thanx phyl, thats a little more reasuring!

myself and my friend are going on our first holiday without the Parent's so when thing get changed suddenly it doesnt sound too good!!

Edit to alter Rents to Parents for other Members benefit Briar

Thanks Shania for the info. I tend to agree about the lids being left off dishes, I will certainly make a beeline for the medication just in case.

We went to Sharm 2 years ago but we paid beforehand to get a visa. although we didnt do any trips. We are there just to relax!!!

I have since read those not planning any trips just need to write 'Sinai Only', on I presume an entry slip of some sort. But then some have done this according to reveiws and officials have insisted they must pay for a visa.

As you mentioned you went to Cairo this would'nt apply to you, but whilst you were there did you hear of this.
Regards
Fran

Good afternoon everyone

Im new to this site but have been reading peoples questions and responses im going to the conrad on the 4th of may 2006 flying from birmingham im taking my family there it will be our first time firstly i would like to here of anyone who would be on the same flight and ive also been told from people who have been that you need to have injections before you go is it true has anyone else had them.Look forward to a reply

Simon

Thanks Briar,I will click onto the link you have kindly provided. As a matter of interest where is this sticky visa at the top of the page. Sorry am I missing something. Brilliant site, well done.

Hello Briar, I do understand the need to keep topics together. I have a question about taxis and transport, Sharm to The Conrad. Were do I direct this.

The visa sticky is HERE
Taxis are readily available to/from the Conrad, there's also the hotel mini-bus which can be booked at reception, costs £1 (sterling) per person each way to Naama Bay.

Pippy

Hello Pippy & Briar
Decided to email Conrad direct for info on transport. Quick reply, they will have a limosine (taxi I presume) meet the four of us at the airport for ten pounds sterling.
We have to email them with names, dates and flight details. A fiver per couple is fine with us saves any hassle. Hope this may be of interest to others who are a little apprehensive at Sharm airport.
Could you please move this to the appropriate topic. Thanks

good evening everyone

can someone please tell me which is the best currency to take is it US dollars or egypt pounds

Regards

simon

I have just got back from the Conrad and had a brilliant time.We were delayed for 2 hours at Gatwick(Thursday flight) which we had not been informed so had to wait from 7.30am until 1.30pm.One consolation was we were the last flight into Sharm so missed the mayhem.I will write a review on the Egypt forum but a few tips here until I do so may help.The bus into Naama bay is £1 each way so one evening we took the "limosine" service as there were 4 of us and it only cost £9 there and back.When it turned up even the security men on the door were laughing.It was a clapped out old Mazda and we nearly chocked as it was filled with exhaust fumes.We may have been unlucky but dont get in an old black Mazda!.It is very near the airport and there is aircraft noise which didnt disturb us but some other guests seemed bothered by it.The shops in the hotel are extortionate.A pencil case was £15 compared to £2.20 in Naama bay.We did tip the first day and we were found a table in the resturant and drinks were brought straight away.Ask for a pot of tea at breakfast,it is hotter and will save going backwards and forwards to fill your cup.If you have a late flight ask Said on reception if anyone is booked to come into your room and he may let you keep it until 5pm.He did this for us at no cost.If you are not happy with you room ask if you can be moved,they will move you if rooms are available.Our first room was at pool level and was classed as a superior room as it had a king sized bed,but on opening the patio door all we could see were trees (room2160)we asked for a higher floor and were moved up a floor to room2183 which had a private terrace then a larger comunal area.The rooms along from us had balconies with wrought iron balconies(cant remember the numbers)I never wore beach shoes at the right hand side of jetty and had no problems.The jetty did rise with the tide and did tend to move when the tide was coming in but it was ok.There werent to many Russians when we were there as we were told it is expensive for them to stay at the Conrad.The are the most ignorant people I have ever come across and the staff dont like them,Even Natalie the russian entertainment girl isnt keen on them either!There were a lot of Italians but they have their own resturant and entertainment area with 20 on their animation team.The entertainment was dire but Naama bay is only 30minutes away and a nice place to visit on an evening.If you dont want to be pestered when they ask where you are from say Greece!It worked for us.The food is fine but some people complained and some got tummy upsets( CANT HAVE BEEN THE GALLONS OF COLD BEER THAT SOME PEOPLE CONSUMED)The only thing I didnt eat was the lettice and I was fine.The drinks, apart from the cocktails are Ok.The Gin,vodka and rum seem to be the best and all the soft drinks are branded,Fanta,Sprite Cola etc.Its an ideal place for a winter holiday as it was 30 degrees everyday with the sea between 20-25 degrees.I would stay nearer to Naama bay if I returned as the resturants here were brilliant.We only tried Dananeer as it was fabulous.

Hi Jay Trip,
Just read your report glad you had a good time. We are there 5th Jan emailed hotel who will provide a'Limosine' for £10 sterling-should we bother. Got a feeling it could be your clapped out Mazda.
Did you manage to get a taxi ok on arrival if so what did you pay?
No idea what room were in just paid for the standard, may email and ask for a higher room nothing to lose.
Did they take visa money off you?
Once again thanks for all the info.
Regards Fran

Hi Fran,I didnt need a visa as I was only in the Sinai penninsular.You only need a visa if you are going to Luxor or Cairo,which I think is too far away.The cost is almost the same as taking a holiday in Luxor from the UK for a week!The airport is only 3 miles away and the bus only drops off at the Conrad and then the Concord.We were in the hotel within a short time.The limosine service from the hotel to the airport is only 45LE which is only £4.50 so cant think why they are charging you £10.Email the hotel and ask for a high floor.We were in room 2183 which was 1 floor up from pool level.The rooms are very confusing and I got "lost" a few times.I lost weight with the amount of stairs I climbed.22 down from room to pool level,22 up to resturant,another 22 up to reception and bar.22 down to beach from pool level!The room we were in was classed as standard as it had twin beds but they just put them together.They are refurbishing rooms next door to the Baron hotel so was glad our room was in a quiet part of the hotel.Its a lovely friendly hotel and we met lots of new friends.Jay

Welcome home!

I'm so glad you enjoyed your stay at the Conrad, you're bringing back lots of happy memories for me.

Oh to be sitting on the beautiful sun-drenched beach right now!

Pippy

Just back from the holiday. Luckily it was only a week.

I am assuming most people reading this have stayed there so it is a bit shorthand.
The hotel has just upped the Snooker charge from 35 LE to 60 LE per hour.

If you get allocated room 3160 and you passed the Disco on the way into the hotel, don't bother to go to the room unless you are deaf. After a couple of sleepless nights, I went into the Disco at 12:30 and found that the loud music was for the benefit of the DJ and his lady accomplice along with 6 drunks so I mentioned this to reception with a request to lower the volume. It got louder. I phoned again at 01:30 and they eventually closed the disco early at 1:50. Wouldn't have minded if there had a been a room full of partying people, but one man and his dog and extra volume! Turns out that everyone complains from this room and the previous tennants had been moved on the Tuesday before we arrived. We did complain and were eventually moved to the beach.

We arrived on the Thursday Night, Our case arrived on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning.

First Choice were there for us. The phrase "Chocolate Teapot" springs to mind.
Due to a confusion over holiday baggage insurance, I relied upon my house contents and declined the extra on the holiday policy. I was told by the insurance company that the baggage was insured while in my possession but not while in the possession of the travel company as it was their responsibility and I had no control over it. A phone call to FC customer services agreed that the baggage was their responsibility while they had it. Happy me.

I pointed all this out to the FC rep on arrival when we noticed that we didn't have a case and they were focused on MY insurance not theirs. Next morning I reitereated that it was their responsibility and I wanted to know the procedure as we had no clothes and didn't know what to do. I was told they would raise it up the line as they had no previous experience of this.
That night (Friday) I was updated. They had found the case at Gatwick and it would be flown out on the Saturday BA flight and would be couried to the hotel in a taxi ready for me to pick up in reception. Saturday night no case, reception knew nothing!
Later reading of an internal FC email showed that the case was not delivered to BA in time to make the flight so it had been booked onto the next BA flight on the 13th.
Sunday morning back to FC - no case. No problem - at least First Choice didn't have one. The quote from the FC supervisor for the Hotel was that

"First Choice were responsible for lost baggage. My baggage wasn't lost, they knew where it was and therefore they had no further responsibility to me."

I would have liked to been able to say that FC moved heaven and hell to get the case to us as neither my wife nor I had anything to wear, but the front line reps were doing their bit, but were being fed untrue stories from up the chain both in the resort and from the UK just to keep us quiet.

What should have been a wonderful holiday turned into a very bad dream.

The hotel were great as I eventually "lost it" with FC and accidentally violated the hotel restaurant dress code. I went back to reception where I had been chatting about the case and said your manager has now thrown me out of the restaurant for not having the right clothes! I was still out of it with FC so I went to change back into my travelling trousers and calm down. The hotel were embarrased at causing my upset and despite my protestations that it was not the Hotel it was FC, the Hotel management insisted on gifting me a new pair of the "finest egyptian trousers".

On a general note in response to my complaints to the reps. When you arrive at the airport and get your case, unlike every other country I have been to, it is your responsibility to load the case into the coach. Anyone who appears to be doing this is an "unofficial" person who has "sneaked in" who charges £1 per bag to load it into the coach. The driver just stands and watches. When we got on the coach people were saying they had had to pay £4 to get their (4) cases put onto the coach so no bulk discount then!.

When my case did turn up on the Tuesday evening "out of the blue" FC were unable to provide any staff or assistance to go and get it, but they would get it at 9 in the morning.
(reading the email again showed that it was not out of the blue but that the resort supervisor had been informed of the flight when they asked why the case had not arrived on the Saturday as promised)

Then the story changed again, the actual required procedure was that I and my daughter had to attend in person to get the case again at 9 in the morning but FC would provide an Arabic speaking person for us.

9 on Wednesday morning I found that I had to organise a Taxi (and pay for it) myself as the rep could not raise the supervisor to see if it was FCs responsibilty but could I get a receipt just in case. turns out they don't do receipts so we ended up using the limo service at the hotel and as the agent was doing the deal and telling the rep that there were no receipts, this was then constituted as FC organising the Taxi.

On the Thursday we left I went to ask for the complaint paperwork and was offered a refund of the Taxi fare. I mentioned that I had given a tip, but was told I had not been authorised to do that so I would get the basic fare.

To wind us up even more the hotel flew the red flag Thursday, and I think they must have turned off the pool heaters just before we arrived. lovely pool but so cold that it was not used by more than a handful of brave souls all week, in fact I think I saw 3 kids in the pool and one of theose turned round and got out!

At the airport we had to unload the cases from the coach ourselves into the traffic flow so several times we all had to evade coaches and Taxis on their way in.

The flight had already been delayed 2 hours but when we got on board early we were then informed that we were awaiting for 2 FC customers who had gone missing. Later they turned up locked in administration issues in the airport and I have no idea if they got on or not. headwind slowed us down even more. eventually landed at LGW but the walkway broke down on the way to meet the plane so we were all trapped standing laden as one does waiting for something to happen. Eventually they resorted to the step ladder. At least following the long walk from the gate the luggage was already on the conveyor belt. I looked around for the FC representative or Office in the baggage reclaim area but could not see one at all. the we phoned our Taxi and got an answerphone!.

Soon resolved that one and we made it home

If you are on your way there and thinking of a late room, there is a questioning comment in the First Choice book by a previous customer on the lines of "What extra do we get by paying FC £44 for a service that the hotel charges £10 for?" Arrange any late check out with the hotel staff and not FC.

Still trying to get it out of my system so I can calmly decide who to complain to and about what and why.

If I get round to it and any of the tape has come out OK I may do a Sanji style vid for the lion fish lovers.
I am quite hacked off at the mo as I was hoping for a weeks filming, which got condensed into a few snorkelling trips from the wednesday afternoon after the camcorder case arrived and some off those were blighted by a misty lens as it takes me ages to remember the tricks of how to make everything work properly.

Steve,you arrived the day we left and your case saga is one of a few we heard about during our 2 week stay.One couple on the Manchester flight loaded their cases into the coach at the airport but when the got to the Conrad one had disappeared.Unfortunately it was the ladies case and all FC did for her was to give her deodorant from hotel shop!.Her case never did turn up and she spent the week in flip flops and an Egyption beach dress.Another guest loaned her a pair of shorts and 2 tops.I will make sure I take 2 small cases on holiday and divide our clothes between the 2.I am sorry it spoit your holiday but First Choice are experts at passing the buck.We have renamed them Last Choice!.Jay

Hi Stevebellooo1

Sorry to hear your holiday spoiled I'm sure those reading your report will feel for you.
We are there 5 Jan-I will avoid room 3160 thanks to your comments. Will be extra cautious about cases and put as much as possible in our hand luggage.
Fran

stevebello1
I replied to your shorter post in the complaints section, but didn't realise what a truly horrible time you had courtesy of first choice. I'm sorry they spoilt your holiday . When you calm down it might be worth writing to them on this. The rep in resort sounded hopeless and it dosen't seem like their Admin systems are up to much when it comes to lost cases and returning them to their owners. They should be able to do better than this.

Hi Stevebelloo1

As you are just just recently back, (did you find time to post anything more) can you tell me if there are tea coffee facilities in the rooms. Usually take the Nescafe anyway, so a kettle would come in handy. I know this is 4 star but !! We fly next Thursday -has to be warmer than here!

Sorry Briar Im sure this has been covered in earlier posts but seems quicker than trawling through.

Happy New Year to all that contribute to this brilliant site much appreciated.
Regards
Fran

Hi Fran

We booked a superior room and were supplied with a kettle and cups and saucers. We took our own tea, coffee, sugar and coffee whitener.

I don't know if the other rooms have kettles.

Pippy