My daughter and I are going to the Sea Star on the 24th June, we booked a one-week break £275 A/I with Longwoods through Libra. We would love to have some recent feed back on this hotel.
I also have a few questions if anyone could oblige.
If we book a day trip to Petra, will the rep organise our visas for us?
Also are there any other day trip tour company's local to the hotel?
Do any women wear shorts on these trips?
If you take the hotel shuttle bus to another hotel for the day can we use that hotel's facilities for drinks etc and maybe use their pool?
Which hotel would you recommend going to by shuttle bus?
At the Sea Star which rooms or blocks are recommended to stay in, do any have sea views and is it worth upgrading?
At lunchtime can you wear shorts and tops?
What is the hotels beach really like?
Has anyone ever emailed the hotel direct because it is my daughters 21st birthday and I would like a bottle of wine put in our room for her on arrival, do you think there is any chance of that happening?
Actually all the information anyone can give on this hotel would be a great help. Looking forward to going very much but know nothing at all about area around the hotel or anything else there.
Many thanks
We returned from the Sea Star on Monday this week; hope you get a chance to read this before you travel!
If you go to Petra, you will sail across the Gulf to Aqaba. You land at the Royal Jordanian Yacht Club quay in Aqaba. However this is not an official "point of entry" into Jordan, so you will have to surrender your passports to an official, who will take them away, get them stamped ( both in and out) and you wil get them back when you leave. You will pay your Jordanian visa fee at that point.
Yes ladies can wear shorts and t-shirts on the trip.
We didn't use the hotel shuttle bus so can't advise on that point.
The hotel is in six blocks, roughly in a figure of eight around the two pools. The majority of rooms face the pools, and the mountain/sea view rooms are few and far between. The mountains are, in any event, bare and barren, and the sea is a little bit away, so I wouldn't bother upgrading.
The beach - about 5 minutes away is man-made and fine. The hotel has a bar there. They will do you a packed lunch box, but we found most of it inedible ( mainly due to sandwiches made without butter!)
Shorts and tops, or wraparounds at lunchtime are fine.
If you ask at reception I'm sure they will arrange the wine for you - I found reception very helpful. You may want to consider eating in their a la carte restaurant if you have a special event. Book before 3pm and you get 25% off the price; they have Italian or Steakhouse menus.
be warned - there is nothing to do independently outside the hotel; there is no town as such, no bars shops or restaurants to walk to - and they will discourage you just wandering off.
Hope this helps
If you go to Petra, you will sail across the Gulf to Aqaba. You land at the Royal Jordanian Yacht Club quay in Aqaba. However this is not an official "point of entry" into Jordan, so you will have to surrender your passports to an official, who will take them away, get them stamped ( both in and out) and you wil get them back when you leave. You will pay your Jordanian visa fee at that point.
Yes ladies can wear shorts and t-shirts on the trip.
We didn't use the hotel shuttle bus so can't advise on that point.
The hotel is in six blocks, roughly in a figure of eight around the two pools. The majority of rooms face the pools, and the mountain/sea view rooms are few and far between. The mountains are, in any event, bare and barren, and the sea is a little bit away, so I wouldn't bother upgrading.
The beach - about 5 minutes away is man-made and fine. The hotel has a bar there. They will do you a packed lunch box, but we found most of it inedible ( mainly due to sandwiches made without butter!)
Shorts and tops, or wraparounds at lunchtime are fine.
If you ask at reception I'm sure they will arrange the wine for you - I found reception very helpful. You may want to consider eating in their a la carte restaurant if you have a special event. Book before 3pm and you get 25% off the price; they have Italian or Steakhouse menus.
be warned - there is nothing to do independently outside the hotel; there is no town as such, no bars shops or restaurants to walk to - and they will discourage you just wandering off.
Hope this helps
Hi can anyone tell me what this hotel is like? i am going out in 1 week and 4 days! Anyone else going out at this time aswell? I cant wait.
And has anyone got any pictures?
regards
J.R
And has anyone got any pictures?
regards
J.R
Hi JR
Hotel's fine - it's arranged in 6 curved blocks in (roughly) a figure of 8 around the two pools, although the bar (and the pool bar!) are both by one pool, so if you're by the other one it's a bit of trek to get a drink.
Rooms are good - twin queen sized beds, good bathroom with a decent shower over the bath ( but with brown water if its hot!) a fridge/minibar and a 20" TV with three or four english language channels.
There's a bar in the lobby, which also has sofas and chairs and so on. There is supposed to be another bar one floor up, but it was never open while we were there.
The disco ( and the a la carte restaurant) is actually outside the main gate - so have to go out through the security gate to get there.
There are a couple of slightly tacky and over priced shops in the compound.
Meals are in the main restaurant; nothing wrong with them, plenty to eat, and fresh and hot, but after four or five days it is rather repetitive; basically there will be a beef dish, a chicken dish and a fish dish.The veg will vary, as will the soup; there is also a fresh pasta corner for a change.
The pools are fine but be warned the water is very cold!
No real entertainment as such - occasional things like a belly dancer in the disco, but the disco is chargeable; no daytime animation team.
A lazy chill-out place, not much to do unless you take the excursions. Always very hot and a breeze ( hot also!) always blowing - it literally never stops.
PM me with your e-mail addy if you'd like some pics.
Cheers
Sancho
Hotel's fine - it's arranged in 6 curved blocks in (roughly) a figure of 8 around the two pools, although the bar (and the pool bar!) are both by one pool, so if you're by the other one it's a bit of trek to get a drink.
Rooms are good - twin queen sized beds, good bathroom with a decent shower over the bath ( but with brown water if its hot!) a fridge/minibar and a 20" TV with three or four english language channels.
There's a bar in the lobby, which also has sofas and chairs and so on. There is supposed to be another bar one floor up, but it was never open while we were there.
The disco ( and the a la carte restaurant) is actually outside the main gate - so have to go out through the security gate to get there.
There are a couple of slightly tacky and over priced shops in the compound.
Meals are in the main restaurant; nothing wrong with them, plenty to eat, and fresh and hot, but after four or five days it is rather repetitive; basically there will be a beef dish, a chicken dish and a fish dish.The veg will vary, as will the soup; there is also a fresh pasta corner for a change.
The pools are fine but be warned the water is very cold!
No real entertainment as such - occasional things like a belly dancer in the disco, but the disco is chargeable; no daytime animation team.
A lazy chill-out place, not much to do unless you take the excursions. Always very hot and a breeze ( hot also!) always blowing - it literally never stops.
PM me with your e-mail addy if you'd like some pics.
Cheers
Sancho
Here goes...........
We came back on Sunday 2nd July 2006 after one week at the Sea Star. Temps all week were 48-50 degrees. When you open your balcony door at night the dry heat hits you like opening an oven door.
Air con was brill we kept it at 27 otherwise the difference in the temperature outside and in was too severe. We saw no creepy crawlies or mozzies.
Nice large room overlooking pool. Free safe. Fridge, hair dryer, shampoo, hand soap. Towels changed every day and sheets almost every day. We used the pool with the bar in it most of the time. Plenty of sun beds and brollys with plenty of room between them, towels are provided around the pool and on the beach with a little towel card you are given. I was surprised to see quite a lot of topless ladies!
We both found the food very good at all sittings and it was kept hot. We enjoyed all the food. Vegetarians would be fine here. Dining room looked small but always had plenty of room. Drinks were ok, but we are not big drinkers. In the heat you drink mostly water, they will fill a small water bottle for you at the bar free. To buy a new large bottle of water was 60 pence. They also have small cartons of fruit juice, which were nice worth getting a stock for the trip home.
There is a restaurant where they do special meals. One couple we met ate there and said it was the best meal they had had for a long time. Their fillet steak looked beautiful £8, the starters were huge king prawns.
The hotel is very relaxed and laid back. The staff are very helpful. The site is well maintained and kept clean and tidy. Its not a dressy up at night place, people were very casual, but respected the restaurant dress code.
We only went to the beach on the last two days and wished we had gone there more often, we thought it was nice, plenty of beds and brollys and a bar which is included in AL. The snacks are even taken down there in the morning and in late afternoon"¦selection of rolls and small cakes. The sea is warm and in late afternoon it is warmer than the pool. Absolutely full of fish and stuff. You will need shoes to go into the sea, apparently Lidle supermarkets sell diving equipment and their aqua shoes are only £3.99. Don't forget a snorkel and underwater disposable camera £3.99, you will love what you see. We both liked the beach.
I took $100 in one dollar bills for tipping and buying stuff that's about £50. But they take sterling as well. We had no Egyptian money atall. There is a shop at the hotel but they are very expensive. Box of Pringles £3. We bought a airbed (a must for the pool) it was £10 but he charges everyone different prices, some people paid £20 for the same bed. The same happened with all the stuff bought in the shop. Our airbed had a faulty valve after about 3 hours, the air kept escaping, When we took it back the shop owner Peter stuck two large bits of celotape over it. My daughter spent 45 mins telling him that wasn't good enough and wasn't going till she got a replacement, he did give her one eventually and they ended up chatting like friends. I could never have done that. We spent very little money.
We did only one trip to the Bedouin night with the stars £32.It was a good night with a very nice meal all with the Bedouins in the desert. They have three telescopes and showed us Saturn with its rings (amazing) Pluto with 5 of its moons, also the Milky Way the guide showed us the sky like we had never seen it before. We had a go at the hubble bubble pipe. It was fun.
I used Soltan once a day factor 30 and did not burn, toped it up about once/twice a day with factor 30 Soltan ordinary sun cream. My daughter used Piz Bruin once a day factor 30 and did get burnt, she was toping up all day long.
Paid £20 to keep the room till 6.30 on the last day. AL finishes at 3pm. They wanted to charge me £1.20 for a small carton of juice so stock up on them and water.
Now for the negative!!!
The bath in the room was very dirty, probably due to the hot water running brown. If you run the taps for a while and only have a little hot water it is clearer.
I got the trotts along with about 75% of the other guests. Some had it worse than others. There were lots of theories about how we all got it and lots of theories on how to get rid of it. We took 40 dyoralyte sachets with us and took them the whole holiday and drank loads of water. We also made our own drink of hot water, sugar,salt and squeezed lemons in for acid replacement. Imodium plus didn't help. We took hand wash gel to carry in our bags. Also disinfectant wipes to do all the handles taps etc in the room after it had been cleaned. I waited till I came home to see my doctor, others saw the doctor on site who gave them sachets on the first visit then tablets and sometimes injections. That couple I mentioned had a doctors bill of $220 for only two visits. When you get the tummy bug it makes you very tired so long excursions are not the thing you want to be doing. If you do book one make sure if you are ill they will refund you if you cant go. That couple got a refund for ther trip to Petra £135 per person excluding the visa's ect that would have been on top.
Things to take snorkle, under water disposable camera, airbed, handwash soap (superdrug £1) disinfectant wipes, sunglasses, sun hat, strong sun cream, dyoralyte sachets, something for the trotts.
Any more questions and I would be only too happy to answer them
Forgot to mention they did have a belly dancing night in the disco, and on another night they had a groupe of dancers that were very good. The music they play is the sort of stuff everyone knows, 80's stuff and popular tunes. Lots of people go to bed very early because of the hot day and the heat at night makes you tired.
The hotel has nothing surrounding it. They have a free bus that runs to the Hilton up the road, it leaves at 9.30am and returns you at 3.30pm There are a few shops there that are supposed to be a lot better priced. If you run out of sun cream at the Sea Star its gonna cost you £12 for a brand you dont know and they were mostly low sun factors. The shop does not sell tampons or nappies.
The shuttle bus to the beach runs every hour to the beach, last trip back is 5pm. But to be honest it takes about 4 mins to walk, its just that its a hot walk.
There is someone in reception all day doing taxis if you need them.
The childrens club never opened the whole week.
People who did the Jerusalem trip said it was smashing but a long very hot day with lots of walking. All the trips look good, I was a little bit disapointed I couldnt do Petra, I was looking forward to it so much.
At the airport on your return the food and drink is expensive, snickers bar £1.30. There are a couple of souvenir shops that you can still bata in and they have lots of bits that are nice to take home. Duty free shop there too, voldka £8 I think my Rothmans were £12. Not a great selection of cigarettes.
Would I go back to the Sea Star.........Yes I would. We both enjoyed a relaxing stay, everyone there liked it. You will like it too as long as you are not expecting luxury you will be very comfortable.
Having said that I couldnt go back because I wouldnt chance getting the tummy bug again and I think the weather was a bit on the hot side for me
If I had one sugestion it would be BUY the 2litre bottles of water all the time. We had our bottles filled from a water machine at the bar, the same looking water machine I have at work so I classed this as safe, but I never saw one empty water refill the whole time we were there. The bottles they used didn't look particulary new either, so maybe it was't the fresh water I was expecting. The amount of water they would go through each day you would expect to see a lot of empty refills somewhere but there wasn't. This was mentioned to me from another guest and it did make me think.
I didn't let it spoil my holiday and as I said we enjoyed the relaxed slow atmosphere at this hotel. You will enjoy it too.
Trips.
Lazy day boat £39
St Catherines Monestry £28
Desert and stars £32
Cairo in a day £88
Cairo overnight £138
Massada and dead sea delights £68
Moses mountain £35
Jerusalem £68
Dahab £21
Petra £115
Then you have to add on top any border fees and visas
I am sure you will enjoy it there as much as we did, just dont expect posh. Anything else you want to know just ask, I was curious before I went there too.
We came back on Sunday 2nd July 2006 after one week at the Sea Star. Temps all week were 48-50 degrees. When you open your balcony door at night the dry heat hits you like opening an oven door.
Air con was brill we kept it at 27 otherwise the difference in the temperature outside and in was too severe. We saw no creepy crawlies or mozzies.
Nice large room overlooking pool. Free safe. Fridge, hair dryer, shampoo, hand soap. Towels changed every day and sheets almost every day. We used the pool with the bar in it most of the time. Plenty of sun beds and brollys with plenty of room between them, towels are provided around the pool and on the beach with a little towel card you are given. I was surprised to see quite a lot of topless ladies!
We both found the food very good at all sittings and it was kept hot. We enjoyed all the food. Vegetarians would be fine here. Dining room looked small but always had plenty of room. Drinks were ok, but we are not big drinkers. In the heat you drink mostly water, they will fill a small water bottle for you at the bar free. To buy a new large bottle of water was 60 pence. They also have small cartons of fruit juice, which were nice worth getting a stock for the trip home.
There is a restaurant where they do special meals. One couple we met ate there and said it was the best meal they had had for a long time. Their fillet steak looked beautiful £8, the starters were huge king prawns.
The hotel is very relaxed and laid back. The staff are very helpful. The site is well maintained and kept clean and tidy. Its not a dressy up at night place, people were very casual, but respected the restaurant dress code.
We only went to the beach on the last two days and wished we had gone there more often, we thought it was nice, plenty of beds and brollys and a bar which is included in AL. The snacks are even taken down there in the morning and in late afternoon"¦selection of rolls and small cakes. The sea is warm and in late afternoon it is warmer than the pool. Absolutely full of fish and stuff. You will need shoes to go into the sea, apparently Lidle supermarkets sell diving equipment and their aqua shoes are only £3.99. Don't forget a snorkel and underwater disposable camera £3.99, you will love what you see. We both liked the beach.
I took $100 in one dollar bills for tipping and buying stuff that's about £50. But they take sterling as well. We had no Egyptian money atall. There is a shop at the hotel but they are very expensive. Box of Pringles £3. We bought a airbed (a must for the pool) it was £10 but he charges everyone different prices, some people paid £20 for the same bed. The same happened with all the stuff bought in the shop. Our airbed had a faulty valve after about 3 hours, the air kept escaping, When we took it back the shop owner Peter stuck two large bits of celotape over it. My daughter spent 45 mins telling him that wasn't good enough and wasn't going till she got a replacement, he did give her one eventually and they ended up chatting like friends. I could never have done that. We spent very little money.
We did only one trip to the Bedouin night with the stars £32.It was a good night with a very nice meal all with the Bedouins in the desert. They have three telescopes and showed us Saturn with its rings (amazing) Pluto with 5 of its moons, also the Milky Way the guide showed us the sky like we had never seen it before. We had a go at the hubble bubble pipe. It was fun.
I used Soltan once a day factor 30 and did not burn, toped it up about once/twice a day with factor 30 Soltan ordinary sun cream. My daughter used Piz Bruin once a day factor 30 and did get burnt, she was toping up all day long.
Paid £20 to keep the room till 6.30 on the last day. AL finishes at 3pm. They wanted to charge me £1.20 for a small carton of juice so stock up on them and water.
Now for the negative!!!
The bath in the room was very dirty, probably due to the hot water running brown. If you run the taps for a while and only have a little hot water it is clearer.
I got the trotts along with about 75% of the other guests. Some had it worse than others. There were lots of theories about how we all got it and lots of theories on how to get rid of it. We took 40 dyoralyte sachets with us and took them the whole holiday and drank loads of water. We also made our own drink of hot water, sugar,salt and squeezed lemons in for acid replacement. Imodium plus didn't help. We took hand wash gel to carry in our bags. Also disinfectant wipes to do all the handles taps etc in the room after it had been cleaned. I waited till I came home to see my doctor, others saw the doctor on site who gave them sachets on the first visit then tablets and sometimes injections. That couple I mentioned had a doctors bill of $220 for only two visits. When you get the tummy bug it makes you very tired so long excursions are not the thing you want to be doing. If you do book one make sure if you are ill they will refund you if you cant go. That couple got a refund for ther trip to Petra £135 per person excluding the visa's ect that would have been on top.
Things to take snorkle, under water disposable camera, airbed, handwash soap (superdrug £1) disinfectant wipes, sunglasses, sun hat, strong sun cream, dyoralyte sachets, something for the trotts.
Any more questions and I would be only too happy to answer them
Forgot to mention they did have a belly dancing night in the disco, and on another night they had a groupe of dancers that were very good. The music they play is the sort of stuff everyone knows, 80's stuff and popular tunes. Lots of people go to bed very early because of the hot day and the heat at night makes you tired.
The hotel has nothing surrounding it. They have a free bus that runs to the Hilton up the road, it leaves at 9.30am and returns you at 3.30pm There are a few shops there that are supposed to be a lot better priced. If you run out of sun cream at the Sea Star its gonna cost you £12 for a brand you dont know and they were mostly low sun factors. The shop does not sell tampons or nappies.
The shuttle bus to the beach runs every hour to the beach, last trip back is 5pm. But to be honest it takes about 4 mins to walk, its just that its a hot walk.
There is someone in reception all day doing taxis if you need them.
The childrens club never opened the whole week.
People who did the Jerusalem trip said it was smashing but a long very hot day with lots of walking. All the trips look good, I was a little bit disapointed I couldnt do Petra, I was looking forward to it so much.
At the airport on your return the food and drink is expensive, snickers bar £1.30. There are a couple of souvenir shops that you can still bata in and they have lots of bits that are nice to take home. Duty free shop there too, voldka £8 I think my Rothmans were £12. Not a great selection of cigarettes.
Would I go back to the Sea Star.........Yes I would. We both enjoyed a relaxing stay, everyone there liked it. You will like it too as long as you are not expecting luxury you will be very comfortable.
Having said that I couldnt go back because I wouldnt chance getting the tummy bug again and I think the weather was a bit on the hot side for me
If I had one sugestion it would be BUY the 2litre bottles of water all the time. We had our bottles filled from a water machine at the bar, the same looking water machine I have at work so I classed this as safe, but I never saw one empty water refill the whole time we were there. The bottles they used didn't look particulary new either, so maybe it was't the fresh water I was expecting. The amount of water they would go through each day you would expect to see a lot of empty refills somewhere but there wasn't. This was mentioned to me from another guest and it did make me think.
I didn't let it spoil my holiday and as I said we enjoyed the relaxed slow atmosphere at this hotel. You will enjoy it too.
Trips.
Lazy day boat £39
St Catherines Monestry £28
Desert and stars £32
Cairo in a day £88
Cairo overnight £138
Massada and dead sea delights £68
Moses mountain £35
Jerusalem £68
Dahab £21
Petra £115
Then you have to add on top any border fees and visas
I am sure you will enjoy it there as much as we did, just dont expect posh. Anything else you want to know just ask, I was curious before I went there too.
Thanks Moopy, what an informative review! I have seen The Sea Star a good few times when dropping people off en route to Nuweiba. It always looked a bit "grim" from the front and some reports from those returning weren't too great!
It seems that it's now not too bad a hotel apart from the tummy trouble which appears to affect most hotels, or is it the people who visit them!!!???
I've never fancied the fact that their beach requires a walk down the road, but their prices reflect this so "you get what you pay for"
Glad you had a good time.
It seems that it's now not too bad a hotel apart from the tummy trouble which appears to affect most hotels, or is it the people who visit them!!!???
I've never fancied the fact that their beach requires a walk down the road, but their prices reflect this so "you get what you pay for"
Glad you had a good time.
Post a Reply
Please sign in or register an account to reply to this post.
Similar Topics
-
Can any one give me info on the sea star hotel in Taba
Posted by nearly there in Egypt Discussion Forum
-
Sonesta Beach Taba or Sol Y Mar Sea Star Taba??
Posted by ElleDee in Egypt Discussion Forum
-
Sol Y Mar Sea Star, Taba ?
Posted by ankesenamun in Egypt Discussion Forum
-
Sea Star Taba Sol y Mar
Posted by dariusdave in Egypt Discussion Forum
-
anyone tried Sea Star, Taba
Posted by maggiemay in Egypt Discussion Forum