Thanks for the info Stevie.
Just noticed from your site photos that the hotel does scooter/bike hire. Having ridden a moped in Goa a while back I'm sure it can't be any less safe than that, yet has anyone here actually taken one? - where did you go to? - is it worth it? Personally, I'd much prefer to do that than risk life and limb with a dodgy taxi driver. Are the roads safe for biking? Any thoughts?
Cheers

the hotel appeared to have scooters for hire near the beach (never bothered) but i did go quad biking which is well worth the money
regards
stevie

heck, just been reading, as you do after you book these things, that May is prime time for sandstorm season. Typical, we do loads of research for a resort, yet neglect the weather details.
How would this effect a week hol mid May if at all? Can we expect a nice textured tan with extra grit and sand every which way imagineable, or is the Azure immune to all this? Sorry for the last minute panic. Set our minds at rest someone before we re-book!
ps- seems theres lots more info to be found here than in any guide book. credit to HT, good stuff.
Think I'll shut up now, should just go with the flow. Comments would be a great help though, cheers all

in my humble opinion.... is a bit of sand worth worrying about? we had a plague of locusts hit sharm when i was there in november, not small creatures either but it was like the hotel staff were used to them and sort of jumped into action and the whole episode was more of a ..." where is my camera " sort of thing as opposed to " get me to the airport " event!!
and as it has already hit 80' on the weather chart you might welcome a bit of breeze around the place!!!! also i wouldn't of thought being on the beach the hotel would not really suffer from sand storms more inland!!
regards
stevie

Hi everyone

My boyfriend and I have just been looking at a really good deal for either 7 or 11 nights at the LTI, its one I've looked at before but one thing I can't seem to get clarification on in any brochure or from the net is whether or not they have a swim up bar.

It won't ruin our holiday if they don't but its something we always look for in a hotel (sad, I know but all these little extras count!)

What do we reckon the weather will be like in late April/early May?

SUZE

We are going 11th April and from the pics and earlier HT discussions yes they do have swim up bar see pictures

http://www.wernerlau.com/egypt/grand.uk/pages/grand.htm

http://www.tropicanahotels.com/

HOPE THIS HELPS HAVE A GOOD HOLIDAY
KAREN

hi...
when i was there in november out of the three pools.... (apparently two more have been built near the beach???) ....... the waterfalls pool (near reception and newest pool) certainly has a swim up bar ( mohammed, mohammed and sisi are staff!!) and the pool to the left hand side as you look towards the beach had one too. not sure about the pool nearest the restaraunt but it was always busy so probably did ......
hope that helps
this hotel has loads of pages now so anyone reading from this date should really look back as i would of thought most questions have been asked and answered at some point!!
regards
stevie

I am travelling to the Grand Azure in August with two children (and husband) aged 4 and 8. I have read that the children's club does not have an english rep, do the reps speak english? Has anyone used the children's club? Also, I have read the postings about the wrist bands but I have read a review which says that booking a family room gives you access to the executive lounge. Is that correct?
I can't wait for August to come round and must thank everyone who has posted or written a review, after reading them I am even more excitied.

the girlfriend and i booked a 'family suite' in uk when we booked and thats what we got ...green bands etc etc

hi calv

sorry mate ! I fly out on the 1st july till the 14th

I have 3 boys aged 6 , 9 and 13 and are full of energy , so i'm
hoping the slides will tire them out !
and if they dont i'm sure the heat will !
still dont know if you can wear diving masks in the pools ( does anybody know if you can) and can you wear armbands on the slides , do the pools and slides have attendants , or do the kids just do as they please ? any info on these issues would be gratefull cheers ! pleased to hear about the bottled water as this was a big concern for me . i will be taking lots of rehydration packs with me, as water alone is not enough in those kind of temperatures ! can anyone tell me what sort of food you get in the bedowin tent ? this looks rather interesting .are the family rooms spacious
or are they a bit cramped ? do you have to be inducted to use the gym ?
any info would be gratefull !!!!!!!

Wow, thanks Karen, I'm off to get it booked! Thanks for the links, I must say the tropicana website showing the gallery pictures of the hotel was most helpful the place looks fabulous, I have been been browing them for about 1/2 hr!!

hi pal.....

they have attendants around all the pools and slides at all times, and i often heard their whistle being blown to stop kids climbing on the rock 'features' in the middle of the waterfalls pool, they don't look dangerous but with the water only being deeper than six foot in one area they are just cautious as they probably are aware of high jinks from both children and adults alike.
i saw kids when i was there in the pools with masks, flippers arm bands etc don't forget they use one of the pools for the 'welcome to scuba diving' dive so it would be a little unfair to stop the little ones having harmless fun in the pools
the slides are pretty good too and will throw around 'sturdy' adults like myself so don't take them for granted.....
hope this is of help
regards
stevie

Dear People,
Has anyone got any experience of visiting this hotel without using the usual tour operators?
Specifically, I was wondering about taxi costs / availability / times to and from the airport and wheather anyone has any views about not having a rep whilst there, and where would we be able to book tours?
This hotel looks amazing, does anyone know how it compares to Riu hotels in the Carribean?
The web site that I'm thinking of booking the room through offers Twin, Family or Suite - can anyone help with what the difference would be between the first two (we'll only be 2) and whether the extra 100 pounds is worth it for the suite.
Finally, anyone flown with Astraeus - I thought I knew a thing or two about airlines but I've never heard of them!
Thank you - and good holidays to us all!!

could anyone please tell me what the junior suites are like compared to stander room's.

also what temp it is in december.

thank you

Well I got back late last night - All I can say is I want to go back now I absolutely loved it. The staff are all very friendly and seem to love the english people. The hotel was much bigger than what I first thought it was going to be. There were swim up pool bars in all 3 pools but only 2 were open. All 3 pools were huge and there were enough sunbeds to go around (I went with 2 other lads and we didnt get up until at 9am and there were lots spare!).

Overall the food was very good. Only 1 night was the food warm in the a la carte. We had the chinese and italian twice. The Italian was probably the best.

We went on 3 trips, scuba diving, quad biking and snorkelling. I probably wouldnt bother with snorkelling again if I was to go diving. You see sooo much more deeper down. Quad biking was so much fun, I would definately do that again.

The Animation team didnt seem to like us.... not too sure why but we didnt take part in any activities as we were always too busy or trying to get a tan. They do offer a night out to a club called the "Black House" - the picture on the ticket makes it look like a big Ministry Of Sound event but it is actually very small.

If you are taking you husband expect his eyes to wander as the russian women all seem to be stunning. If you are single people love the english as they are well mannered and polite I have read that the russian men seem to have no manners at all and just push their way past..... We found out this does happen but not all of them are this rude. We even got to know a few russian people and hopefully they will be emailing us as soon as they get back.

We did tip the waiters etc but I would be interested to know what they earn. Briarskeg etc got any ideas? There were a few instances where some of the waiters didnt want to know us and this was probably more to do with our age.

As for the rep she was ok, she sorted out the trips etc for us but we did have a problem with the Scuba diving trip. She gave us a form to read through with questions on it on the left and right side. She said if you answer to any on the left you will still be able to dive but if you answer yes on the right you will need to see a doctor. I had asthma which was on the left side. Got to the diving club and was told that with any of them I had to have seen a doctor.

The diving club was the Emperor Divers - would definately recommend them. They sorted out a free ride to the doctors - I had to pay for the certificate once I had been checked over and given the all clear but at least I could dive. They then re-arranged the diving trip further into the week. Finally the day came and we had so much fun. We were amazed when we actually got to dive in the sea. The whole setup by the Diving team was outstanding! We are now looking to become PADI certified.

I would definately recommend this holiday to anyone - I am already thinking of going back some time for 2 weeks. If anyone has got any questions please feel free to ask. Will try and post some pics up later in the week once I have converted them from film onto the PC.

PS - Thanks Stevie for the emails we exchanged, im so glad we did go

hi pal....

glad you did enjoy yourself, nice to see a 'single' persons perspective too!!! i only remember seeing single women and only in groups of two, and i don't think they were single if you know what i mean!!!!! so nice to see that the place is also suited for others apart from families and couples!!!! i think there is a great number of people who have posted on this site who have read the 'early' reports and thought what am i doing going there, only to go, come back and rave about the place like it is the best thing in the world!!! ( i was one who read about it and was so close to cancelling apart from travel agent advised (financially) that it was not a good idea ) i'm sure that everyone who has read this and will read this will agree with us that the early stories about this place were maybe true, but the staff have sorted the problems out and made it the GRAND resort that it so rightly is named!!!!!
i was led to believe that the vast majority of staff were paid 400 egyptian pound a month (£40 to us!) so tips are welcome but still worked for if you know what i mean!!!!
you could only improve the place in my eyes by ditching the russians, but how many times have you sat there with a beer and wondered at their amazing dress sense???? but they probably would say the same about us!!!! so would keep them just to stop me getting bored!!!!
but again mate glad you and your pals had an ace time!!!!!

PEOPLE...... THERE IS A COMMON THEME HERE !!!!!!

THE PLACE MIGHT TO SOME SOUND LIKE THE PITS.....
BUT TO OTHERS ITS THE MECCA OF HOLIDAY RESORTS!!!!!!

CANCEL AT YOUR PERIL!!!!!!

my regards to you all

stevie........

ps briar???

how many more posts before i get a shiny new star?????????

Hi all, My wife was advised not to pay the transfers to the hotel complex as it was much cheaper to pay for a taxi, is this right?? I'm going at the end of July, is there anyone else going at this time??

Hi,

I have also been told not to buy transfers we have booked a week at the end of aug to do some diving, there is 6 of us do you have any idea how much taxis are from the airport and is it safe for al lgirls as there is only girls travelling???

Thanks.