Noria Resort

If you are not Italian or Russian, you will find yourself in the minority here. I stayed here 14- 21 October 07 in a group of 13 + baby.
On arrival, the couple with the baby were allocated a ground-floor room with patio doors that had been jemmied open and could not be secured. When the couple pointed out this was unacceptable, reception staff claimed that no other rooms were available. After a National Tourist rep was asked to intervene, alternative rooms suddenly became available.
There then followed a lengthy discussion to convey the needs of a nine-month-old child for a cot, which had already been booked anyway.
In my own room, water leaked through the ceiling from the air-con system after it had been switched on for an hour or so. In the morning, the tiled floors of the bathroom and hall were pooled with water. Reported on Day Two, and returning later that day, it was fair to say that someone had been working on the ceiling cavity, as the ceiling lights no longer worked!! That evening, water leaked again through the ceiling in the same spot. Reported on Day Three, and returning later that afternoon, it was again obvious that someone had attended, as broken plaster was now scattered over the floor from where the ceiling grille had been removed. An hour later, water was again dripping from the ceiling.
All this could have been reported to Reception or Customer Services via the telephones in the bedroom and bathroom. Neither of them worked. So each report required a lengthy march from the back of the site to the reception area. A very firm third report, direct to a Duty Manager, finally achieved the desired repairs.
There is a large attractively contoured pool at the core of the site with numerous sun-beds. But do not expect to doze in the sun or quietly read a book here. When the “animation team” are not organising games by use of the loudspeaker system, the same system is used to blast out incessant disco music, with almost none of it in discernible English.
A smaller pool, on an upper level at the back of the site, is a little quieter and more intimate. Even so, there is still often a background of similar “entertainment” drifting over from the adjacent aqua-park site. Also, there are often lengthy periods when the small bar here is abandoned.
There is a courtesy shuttle-bus which will take you to the hotel’s private beach area. It’s a fairly short walk to the main shopping areas, restaurants, bars, clubs and other facilities. To reach them, however, you will have to take your life into your hands to attempt the crossing of the four-lane road outside of the hotel gates.
The buffet-style restaurant provides varied but average food. Unfortunately, the self-service does not extend to the provision of tea and coffee. The jugs, cups etc. are retained at waiter-stations.
Service thus often involves a number of transactions while you:
a) catch a waiter to ask for tea/coffee
b) await the delivery of cup and saucer
c) probably catch a waiter again to indicate that you still would like something in the cups
d) wait while the jug is taken to other tables on its route to you
e) expect delivery of a teaspoon only after a further request.
If the group on your table want any combination of tea, coffee AND sugar, you can expect breakfast to be a rather convoluted affair.
After a couple of days, you soon resort to biding your time until a waiter is away from his station, then making a quick raid for all your needs in one go.
There are dozens and dozens of hotels in Sharm. I am sure that there are plenty that provide better levels of service than this one.