Thanks.

I'm certainly being far more cautious this time. I'm checking and double checking everything that is offered.

I do understand what you mean. Two of the three could access a beach like this, if they chose, by going down sideways and taking their time. One probably couldn't but she might be content to sit by the pool if the others wanted to try out the beach for a change.

I'm grateul to all of you who have helped me - expecially as I was starting to think that I was a silly old biddy with unreasonable expectations.

I am determined to get it right this time.

thanks

tigi

Hi again

I'm still getting nowhere fast and am really fed up now. I've been offered another unsuitable hotel 'at no extra cost to myself' and when I checked their website I found it was considerably cheaper than the hotel we booked anyway! I am now waiting (and waiting......) to hear how much the upgrade will cost us. I don't know whether the others will consider paying anymore (I wouldn't blame them if they didn't). However, my husband has dialysis and it has all been arranged out there - including the transport to and from the Hilton Sharks - so I have to consider it.

I really want to cancel and get all our money back but the thought of having to go through all this again is very daunting - I'm thinking that I'd rather just stay home but everyone else is dead set on a holiday........ I expect if I cancel they'll want to charge some stupid cancellation fee anyway.... Rock? Hard place? that's me in the middle.

Cheer me up someone

M

Hi still here, still no further forward.

Still, believe it or not, waiting to be told how much extra a deluxe upgrade would cost us............

Its been over a week - and thats with us offering to pay more money!!!!!!

If my husbands dialysis wasn't booked and paid for in Sharm, I would cancel the whole bally thing.

My God Tigi,

I can't believe you are still waiting to find out something soo simple. What is wrong with these guys, its a mere phonecall or email they have to do.
Personally, call them and ask for a manager with sense to speak with you and to get this whole situation resolved, its beyond a joke now.
I think you said the operator was Hotels4U, whenever we deal with them, we don't have problems requesting such information. Quite often they have it there to hand so i really don't know what the big deal is.

Maybe they should go back to school and learn some manners and customer service as it doesn't appear they know the meaning of these simple things.

You got that right!

I did ask for a manager or someone in authority to phone me - this was about 2 weeks back. I got an e.mail saying that wouldn't happen as they were an 'online company' - which is rather strange since I did get a phone call following my first round of exchanges on this forum.

I have almost begged them to hurry this up, as it is so stressful. The day before yesterday I was told they had not heard and that the lady dealing with it would phone them at 12 p.m. when she was back in the office. Today I e.mailed again and got an automated 'not in the office until thursday 6th'. There was an alternative e.mail for emergencies - so I e.mailed that - gave a brief outline and asked for the information today..........NADA! not even an acknowledgement.

If this was my fault I wouldn't be so angry - but they booked the wrong side of the hotel in the first place!!!!! Arrrrrrggggh.

Personally, I feel now that we should get complimentary upgrades to make up for some of the stress...... However, back in the real world - I suppose I'll just have to keep needling until someone answers.

Well..... I have at last hear from otbeach.

They say that we will have to pay an extra £1,201.06 if we want rooms in the hotel that we can all get to!

I am so upset that I have just blubbed like a baby. All this stress -all the waiting! Ubelievable.

Anyone disabled or with reduced mobility who is looking for a holiday take my advice:

Do not trust otbeach to find you a holiday.

I really don't know what to do next. I'm certainly not going to let it rest. These people have ruined a special holiday - have given me weeks of stress - have made me look totally incompetent to my friends and now I will probably have to cancel.

Oh tigi - what a horrible situation for you and your family.
I can imagine how upset and frustrated you must feel.
When you think how long it takes people research their holidays and choose them because it seems exactly right for their needs and then something happens like this. It is just not fair.

I wonder how their employees would react if the same thing happened to them?

I am sorry that I can't advise you what to do next but I hope somebody can and your tears of sadness will turn into tears of joy! x

hi Tigi.

Have you tried contacting hilton sharks bay. . Like Meerkat I have also stayed here twice and agree with what she has said earlier about needing a room in the new part.

seeing as you have had no luck with OTB I think you may have more luck contacting them direct with your request .I have always found them very helpful with requests but the problem is you need to have contact with a member of the reservation team that speaks good enough English to understand your request sufficiently .

Can I suggest you send an email to reservations.sharmsharks@hilton.com and mark it for the attention of Kotb Mohamed -senior reservation.

I had a recent problem with my booking for next year .It was complicated and I had trouble getting the normal reservation team to understand what i was trying to tell them . finally after loosing my rag in frustration I had a email back from Kotb who understood me completely and had excellent English . He sorted my problem out with speed and efficiency.

If they try to offer you an upgrade at a charge push for it at the price you have already have as I dont think the old part would be suitable .

lyn

thanks guys.

I'm really emotional about all this - so daft - getting this upset over a blinking holiday!!! I just think it's weeks of stress trying to get to the bottom of it all.

I did actually try to e.mail the hotel twice. Both times I received no reply.

I actually, thinking about it, don't think I have much choice now. I'd almost forgotten that my husband has two weeks dialysis booked and paid for - so we have to go really. otbeach are now trying to sort out an alternative and the person dealing with things at the moment seems to sincerely want to help.

It may be that our friends will want to cancel or go elsewhere but two of us will probably have to cough up - who knows. What started off, all those months ago, as a middle eastern adventure has turned into a horrible nightmare.

I'm sure that, once I've pulled myself together, I'll be able to see it all more clearly. I am assured that we will have to pay for our upgrades - if we want them, though - so that's the problem. Do we stretch to it? or do we change hotels ?(and risk more problems on arrival).

Can't understand why they havnt replied tigi . Have another go and Mark it for kotb's attention. Ive always had replies very quickly or at the latest next day . Although it may be posible that they dont have details of your booking yet .

On arrival they always offer you an upgrade anyway . I know Pat (meerkat) had a standard room in the old part booked when she went in june and on arrival they offered her an upgrade to new part for £17 per room per night . When she refused they dropped that to £12 and eventually gave it to her Free.

They will try it on but I honestly think if you persevere direct with sharks bay you should end up with rooms in the new part for the same price or just a little extra . If you cant and decide to pay I certainly wouldnt do it with OTB as you will get a better price direct.

HSB is a lovely hotel and I am sure you would love it there. If you can find a little more strength don't give up.

lyn

Tigi .If you decide to give that email another go I wouldnt mention your problems with OTB or what you have been quoted extra. Because of the language barrier , keep it simple . I would give them your booking ref and refer them to your request on it for rooms in the new part due to mobility problems and ask to confirm that this will be honoured . Then wait and see what happens .

lyn

I wish it were just us two going because I would definitely take your advise.

I think the problem is that otbeach have booked through hotels4u and the hilton sharks probably have never heard of us - it would appear that the names are only given to the hotel at the last minute. This is probably why I have not had an answer.

I must admit that, the more I think about it, the more I am inclined to leave it as it is and sort out the upgrade when we arrive. One of our friends has just told me that if the room is unsuitable and they won't upgrade her, she will tell them they will have to carry her to hers. If the others are up to it - I certainly am.

The reason its been so stressful is that I'm not just acting for my old man and myself.

Just had a call back from the other couple and they are willing to leave it and sort it out with hotel but they are worried about availability of deluxe (or whatever they call them) rooms.

Thanks for the great advice, by the way.

must admit that, the more I think about it, the more I am inclined to leave it as it is and sort out the upgrade when we arrive.

TBH Tigi if you can stand the suspense I would do just that . A request has been given and they will know of the mobility problems .HBS is an excellent hotel , has plenty of different room types to accomodate you and I can see no problem with them sorting this out when you arrive . If you get given un unsuitable room you just go back to reception and they will give you another . I would hate to see you pay out £1000 + when you probably wont have to just to line the pockets of OTB. If you went for the alternative They could offer you a far more inferior hotel anyway . HSB is not cheap .

One of our friends has just told me that if the room is unsuitable and they won't upgrade her, she will tell them they will have to carry her to hers. If the others are up to it - I certainly am.

Excellent idea . Certainly do not even pay the £17 per night per room fee unless you really have to . As I say they try it with everyone on arrival anyway . On our first visit several years ago before the new part was built they offered us upgrade to sea view on arrival , cant remeber at what price but we told them "No thanks" . when we got to our rooms we had already been allocated them anyway . . This is Egypt and it is their nature to try and make a few extra bucks from you but armed with that knowledge you will be fine .

The best of luck to you . You could always email kotb nearer the time anyway . 7-14 days before would be best as they will have your booking then.

lyn

Ps forgot to say . The new part is huge I believe (hopefuly Pat(meerkat) will see this and confirm . I dont see any problem with availability for the new part in September . They make a fortune out of flogging upgrades to this part and would imagine a huge number of guests staying on that side have paid extra for them on arrival.

Completely agree with Lyn - I believe that HSB will do their best to help. We had no problem in the last week in June getting a free upgrade. As Lyn says, the new side is huge, and did not seem full when we were there. They may try to charge, but given the mobility problems in your party I do believe they will be understanding. Their customer service is excellent.

I did not book direct with the hotel - I booked through Hotelopia, and emailed a couple of weeks before we went to arrange taxis. They had details of our booking at this point and all my emails were answered within 2 hours. I sent my emails for the attention of the guy Lyn mentioned, but they were answered by a guy called Ahmed who also had very good English.

I do think that the new side would be absolutely fine for you, and the older side would definitely not be and you should not have to pay a fortune to upgrade since you made OTB aware of your difficulties. From what I have seen and read on various forums about HSB, and having been twice, the payment for upgrade seems to be hit or a miss, and if you stand your ground, they will give it for free.

I wouldn't want to risk getting another hotel in case it is not as good - HSB is truly excellent. If you can bear to wait till you go, please do that, and don't pay any money to OTB.

You could also try contacting the general manager direct. His email address is:

matthew.mullen@hilton.com

I hope that things will work out for you tigi - you have had an incredible amount of stress so far through no fault of your own. Keep us posted.

Hi Tigi,

I can't believe the going ons that you have experienced, sounds like you will need another holiday to get over the stress of this one.

Personally i would take the advice of the Meerkat and Lyn, both seem to know the hotel well and know exactly what it is like.
I think OTB have gone about this the wrong way, yes they have made the booking through Hotels4U but i doubt they have explained to them exactly what has happened to your booking and the needs you have. They have probably just asked how much those type of rooms are and then given the price without taking into account anything that has happened.
I know in the past if we have had a major problem with a clients booking then we go to our account manager for Hotels4U and quite often it is resolved, i doubt they have done this.

Whilst i wouldn't want to bring shame upon anyone or any company i do think in this case that you might want to report this situation to a recognised body (can't remember the name but i think it is called the dissabillity act or something). I'm sure they would probably help you and be quite interested to know how OTB is working as it doesn't appear that anyone there is bothered by your situation.

For now Tigi, chill, deep breath and enjoy packing your cases, holidays should be exciting and not stressful like the above.

Hi all,

I had just resigned myself to tackling the problem when I got to the Hilton, when I got another proposition from otb. I could upgrade for £210 for the whole party (a better option than £1210.00 )- so I wimped out and took it.

I know I probably would have got it for nothing, on site, but at least I should now just be able to check in without any snags (????? what are the odds?)

Thank you all so much fo your brilliant advice. Especially, leisurelad, meercat and lyn. I intend to , upopt for belt and braces and will e.mail the guy you recommended at the HSB, as suggested, about ten days before we go and confirm its all ok.

I will let you all know how I got on.

Thanks again for being my little oasis of sanity in that scarey desert of bewilderment. (Sorry about that but I'm sure you get the gist)

Tigi
x

Oh tigi - I really hope you can relax now and look forward to your holiday. If you have any questions about the hotel, please ask -Lyn and I are big fans!

Thats brilliant tigi . So they knocked off the odd £1000. That sounds better and between the whole party I guess it's not much each and I think I probably would have done the same in your situation. At least you can relax now . Hopefully OTB have been reading this thread .

Just one more query . Do you know exactly what you have been upgraded to .

make sure you get it confirmed in writing .

lyn

Good point Lyn - ground floor rooms on the new side are what you need. There is a storey above the ground floor rooms, and there are no lifts in the blocks of rooms.