Welcome home chris ... good to see you .

Wow Im certainly looking forward to your review , we fancy something different now next year

Hi Lyn

I think I will type it in word & copy & paste. I normally type it in direct & then it has mistakes, I miss bits and cant edit, so it can be a mess. So it might take a while.

Not sure how it would be for you if you need AI x 6 people although a lot of people were AI. I think the upgrade was fairly expensive &, the way we eat & drink it was cheaper to pay as we went, especiallly with eating out most nights, but this woudn't be the case if anyone is into snacking & need lots of drinks, somedays we don't even bother with lunch.

It did have a dive school, although as you are no doubt aware there is no shore diving & no coral close to shore. You have to go out on dive boats to the deep waters. DD did a refresher couse, one to one tuition - 85 euros. I wasn't quite sure what she saw, but she did see something as big as her (harmless) that made her try & swim away, much to the amusement of the divemaster.

As a hotel it was a stunning place, the view as you walk out of the main reception doors & look down over the pools, palms & flower filled gardens to the blue lagoons with the rush topped parasols looks like paradise - breathtaking.

xxx

Hmm we would want to do it A/I Chris and obviously the diving is important too but they have exhasuted all the dive sites accessible in sharm now other than the Blue hole at Dahab (wanted to go this year but was told they couldnt get the diesel to get them them ). they wouldnt be concerned about going from shore if the diving was decent .

Welcome back, great to hear you had a nice holiday

Thanks Graham. Just glad you are all still here

I think there are a couple of dedicated AI hotels there as well Lyn, the Three Corners Ocean View and the Three Corners Rhianna maybe they would be worth investigating? Might be a bit windy if Easter falls early though.

There is somewhere called Makadi Bay that is supposed to have lots of great AI hotels, having enjoyed El Gouna I would definately give that a try now, it's also about 40 mins from the airport but I beleive in the opposite direction.

In fairness when you leave Hurghada Airport and travel the main roads the area looks a bit like Beruit but without the bombs , but I dont think that is any indication of the quality of the Hotels. I should think there are many excellent ones about, just a matter of ploughing through endless reviews.

Yes I nearly booked one of those a few years ago chris .. Cant remember what stopped me now.
Im fairly sure it's Makadi bay that's good for diving so that may be a better option for us . There were a pair of really serious divers behind us in the checkin queue . I was ear-wigging whilst they were talking to another couple and they recommended it to them .. or is there another place beginning with an M . They wern't
very inpressed with it out of El gouna

We liked Taba end too but not sure if flights are going there any more .

I think you are still OK for Taba if you are a London Airport, it's the rest of the country that the airlines seem to have abandoned.

I suspect that the diving is better out of Hurgarda (says she of the sunbed who hasn't a clue ).

We did go on a dolphin spotting trip and saw loads. DD swam with 6 adults and 2 babys, but I wasn't up to it as the water was about 10 ish meters deep, no problems with depth but I couldn't cope with the swell, it kept coming over the top of my snorkel thingy - i was happy just to watch.

She said swimming with dolphins in the wild was a pretty special experience, its difficult to do as you have to plop in quickly or they are off before you know it, so I would plop in and they would have legged it.

There is also something called the Dolphin House reef that you could dive, but we were within 24 hours of return flight so that couldn't happen for her, plus the huge cost of diving as well.

There does seem to be loads of reef activity out in the Hurgarda/Makadi/El Gouna area so it might make a change for your boys.

xxx

I cant believe you are back already Doe!
Im pleased you enjoyed your holiday.El Gouna looks beautiful.
I agree some parts near the airport is like Beirut and the down town area El Dahar isnt much better but we enjoyed wandering around and didnt get hassled which was surprising.
We would love to go back to Hurghada but there are no flights from our airport so will have to combine it with a visit to our daughters in Surrey.

Thanks Graham. Just glad you are all still here

Yes indeed, we have been gone and back again just like the Rise Of the Phoenix

Thanks chris .Interesting stuff there , im certainly going to have a look into what's about over that side

HI Doe, welcome back. Glad you had a good holiday.

I am on the verge of booking Egypt for the first time but just can't get myself to click the 'book' button basically because it wasn't a country I've been researching. It would be for our Easter hols next year. I'm a bit concerned about this bit as we'd be there at the start of April.

Might be a bit windy if Easter falls early though

.

Is your remark about Egypt in general or just the El Gouna area? The hotel I've fancied is in Sharm and my friend who was in Sharm this Easter said they had a few windy days there but I thought it was just a one off thing. Helen was there the year before and i don't recally them saying anything about the wind. I know we can't predict the weather and a bit of a warm breeze wouldn't bother me just as long as it isn't 'usual' to have strong winds in April.
Thanks

I think Chris means that area Shirley . We were in Sharm.. sharks bay over easter and it's wasnt windy at all . Evenings were warm (no cardi needed ). There was more cloud around for us this year but it didnt stay around long .. You may get some points in the day typically the morning where you get a good breeze but it's always quite welcome when it's hot even at 7-8am .

That's great Lyn. Thanks!

Hi Shirley

Sorry for the confusing post, seem to have been rambling.

Lyn is right I did mean that El Gouna could be windy early in the season, I think it is something to do with how it is situated geographically.

I've been to Sharm 3 times late March/early April & the day time weather has been good, sometimes you need a light cardi or wrap if you want to eat sitting outside of an evening, but sometimes you can get away with just a normal top.

If any part of Sharm could be said to catch the breeze the most is an area called Nabq Bay, but we were there the first week of school easter holidays one year and it was lovely, we were on the beach or round the pool everyday. It seems to have a lot of nice AI hotels up there so is popular.

The sea tends to be warmer than the pools, unless you can get a hotel with a heated pool.

Hi Jean, Yes it does look a bit off putting when you leave Hurghada Airport, good job we know that there are some great hotels out there.

Doe

Well I have finally managed to do my review of the Movenpick. Hope it's OK, but I have probably bored everyone to sleep.

Went into a fair bit of detail as I felt this was a good hotel & I noticed the previous reviews while old were pretty negative.

It wouldn't be for everyone, but we had a good time. I am now starting to wonder if I am just easy to please.

Doe

Hi Doe

Sam was wanting to go there next year to El Gouna. I am having trouble finding brochures or tour operators online that go to this place. I have seen the 3 corners and the one you were in via Thomas Cook i think. Whats it like in comparison to going to Sharm 10 ten times lol, sell it to me baby We are venturing out to a different part of Egypt and it looks nice with no hassle i hear?

Thanks Michelle xx

LOL Dont know if I can sell it to you Michelle. We really liked it, different to Sharm of course.

Seems to be owned by two guys who kind of invented it as a hassle free resort about 15 years ago & arranged for construction 5, 4 and 3 star hotels around lagoons. Very pretty, but no coral if that's your thing.

There are a couple of hubs with many restaurants, bars & shops. Downtown & the marina, I think they have built a 2nd marina but we didnt have time to find it.

Maybe if you're not 100% you could try it for a week ? Although I don't know if you only do a week .

There is the Movenpick which is a 5* & does AI, HB BnB. A Sheraton & a Steignberer Golf.

The Three Corners Rihana (family orientated) & Three Corners Ocean view (adult orientated) - I saw the later and it looked nice, near one of the marinas. Both 4* AI.

Not sure which ones would equate to a similar experience to that which you enjoy at the Sonesta Beach ? Only way of finding out is probably ploughing through the reviews on the opposition. There are lots of water based trips.

Here are a few links:

http://www.longwoodholidays.co.uk
http://www.redseaholidays.co.uk
http://www.thomascookstyle.com
http://www.thomascook.com
http://www.directholidays.co.uk
http://www.travelrepublic.co.uk - not sure if you do dynamic packages, but they do El Gouna

Red sea holidays do hotels called the Mosaique and Fanadir which I think are small boutique hotels.

We went with Thomas Cook Style, as you got a free meal & extra luggage for the same price as Thomas Cook ordinary. Thomson don't seem to carry El Gouna for some reason.

T'other thing you could do is book an easyjet flight to Hurgada & then a hotel direct (if you can find out how) or book hotel with the likes of travel republic or other bed booker.

This site is quite good, although it is obviously a sales pitch for El Gouna as it is the offical site, but it lists all the hotels.

http://www.elgouna.com

Not sure how you determine no hassle, they dont follow you down the street like they do in naama bay, but DD who was with, got fed up going to the pool bar to get water/drinks as the waiters kept ' hittin on her' as she so charmingly puts it. I explained at the time we were there it was mainly young families, couples & olds like me n her Dad, so there weren't many young women on their own.

As you like a bit of life outside your hotel it is probably a better bet than Makadi Bay for you, plus there is Hurgarda itself, although on leaving the airport it looks a bit bleak but when you get in properly there are probably some lovely hotels about.

Doe

Doe, glad you had a good time, I can't seem to find your hotel review, is it me??

No me neither I hope it isn't lost, I did it about 8 days ago. Don't know if you are aware but the site has changed hands, so they have a lot on at the mo. I am keeping everything crossed that it hasn't got lost, it took an age to pull together.

In short, we had a brilliant time, i am sure you will love it & I know you already love El Gouna. However nice a time we have we are not great ones for staying in the same accommodation more than once, but with this place we would be tempted.

We sat looking at the lagoon one day trying to think of something we didn't like, normally there will be something but we just couldn't think of anything.

The rooms were fab, staff great, other guests no problem, the lagoon setting bordering on spectacular, couldn't comment on AI but the breakfast was fine although moaners would probably moan about how large it is - but then they serve for 4 hours I beleive so if you dont like it busy you could go early.

I so hope you love it.

xxx