I just received a letter from portland/Thomson this morning telling me that the above hotel in Sharm isnt a B & B hotel no more and that from now on it is an A/1 hotel. We do not have to pay the upgrade, portland do, but this is a sad day for me because we have been going to this hotel for years and do not want to be A/1. The price we paid was £535 pp, now if we booked it would be £799.
So, anyone that is in the Sonesta club, i would check if your hotel as changed to A/1 as well.
I know we have a free upgrade and it will be useful, but this will be the last time we visit it next June 08. We choose this hotel because it is B 7 B as there isnt that many left in Sharm.
Michelle x
If you only want B&B than only eat the breakfast.
I only just booked this hotel last week, for a week in November this year. Booked in our local Thomson shop, and booked B&B. When is the AI supposed to take effect? as no mention was made of it when we booked.
I know i will not be losing out, that isnt the issue for us, the fact is we choose this hotel as the price was excellent for the area and facilities and if we went back in the future i wouldnt want to pay £800 for it. I only wanted B & B hotel and in sharm for b & B in other hotels eg, Marriot, Novotel and Hilton, they are also changing to A1.
Anyone that has booked the Jolieville in Naama bay you will be upgraded from B & B to half board with Longwoods.
Nile_beauty
We got a letter today from thomson today, this holiday is for next June 08, there was no mention when we went to this hotel in July and August this year.
Maybe the hotel isnt upgrading/changing until the new year? i dont know, but telephone your office of thomson and ask, they may tell you.
Michelle x
Thanks Michelle, will pop in tomorrow and see what i can find out. My daughter is going to JolieVille in Feb (also booked through thomson) will ask about that one too lol.
i stay here 8 times at this hotel with thompson i dont want it to be A/I but look like with thompson its going to be i book to go in dec and yes book as A/I
There isnt many hotels in sharm in the area i like with b & b now, so yes i can upgrade to A1, but for £300 x2 more for a hotel i love, i wont do it, that £600 would be my spending money, and eating out.
I think the hotel will lose out big time, they know it is cheaper to eat out than pay the extra, a lot of people we spoke to was glad they were bed and breakfast as they can eat when they want, some dont like buffet food thats out near the pool from 5.30pm!
I think after next year we will give it a break and venture somewhere else, already going to Thailand in February, so that will be different.
Michelle x
By the way i worked out that we spent £300 between us on 3 course meals in Sharm, that includes all drinks, and drinks in the day, and a soup at dinner time, that £300 is total for 2 weeks.
So that would mean on A1 i would be paying too much, the extra £300 would be spends.
a few weeks ago...when i couldn't book the sonesta...due to work commitments...i could get a good AI price for the hotel...and now that i am ready to actually book it the prices have soared.
we are toying with going back to the renaissance next year now....a fantastic hotel....but a fair way outside naama bay. the snorkeling was excellent ..if not a bit scarey!!!
i've really got to think here.
i love the snokeling by the sonesta but not sure whether its worth paying nearly £300 extra for.
I am going to take a break after next year as want to do Thailand and already booked for a mini break to New York in Feb 08. At least we were upgraded for free, some of you who booked later unfortunately didnt get that added luxury to your holiday.
Michelle x
Previous year Sharm Holiday resort (Novotel by far the best).
This year we went to Hurghada, Hotel Titanic as it has 29 water slides, obviously for our child. Unfortunately the food was awful and my husband on return from holiday was very ill and went into a diabetic coma. We concluded that this was due to A/I hotels re-heating their food and not cooking it fresh even some of the International Hotels are guilty.
We are planning to go back to Sharm next year as Hurghada is not a patch on Sharm and there are no corals near where we stayed.
I do hope the standards do not slip with it going A/I as you get a lot of people going just to booze themselves to death i.e. The Russians who have Vodka for breakfast, lunch, dinner and Supper.
Anyone know for definite if it is???????
Anne-Marie
I dont like A1 food but will take advantage of some drinks as it is free. I will still eat in my usual restaurants though. The sonesta start getting their food out from 5.50pm as we're coming off the beach. I eat normally 9.30pm, by that time its dried up.
Kim
I know i will not be losing out, that isnt the issue for us, the fact is we choose this hotel as the price was excellent for the area and facilities and if we went back in the future i wouldnt want to pay £800 for it. I only wanted B & B hotel and in sharm for b & B in other hotels eg, Marriot, Novotel and Hilton, they are also changing to A1.
Much of the time the price difference between B&B/HB and AI is so minor that even if you wanted to eat EVERY dinner out. The money you would have spend on a spot of lunch around the pool, drinks all day, a drink before you go out to dinner or a nightcap after dinner actually covers the AI extra. If you also like the dinners then you are on to a winner!!!!
That £200 extra will get the kids (& adults) soft drinks, ice-cream and all them other bits'n'bobs that really eat into your holiday money.
I used to think people who went AI were mad, as one of the best bits of the holiday to me was dressing up in the evening & finding a nice restaurant. I had to go AI when visiting Olu Deniz as there were only two real beachfront hotels (this was before the Oyster Residence was bulit) & they were both AI. We always have to have beach front, so we tried it & loved the hotel. That gave us the courage to try others.
I think with SC or B&B all that matters is its in a good location & is clean.
With AI if you pay well (& research well) you can get one that is all that & has a choice of a la carte restaurants too!
We always pay for the best one we can afford (& research well!) & have been lucky to always get fantastic value for money. I would rather pay anh extra £200 & have a fab hol, than find one dirt cheap & hate it. I work hard all year to enjoy it.
I've never had a holiday from hell, but I had a SC holiday in Pathos that I would tell anyone to avoid, (Hilltop Gardens Hotel & Apartments). The holiday I had booked the firm went bust, sister was getting married there, daughter was a bridesmaid, had to find something, peak season & quick at the last minute. A few years ago too, so didn't have the wealth of info the internet has now. Actually I don't think I had even booked a holiday online then!
Have a good holiday!
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