Egypt for the first time - do's or don'ts?

bcl999

pingu wrote: »

had a look last night at iberotel luxor and kirosiez resort naama bay
and the look nice

Luxor and Naama Bay are two quite different styles - Naama Bay proper is a purpose-built tourist resort - walking along the promenade, you could almost be in a European resort. Old town Sharm is more like an Egyptian town.

Luxor's tourism is due to the Valley of the KIngs, temples, monuments etc so it has grown more "organically" (some might say higgelty-piggeltyy).

The other thing to consider is that July temperatures could easily be in the 40+ degrees, especially Luxor.

ramjug

bcl999 wrote: »

Not the cheapest but I agree.

The Iberotel chain generally gets good reviews too but never used them.

I agree, i have stayed at Iberotel at Luxor couple of times and they are very good. You can get a room for 25pounds but again Luxor in June-July will be unbearable. i am from India and i went to Luxor in May and it was 40+ (burning).

mick_vandick

Kirosiez would be a good one if you want to go out. It's a Three Corners hotel i believe and i've only ever had good experiences in them. However, Sharm wouldn't be my first choice if you don't plan on snorkelling/diving. I think it is hard to beat for both as you can do it from the shore and see some amazing things but the hassle you get in the tourist areas is bad.
As you don't want to do the snorkelling thing, I would have a look at El Gouna, just a short journey from Hurghada. El Gouna is a gated town and the man who owns it has the motto ''life as it should be''. This means he doesn't allow people to be hassled in the resort and it is just a more pleasant experience walking around. There are a couple of main areas, the marinas and downtown. There is a shuttle bus that operates all day from all hotels around the resort and it costs just £2 per person per week! There are also Tok Toks to take you around for approx 50p per journey. Both the marina and downtown have some excellent bars, shops and restaurants and other things to do such as mini golf. Some good hotels include the Movenpick, Three Corners Rihana, Sheraton Miramar and the Captains Inn. Have a look at the El Gouna forum and you will see many people that go year after year.
It is close to Hurghada so that you can take a trip there to the marina and also it is just a 4 hour coach trip to Luxor if you want to visit the Valley of the Kings and the temples there.
As mentioned though, the temperature in Luxor at that time of year will be extremely hot. I've been in October and December and both times it was plenty hot enough then! The sun is constant and it is hard to get out of it in some of the places you would visit.
Sahl Hasheesh near Hurghada is also an up and coming resort with some good hotels and a centre area that is slowly growing. It is the largest gated resort in the world but very quiet at the moment. A good hotel here is the Premier La Reve.
Hope this helps but just shout if you need anymore info

Mr_Wang

bcl999 wrote: »

Not heard of that one. Where is it? Does it go by another name?

http://www.hilton.co.uk/pyramidsgolf

Think theft from the room, short changed at the bar/shop every single time, prices that would increase on a daily basis, room left insecure, Spa etc all out of order, then upon check out the price went up by about $300USD from the price we booked - Why you ask? Inflation apparently.
In the end I refused to pay and bailed the hotel. They charged my credit card for about £3000 saying I had broken this and that, eaten various things from the mini bar etc that I hadn't.
After a lengthy set of complaints between myself/Visa and Hilton and threats of legal action etc I got most of the money back and paid only slightly more than the original amount.

Funny thing is, the Hilton Los Angeles Checkers also shafted me saying I had made about $500 worth of calls, when I pressed this there were like 10 calls all at the same time etc... I was charged parking at $30 per night even though I had left the car elsewhere - Why? Because all guests have access to the parking??
Upon check out their credit card machine was unable to refund my security of $150 and so she gave me $150 in $1 bills.

bcl999

Mr_Wang wrote: »

http://www.hilton.co.uk/pyramidsgolf

Think theft from the room, short changed at the bar/shop every single time, prices that would increase on a daily basis, room left insecure, Spa etc all out of order, then upon check out the price went up by about $300USD from the price we booked - Why you ask? Inflation apparently.
In the end I refused to pay and bailed the hotel. They charged my credit card for about £3000 saying I had broken this and that, eaten various things from the mini bar etc that I hadn't.
After a lengthy set of complaints between myself/Visa and Hilton and threats of legal action etc I got most of the money back and paid only slightly more than the original amount.

Funny thing is, the Hilton Los Angeles Checkers also shafted me saying I had made about $500 worth of calls, when I pressed this there were like 10 calls all at the same time etc... I was charged parking at $30 per night even though I had left the car elsewhere - Why? Because all guests have access to the parking??
Upon check out their credit card machine was unable to refund my security of $150 and so she gave me $150 in $1 bills.

Thanks for your link. Wasn't thinking of Cairo when I posted my question as OP was asking about the Sinai. Don't know what the problem is with their hotels in Cairo. I stayed in the Nile Hilton but that's no longer a Hilton - not even sure if it is still operating as a hotel. Of course, it is right by museum so also right by Tahrir Square - which might explain it..

21yrold

Hi,

Im looking at stopping in the St George hotel in sharm

By all accounts on trip advisor its got rave reviews but still seems cheap for when we are going to go 25th july/26/27th july?

There is no catch with this hotel is there haha?

Is this close to the hard rock cafe/ice bar? I think it is from the reviews.

Thanks

Neil

chelle333

I would highly recommend Sultan Gardens in sharks bay sharm , so many people go back there, and i found it wonderful, heres a link http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g297555-d299108-Reviews-Sultan_Gardens_Resort-Sharm_El_Sheikh_South_Sinai_Red_Sea_and_Sinai.html

I booked through Travel Republic and went in feb 2012 and hoping 2 go back end of May 2012

A lot of the hotels look awful from the outside but sultan gardens is fab and staff are wonderful !!

Enterprise_1701C

We stayed at the Movenpick in El Gouna. It was fantastic. The beeches were great, there is a little lagoon away from the main sea front if you want quiet. The room we stayed in was really nice, although we did get an upgrade (our travel agent knows the manager and it was our anniversary!), and the food is really good. If you stay there you have to try the mango juice in the restaurant - you almost need a spoon! The only thing that someone mentioned, we did not notice, was that the branded drinks are rather expensive.