Spent 20-30 Dec 08 at the Coral Hilton. This was our sixth Xmas there. We had a great time. The weather was the best we have ever encountered, we were sat outside the pool bar late on an evening without fleeces etc.

The hotel ensured that all our room requests etc were sorted for us. Thank you Imma (Ibrahim).

The gala dinner was good, and Wagdy & Shelaby organised that a table was set up for the 16 of us, which we really appreciated, so that we could all sit together. Santa made a guest appearance at the gala dinner, he did not deign to turn up on a camel on Xmas day.

Sherif & Tarek are no long part of the animation team, this now comprises Mido, Dima & Billy. Little Mohamed Awad is no longer working in the pool bar. Waleed on reception has also left. Fatma has also gone and Imma is doing a great job.

Mostafa & John still work at the beach bar in the day. Mostafa is not allowed caffeine (doctor's orders), so if you have room in your case, I am sure he would appreciate some stocks of decaff coffee. Kamel is still in charge on the beach and doing a fab job with his team.

There were no premiership football matches shown on the TV, at all, either in the pool bar of the hotel rooms, the hotel have changed their tv provider. This did not go down too well with the men & the lads. I hope the hotel will have a rethink on this.

We chose not to frequent the Abo Lou Lou, this was on a matter of principal. We do not pay for an AI holiday to pay for our drinks. To be fair to Wagdy, Shelaby & Samy they did their best to entice us in there offering us huge discounts, but we decided to make a stand on this as we feel strongly about it. So whereas the 16 of us would have eaten in there 2-3 times, we did not got at all. I hope the hotel rethink their policy on the Abo Lou Lou. Also there was a festive set menu that they were selling for LE 250 pp - a little too expensive, I would suggest.

The internet provider has also been changed, in my opinion this is now not good value for money 30 LE for 30 min, 40 LE for 60 min and 120 LE for 24 hour. All minutes have to be used on logon - ridiculous! Hopefully sense will prevail on this also. Wifi now available in the rooms if you take your laptops, not sure of the price.

The hotel was very quiet, hardly any returnees there at all.

Hope this helps anyone going soon.

Bex