are cheaper ones with a lower percentage).
If you go on an excursion (we went to Luxor), take 1.5 liters of water per person. Because you want to drink a lot in the desert, but you can buy water either on the bus (I don’t remember the price, but it’s expensive), or from merchants near historical sites for $ 1 (small bottle), or in a cafeteria in the desert for 15 pounds (which is Baraka 1.5 liters, which is Sprite 0.33) or in a cafeteria on the banks of the Nile (a cup of tea - 10 pounds).
Apparently, the same story and on an excursion to Cairo.
Souvenir dealers get a lot. You almost have to fight them off.
During the tour, the guide imposed goods - oils, figurines, jewelry. With the words: "You will not find anywhere better and better", they were brought to the aromatic "factory", the figurine workshop and the jeweler. We didn't succumb to it. It would be better this time to take a walk in historical places.
***
About the hotel.
PROS
I will not duplicate the positive reviews of previous years. I completely agree about cleaning, rooms, table setting, beach. I will write about the changes in 2011. We settled on the second line. This is the so-called Garden View (insect spray got rid of the ants). I did not want to overpay for a "sea view". Especially from which side they would settle, because the hotel has 2 "wings" with a garden and a swimming pool in the yard. Hunting all day long roasting in the sun (sunny side) or not seeing the sea (if settled on the ground floor). In addition, the right wing was closed due to the small number of guests. We have been happy with our choice many times.
1. Cross the road to get to the main building easily (very little traffic at any time of the day).
2. You can bring anything to your room, even a piano. And no one will say a word.
3. The windows are illuminated by the deadly hot sun only in the morning, then - shade.
4. Quiet. Then, when the arrival of Egyptian families happened, we felt sorry for the guests of the main building. Believe me, this is something terrible!
The territory is treated from insects 2 times a day (at five in the morning and after five in the evening). All the time, workers are cutting, cleaning, watering something. Rooms are cleaned regularly. Cleaners are polite, efficient, smiling. The beach is sandy, small, but along the edges (at the piers) you can watch the marine life. Who wants the space and wealth of the Red Sea in full - welcome to the boats. Near every hotel in general, and near Safir in particular, there are a lot of yachts and yachts. Around 9 am they leave for the reefs and return around 4 pm. (We rested on a yacht from the Frogman Diving Center, where the workers are trained so that the owner, Sam, may not go to sea with his subordinates. Always order and teamwork. And of course, the open sea is not at all like swimming at the coast! )
There was no animation. Which suited us perfectly. In the evening, in silence, we went to the beach (this is when we got tired of walking along the streets, among the annoying merchants). Look at the sea and at the stars. We drank tea right there, on the beach (we had an electric kettle, and next to the sunbeds, at the empty rooms, we could use any sockets we liked).
There were 25-30 guests (before the arrival of several Arab oh-so-very numerous families)! Apparently, the revolutionary situation as a whole is having an effect. The people are nice and quiet.
And this is where it starts
MINUSES
The policy of the hotel is that everything depends on the "high season". We heard this wording from the mouth of the representative of "Natalie tour" Lilia. Lilia was generally not particularly tired of her unfulfilled duties. The phone number she gave us was permanently switched off. We could only find her by calling another hotel, where she sometimes visited. Other tourists also complained about her work. But back to high season. We began to find out the reason for the lack of a buffet for dinner (we had a breakfast-dinner service, because we got lunch (and very worthy! ) On a diving yacht). The promised buffet was replaced by a complex dinner:
the waiter brought a basket of rolls, a few pieces of butter, a bowl of soup; then they brought a salad and a main dish (rice, potatoes or pasta, vegetables with meat, fish or chicken (i. e. side dish + meat without the ability to choose - what you brought, then eat)); bread/butter is taken away and dessert is brought (a piece of cake or a few slices of watermelon - this joy is every other day). Satisfying, not hungry. But! Very undignified behavior of the hotel managers, especially since the contract promised something else. The tourists grumbled, but quietly. Their small number of votes (our suspicions that everything depends on the NUMBER OF GUESTS was later confirmed!!! ) was not interesting for the owners of the hotel. So we realized that we did not come in the "high season".
The breakfasts were poor. You could eat only an omelet and only by "training" the cook. They told him how to cook this omelet: fry the onion (he strove to put everything raw) and only then pour the egg. The pancakes were still edible. But you can't just eat pancakes! Camel sausage is very amateurish. Beans are very, very amateur. Milk is clearly 0.5%.
And only when the Egyptian families arrived with their children and household members began to feed according to the promised program. We all felt this three days before departure (June 28.2011). Breakfast:
mashed potatoes-salads appeared, a sweet bread casserole (on websites, in reviews, people called it an omelet with bread for some reason), pancakes became thicker (! ), there were 5 types of bread and 5 types of buns (against the previous 3 trays of bakery products), with jams also became more diverse.
Dinner became "Swedish table":
4 types of bread, butter, 2 types of soups;
4-5 types of salad;
mashed potatoes, rice, pasta, fried or boiled potatoes, stewed vegetables;
cutlets, meat, chops, chicken, fried fish;
sweet casseroles, cakes, souffle, watermelon, oranges (fruits alternated "day after day").
I don’t write about drinks, because we drank ours wonderfully (tea or juice, and not what you might think) later, in the room.
"Old vacationers" tourists rejoiced. One German who used to curse under his breath: "Scheise! " (during dinner), began to walk and smile.
Arab children, poking around in the food bowls, did what they wanted. To the credit of the staff, I want to say that they stopped this vicious practice quickly. They, too, were horrified by the sight of cutlery strewn about in common dishes, cakes torn apart, and dishes torn apart. (The next evening, the chefs tried to serve dishes in portions and in a limited way. Wait! Starving tourists from those who arrived before the "Arab landing" quickly politely but firmly stopped this vicious practice. And then (the most correct decision) the kids were simply not allowed to lay out the lining . )
On the beach. Egyptian women in clothes sat or lay on trestle beds, some bathed in the same clothes. It became crowded in the small lagoon of the hotel beach. Children rushed from the pool - to the sea and back. Some "women of the East" (in clothes) swam in the pool too. Egyptian men, it seemed to me, looked at European women in bathing suits. True, they didn’t pester (the wives are nearby! ) And they didn’t stare brazenly.
In the evenings, the Egyptian guests sat in the courtyard of the hotel, clamoring, pigging (then in the morning plastic bottles, glasses and all kinds of plant debris floated in the pool). They also say nasty things about Russian tourists! Look at the Arabs!
The general indifference of the Egyptian workers was also depressing. When we checked out of the room, we had to hand over cards for beach towels. We usually exchanged a beach towel for a new one, rather than renting it in exchange for a card. It turned out that the beach boy takes the cards left in his drawer at the end of the day to the receptionist. And then this card lies with the porter and you can get it only by exchanging it with the porter (! ) For the towel left by the guest. Those. the beach boy is excluded from the exchange process. We understood this, again, by "hemorrhoids". Normally, they did not explain this "nipple system". They made surprised eyes (in the morning, when we checked out, and before that we swam on the path, the porter and the manager said: “Yes, give towels on the beach, and here they are with the porter”) that we do not have towels. They said that it was the policy of the hotel when the guest gave the towel to the porter in exchange for the cards brought by the beach boy. To our question that 2 hours ago they did not explain this, they shrugged and demanded towels. The brother went to the beach, took some towels from the beach caretaker, gave them to the porter and he calmed down.
***
But in general, about the rest there was a pleasant impression. Because we expected the originality in the behavior of the Egyptians.
***
And finally
About crime.
My brother, an experienced traveler, assured me that everything was calm here, "theft does not steal. " But we still put the valuables and documents in the hotel safe. It was rumored that last year a laptop was stolen in one of the rooms. Valuable things we locked in a suitcase.
And yet I was robbed. We often walked along the promenade. Both together and alone. To the diving center and to the city (it's all in one direction, to the right of the main hotel building). In broad daylight, at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. On the hill, near the Granada restaurant, I see that there are tourist buses. Guys with fake Chinese papyri are spinning around them. I'm moving on. The tourists left and the guys stuck to me. Buy and buy papyrus from them. And everyone huddled up to me from both sides. Covered tightly. Several times I managed to get away from them. But they caught up with me again and again: they took a taxi (! ), landed in front of me and pestered me again. I am aware that tourists are not attacked (no one grabbed their hands). But there were no pedestrians around - hot, sunny. It was about 20 meters to the Sun Rise hotel (and the diving center is close there), when the guys fell behind. I look, and my shoulder bag is open, and the purse is bye-bye! And it was only 26 dollars in their monetary equivalent. Well, what is there! I don't remember the taxi number. We informed the receptionist at our hotel about the incident. There is no point in going to the police.
Then, when leaving, on a bus with tourists, a couple of tourists were told that some of their relatives had also recently been robbed in the same way or they had heard about such crimes.
Tourist - watch out!
And at the airport in the price tags (not cheap) in some cafes there is no 10% tax! Those. still had to pay extra.
***
But the Red Sea has not yet been spoiled by people. And if you follow the "rules of a tourist", then you can always relax and not "get caught".
And ask the tour operator: "Do they have a high season or not? "!! !
Our path was more or less calm. Transaero Airlines delivered efficiently and politely. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to visit the Duty Free shop at Hurghada airport, and we didn’t stock up on drinking water (you can’t drink tap water, and the prices at the hotel are “mom don’t cry”), so we had to go to the city (from the main building of the hotel - to the right) - to change money and look for water.
***
About money. You need to change them only in banks or exchange offices. The dollar is approximately 5.9 pounds, the euro is 8.4. At the airport and hotel, the exchange rate is unfavorable. So tourists still need to look. The bank exchange office (near the Abu Ashara shopping center, where we bought water, juices and sweets) is open from 18.00 to 21.00 and offers the most successful exchange rate. If you do not have time to exchange at this time, go further along the main street in the direction "from the hotel" and look at the exchangers for the exchange rate. The Egyptians are doing well.
Paper piastres have been replaced with coins.
***
About prices. At the Abu Ashara mall I mentioned, Baraka drinking water costs £.1. 70 per 1.5 liter. Fanta, Coca Cola, Sprite - about 6 pounds for 2 liters. Juice 35% (guava, mango) - 6 pounds per 1 liter (but there are cheaper ones with a lower percentage).
If you go on an excursion (we went to Luxor), take 1.5 liters of water per person. Because you want to drink a lot in the desert, but you can buy water either on the bus (I don’t remember the price, but it’s expensive), or from merchants near historical sites for $ 1 (small bottle), or in a cafeteria in the desert for 15 pounds (which is Baraka 1.5 liters, which is Sprite 0.33) or in a cafeteria on the banks of the Nile (a cup of tea - 10 pounds).
Apparently, the same story and on an excursion to Cairo.
Souvenir dealers get a lot. You almost have to fight them off.
During the tour, the guide imposed goods - oils, figurines, jewelry. With the words: "You will not find anywhere better and better", they were brought to the aromatic "factory", the figurine workshop and the jeweler. We didn't succumb to it. It would be better this time to take a walk in historical places.
***
About the hotel.
PROS
I will not duplicate the positive reviews of previous years. I completely agree about cleaning, rooms, table setting, beach. I will write about the changes in 2011. We settled on the second line. This is the so-called Garden View (insect spray got rid of the ants). I did not want to overpay for a "sea view". Especially from which side they would settle, because the hotel has 2 "wings" with a garden and a swimming pool in the yard. Hunting all day long roasting in the sun (sunny side) or not seeing the sea (if settled on the ground floor). In addition, the right wing was closed due to the small number of guests. We have been happy with our choice many times.
1. Cross the road to get to the main building easily (very little traffic at any time of the day).
2. You can bring anything to your room, even a piano. And no one will say a word.
3. The windows are illuminated by the deadly hot sun only in the morning, then - shade.
4. Quiet. Then, when the arrival of Egyptian families happened, we felt sorry for the guests of the main building. Believe me, this is something terrible!
The territory is treated from insects 2 times a day (at five in the morning and after five in the evening). All the time, workers are cutting, cleaning, watering something. Rooms are cleaned regularly. Cleaners are polite, efficient, smiling. The beach is sandy, small, but along the edges (at the piers) you can watch the marine life. Who wants the space and wealth of the Red Sea in full - welcome to the boats. Near every hotel in general, and near Safir in particular, there are a lot of yachts and yachts. Around 9 am they leave for the reefs and return around 4 pm. (We rested on a yacht from the Frogman Diving Center, where the workers are trained so that the owner, Sam, may not go to sea with his subordinates. Always order and teamwork. And of course, the open sea is not at all like swimming at the coast! )
There was no animation. Which suited us perfectly. In the evening, in silence, we went to the beach (this is when we got tired of walking along the streets, among the annoying merchants). Look at the sea and at the stars. We drank tea right there, on the beach (we had an electric kettle, and next to the sunbeds, at the empty rooms, we could use any sockets we liked).
There were 25-30 guests (before the arrival of several Arab oh-so-very numerous families)! Apparently, the revolutionary situation as a whole is having an effect. The people are nice and quiet.
And this is where it starts
MINUSES
The policy of the hotel is that everything depends on the "high season". We heard this wording from the mouth of the representative of "Natalie tour" Lilia. Lilia was generally not particularly tired of her unfulfilled duties. The phone number she gave us was permanently switched off. We could only find her by calling another hotel, where she sometimes visited. Other tourists also complained about her work. But back to high season. We began to find out the reason for the lack of a buffet for dinner (we had a breakfast-dinner service, because we got lunch (and very worthy! ) On a diving yacht). The promised buffet was replaced by a complex dinner:
the waiter brought a basket of rolls, a few pieces of butter, a bowl of soup; then they brought a salad and a main dish (rice, potatoes or pasta, vegetables with meat, fish or chicken (i. e. side dish + meat without the ability to choose - what you brought, then eat)); bread/butter is taken away and dessert is brought (a piece of cake or a few slices of watermelon - this joy is every other day). Satisfying, not hungry. But! Very undignified behavior of the hotel managers, especially since the contract promised something else. The tourists grumbled, but quietly. Their small number of votes (our suspicions that everything depends on the NUMBER OF GUESTS was later confirmed!!! ) was not interesting for the owners of the hotel. So we realized that we did not come in the "high season".
The breakfasts were poor. You could eat only an omelet and only by "training" the cook. They told him how to cook this omelet: fry the onion (he strove to put everything raw) and only then pour the egg. The pancakes were still edible. But you can't just eat pancakes! Camel sausage is very amateurish. Beans are very, very amateur. Milk is clearly 0.5%.
And only when the Egyptian families arrived with their children and household members began to feed according to the promised program. We all felt this three days before departure (June 28.2011). Breakfast:
mashed potatoes-salads appeared, a sweet bread casserole (on websites, in reviews, people called it an omelet with bread for some reason), pancakes became thicker (! ), there were 5 types of bread and 5 types of buns (against the previous 3 trays of bakery products), with jams also became more diverse.
Dinner became "Swedish table":
4 types of bread, butter, 2 types of soups;
4-5 types of salad;
mashed potatoes, rice, pasta, fried or boiled potatoes, stewed vegetables;
cutlets, meat, chops, chicken, fried fish;
sweet casseroles, cakes, souffle, watermelon, oranges (fruits alternated "day after day").
I don’t write about drinks, because we drank ours wonderfully (tea or juice, and not what you might think) later, in the room.
"Old vacationers" tourists rejoiced. One German who used to curse under his breath: "Scheise! " (during dinner), began to walk and smile.
Arab children, poking around in the food bowls, did what they wanted. To the credit of the staff, I want to say that they stopped this vicious practice quickly. They, too, were horrified by the sight of cutlery strewn about in common dishes, cakes torn apart, and dishes torn apart. (The next evening, the chefs tried to serve dishes in portions and in a limited way. Wait! Starving tourists from those who arrived before the "Arab landing" quickly politely but firmly stopped this vicious practice. And then (the most correct decision) the kids were simply not allowed to lay out the lining . )
On the beach. Egyptian women in clothes sat or lay on trestle beds, some bathed in the same clothes. It became crowded in the small lagoon of the hotel beach. Children rushed from the pool - to the sea and back. Some "women of the East" (in clothes) swam in the pool too. Egyptian men, it seemed to me, looked at European women in bathing suits. True, they didn’t pester (the wives are nearby! ) And they didn’t stare brazenly.
In the evenings, the Egyptian guests sat in the courtyard of the hotel, clamoring, pigging (then in the morning plastic bottles, glasses and all kinds of plant debris floated in the pool). They also say nasty things about Russian tourists! Look at the Arabs!
The general indifference of the Egyptian workers was also depressing. When we checked out of the room, we had to hand over cards for beach towels. We usually exchanged a beach towel for a new one, rather than renting it in exchange for a card. It turned out that the beach boy takes the cards left in his drawer at the end of the day to the receptionist. And then this card lies with the porter and you can get it only by exchanging it with the porter (! ) For the towel left by the guest. Those. the beach boy is excluded from the exchange process. We understood this, again, by "hemorrhoids". Normally, they did not explain this "nipple system". They made surprised eyes (in the morning, when we checked out, and before that we swam on the path, the porter and the manager said: “Yes, give towels on the beach, and here they are with the porter”) that we do not have towels. They said that it was the policy of the hotel when the guest gave the towel to the porter in exchange for the cards brought by the beach boy. To our question that 2 hours ago they did not explain this, they shrugged and demanded towels. The brother went to the beach, took some towels from the beach caretaker, gave them to the porter and he calmed down.
***
But in general, about the rest there was a pleasant impression. Because we expected the originality in the behavior of the Egyptians.
***
And finally
About crime.
My brother, an experienced traveler, assured me that everything was calm here, "theft does not steal. " But we still put the valuables and documents in the hotel safe. It was rumored that last year a laptop was stolen in one of the rooms. Valuable things we locked in a suitcase.
And yet I was robbed. We often walked along the promenade. Both together and alone. To the diving center and to the city (it's all in one direction, to the right of the main hotel building). In broad daylight, at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. On the hill, near the Granada restaurant, I see that there are tourist buses. Guys with fake Chinese papyri are spinning around them. I'm moving on. The tourists left and the guys stuck to me. Buy and buy papyrus from them. And everyone huddled up to me from both sides. Covered tightly. Several times I managed to get away from them. But they caught up with me again and again: they took a taxi (! ), landed in front of me and pestered me again. I am aware that tourists are not attacked (no one grabbed their hands). But there were no pedestrians around - hot, sunny. It was about 20 meters to the Sun Rise hotel (and the diving center is close there), when the guys fell behind. I look, and my shoulder bag is open, and the purse is bye-bye! And it was only 26 dollars in their monetary equivalent. Well, what is there! I don't remember the taxi number. We informed the receptionist at our hotel about the incident. There is no point in going to the police.
Then, when leaving, on a bus with tourists, a couple of tourists were told that some of their relatives had also recently been robbed in the same way or they had heard about such crimes.
Tourist - watch out!
And at the airport in the price tags (not cheap) in some cafes there is no 10% tax! Those. still had to pay extra.
***
But the Red Sea has not yet been spoiled by people. And if you follow the "rules of a tourist", then you can always relax and not "get caught".
And ask the tour operator: "Do they have a high season or not? "!! !
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• 3
We decided to relax by the warm sea. My brother loves to scuba dive, so they didn’t hesitate for a long time. It is quite obvious that this is Egypt, Hurghada. The choice is up to the hotel. We chose Safir because it is located close (15 minutes walk) to the Frogman Diving Center, which my brother likes. And I read all sorts of "negatives" about the hotel and sad.
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We decided to relax by the warm sea. My brother loves to scuba dive, so they didn’t hesitate for a long time. It is quite obvious that this is Egypt, Hurghada. The choice is up to the hotel. We chose Safir because it is located close (15 minutes walk) to the Frogman Diving Center, which my brother likes. And I read all sorts of "negatives" about the hotel and sad. But she did not stop her search. In the end, I managed to find reassuring comments from 2010. Let's go with peace of mind. Our path was more or less calm. Transaero Airlines delivered efficiently and politely. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to visit the Duty Free shop at Hurghada airport, and we didn’t stock up on drinking water (you can’t drink tap water, and the prices at the hotel are “mom don’t cry”), so we had to go to the city (from the main building of the hotel - to the right) - to change money and look for water. ***About money. You need to change them only in banks or exchange offices. The dollar is approximately 5.9 pounds, the euro is 8.4. At the airport and hotel, the exchange rate is unfavorable. So tourists still need to look. The bank exchange office (near the Abu Ashara shopping center, where we bought water, juices and sweets) is open from 18.00 to 21.00 and offers the most successful exchange rate. If you do not have time to exchange at this time, go further along the main street in the direction from the hotel and look at the exchange rate in the exchange offices. The Egyptians are doing well. Paper piastres have been replaced with coins. ***About prices. At the Abu Ashara mall I mentioned, Baraka drinking water costs £.1. 70 per 1.5 liter. Fanta, Coca Cola, Sprite - about 6 pounds for 2 liters. Juice 35% (guava, mango) - 6 pounds per 1 liter (but there are cheaper ones with a lower percentage). If you go on an excursion (we went to Luxor), take 1.5 liters of water per person. Because you want to drink a lot in the desert, and you can buy water either on the bus (I don’t remember the price, but it’s expensive), or from merchants near historical sites for $ 1 (small bottle), or in a cafeteria in the desert for 15 pounds ( that Baraka 1.5 liters, that Sprite 0.33) or in a cafeteria on the banks of the Nile (a cup of tea - 10 pounds). Apparently, the same story and on an excursion to Cairo. Souvenir dealers get a lot. You almost have to fight them off. . During the tour, the guide imposed goods - oils, figurines, jewelry. With the words: "You will not find anywhere better and better", they were brought to the aromatic "factory", the figurine workshop and the jeweler. We didn't succumb to it. It would be better this time to take a walk in historical places. ***About the hotel. PLUSES I will not duplicate the positive reviews of previous years. I completely agree about cleaning, rooms, table setting, beach. I will write about the changes in 2011. We settled on the second line. This is the so-called Garden View (insect spray got rid of the ants). I did not want to overpay for a "sea view". Especially from which side they would settle, because the hotel has 2 wings with a garden and a swimming pool in the yard. Hunting all day long roasting in the sun (sunny side) or not seeing the sea (if settled on the ground floor). In addition, the right wing was closed due to the small number of guests. We were pleased with our choice many times: 1. Crossing the road to get into the main building is easy (very little traffic at any time of the day). 2. You can bring anything to your room, even a piano. And no one will say a word. 3. The windows are illuminated by the deadly hot sun only in the morning, then - shade. 4. Quiet. Then, when the arrival of Egyptian families happened, we felt sorry for the guests of the main building. Believe me, this is something terrible! The territory is treated from insects 2 times a day (at five in the morning and after five in the evening). All the time, workers are cutting, cleaning, watering something. Rooms are cleaned regularly. The beach is sandy, small, but along the edges (at the piers) you can watch the marine life. Who wants the space and wealth of the Red Sea in full - welcome to the boats. Near every hotel in general, and near Safir in particular, there are a lot of yachts and yachts. Around 9 am they leave for the reefs and return around 4 pm. (We rested on a yacht from the Frogman Diving Center, where the workers are trained so that the owner, Sam, may not go to sea with his subordinates. Always order and teamwork. And of course, the open sea is not at all like swimming Berezhka! ) There was no animation. Which suited us perfectly. In the evening, in silence, we went to the beach (this is when we got tired of walking along the streets, among the annoying merchants). Look at the sea and at the stars. We drank tea right there, on the beach (we had an electric kettle, and next to the sunbeds, at the empty rooms, we could use any sockets we liked). There were 25-30 guests (before the arrival of several Arab oh-so-very numerous families)! Apparently, the revolutionary situation as a whole is having an effect. The people are nice and quiet. And this is where the MINUSES begin. The policy of the hotel is that everything depends on the "high season". We heard this wording from the mouth of the representative of "Natalie tour" Lilia. Lilia was generally not particularly tired of her unfulfilled duties. The phone number she gave us was permanently switched off. We could only find her by calling another hotel, where she sometimes visited. Other tourists also complained about her work. But back to high season. We started to find out the reason for the lack of a buffet for dinner (we had a breakfast-dinner service, because we got lunch (and very worthy! ) On a diving yacht). The promised buffet was replaced by a complex dinner: the waiter brought a basket of rolls, a few pieces of butter, a bowl of soup; then they brought a salad and a main dish (rice, potatoes or pasta, vegetables with meat, fish or chicken (i. e. side dish + meat without the ability to choose - eat what you brought)); bread/butter is taken away and dessert is brought (a piece of cake or a few slices of watermelon - this joy is every other day). Satisfying, not hungry. But! Very undignified behavior of the hotel managers, especially since the contract promised something else. The tourists grumbled, but quietly. Their small number of votes (our suspicions that everything depends on the NUMBER OF GUESTS was later confirmed!!! ) was not interesting for the owners of the hotel. So we realized that we did not come in the "high season". The breakfasts were poor. You could eat only an omelet and only by "training" the cook. They told him how to cook this omelet: fry the onion (he strove to put everything raw) and only then pour the egg. The pancakes were still edible. But you can't just eat pancakes! Camel sausage is very amateurish. Beans are very, very amateur. Milk is clearly 0.5%. And only when the Egyptian families arrived with their children and household members began to feed according to the promised program. We all felt this three days before departure (June 28.2011). Breakfast: mashed potatoes-salads appeared, sweet bread casserole (on websites, in reviews, people called it for some reason an omelet with bread), pancakes became thicker (! ), there were 5 types of bread and 5 types of buns (against the previous 3 -x trays of bakery products), with jams also became more diverse. Dinner has become "Swedish table": 4 types of bread, butter, 2 types of soups; 4-5 types of salad; mashed potatoes, rice, pasta, fried or boiled potatoes, stewed vegetables; cutlets, meat, chops, chicken, fried fish; sweet casseroles, cakes, souffle, watermelon, oranges (fruits alternated "day after day"). I don’t write about drinks, because we drank ours wonderfully (tea or juice, and not what you might think) later, in the room. "Old vacationers" tourists rejoiced. One German who used to curse under his breath: "Scheise! " (during dinner), began to walk and smile. Arab children poking around in food bowls did what they wanted. To the credit of the staff, I want to say that they stopped this vicious practice quickly. They, too, were horrified by the sight of cutlery strewn about in common dishes, cakes torn apart, and dishes torn apart. (The next evening, the chefs tried to serve dishes in portions and in a limited way. Wait! Starving tourists from those who arrived before the "Arab landing" quickly politely but firmly stopped this vicious practice. And then (the most correct decision) the kids were simply not allowed to lay out the lining . )On the beach. Egyptian women in clothes sat or lay on trestle beds, some bathed in the same clothes. It became crowded in the small lagoon of the hotel beach. Children rushed from the pool - to the sea and back. Some "women of the East" (in clothes) swam in the pool too. Egyptian men, it seemed to me, looked at European women in bathing suits. True, they didn’t pester (the wives are nearby! ) And they didn’t stare brazenly. In the evenings, the Egyptian guests sat in the courtyard of the hotel, clamored, swine (then in the morning plastic bottles, glasses and all kinds of plant debris floated in the pool). They also say nasty things about Russian tourists! They would look at the Arabs! The general indifference of the Egyptian workers was also depressing. When we checked out of the room, we had to hand over cards for beach towels. We usually exchanged a beach towel for a new one, rather than renting it in exchange for a card. It turned out that the beach boy takes the cards left in his drawer at the end of the day to the receptionist. And then this card lies with the porter and you can get it only by exchanging it with the porter (! ) For the towel left by the guest. That is, the beach boy is excluded from the exchange process. We understood this, again, by "hemorrhoids". Normally, they did not explain this "nipple system". They made surprised eyes (in the morning, when we checked out, and before that we swam on the path, the porter and the manager said: “Yes, give towels on the beach, and here they are with the porter”) that we do not have towels. They said that it was the policy of the hotel when the guest gave the towel to the porter in exchange for the cards brought by the beach boy. To our question that 2 hours ago they did not explain this, they shrugged and demanded towels. The brother went to the beach, took some towels from the beach caretaker, gave them to the porter and he calmed down. *** But in general, a pleasant impression was formed about the rest. Because we expected the originality in the behavior of the Egyptians. *** And finally, about crime. My brother, an experienced traveler, assured me that everything was calm here, "theft does not steal. " But we still put the valuables and documents in the hotel safe. It was rumored that last year a laptop was stolen in one of the rooms. Valuable things we locked in a suitcase. And yet I was robbed. We often walked along the promenade. Both together and alone. To the diving center and to the city (it's all in one direction, to the right of the main hotel building). In broad daylight, at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. On the hill, near the Granada restaurant, I see that there are tourist buses. Guys with fake Chinese papyri are spinning around them. I'm moving on. The tourists left and the guys stuck to me. Buy and buy papyrus from them. And everyone huddled up to me from both sides. Covered tightly. Several times I managed to get away from them. But they caught up with me again and again: they took a taxi (! ), landed in front of me and pestered me again. I am aware that tourists are not attacked (no one grabbed their hands). But there were no pedestrians around - hot, sunny. It was about 20 meters to the Sun Rise hotel (and the diving center is close there), when the guys fell behind. I look, and my shoulder bag is open, and the purse is bye-bye! And it was only 26 dollars in their monetary equivalent. Well, what is there! I don't remember the taxi number. We informed the receptionist at our hotel about the incident. There is no point in going to the police. Then, when leaving, on a bus with tourists, a couple of tourists were told that some of their relatives had also recently been robbed in the same way or they had heard about such crimes. Tourists - watch out! And at the airport in the price tags (not cheap) in some cafes there is no 10% tax! That is, I had to pay extra in excess of what was indicated. *** But the Red Sea has not yet been spoiled by people. And if you follow the "rules of a tourist", then you can always relax and not "get caught". And ask the tour operator: "Do they have a high season or not? "!! !
Review from — vOtpusk.ru
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Suitable for a secluded holiday; beach, massage is very good, swimming pool, inexpensive water excursions. There are very few Russians, with me there was only one married couple from Ukraine. Convenient for divers, right there from the pier, a boat departs every morning. Large groups of Germans, French come specifically because of this.
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Suitable for a secluded holiday; beach, massage is very good, swimming pool, inexpensive water excursions. There are very few Russians, with me there was only one married couple from Ukraine. Convenient for divers, right there from the pier, a boat departs every morning. Large groups of Germans, French come specifically because of this. The rooms are cleaned every day, but the bottom sheet is not changed, I had to swap the bottom with the top myself. Breakfast is monotonous and poor. No animation. For shopping, you can walk to Charoton. It will be great if you take a room with a sea view. There was a room with a bathroom on the 3rd floor. There is no Internet.
Review from — vOtpusk.ru
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The most general impression: it is boring! At least when I rested, there was no animation. None, even bad) Quiet hotel, medium-level rooms, with not very new furniture. The food is also average, there is not much variety, but you don’t go hungry either. There were always free places on the beach. The entrance to the sea is good, but there are few fish.
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The most general impression: it is boring! At least when I rested, there was no animation. None, even bad) Quiet hotel, medium-level rooms, with not very new furniture. The food is also average, there is not much variety, but you don’t go hungry either. There were always free places on the beach. The entrance to the sea is good, but there are few fish. Few waves, because. this is a bay, but I wanted the feeling of the sea. In the evenings it was boring, they didn’t even turn on the music, we went to the city, but it was dirty and monotonous there. Therefore, in Egypt it is better to choose hotels with good animation and more and better, because. all the main time is better to spend within the hotel! Yes, by the way, everything was carried into the room calmly: both fruit and water. We settled in with a sea view right away, it is necessary that the see view was indicated in the ticket, which means with a sea view. But we wanted to change the room, because. gave on the ground floor, it cost $20. Although the first floor is also good in its own way, you leave the room immediately to the territory, the rooms on the first floor are separated by low partitions, with climbing plants. In the summer there is always a shade, so the heat is good. November is cool and dark.
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In all likelihood, positive reviews about Safire are written by its owner, a hundred pounds that this is so. Worse hotel I have not seen in Egypt. what 4 stars are we talking about and who appropriated them to this garbage pit. The cleaning in the rooms sucks (smearing dirt with a rag in an even layer), the food sucks (monotonous disgustingly cooked food is not the first freshness), it seems that food that was not eaten yesterday is put up until it is still eaten.
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In all likelihood, positive reviews about Safire are written by its owner, a hundred pounds that this is so. Worse hotel I have not seen in Egypt. what 4 stars are we talking about and who appropriated them to this garbage pit. The cleaning in the rooms sucks (smearing dirt with a rag in an even layer), the food sucks (monotonous disgustingly cooked food is not the first freshness), it seems that food that was not eaten yesterday is put up until it is still eaten. At the reception, the staff does not have elementary education, They don't know their job and are rude. No one has mentioned anywhere that the Hotel has a 2nd line and for some reason Russians are settled there, there is neither security nor normal lighting, as in an unimportant collective farm during collectivization. I apologize for the confusion, but emotions take over, it's a pity that the vacation was almost ruined. Be careful when choosing a hotel for a holiday in Egypt, in any case, bypass Safir and the further the better.
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• 4
I stayed at the Safir Hotel in October 2010. I liked everything very much. The staff, of course, is specific, Arabs, but... still the service is not bad. For 4 stars it is quite. The hotel especially benefits, of course, due to the distributor of safari excursions working for them - Mohamed. This is just a wonderful, sociable, interesting person.
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I stayed at the Safir Hotel in October 2010. I liked everything very much. The staff, of course, is specific, Arabs, but... still the service is not bad. For 4 stars it is quite. The hotel especially benefits, of course, due to the distributor of safari excursions working for them - Mohamed. This is just a wonderful, sociable, interesting person. Whoever is a client of this hotel, everyone loves him, he becomes friends with everyone in a matter of minutes, and many come back to this hotel simply because they know "Mohamed with Safari" and want to see him again. I wish the hotel to keep this person in ITS staff, they benefit greatly from this : )
Review from — vOtpusk.ru
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