Thanks Nicky

Do you also have to be firm with customs about not having a visa?

Nigel

We were told about £5 so were pretty annoyed when they asked for £20+.
We eventually settled for £15 but this proved to be too much. We paid £10 from the hotel on our return and this seems the right price for a family of 4 with suitcases. Look for the blue/white cabs which are licensed anything else might not be. There is ususally a roadblock from Sharm to Grand Azure to stop un-licenses cabs.
Normal fare from Grand Azure, if not using the courtesy bus, is £5 one way. Again blue/white taxi only.

am getting excited as i go tomorrow morning. Will post my comments as soon as i can after i get back.

I have booked what i thought was a private transfer via the holiday company which is showing up as been with Medhotel. Am starting to get a funny feeling that we might end up on a coach. Will be alittle angry if we do.

I am with Thomas Cook airlines? Has anyone used them to fly to Sharm before. I am always cold on the big bird, do they have blankets?

If anyone wants me to try and find out anything specific for them please try to let me know as soon as possible.

Ellie

Hia

Visas - our holiday company told us that we didnt need them when we arrived at the airport, if we were not planning any trips. You will be given a card to fill in on the plane and hand in at the airport and this is where you state that you are staying in Sinai. Dont complete it in pencil as I did and then had to rewrite it all and ended up taking ages!!! ooops!!! As we went through passport control the man got hold of our visa cards where we had written 'Sinai Only' on, and said 'visa?' - we just firmly said no and he was ok, just stamped our passports and let us through.

As for the plane - yes Ellie I am always cold too when on it! On our flight back there was a prob with the air con too and it stayed freezing all the wau back - we asked for blankets, but they had run out because they give them out to all the children first with pillows for them. We didnt fly with TC though, so hopefully you will get one - if not take something warm to wear on the plane just incase!!!

Have a fantastic time!

Jill

Sorry guys, just to make myself clearer - the slow service you get is at night, during the day the service is fine, but at night in the lobby bar or where the entertainment is, it is very slow - as long as you know this in advance and order 2 drinks when you get served you will be ok! Just a helpful tip so you are not sat waiting for a tip.

As for food hygiene - we ate at the Chinese one night - the table we were at was next to the front desk - the waitors were stacking up the empty dirty plates on a table next to ours and scraping the leftovers from the plates into bin liners next to our table - hardly 5* is it?! I dont think this hotel deserves 5* after having seen things like that - some people have obviously been lucky not to see it, but I am glad I did and know what standards they have. Please dont misunderstand me though - we did ask that they moved it while we ate and they did this and were very apologetic, so if you see anything like this then tell them.

Also when you get your drinks at the pool bars in the day notice what they do with soft drinks - they fill up the same bottle all day with coke, one for Fanta, one for lemonade etc, and use it day after day to poor your drinks from this bottle - they are pre-filled in the morning and refilled as they run out - the glasses they poor it into are only rinsed with cold water quickly as they are always short of glasses. This is a haven for germs and probably explains some of the stomach upsets in such heat.

I am not writing this to put anyone off Glove, quite the opposite, just telling people so they are aware and can avoid such things, which will hopefully help them to have an even better holiday than we had.

Jill

I have to admitt, I did find their habit of pouring soft drinks out of bottles bizzare, when they had only just filled it out of the drinks dispenser that was still immediately on their side?!
One good thing about the drinks dispenser is that I have never had such freezing cold Pepsi without ice - maybe people prefered the warmer flatter versions from bottles?!
I did ask a few times for drinks out the machine - they didn't seem to mind - too much!
One other thing about the pop, Pepsi and 7-Up - ask for it by name and they haven't got a clue - ask for Coke and they will pore you a Pepsi (same with Sprite / 7-Up) - weird!

You have to believe the holiday companys have someone who gos around dealing with these local bad practices (albeit probably done in innocence). How many dodgy tummies could be down to simple stuff to fix like that bottle?

Anyway on the subject of diving and visas

I wonder if anyone can tell me if you need a visa to go on the local diving boat trips or to Ras Mohamed etc or is all that classed as Sinai

Also has anyone used the dive centre - particularly experienced divers. Interested in your opinions. Also how are the currents around the beach for kids etc snorkelling.

Thanks

hey, thank you for the information on the alcohol situation. I was just wondering (this might sound like a daft question) but do the pools allow lilo's and rubber rings etc?
It's just i know some places don't allow them
thank you
kjwilma x

hi jillye,
pleased to see you had such a good holiday !
would you go back ?

Hi Kjwilma,

Lilos are allowed in the pools. We would even go to the swim-up bar on ours and order some drinks to take back with us as our lilo had holes in it which were the perfect size for the plastic glasses. The pools were never busy, I don't know if they would stop you using them if the pool was full.

I never touched the coke, and I had a bad tum, Husband seamed to be better when he didn't drink the coke, baby fine and he just drank boiled water with some organic juice we brought from home, plus watered down fruit juice from the cartons in our fridge.

Happy holidays everyone

Hia Kjwilma,

Yes, no probs at all with lilos and rubber rings - we were all on lilos at the swim up bar the last couple of days as it was so hot!

I dont think it was just the coke that made people ill - just another haven for germs and as JKH said it is something that could so easily be avoided and fixed. Its just another example of the hygiene that could improve. All the drinks are given like that and the dirty glasses that are just rinsed are given out all day! At night though in the lobby bar, the drinks are all fresh and glasses are glass ones and clean, so no probs!

Lizzscafe - no dont think I would go back - really enjoyed myself and despite bad experiences made the most of our time there,, but next time I will learn that to want 5 star treatment you have to pay 5 star prices, rather than a cheaper holiday like this was. We certainly didnt expect to be offered drugs by waitors on hols or have our valuable stolen though, no matter what we paid, especially with a 5 star rating! But, having said that, glad I went and on the whole we enjoyed it. The good parts are very good, and they just need to improve some of the bad points to make it better all round.

Nice Nick,
You must have read about everything there is to know about Grand Azure by now but thought I would let you know my thoughts. We had a great holiday, hotel was really excellent and had no problems with food, service etc. We preferred upper dining level and we did tip staff and that could be why we never waited for a drink. Entertainment was limited but sure it must improve. Arabic night was good on Wednesday. We were in cluster 3 which is by the Fountain Pool on the rhs of the hotel. Anything on that side can see the new hotel next door being built although you only see it entering or leaving your room and it never bothered us. All the rooms surrounding the main Waterfall Pool are suites so if I go back I would upgrade as its a trek from anywhere down at the beach end. I would'nt upgrade to a green band even though you get use of the executive lounge and better spirits in there. (you just have to survive without a decent brandy, tia maria etc). The gin, vodka are ok and bottled beer so if you need something specific take it with you. The shopping is obviously cheaper in Naama Bay than the hotel (£1.50 for 20 cigs but £1 in town, pringles £2.50, shampoo £3.50 suntan cream is £7 +)
You can buy pretty much everything you will see on holiday at Sharm airport on the way home and cheap. Courtesy bus is free or £5 to Naama Bay by taxi. Hard Rock was ok also and cheap to eat but drinks dear.
One tip, if you go snorkelling off the jetty, go to the end but rather than walking straight out go left and look for the darker area where its deeper and better coral/fish. Don't touch those blasted black spikey things they sting like hell. You just need shoes. Save the flippers for deeper water.
Went on trip to Ras Mohammed snorkelling which was good, £45 each but good day out, with nice lunch and some beautiful snorkelling. You can stay on board and sunbathe for those that want to relax.
Have a great holiday, I think you've picked the best time to go.
Cheers

hi stalyvegas
really glad you enjoyed it, hows your tan looking? was it really hot? only 11 weeks today left for me (and counting!!!!).
think we'll be tipping as well, we dont mind doing this for an improved service.
did you do any other trips?
what sort of factor spfs were you on?
any problems with mozzies?
i'm sure i've got loads more to ask so thanks for your info, its a big help

nic

I am a novice diver (50 dives mainly UK) and did three days diving (local reefs & Ras Mohammed) with the dive centre that are on the beach. This was done from their main School in Naama bay. It seemed very good service to me. Good experienced dive guides.
With regard to snorkelling off jetty there was very little current in the shallow water local to the jetty, but if you go to the deeper water off the edge of the reef, there was some current/swell and would not recommend this without fins. Do not walk on the coral as this causes damage and kills the coral!! Fin on your back this can be done in very shallow water.

Mozzies didn't seem to be a problem.
Apparently the hotel routinely sprays anti-mozzy stuff.
We did see a few people with numerous bites on exposed skin (even more at the airport on the way home).
We got bitten a few times around our ankles - when wearing socks!!! (not big bites though).

As far as dodgy tum is concerned - I had 2 episoded, and am convinced the first was nothing to do with food poisoning/hygiene etc. The climate change, then drinking ice cold drinks, with eating and drinking different quantities and frequencies to what the body is used to recks havoc physiologically! When I become unwell first, I layd off the alcohol, drank bottles after bottles of water and only ate food like at home and was fine in less than 24h.
My second unwellness happened on day 5 (so should have been used to things by then!) - this was more your upset tummy due to bad food.

Because of all the postings here (and elsewhere) about being ill, I took some intravenous fluids with us - never used them! Would have done if I had them in Dom Rep or Mexico!

Since I uploaded my pics last Friday - there have been 9357 hits!
Get the impression that there are many more people reading this than we think!

i had 3 mozzie bites when I first got there and three on the way home, but could have been from airport. usually I get covered in them and can sometimes have quite bad reactions to them. Had to have IV antibiotics once for a bite on my hand when I lived in canada.

I took rehydration salts with me and took them in the morning after my first bad tum and I felt so much better in the afternoon. Although my tum is still not 100% back to normal, i only had the one day where I felt quite bad and just wanted to sleep, but playing with the kids kept my mind off it and I was ok by the following day.

no Bad tum what so ever in Dominican, Mexico, Jamaica, Kenya, gambia, malaysia, margaritta

I didnt suffer any bites at all and usually I get them. The hotel seemed to be very good at getting rid of the mozzies!!! Saw a few people with them, but nothing major.

Were a few flies around during the day, but nothing at all to bother you and only what you would expect in such a hot climate.

Rhodgreen - your pics are good - its great people are looking at them. Where are they all hiding?!!

Hi Nic

I leave most of my tan in the shower everyday so fading fast. It was hot and when its not, its bloody hot (You won't need a fleece in the evening thats for sure), for some strange reason it seemed to get warmer some nights but at least the rooms have a/c. The large reception area also has a/c so you can sit and enjoy a drink there if your too warm.
We did leave are patio door open in the evening at the beginning until a moz came in, after that we kept it shut and made sure the mozzy killer was plugged in every night. Some nights we sprayed just before we went out for the evening if we saw any.
We did'nt do any other trips, mainly due to the heat. We decided we'll go the Cairo, Luxor on a seperate holiday rather than rushing. Diving seemed to be a better bet, you can sample it in the Fountain Pool most days but I heard it was cheaper to go elsewhere for the course rather than at the hotel.
You had to be up early to get a bed around the Waterfall Pool, luckily we met a great geordie insomniac who used to put towels out for us at about 5.30am. At the Fountain Pool or the beach you could stroll down after 8/9 and get a bed. Not sure about the Dolphin Pool but that was always lively and busy. Water slides were good but you had to check no dipstick had stopped in the tube. There was an accident with some kids while we were there but the staff have been more vigalant since.
Speak to you later. Cheers