Hello Folks,
Arrived home on July 12th, so I thought I would share my review.
Flight out uneventful, given arrival cards, wrote Sinai only on the back.Bottle of water provided by the reps at the bus. Taba airport very small but efficent. It was 33 degrees when we arrived at 6 o'clock!
However, going home, the pilot decided to refuel in Cyprus which took an hour. He said it was to do with the altitude of the airport and the temperature and weight of luggage!?!
Bus airconditioned, we travelled with Longwoods and the rep gave us our room numbers along with other info on the bus.
Security check at Taba was quickly dealth with. We noticed the Sea Star on the right just below the security point. Don't even think of staying there. Theres a huge natural gas pipeline right beside the hotel!
On arrival at the hotel we were given lovely fruit juice, presented with our door card. We were escorted to our rooms after we identified our luggage which was delivered to our rooms shortly afterwards.
ATM: at the front of the building over on the right hand side as you go out the door.
Rooms: Very clean and comfortable.
Mini bar restocked every day.
Laundry/ towels changed daily.
Tv with some good films etc
Bring your own kettle.
Shower very good. Shower like nossle beside loo, use this to flush if the loo blocks.
Shower gel, conditioner, body milk provided.
Staff: Very helpful and courteous even if you dont tip them. I got a get well card from the management when I was ill!!!
Ringing home: £2.10 per minute from the landline.
Restaurant: You are escorted to a table by two charming girls Amel and Hayam. Waiters are mostly very efficient but ask for your drinks before you set off to select your food as they do take a while to bring them. Hope you like your coffee strong! Tea is dreadful.
Food: I couldnt fault it, any of it. My son has a severe nut and egg allergy and after alerting the chefs, they identified which foods he could eat safely, and this they did without my prompting. They even offered to make him something special that wasnt on the menu.
El Fresco: Snacks and drinks during the day, situated at the lap pool and near the sculptured pool. Slow to serve food. Nice to sit there in the evenings if its not too hot.
El Tanour: Lebanese food for lunch and you can book for dinner. LE40 credit to use here. I didnt go because its so hot in the evenings and this is open air.
Breeze bar: by the split level pool. Food very good value and lots of it. If you dont want a full meal, you can just ask for chips, or watermelon. If you dont eat all the melon, they will make it into a milkshake for you. Delicious.
Beach bar serves drinks from 10 til sunset.
Beach: Clean and tidy, umbrellas and beds provided.
Towels: You are provided with towel tokens which you exchange for beach towels at the towel stations, one at the split level pool and one at the sculptured pool. These guys will put up your brolly for you. If you tip them, they will have your towels and your brolly up in your favourite spot when you arrive at the pool. That is if you want to stay in the same place every day. IF you lose these tokens, its £5 charge!
Beach bar: Waiter service provided even as far down as the jetties. They will come along in a little electric golf cart thing ringing a little bell. Also come along with menus for drinks and will bring them back to you.
Sea/Snorkelling: It was like a millpond for the majority of the time and visiblitly was marvellous. Head off down to the little jetty at the north end. That was my favourite swimming spot and great for snorkelling in peace. Everyone uses the big jetty but you will see the same fish.
Fish: Lots to delight the eye, nothing dangerous, the Lion Fish just swim around you!
Coral: I cannot stress this enough - Dont Stand on the Coral. Its hard to tell the difference between stones and coral. Just dont paddle or wade out in the sea. There is an area provided that has orange buoys so that you can wallow. The sea is very shallow so swimming isnt an option unless you go to the jetties.
Gardens: Wonderfully kept, its a miracle seeing as the rainfall is 70mm per annum.
Pools: Waiter service at all the pools. Water clean but warm!
Doctor: He is on duty 24 hours. Call reception and they will put you through to him. Unfortunately, I had to get him three times. Its £30 for the initial visit and free for any other times. You pay for your scripts. I had terrible pains in the middle of my stomach for 3 days and then the trots for another three. Take Immodium!!!! I brought tablets from Boots called Diareze, they were hopeless.
Health: I was ill for six days. I had a chill in my tummy and felt vaguely flu like symptoms. Ask your room cleaner to bring you a towelling robe. Put it on after you wake up after sleeping and also when you come back to the room after being in the sun. Our air con, I set it at 18 but thought it wasnt cold enough and changed it to 14. Hence I got sick, too much extreme temperatures. It was 44 out most days. Also, try not to drink ice cold drinks, it causes the tummy ache. I didnt drink them but I still got ill. My son drank what he liked and he was fine!
Pharmacy: One is up at the El Wekala Three Corners hotel near the main road. Get the Waterworld bus up and then you can wait for it when its coming back.
Drinks: Expensive. £5 odd for a tin of pepsi and glass of red wine. £5 for non alchoholic cocktails. I brought boxes of wine from Gatwick duty free. It was so bad, I couldnt drink it. It was chilean which I love, but that was all that they had on the day I bought it. The Obelisk in the hotel is £14 but drinkable.
Entertainment: On the Rocks bar off the lobby. Not much going on really. Dancers most nights but if you see them once... Bedouin nite in the camp near the tennis courts. Didnt go so cannot comment.
Gold passport: Get yours now! You get your brekkie in your room (not sure if its everyday or just one time) And you are allowed a free coffee /tea or soft drink per day, it all adds up believe me!
Conclusion: I had a very enjoyable stay, very comfortable. I wanted complete peace and quiet and that is what I got. Lying on the beach, the only sound was water lapping on shore and birdsong. For me, it was much too hot and a week would be sufficient if I return.
It would be lovely for a nice quiet break for stressed out couples. There is plenty to do during the day if you had the energy to do it!
By far, the best looking of the hotels in the resort, I cannot fault it at all.
Hope this review has been helpful!
Jilly
We are looking at this hotel for maybe a week next Whit, did Sharm this year and fancy El Gouna maybe in August, but 44 degrees is rather hot.
Your report was really informative, thanks.
Welcome home Jilly! and that was a great trip report I was wondering the other night when you were back as I havent seen you post for a while. Glad you had a relaxing time, and what a shame you got ill hope it didnt spoil it to much for you.
thank you so much for the great review. after reading some dodgy ones it is very reasuring!! sounds like you had a great time shame about being ill though!
we are going on 25th august (only 6weeks!!)
just a quick question when you say there was things to do during the day if you wanted to did you mean like water gym and things!! i like to take part in this on holiday or was there not any of this type of thing going on?
also did you use the gym at all? and did you have any problem with getting a sunbed?
again thank you for all the great information much appreciated!
kirsty
Sorry to hear you had a few poorly days, but glad that despite that, you still sound positive about it.
As the more stressed half of a couple, I sure am looking forward to my 2 weeks from Sept 15th. Hope its a tad cooler then tho
Did you do any of the trips?
And have you a suggested "best " room no to request? (We are travelling with Eclipse/First Choice therefore don't get the free upgrade to sea view that I know Longwoods etc guests get). But I have got my gold card ready
Kind Regards,
Lyn
Hi Jilly, I'm new to the forum, and I am going to the Hyatt Regency in September. It was a relief to hear a good report of the hotel. Can I just clarify though, was this the Hyatt in Taba Heights?
Could you please comment a bit more on the pools? Is there anything like a river pool or are the pools cookie-cutter style rectangular or freeform? Are there places in the pool with shadow throughout the day or is it plain sun? Have you got pictures of the pools?
Jilly, is there much going on to entertain a two year old? I know they have a kids club for older kids, but are there toys, activity places for toddlers within the hotel grounds? Also, is it a family place, ie. lots of guests with kids? We're going in early September, so the children here will be back at school, but I'm wondering if there will be still some people like us, who have younger, non-school age children.
Gixer, we had one night of the Dancers ( do they also double up as the kiddies club minders??) They were ok but they looked a bit bored! I kept thinking about you when I was sick as I had read your dreadful experience in Sharm.
Katiesmum, I know you were in Sharm earlier (read your posts with relish). I think it would be lovely for Katie, there are shallow parts in the pools and the kiddies club would be great. The staff absolutley adore kids, Gixer back me up please! My son was 13 on the second day we were there, the staff were so good with him. Actually at times I got a tad miffed cos at dinner and breakfast, the staff only addressed him and were really interested in what he did with his day.
There is a sculptured pool at the top end of the hotel in the A+B wings, its about 1.6 m deep, then directly below that is a lap pool for the more serious swimmers, but kids use it too.
The split level pool cascades onto a lower level. There is a wonderful little spot with a plunge pool on the upper level. It has only 4 sunbeds and is in its own little garden and catches the breeze. Its perfect for lovers or just families with little 'uns.
The lower level has the Breeze bar at the side, you can swim round it to the shallow end. There is a ledge right round the bar so you can sit on it in the shade. No other shade unless you have your brolly up.
Sun beds and sun brollies are plentiful. The hotel was only quarter full, so there were loads, but I was talking to a couple on their third visit and they said that even when the hotel is full you can still get a bed.
Also if hotel is full, you will have to queue to get a table in the restaurant.
As far as recommending a good site for a room, I really cant say because it all depends on individual taste. We were in the F block ( where the Presidential suite is, F107, our cleaner took us for a tour, pity I didnt have the camera, it was beautiful) All of these rooms look to the sea, ours were just two rooms together, no one on top or at the side F102and F101. Very quiet, only sounds were the sea and birdsong.
The lagoon rooms are G and H blocks, more expensive. Talking to one guy who was rather impressed with them, said for £25 a night extra he got his own towel (so does everyone) his own bathrobe (so did we, cleaner brought us one without asking) and fresh milk was brought to the room every morning for tea/coffee so I am assuming these rooms have tea coffee making facilites. Ours didnt. No harm to the man but I brought my own kettle,tea and dried milk. We maybe didnt have the views but I certainly wouldnt have paid £25 per night for a jug of milk every day, because basically, that was the only difference!
Some of J block looked onto the sea also.
Tip: when you are on the bus en route to the resort, you will have your room already allocated, just remember, A+B are looking over a pool, E, garden and sea views, F beach and sea views. G+H lagoon and beach/sea views. Cant remember but I think some of the A,B+C might look over the mountains. So when you get to the resort, they will give you a map of the resort and if you arent happy, you can always ask for a change.
What to do during the day. Stretches on the lawn below the lap pool in the morning, water aerobics in the lap pool after the stretches, it was great!
Table tennis at the club olympus, didnt use the gym, cannot comment on its facilites, Thai massage, didnt do it either ( gosh, Im so boring)volley ball on the beach (didnt see any one doing it, too darn hot) Waterworld is great, banana boating, donut thingie, pedaloes, windsurfing, paragliding, diving.
Snorkelling was very popular.
If you are looking to chill, this is the place, but there is still plenty for the more active.
Forgot to mention in the earlier report. There is a dhow type boat leaves in the morning for Tiran Island, shade on the dhow, food provided, and they will introduce you to diving. It seemed like good value 35 euros or something like that.
Take sterling but have enough LE to cover you for a day or so. You can also charge to your room and pay the bill at the end. The ATM only allowsLE2400 dispense on one transaction.
Didnt go near the bank so not sure about it.
Hope I have covered all your question, please do not hesitate to ask anything I have left out.
Jilly
I really didnt see many English families ( but then their schools hadnt finished) There were a few Middle Eastern/Italian/Israeli families, they are quite boisterous to say the least, but were just having a real good time in the pools.
Im guessing really, but I think you would probably be best to bring or buy some water inflatables and just entertains your little darling by yourself. I dont know what ages the kids club is for, but if you contact the hotel, they will be able to help you better. They are very helpful.
Oh forgot to say, only saw four Russians/ Eastern Europeans, terribly well behaved, no babouskas in the lobby cutting their toenails dressed only in their dressing gowns.
For those who are new to this topic, there have been some horror stories about surly Russians etc. I say live and let live, but the Italians are soooo noisy and the kiddies run amok in the restaurant. The parents dont really seem to admonish them. Also the Israelis can be a bit on the boisterous side. But on the whole, everyone was well behaved, no louts about!
Jilly
forgot to say, there are climbing frames and swings on the beach.
Sounds great, nice for a rest at the Whit Half term. All I would ask is that if we decide on Taba, there is a `friend` for Katie and a wonderful swimming pool. She made a good friend in Sharm this year and they have kept in touch which is nice.
thanks so much for the reply. you have given us some great information to go on and can't wait to go now. sorry to sound a little sad about asking about the water gym but it has often been one of the funniest activities on holiday!
Ohhh just had a thought, Briar has replied to this thread so she may have done that already, forgot to check, its just we are all so used to seeing Pippy's marbles with a "click here" comment
As far as the kids stuff goes for you and Katiesmum, there was more than enough to keeps the little ones happy, I didnt stay at the Hyatt, I stayed at the Sofitel next door, but spent a lot of time up there and the facilites are very good. The chefs are also happy to make stuff for the kids like chips etc if there are none out on the buffet, just ask.
I cant say enough about the wonderful kids club staff, they treat the kids as if they are their own. Even babies and toddlers were in the kids club as it was cool and they could play games, paint, watch cartoons, have stories read to them, teddy bears picnics and so on. They even had sandcastle building down at the beach.
My daughters were 9 and 6 when we were there in May and they had a brilliant time. There is a kids disco on every night, and a play centre on the beach as Jilly has already said.
There were a few children there at the same time as us and we stayed during term time, so it was lovely, a great group of about 10 kids that all played together everyday but not to many running amock through the hotel and disturbing the other guests peace and quiet.
Also, it has to be one of the safest places ever to take children, all the staff get to know them by their first names (cleaners, gardeners, waiters etc) and they always keep an eye on them. My youngest daughter Katie was next to me one minuite then gone the next, and I couldnt see her anywhere, before I had a chance to panic, I heard one of the gardeners who was up a palm tree fixing a floodlight calling me, she had climbed into one of the hamocks and was fast asleep!
Sorry, Im waffling on a bit here but you get the picture, in my opinion its a fab place to take the kids on holiday!
Thanks again Jilly!
Forgot to say, they do have toys for the little ones to play with, everything from lego & dolls prams to rock/ride on toys and wendy houses. They had nursery rhyme time everyday when we were there which all the kids joined in with and did all the actions to incy wincy etc and the pre school kiddies really seemed to enjoy that bit!
I'm really sorry to hear that you weren't well during part of your stay. I looked out for you when we were there..now I know why we didn't bump into each other!! I ended up bringing all my books back home with me!!!!
Ronnie
good to see you liked the hotel, but sorry that you were ill for a few days.
You mentioned the heat and i think some people do underestimate the effect it has, especially if you're new to Egypt, it has that extra intensity that you don't get in european resorts, i know that sounds obvious and i'm not being condascending but for any of you guys going in august take care
I think you found the Hyatt to be like how i viewed it , a really peaceful and relaxing place that is more ideal for a week rather than two. Food and facilities are really good though and for the ones who are booked to go you will have a good holiday there.
Hope you had a good time too Ronnie.
Oh my gosh! It sounds absolutely perfect! Thanks for all the info.
Andy lovely to hear from you, sent you a postcard, so keep your eyes peeled. I agree with you about the heat. I have felt that I have been to places that felt hotter ( I wouldve described the heat as very very warm in Taba, not hot) but its an all pervading heat with no respite in the evenings. I observed all precautions, hat on, under the shade between 12 and 3 etc, no ice cold drinks blah blah, but I can honestly say I had a lovely time despite the little hiccups.
Sam I did the water aerobics and it was great, although felt a bit faint afterwards too much exertion!
Just a note to say that I emailed the Hyatt yesterday with some feedback and to suggest indentifying the food as to which were egg and nut free. I received a lovely email back saying that they would inform the Executive chef and make sure my positive feedback was relayed to all employees etc.
Sam I think it was you who asked did I do any trips. My good intentions to kill dead things went to the wall and I went nowhere! Sorry!
Jilly
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