Hi Shirley

Thanks for your review, could you tell us the extent of the building work? will it interfere with our holiday and whatever theyre renovating do you think it will be finished by 14th july when i go ? the other things i can cope with but noisey building work

Debs

Hi Debs

Are you as worried about this as we are ??????

I am going into the travel agents today as they had told me we could eat in the italian and that drinks were included in the disco!!!!!Never mind the building work as well

Will post what they have to say this time later!!!!

What Italian restaurant are you referring to? There were two when I was there. One was the A'la Carte for which you paid minus 25LE per person and the other which was the restaurant which catered exclusively for the 150+ Italian guests which were on FB. This one we used regularly as we found the food better, although we were the only English to eat in there.
As for the disco, the only ones who frequent it are the animation team. You will find it completely empty so don't worry about the drinks.

Hi caveman

or what ???

i had no idea that there were two italian restaurants!!

As for the disco, i was hoping my two teenage daughters would go, but if they have to pay for the drinks in there they will be in and out all night!! I have noticed that there is no mention of the disco in the new brochure.

Was the buffet food not that good?? And could you see and hear any building work when you were there?? Maybe they are starting to build the new rooms for first choice ??

Travel agents told me that i have to wait to contact first choice customer services on mon am as they are shut at the weekend, but they are hardly likely to go into detail about the invisible non existing building work are they

Firstly I must say that I am a fussy eater (the wife says I must have been spoilt as a child). I personally found too much of the things I don't like and could not revert to kiddies meals ie. things with chips, as there were no chips and no cut meat. Other people seemed to have plenty of choice my not me. Therefor I used to bunk in with the Iti's as I like the pasta dishes. There are two Italian restaurants as in the Italian/ A' La Carte restaurant and the resturant dedicated to the Italian guests (free if on AI or HB)
As for the building work. It would only be heard of a day-time, and we spent that on the beach and the noise was barely audible. You was only aware of the new rooms being built if you went out of the front of the hotel or to the disco.

Hi Yvonney

Dont think the building work can be that bad as theres a new review and they didnt even mention work going on so

Debs

Hi,
I have put a seperate topic on...

I'm loving it here!!

Your highlighted concerns are not a worry.. I'm a fussy eater and food is a mega variety and plentiful...
There are two bars open from 6pm and 4 from 10am-6pm... you have no worries getting an all inclusive drink!

The reception bar is free at night and it's quieter and theres a bar where the entertainment is at night which is all inclusive.

Ok the disco bar you have to pay for, but its about 2quid for ab ottle of their 7.4%beer which is probably the size of a pint. You do have to be careful as so far we havent had any change when we pay for our drins in there!! Lol!

The hotel itself dont expect tips, but we always givew one for room service and we have locked our selves out of the roomabout 3 times he he and had to let someone to let us in! so we have give a tip.

We give our waiter a tip as he looks after us every night with table service and free pretzels and crisps - much to the dismay of other guest he he but as I say if you want to get looked after likle that just give them a tip! And it's certainly worth it.

Outside the complex they all want tips for every little thing they do! When we arrived aguy litterally put our case on the coach from outside it and demanded a pound each! We soon learnt that he was just ripping us off and that they weren't all like that, just because we were new and didn't know what to expect.. so tried to take advantage!

DONT WORRY - YOU WILL ALL LOVE IT HERE. GOT TO GO MY TIMES NEARLY RUN OUT AND HAVE SOME HARD SUN BATHING TO DO !

Now back at work. What a holiday. Going out and coming back was an ordeal ..The all in. package was some nightmare. Will post more when got
paperwork sorted.

Hi All yipee

im pleased with Shackyls report not worried now .

Debs

Hi Again

Just read Shackyls other posting and not worried now bout building work as no mention of it again i did email the hotel a couple of months ago Yvonney asking as first choice sent a letter saying the beauty salon and grill bar would be getting refurbished but the hotel said no guests would be disrupted with the building of the new rooms and 2 new reviews dont mention any so ive now officially stopped worrying and am really excited from what Shackyl says .

Debs

Hi debs

Travel agent got back to me this morning - there is building work next door aparantly. They say that i have not been notified as it is due for completion by 14th - 15th june, and it will not affect our holiday.

Sounds the same date as they gave for completion of the coral sea resort - do you know if its next door to the conrad???

Hi everyone have just read shackly,s report and what a relief We were starting to get worried as we fly out from Gatwick on the 21st july for 2 weeks all in . Dosent sound like a bad place to be lounging arond in the heat, hopefully all the others will enjoy as much as Shackly seems to be . See you there in july
Tina

Hi Tina

we also fly out from gatwick on 21st july for 2 weeks!!

Have been a bit worried by all the comments - but shakyls review has also put our minds at rest and im so looking foreward to it !

Hi Yvonney

No from what what i can remember the CSR is quite far away from the conrad as ivre read postings on the CSR thread asking about them being sister hotels which they are but not next to each other.
Im really pleased to hear Shackyls report dont mind paying a couple of quid for a drink after 11 oclock have always done that in previous holidays on the all inc when your not spending money all day whats a few round of drinks near the end of a night anyway well middle of a night for us!! soooooooooo excited now 7 weeks on wed till i leave to stay in Gatwick.

Debs

Hi All,

I have a very important question to ask.

Can you buy lilos anywhere near the hotel or is it best to bring them with you

only 10 more days to go bef

Hi Kelyny

Last time i bought a lilo 2 years ago we took it back to the hotel and tried to blow it up and couldnt spent an hour blowing like mad me and my husband we couldnt do it , not like the ones you used to get it was the first one id bought in years we took it back and they use the air thingy to blow it up then we tried to deflate it before coming home and it wouldnt go down even lying on it jumping on it so we left it only a few quid anyway , so me personally will get one there mabe it was just the kind we bought but it was just a cheap one .

Debs

Hi Kelyny

So you'll be the one flat out on the lilo floating around with a glass in your hand? At least we'll know who you are to come & say hello

So pleased with Shakyl's report

Not long til the 2nd - have you started packing yet? Our spare bed is covered with toiletries & have enough sun cream for the whole hotel.

Mazzy

Feel so much better now after reading shackyl's report. Started all the packing today can't wait now only 3 more sleeps fly

I recently came back from the conrad - was one of the 240 guests that arrived 5th May! Thought I'd leave a bit of info for you.

Firstly be careful with your baggage weight with first choice our luggage including hand luggage was weighed at Gatwick and if it's over you will have to pay £7 per kilo. Most people we spoke to experienced the same at Gatwick. They did not weigh ases on the return journey.

About the hotel. There is building work going on WITHIN the hotel grounds (I have photo evidence) which was very noisy at breakfast and around the pool mainly in the morning as well as the occasional dust cloud from the building work if the wind blows the wrong way. The FC rep tried to fob us off by saying it was outside the ground and then when we showed a picture he said it was drainage work. However speaking to a member of staff was told it was foundation work for a new block. It won't ruin the holiday but it is frustrating not to be told. There is plenty of building work going on within the area but this did not cause a problem.

We paid for a superior room and it's nice size with a good view however the bathroom was a little shabby. Had to request our bathrobes and the tea and coffee making facilities consist of a kettle! The FC reps said that if we needed cups and tea or coffee to steal them from breakfast! There is a mini bar but this is not included in AI. Would recommend the laundry service and room service was very nice - try the chicken tramezzini sandwich! Room service was about £3 per person.

The pool was nice (very cold!) but sunbeds are limited so get there early, pool towels are provided FOC at the pool and beach. We tended to stay by the pool as the beach was full of italians and the sea was frequented occassionally by jellyfish although they weren't that much of a problem. The snorkelling is amazing and we saw a huge moray eel one day at the edge of the house reef. The best time to snorkel is in the morning or about 5pm as the jetty is not so busy and the sun not so hot. There are 2 bars on the beach the one by the dive centre is for AI and the one with the restaurant you will have to pay for. Had very nice lunch here a few times and it costs between £10-£15 per couple.

The food wasn't bad although due to the lack of restaurants it got repetitve eating in the same place for breakfast, lunch and dinner. There is the main buffet restaurant and due to the amount of brits there and lack of seating they opened up doors leading into the italian restaurant for AI guests. You can have a different menu there at night instead of the buffet but you will have to pay. The other restaurant was by the conference room this was for the italian guests you can eat in there but not on AI and so you will have to pay for food and drinks. The fish restaurant was closed on arrival but in our second week they opened up the beach restaurant as the fish restaurant this one is also not included in AI.

Between 11 and 12 midday they served pizza, cakes and rolls in the lounge bar BUT they only bought out one tray and once that was gone no more was bought out. We got there at 1115 once and it was all gone so get there quick!

The lounge bar really was far too small for the amount of guests and even with the panorama bar that opened on the second week it was sometimes a struggle for seating. The entertainment wasn't that great consisted of some bloke signing Elvis or Kenny Rogers and some bloke spinning round with an umbrella.

Would recommend the quad bike trip offered by the guys next to the dive centre, this only goes on Saturday I think - we paid £25 for 2 people which was great value. With regard to trips they are far cheaper if you book via a travel centre in Naama bay (there's one opposite the camel bar) you can save about £100 on the cairo trip!

If going to naama bay go in the evening the shops stay open til about 2am and there are loads of places to eat and drink. It is far too hot during the day. They also have a duty free shop there but you must have your passport with you and go there within 48hrs of arriving in sharm. For some reason the reps do not tell you about this. The hotel runs a shuttle bus but a taxi should cost no more than £5.

We dived using the FC recommended dive centre aquarius, they were very good. Didn't use the dive centre at the hotel.

The hotel shops were expensive but you could walk to the next hotel from the beach (about 2 min walk) and they had a parade of shops that were open until late, they included a pharmacy and if you walked all the way to the end (past the stage and chairs) there was a small supermarket which sold drinks and snacks that we put in our mini bar. The shops also sell lilos, snorkels, fins etc. Believe it or not the cheapest place to buy gifts is at the airport, they have quite a few shops there that sell most of the tourist gifts you'll find in the hotel shops - 200 fags £3.50!!!

We never took travellers cheques with us, there was an atm at the hotel it didn't cost much to use. If you do need to change money you will get a better rate at changing in Egypt that you will do buying Egyptian pounds in the uk. You get about 9LE -£1 in uk, the hotel was offering nearly 11LE.

Overall for what we paid (£550 for 2 weeks AI) I can't really complain the weather was hot, the view amazing, no insects, food ok. As the AI has just started I can only see it improving as the weeks go by. I would certainly go to Egypt again but maybe staying nearer to naama bay for choice of restaurants.

PS Don't let the FC reps scare you into paying for pre booked seats on the return journey. Everyone we spoke to who pre booked for the return flight were seperated by an aisle.