Hi doepsmc,

Sorry .... the sister hotel that we stayed at in Sharm is called the Royal Grand Azure which is located in the Nabq Bay area. It did get very good reviews prior to July due to the hotel opening up to the Arabs, and their behaviour and manners were appauling to say the least, and this totally spoilt our holiday which cost us the grand sum of £4700.

As this was our 6th trip to Egypt, we don't intend to return anytime soon, but if we were to return I would take a look at the PLR. Only thing our friends did say about the PLR (and not in a negative way) was that by 10pm each evening a lot of people had retired to bed ....... so obviously not for night larks LOL!! They said that they couldn't fault the service, food, or a la cartes at all. They even had waiter service around the pool for their drinks, and when they arrived down at the pool in the morning, their sunbeds were already mae up for them ...... also had someone coming around the pool to clean your sunglasses!!! Now that is what, and should be 5* service ...... not the 3* service that we paid 5* money for!!!

Regards,
Pat

Oh Pat what a shame and what a lot of money have they opened up a lot of the hotel to the arabs or was it just that you holiday coincided with one of their religious or bank holidays? I do seem to remember similar problems up in the Taba area caused by different cultures having different ideas of how to holiday and so people worked out which weeks/weekends not to go.

Ive stayed at Nabq in the hoilday village which I think is next door to where you stayed, but am going to Hilton sharks Bay this time, gioodness knows what that will be like. Everywhere seems to have changed since the troubles.

I'm not a party animal but am not sure if I wnat to be in bed by 10pm so perhaps the premier le reve is not for us. Ive had waiter service round the pool in Sharm at the two other hotels that I stayed at but they were 5* B&B hotels not AI's like the HV and the tropicana. It is nice having waiter service at the pool, couldn't have got it at the AI's though as the sunbeds were too close together for a waiter to get inbetween them.

I am assuming the HSB will be the normal 4* AI where you have to trot over to a bar and get your own drinks in the little plastic cups, not that it will kill me and anyway I need the excercise.

Doe

Hi Doe,

No ...... in July they opened up the Arabs, and apparently it was mayhem then too. I aired my concerns to the hotel prior to going in August and was told that as the hotel wasrunning at 60% occupancy through the month of August they had no intentions of reopening up to them ....... this proved o be wrong!! I don't have a problem with any culture, but when it comes to down right rude, abusive arrogant people who literally let their young children run riot throughout the hotel, and do not care for their safety (eg children as young as 2 years going into pools unsupervised and urinating and pooing in the pool) ....... that is where I draw the line!! The Guest Relation Manager and the FC Rep was inundated with complaints and could note cope .... I did feel sorry for them, but the problem is the Management in the hotel were hell bent on filling the rooms regardless of the reputation iy will have on the hotel.

3 days prior to our departure their holidays appeared to be over and some sort of normality returned to the hotel. However, apparently they have now returned in their droves........ God help the other guests .... how I pity them LOL!!

Regards,
Pat

hi
all i can say in addition to the premier le reve is yes some people did to go bed early but they have a bar open to at least midnight and the club/entertainment room on the top floor was open to around 2am..
but if you want to stay out late i would say go elsewhere its not that type of hotel,
its in the middle of nowhere and if you want a chilled out time then this is the place and you can have a drink or 2.this suited me perfectly.
they do come round the pool and ask you if you need drinks and when we were there they knew what we wanted and always brought you fresh drinks if they thought you needed them,also bring cold face towels to cool you down and small bowls of fresh fruit-not sure about the sunglass cleaning maybe thats new??
everyone if different to what they want but we thought the hotel and service was spot on,not sure what it is like now as we went a year ago and it was only half open...

Sounds like a nightmare at the Tropicana Pat, hope it's not gone like that at the Hilton Sharks Bay. It did cross my mind that things might eventually change over there, with all the Brits, Italians etc having gone elsewhere, I suppose they have had to look to other markets or go under. Think it was the same when some bombs went off 6 or 7 years ago and people stopped going, they started offering really cheap holidays to the Russians and as we know the rest is history.

Thanks for you input Robbie, i am OK with there no being huge amounts too do as normally am looking for a quick week of winter sun, not worried about it being isolated, just didnt want to have to creep back quietly at 11pm for fear of waking those who had already gone to bed at 10pm. Is it not actually in Hurghada, is it a few miles outside of the resort ?

Doe

Hi Doe,

It wasn't the Tropicana, it was the Royal Grand Azure which is run by the Premier Group, although perhaps we would have been better staying at the Tropicana LOL!!

I believe the PLR is actually located between Hurghada and Makadi Bay. We have stayed at the Sunrise Royal Makadi Bay twice (last time Aug 09) and enjoyed our stays there, but not sure what it is like now.

Regards,
Pat

hi
all i can say in addition to the premier le reve is yes some people did to go bed early but they have a bar open to at least midnight and the club/entertainment room on the top floor was open to around 2am..
but if you want to stay out late i would say go elsewhere its not that type of hotel,
its in the middle of nowhere and if you want a chilled out time then this is the place and you can have a drink or 2.this suited me perfectly.

The more i read about the PLR the more i can't wait to go , it sounds idillic, whilst 10.00pm may seem early i can certainly appreciate that people may retire to bed at the time with no kids allowed i'm sure that people find their own entertainment ..at 50 yrs of age i'm certainly not a night owl but will certainly partake in a drink or 3 up until midnight

Is it not actually in Hurghada, is it a few miles outside of the resort

It's in a 'growing'resort called Sahl hasheesh which is just south of Hurghada, according to someone i know it is beautiful, I'm the same as doepsmc, just want some late winter sunshine ,(this is a treat for my 50th Birthday which was in June), both me and the wife can't wait...our kids are now 20 and 14 , the 20yr old is obviously an adult (and almost married off herself)and the 14yr old wants to stay at home and have a week with his Grandad and friends...so it will be sheer bliss having no kids for a week

Well we are just back from the PLR, we have had a wonderful time (will put full review on later) The hotel is just beautiful in a simply lovely up and coming new resort, that has had millions spent on it.
The hotel only has one wing open, and the majority of guests are British (with Thomsons) on site rep- Rachael -really knows her stuff about the area. The staff (and management) cannot do enough for you, waiter service around the pool and on the beach. The food is some of the best we have ever eaten. Entertainment is low key with the pool/beach bar open until 1am and the Long bar on the 4th floor open until 2am.
Drinks although not 'top shelf' are very good, local beer very drinkable!
Anything you want to know just ask!

Welcome back denny, so glad you had a good time. It's still on my wish list so look forward to reading your review when it's up.

Doe

Glad you had a great time Denny , we're off there in 9 weeks(and counting), look forward to reading your review

Glad you had a lovely time Denny - looking forward to reading your review

I have done my review it should be posted shortly. Hope it helps.

Thanks denny, I see your review there now:
http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/&%20Spa/

David

Great review denny, this has whetted my appetite even more, it sounds absolutely brilliant , the next 9 weeks(until we go) are going to last forever

Great review denny, this has whetted my appetite even more, it sounds absolutely brilliant , the next 9 weeks(until we go) are going to last forever :cry

Just under 5 weeks now ..been looking at some of the 'well known video site' footage of the hotel,it looks wonderful , nice to see temps still in the low to mid 30c 's as well, this is the time we are normally heading off to Sharm ,but we're going later this year(Nov 18th) so i will be keeping an eye on the weather until then

I am just on the point of booking for May. But Hubby is away at the moment and I need to ask whether we should book for 2 weeks rather than the 1 week he has agreed to
You will have a great time..... So jealous!!

I would suggest the 2 weeks, then explain to him as the major cost of a holiday is the flights so the 2 weeks worked out cheaper than one

He agreed to 2 weeks !!