плохой отель в прекрасной стране bad hotel in a beautiful country

I will write first for the lazy, who do not want to read further - if you are offered a hotel for $ 300 for 8 days on half board and the purpose of the trip is excursions, you can safely go. If you come to the sea, God forbid with children, etc. - don't even think and don't be fooled by the low price. Hotel level 3 * and the price and everything else. If you perceive it that way, then everything is fine there. If you are waiting for 5 *, at least the weakest Egyptian ones - alas, ah, but you are definitely not here.
So in order. The cost of this tour came out 300 bucks for 8 days, half board per person. Went as a couple plus two friends.
Travel agency Mandarinka Travel - thanks for the care, well done - they wrote, they were interested in what and how. Tour operator Feeriya. There are no questions for them, just fine. This year I have a second trip with them, the first was to Albania. Thanks again for the democratic prices, for the information provided and goodwill. Flight - Anda air. There are also no questions. A good charter, cheerful pilots, friendly stewards, fed and watered, in general, everything is fine. The host of the Jordan Experience in the person of the guide Ahmed (or as he asked himself to be called Ahmedushka). Met, transfer, info, etc. at the level. Thank you very much. If not for the guide, the tourists would have burned the hotel, and the staff would have been killed. Akhmedushka listened to everything, tried to help, and so on.

HOTEL: seemingly normal. That's where the pluses end. Construction next to the hotel - dust everywhere. To the supermarket, city center, the nearest cafe 1.5 km. I do not advise you to go alone, the Jordanians are a bit wild. The hotel itself is very cold, leaving the room feeling, it was like coming out of the sauna in the cold. It was much warmer outside at +16+18. The hotel has three elevators - a maximum of 2 work, most often one. 6 floors, a lot of tourists. We lived on the second - we walked up the stairs. At the reception, the staff is friendly, they try to help, but it’s really easier and faster to solve everything through a guide. On the first evening, Ahmed arranged for everyone a 2-hour walking tour of Aqaba, showed the small ruins, told the history of the city in general terms, introduced him to where to buy and how best to go, for which his many human thanks.
FOOD. This is tin. I will write first - on the first day, half of the tourists were poisoned. We canceled the tour because my boyfriend and girlfriend couldn't get out of their beds. I went into the dining room only after I drank white coal and sorbex (there is clearly not enough cleanliness) I have been to many places and hotels were of different stars, but I have not seen this even in the worst 3 * Tunisia (I'm serious). The dining room (it's hard to call it a restaurant) is small. There are not enough places, you have to wait a long time for clean glasses and cups and remind them 10 times to bring them. Why stand by the kitchen and wait, sitting at the table, you will not wait for anything. There is no fruit, except for one bowl for all finely chopped apples and an orange in an incomprehensible syrup. The only thing that is a lot and that you can eat is pastries, which, thank God, are imported. For 7 dinners, soup could be eaten 3 times. There is rice, potatoes, everything tasteless. One kind of fish every day, there is chicken, a couple of times there was something like a stew. It ended quickly. From vegetables - semi-spoiled tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce. Baked onions and garlic as separate dishes. The first serving is a couple of types of salads, couscous, when they run out they deliver anything. As they say - whoever got up first and slippers. By the way, baked onions and garlic, as well as everything else that you didn’t eat for dinner, can be found for breakfast cooked with an egg. Also at breakfast there are two types of cereal (tasteless), milk, cheese, sausage, I don’t even want to think about what it’s made of. There is an incomprehensible porridge, which is eaten only by locals, boiled eggs. Hummus is, by the way, the only dish, besides sweet rolls, that I ate (once I got couscous). On the terrace of the dining room, the guy makes scrambled eggs, scrambled eggs and so on. There is a queue, the boy is in no hurry. Once I had the happiness to observe the cooking process - I do not advise eating. We went to Carefur, located in Al Rahma Mall. I advise. Simply magical to taste mangoes replaced everything. Also delicious cheeses, labni, etc. The hotel staff at first tried to forbid bringing food into the hotel, but apparently they changed their minds from the expressions on the faces of tourists with poisoning. Water in the supermarket costs 20 local kopecks for 1.5 liters of mineral water. Or 6 bottles of 1.5 liters for 1 dinar. There is a very tasty falafel shawarma in the city - the usual 50 kopecks, the big 75. I advise everyone - very tasty. Pizza is nearby - 2-4 dinars. In general, the most important advice - DO NOT TAKE ALL INCLUSIVE!! ! He is not. For 2-3 dollars you can have a normal lunch in the city. For dinner, by the way, they give juices even to those who are on half board. Once I tried it, I could not understand the roofing felts packaged roofing felts powder. It's up to you, of course, but I don't recommend them. By the way, the staff says that pure artesian water flows in the taps of the hotel and you can safely drink it. Perhaps this is the reason for most of the poisoning - they give tap water to tourists who do not want to drink juices. I recommend buying bottled water.
ROOM. Filthy. Cleaning is carried out superficially and consists in the disposal of garbage. Tipping does not affect the quality of cleaning. We had a honeymoon suite with twin beds. We laughed and went to change at the reception. There they met many with whom they flew in - someone changes the number, someone yells because of cleaning, someone has dirty linen of previous guests in the closet. Our request was ignored, they said that all rooms in the hotel have two separate beds and if we need it, we can just move them. On the hotel website, by the way, there is a photo with double beds. Why lie I do not understand. We returned to the room and decided to move the beds. There is dirt under the beds, which most likely has never been removed in my life - a lot of dust and garbage, food and even money - coins from Russia and Ukraine. But the main thing is that the floor lamp, which hung just above the cabinet between the beds, did not unscrew. Sleeping was fun. No soundproofing! We heard all the conversations, quarrels, fees for excursions and the TV of the neighbors, they are ours, respectively. The safe was closed, there was no response to requests to come and open it. Linen and towels are not changed. I do not advise you to open the balcony - it is very dusty due to construction. The air conditioner works but is very loud. Plasma TV, about 30 channels. There is a kettle, two stickers of coffee, two tea bags, two stickers of sugar and coffee mate. Replenish. The mini bar has two bottles of 0.5 water, two small sprites and cola - this is not replenished. Bathroom is very dirty. I advise you to take a shower in flip flops. There were no problems with water. There are disposable cosmetics, I won’t say about the quality, I used my own. There is a hair dryer.
BEACH. Information on the hotel website that the beach is 1 km away. They forgot to attribute that to the public - dirt, no equipment, wild locals, garbage everywhere, hookahs, Arabic music and whistling of youth. You can take a walk to see, hardly anyone will dare to rest there. Tala Bay is 18 km away. There is a shuttle bus to the beach. In the morning at 8.20, 9.20, 9.50 and 11.45. back at 13.25 or 17.10. record at the reception. Since it is cold in December, no one was particularly in a hurry to go to the beach. We went at 11.45, girlfriends at 9.50. on the way, stop in the center of Aqaba - collect tourists from other hotels. But on the bus back there was a whole struggle for survival. Until 17.10 no one wanted to stay and this is understandable, because at 4 it gets dark and the beach is cold and wild wind. And so all the tourists from Oryx and several other hotels tried to squeeze into the bus at 13.25. the driver refused to carry standing up - they had to sit on the floor and hold each other in their arms. At first, naive tourists believed that, as they were promised, in 10 minutes a second bus would arrive for the rest. In fact, he arrived within an hour. Sunbeds on the beach free of charge, towels on deposit. There are theoretically enough sunbeds for everyone, but those who came to the beach in the morning take 2 people for 4 sunbeds and build a barrier from the wind. As a result, those who arrived later do not receive sunbeds or scandals begin. As they said in the hotel - we can use the beaches of all Tala Bay hotels - there are only 3 of them. In fact, no. Towels are issued at Marina Plaza and that is where you need to lie. Movenpick only lets you in for money. And Radisson Blu, if he sees that you are also expelled with other people's towels. As a conclusion - either be there without a towel or steal them, or bring a blue towel with a white stripe in advance. Radisson Beach is the best - there is animation, a DJ, it's cozy, clean and beautiful. On the beach, everything is paid and Oryx All Inclusive bracelets do not work at all. Also, those who are on the All Inclusive system have to choose - lunch at the hotel or the beach until the evening, but lunch for money, since no one will take you back to the beach after dinner. Taxi 10 bucks. The sea is warm, there are no special corals, this is not Egypt for you. Very windy and getting out of the water is very cold. Aqua shoes required.

My advice is to go to the hotel only if you plan to devote your entire vacation to excursions. And for a very low price. And do not take All Inclusive - just throw your money away.
EXCURSIONS. My dream was to see Petra and Mount Nebo with the staff of Moses. We went to Perth with a guide, but paid only for the transfer and the entrance ticket 65dinars / 95 dollars (entrance to Petra 50dinars / 70 dollars). Excursion completely 140 bucks. Taxi drivers under the hotel offer to take you to Petra for $110-120 per car, entrance tickets separately. By the end of the auction, the price may drop to 80. Be careful here, as they can deceive you. And it makes sense to take a taxi when you are 4 people. If there are two, then it is more profitable for the guide to pay for the transfer.
We went to Amman ourselves on a regular Jet bus (the schedule is on the photo. From Aqaba and from Amman, buses run at the same time). Bus terminal near Movenpick Hotel Aqaba. From Oryx on foot 10-15 minutes. In Google, you can enter Jett Bus Terminal and walk on the map. It costs 7 dinars (10 bucks) one way. Drive 3.5-4 hours. A bus with a conder, a toilet, a steward - tea and coffee to buy half a dinar. You can also order food. The bus is convenient and comfortable. The ride is not stressful. Jet has 4 terminals in Amman. The most convenient way to get to Madaba and Mount Nebo is from the 7th Circle or Abdali terminal. Departure from Aqaba must be done at 7 or 8 am. The last buses from Amman are at 17:30 and 18:00 respectively. There is also at 7 pm, but from a different stop. Madaba can be reached by another bus. But we took a taxi for 20 dinars (it was possible to bargain but it was too lazy) and the driver took us straight to Mount Nebo, waited and drove back. Conveniently. There were two hours of free time even before the return bus - as an option, you can see the ruins of the Citadel and the Amphitheater in Amman itself (located nearby) or wander around the shopping mall - there is near the Abdali Mall bus station. IMPORTANT! It is better to buy a ticket to Amman at least a day before the trip. They don’t sell a ticket back - you need to buy it in Amman itself. So there may be an option that there will be no tickets. We were lucky - everything was. But still, you can ask the hotel reception to call the bus company (the phone is on the Aqaba-Amman ticket) and pre-book a return ticket so that you are calmer.
As a result, I can write that I liked my vacation in Jordan. An extraordinary country. But the hotel has nothing to do with it. If it was 3* I would rate it much higher. At 5 * it does not pull at all, as well as at 4 *.

On the last day, a miracle happened - we go down like this for breakfast - I have already tuned in to my 3 rolls, milk and an egg, but the dining room is closed and everyone is sent to the first floor to the Ala Carte Restaurant. Well, OK. we go up there - the jaw dropped at the entrance - a chic 5 * level buffet with a bunch of varied food. Fruits, fresh (not rotten and sour) vegetables, dried fruits, nuts, oriental sweets. Sausage, ham, many types of cheese, etc. Well, I think that their conscience tortured them, or they are really glad that we are leaving. As it turned out, an advertiser from Russia was brought to the hotel - they want to conclude an agreement with new tour operators. Honestly - infuriated, I have never seen such cynicism and arrogance anywhere else. After talking with the managers of Russian travel agencies, our kind tourists from Pegasus and Fairy (including me) showed them a photo of how it was before their arrival, where and what they fed, and so on. Therefore, dear future tourists - keep in mind, perhaps your manager was also deceived - washed the room to a shine and fed well, but you will not receive this upon arrival.