Many thanks Pippy & Jaytrip will post a review when we get back.
Fran

We took our own cheap kettle for the baby's milk. One couple said they were hiring one at £5 per day. Our kettle only cost £7 and included 2 cups, which are not supplied in the ordinary rooms. First hotel I have been in where I could drink the hotel tea, including Spain!
One tip we heard from the UK Taxi driver on the way back was that the drinks are wrong and that the vodka tastes like Gin, The Gin tastes like Vodka, The rum tastes like brandy and the whisky is supposed to taste like bacardi. not being drinkers we didn't experiment much and drank Coke most of the time.

Thanks stevebell001
One cheap kettle going in our suitcase. Have brother in law who is the authority on Vodka!!
Regards Fran

Hi, we've just booked our hol to conrad sharm... after reading how great the reviews are on here. Will be going sept 4th. Just wondered if anyone knew what fish are most commonly seen near the hotel? Also does the hotel organise any excursions to swim with dolphins?

Can anyone reccommend a good, fairly cheap underwater camera as used a disposable one in dom rep and pics werent that great!

Cant wait to get there, got 9 painful months ahead!

becky x

I can only comment on the hotel this December, and my UW experiences were limited for previous mentioned reasons, but there were a shoal of lionfish which appeared at the end of the jetty every afternoon as the sun was going down. Off the jetty was like diving into a tropical fish aquarium but with bigger fish. Apart from that I saw a Tuna come steaming in for tea at one point. Other people were reporting barracuda, groupers, Moray Eel. I did buy a fish guide but found the colours were not as bright as the fish so I couldn't match much. I did notice that the fish seemed to change everytime I turned around and one Zebra fish bit me whenever I went in the water! We did the glass bottomed boat trip from the beach and went on the red boat you can see off the next Jetty. Quite impressive but not as good as snorkelling, however there was a Manta Ray splashing around at one stop. A dolphin did appear offshore one day but I was case hunting and missed it. I did manage to film a clam shutting on a fish's nose.
Why not look around and get a good digital camera with an underwater case.
The digitals are getting so small the cases may be dropping in price, so could be worth a look. I use a Sony camcorder with a large Orange case, which helps me float, and I notice they have come down to around £150 on the web but they are old technology now.

HIYA

can soemone tell me how much i should expect to pay for a taxi from the hotel to Nama Bay?
and how much i wil be asked to pay fromtheir back

thankyou!

thanks steve the glass bottom boat sounds like it may be worth a thought. Loving the clam v fish image in my head now hope i can catch something as comical as that. i have a digital camera but it is a kodak and apparently there are no cases for that camera - or any other kodak, am considering one of the bags you can use, but ill keep my eyes open! The fish sound wonderful, just hope i can capture them as well as i see them this time!

Dont risk a good digital camera for a few fish shots buy a disposable underwater camera (film Based off ebay), unless you intend to buy a proper housing for about £180.

Check this site for a UW housing

http://www.camerasunderwater.co.uk/

Ron

thanks for the site, ive been looking into the camera housing on ebay- think it might be worth keeping an eye on, some interesting stuff on the web site tho.

Can i ask whether people think its worth getting the visas here before leaving as ive heard some people have problems at the airport, plus i pressume it will just make life a lot more simple after the flight!

Also Does anone know whether there are a lot of insects / flies etc?!

becky

Tina,The hotel Taxi cost £9 return but if you read my review on a previos page you will see that the one we got was an old banger!.The bus is £1 each way but you have to book it.Jay

hi just got tickets through for the hol (yey! much excitement!) but theres no mention of air conditioning in the room details, just checking really that we do get air conditioning or i might shrivel up in the heat!

Becky,there is air con in the rooms.We asked to be moved to a higher floor and the 2nd rooms air con worked much better than the original room.

Steve sorry your holiday was such a nightmare,the only problem i can forsee with a complaint to First Choice is they will probably give you a voucher to use against another holiday with you,ve guessed it First Choice. After my Egyptian fiasco last year i have just used my compensation voucher for £300 on an early year break in the canaries costing 2k,i could have got it far cheaper going direct thru Thomas Cook.I should have just poked myself in the eye with a sharp stick It would have been less painful.

Becky
on the subject of camera,s I took a cheap under water camera with a case from ASDA for £15 as a back for my digital,If you use the right film the pictures are great,also the water is much clearer than the Dom Rep.

Have A Nice One. Dog

Arrived home late Thurs 12th. I will just jot things down in the hope it will be of help to others. My apologies in advance to others (Stevebelloo1, Pippy, Briar)) that have already posted similar and were more than helpful to me.

Cabin crew actually announced that no visa was required if not travelling outside of Sharm. They apologised as they had no entry permit forms on board, but we did get them on arrival inside the terminal.

Keep a pen handy-we found it easier if one got the forms & filled them in while the others kept a place SHUFFLING along in the snaking queue.

Entry forms no prob- Family surname, first name, dob, place of birth, nationality & passport number. An official went around the queue writing SINAI ONLY on the back of the forms. But you are allowed to do this yourself. Your passport is then stamped & thats when the fun begins!!

We were told of a Thursday 74 planes fly in & out of Sharm. We asked numerous staff which carousel for the luggage (only about 3 anyway) as it appeared tv screens not working.

Luggage comes but we found the handlers literally throwing them off the carousel to make room and believe me they really do DUMP them. Maybe that was a bad day!! We finally got our cases, but because we were almost 2 hrs getting through, our booked 'Limosine' translate to- fuel smelly blue Mazda couldnt wait.

We got a taxi for the four of us for £10 sterling they originally wanted £20, but I pretended I would ring the Conrad & ask them to send 'The Limo'. Some say thats a rip off but were were'nt bothered by that stage. The Conrad is only 10 mins from the airport. HOLD ON TIGHT IN THAT TAXI!!

The hotel lobby is really impressive we had a very quick check in from lovely friendly staff. We sat in the buggy with the luggage on the back and we were taken to our rooms.
A little disappointed as we had lots of trees in front of our balcony. We did ask to be moved-we could have another room with a similar view, or in 3 days time we could move to a sea view. We decided to stay put as we were only there for the week

Rooms are a decent size ours had twin beds which were very comfy. Could'nt find the safe at first-you can only gain access to it if fridge door open!!

Bathroom is bright with lots of towels and hairdryer-bedding and towels changed every day. Cannot fault our housekeeper Sayed. I had an earlier tip on this site and left £1 coin on the pillow, even every other day they are so pleased to receive it.

We found the the food to be be fine there was always a decent choice had the bonus of no upset tums. The cakes are delicious. On one night a few of us had to take our buffet meal through to the Italian restaurant to eat simple because it was very busy. But we didnt have a problem with that.

The drinks were ok, the lager was fine to me. The vodka & tonic tasted better with another vodka in it!!

Suggest you take a few £1 coins as they are great for tipping. Change your money at the hotel. We found it easier to think 10p in the pound. 450 Eygptian pounds equels £4.50p.

As everyone has mentioned snorkelling is just amazing, I heard someone describe it as Gods garden under the sea.
There are two ladders at the end of the jetty but you are in deep water. Im not a great swimmer and feel safer if I can feel tiles or sand under my feet. You can hire life jackets on the beach for £2 half a day.

Buy some beach shoes for £4 at the Baron Hotel next door. Actually its a paved walkway which takes you to a row of shops called Baron Boulavard. You will see a shop on the left with all the masks & snorkels outside.

Not much in way of entertainment. Definitley not a place for kids-after the beach there is nothing for them.

The night before we left, the hotel got so busy, a big Muslim holiday it seems. Unfortunatley for us about 6 Egyptian families, lots of kids were put on our floor-(up to then it had been so peaceful). They were a loud unruly lot, kids used the corridor as a football pitch.
They all sat outside chatting & slamming doors til all hours-had we have been there longer we would have insisted on moving.

We got an all inclusive deal at a good price. Overall a good hol, lovely friendly staff. I have some photos taken inside & outside hotel, pleased if anyone can let me know how to get them on the site.

Fran

Hi Syd!

I'm so glad you enjoyed your holiday (apart from the airport ), I love reading these trip reports and imagining I'm still there

Pippy

Briar, had a slight problem posting it on the link you provided. I intended to give the conrad 5 * for cleanliness but it came as as 1 *.
Tried to change it but all of the report posted twice-sorry can one be deleted.
Also help need to post photos.
Regards Fran

Hiya,

syd3221r wrote:

I have some photos taken inside & outside hotel, pleased if anyone can let me know how to get them on the site.

If you Click Here the 3rd message down gives a step by step guide on how to upload pictures.

MrsMac

Syd,Was your Limo the old fume filled Mazda I told you about?Jay

Thanks Mrs Mac will try and post the photos.

Hi Jay Trip, the Limo in question IS the blue Mazda. I wonder why the cars and taxi's travel without any lights on? The mini bus from the hotel to Naama seemed much safer-and so cheap.
Regards
Fran