Red Sea Holiday Village

26th Jult - 9th August 2007 OUR REVIEW Here Goes...... The flight: For those who don't know (We didnt) All drinks incl water, Kids packs, Headphones, Pillows/Blankets have to be BOUGHT on the plane. They show films but you cant listen to them unless you buy headphones. You will get tea, coffee or orange squash with your meal if you have purchased one but only 1 drink during the flight is included & its quite cramped.(our ankles blew up like balloons on the flight home) The transfer from the Airport to HV only takes 15 mins max. As we were delayed going there, they very kindly gave out cold drinks on arrival - much needed & they had some food for us in the buffet restaurant even tho it had passed midnight! We were given our room keys, pool towel vouchers & holiday info & were told our luggage would be at our room after we had eaten. We had a kids den room number 5102 which in our opinion was THE best situated room on the complex. Absolutley beautiful & BIG. Yes we had a shower in the bath itself, the bathroom was very big & the bedroom was massive! the King Size bed was sooooo much bigger than our king size in the uk. tho the mattress was very firm. We couldn't work out how to set up the playstation in the kids room but a phone call to reception the following day got somone to come & do this for us(much to our sons relief!) - take ps games with you. Our room's patio doors looked out onto the main pool, & direct onto the pool bar - just a swim away. the slides were to our left as we looked out, the bridge on our right & the kids pool incl bucket & water fountains further on the right. Just over the bridge was the ampitheatre, down the steps was wavelenght - the kids entertainment centre & just across a path was the beach!. The Mediterainian, Bamboo & Sari restaurants were to the left. We went to all 3 restaurants during our stay, with the Mediterainain beng by far our favourite. The Bamboo (chinese/asian) was poor & the Sari had us leavng the restaurant with the food still on the plates. The main buffett restaurant was a mere 2 min walk. Breakfast 6.30-10am, Lunch 12- 2.30pm, Dinner 6.30-10pm We really enjoyed the big selecton of food at all sittings. Eggs, Omlettes, Bread & Rolls, Cereal, Fruit, Pastrys,Cakes & Desserts, Salads, Pasta & Sauces, Vegetables, Soups, Cold Meats & Cheese, Beef, Turkey, Lamb, Duck, Koftas, Burgers, Sausages, Vegatarian, Potatoes, Chips, the list goes on! Also the serve food near the main pool buffet style during lunch time like pizza, burgers, kofters, chips & salad if you dont feel like going to the main buffet restaurant. You can get Ice Cream from the main pool bar & they serve afternoon tea near the buffett restaurant. So you really can eat all day if you wish! Please, please, please JOIN IN with the daytime activities adults. We did & we had a ball!! There is plenty to do, ie: Archery, CroKick, Waterpolo, Crazy Curling, Killer Darts, Killer Pool, Chipping golf, Beach Volleyball, Table Tennis, Adult Bar games, Daily Quiz & of course SHORT MAT BOWLS. Different activities are organised each day by the In2Action reps who are absolutly fabulous. BIG hello to Jason, Olly, Greg, Rachel, Kelly, Claire - what hard work you do & you made our holiday very very enjoyable. You get a certificate for winning or sometimes for not winning! & let us tell you, once you have got one you will want as many as possible lol (Yes the Reidy's were our greatest competition & yes we only got 15 certificates during our stay but we gave you a run for your money) :-) (This is where Daz earned his 'SUPER Daz' title & Reachel thanks for calling him a 'legend' I havent heard the last of it!) What can we say about the evenng 'entertaiment'? The word Poor comes to mind but maybe we are being a little harsh, it was pretty bad but the beers helped! & yes everyone - Pip & Daz won the 'MR & MRS' competition on our 2nd week ! Our 2 sons Adam & Daniel enjoyed the kids club. Just a word of warning tho, not all organised activities were free. some of the partys had to be paid for ie: the Chocolate party , the VIP party & Extreme creations. we had to pay £35 egyptian for each son but this has now gone up to £45 egyptian each. Please dont worry about your holiday if you are due to go. we can't fault the place. If you have anything wrong with your room, ie: a lightbulb not working or no loo rolls or towels, just a phone call to reception will fx it. Bigger problems like water pressure, or water coldness will be resolved in time, tho we didnt experiance any problems like this. Some of the swim up rooms do not have a parasol for shade, these are stuck in customs, but are too big for the patio area anyway! You get towel vouchers for the sunbeds when you get there. you exchange these for towles during the day at a hut near the main pool & when you take your towel back they give you the vouchers back. DONT loose these as you will be charged £70 egyptian for each one!. If you have any health problems which are not too serious DONT go to the on site Dr room 5104 as he will charge £35 english & give you a prescription to go to the chemist. ~This chemist is at the shops next to the HV. I got a slight eye infection at the end of our holiday, I walked down past the mediteranian restaurant to the beach, turned left, walked past the security hut then back up along a road running between the HV & the next hotel complex to the top where the chemist sits in a small shopping centre. he was fab! coulnt help me enough & only charged £5 english for some ointment. WARNING*** WARNING***WARNING.... its VERY HOT there 24 hours a day! make sure you drink plenty of water & keep applying the sun lotion. we got burnt using a high factor. take moisturisor or aftersun for the evenings, which are also hot! Snorkeling - walk to the end of our jetty, wade thru the sea (waist height at deepest) then gets shallow - ankle deep until the waves break. take sturdy soled shoes/trainers as it is very rocky. watch out for sea urchins, which are clearly visable as the water is so clear. Once you are level with the long jetty on the right you will see fish swimming around your legs but its still too shallow to snorkle properly. Make your way slowly out a bit further to the floating markers.......... now you are at the edge of the reef with a 300 ft drop now you can snorkle & you are in a different world! Parrot fish, Eels, Puffer fish, Angle fish as big as televisions! The colours of fish & coral are amazing. We know you will have a great holiday, dont expect to meet everyone from Trip Advisor. We put a sign on our patio window saying 'T.A Pip & Daz' so people knew who we were - it worked (Hi Nick & Ang !) Have a great time - we did :-) Pip, Daz, Adam & Daniel xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

We arrived at the holiday village on july 16 where we spent 2 weeks. We had a great time with our friends, there were 17 of us in total (8 adults and 9 children aged from 8 to 16 years). It took a while to check in as there were some confusion over the rooms. This was due to the number of rooms that were booked in our party but this was eventually sorted out and we were shown to our rooms in block 10. We were the first to stay in these rooms and ours was a kids den. The room was lovely and large but the finishing was terrible particularly in the bathroom and the bathroom ceiling already had mould on - the rooms had definitely been rushed for completion. The kids den was very plain and not decorated as shown in the brochure but had bean bags in but no playstation 2. We asked the first choice reps about this and a ps2 was brought to our room after a couple of days but this could not be put in the kids den as there was only 1 plug in there for the tv. The ps2 was set up in the main bedroom but only worked when the bedside light was on (strange wiring!!) but we didn't find this out until the last couple of days. There is plenty of wardrobe space but not enough hangers but again this was dealt with through the first choice reps. The bed is huge and comfy and the air conditioning was great and certainly needed for the hot temperature which was in the 40's. The pool areas are lovely and the sunbeds are great with plenty of straw umbrellas. We liked the activity pool area and had great views over the beach and sea. There is plenty to do during the day and the children took part in various activities and games such as canoe jumping, raft building, snorkelling, volleyball but there was not pressure to join in. The 2 youngest girls went to the kids club at night on a few occasions which they enjoyed and this gave us time to go to the adult only view bar. The in2action team all worked very hard and were fantastic with the kids. The meals were excellent in the buffet restaurant and I really enjoyed my omelettes in the morning which were made to order at the egg station. There was a great choice at all meal times and we ate at all the a la carte restaurants which were lovely and had no problems getting booked in as this was done on our first day. We found the alcoholic drinks to be very generous in their measures and I personally tried all the different spirits apart from whiskey. The red wine was drinkable as was the local beer. We had various cocktails and if the staff were not too busy they would make up other cocktails apart from the ones on the menu. Bottles of water are available in the buffet restaurant at breakfast and these can be refilled during the day but there was not enough water coolers around the hotel and pool area for the amount of guests so the water was usually warm. The entertainment team worked really hard and there were various shows on in the pharoes theatre inside but there were not enough tables in here so it was just row upon row of seats with an odd table here and there. There was no atmosphere in the theatre and the drinks were being served from a table in the corner. The tables were on order, we were told as was the karoke machine which was to go in the sports bar. The entertainment was not always to our taste but they are trying to please the guests and the team were very friendly and welcomed our thoughts and views. The beach area is not finished and the beach bar was serving drinks from a cooler, the beach bar had no top on it and there was no seating at the bar. There are plenty of beds on the beach and the double swinging beds are great. The beach area will be good when completed. The pirate ship is on the beach and is great for the activities such as the high ropes and zip wire. The seafood restaurant on the beach was being completed and again this will be great when finished but there were wires and tools all around this area whilst we were there. The snorkelling is fantastic and there is a jetty on the beach which takes you out some of the way to the coral shelf though this is still shallow water for quite some time. It is great for children. Beach shoes are a necessity and can be bought at the holiday village. The gardens were lovely and new plants were planted on a daily basis. There was a lot of work going on and improvements daily but some of the finishings were poor which is a shame as it has the potential to be a fantastic hotel. The staff worked very hard and were always friendly whether first choice, in2action, entertainment team or egyptian. We never had any problems getting drinks and the pool bar staff would often ask us whether we wanted drinks bringing to our sunbeds. We had a great holiday and would love to return and as one of the 12 year olds in our group said "I would like to come back here next year when it is finished!".

Just returned from 11 nights at the HV (departed 29th July) - had a fanastic time! Travelling with my husband & his 8 year old twins, my brother, sister-in-law, 11 year old niece & 8 year old nephew. Were quite worried as we received a letter from First Choice saying the hotel had quite a lot of building work still going on. When we arrived we discovered our room was actually adjacent to the building work (at the very top end of the complex) - but didn't cause any inconvenience at all! The room was fantastic - huge! My brother and family had booked a Junior Suite, but was very little difference between the 2 rooms apart from location (they were very central to the main restaurant and pool - but we enjoyed the walk!) All staff work amazingly hard and long hours, and reps were particularly helpful. The kids thought the clubs were fab, and there were plenty of sporty activities and quizzes etc for everybody to join in with (although not pushed into anything). The zip-wire was a particular favourite! Food was great - something for everybody (even me, a veggie!). The speciality restaurants were particularly good! Not really interested in the evening entertainment, however the 3 nights we went along were very good! Snorkelling was fantastic - quite a long way from the jetty to the reef 'drop' but well worth it! Advice is, if you can see sand out in the ocean it will be too shallow to venture over - so time it right!My husband actually saw a huge spotted eagle ray, in the deeper part! Kids all had a go too - and loved it (quite a lot of coral in the shallower water, so ideal for them)! We had a couple of instances where we had no water in the room, but that was sorted each time within 30 minutes. The sunbeds situation was rectified by the time we arrived - if people weren't sat at their beds by 10.30, the towels were removed! In fact, in the 11 nights we were there, the hotel's facilities improved daily - shops opened overnight (be prepared to haggle and get very annoyed by varying prices on different days!), and the beach bar transformed! Our only complaint about the whole holiday was actually the other guests. There was a lot of underage drinking at night down by the amphetheatre (not the staff's fault, - managemnt were trying to stamp it out). The language/behaviour of some of the 'kids' was disgusting. Even when sober in the daytime, they harassed the Egyptian staff, spat in the pool, threw water at you when you passed, and the language was disgusting - totally yobbish behaviour - there's no wonder that English have such a bad reputation. The fact that their parents didn't even notice was unbelieveable! To sum up a fantastic holiday for kids and adults (just ignore the yobs!)!

Although this hotel had only been recently opened, by the time we arrived most of the serious problems had been sorted. Initially, however, we were placed in a block right next to building work ( interconnecting rooms above the swim ups). The rooms were very spacious and nicely decorated, the bathroom not finished to a very good standard though. The view from the large balcony was amazing over the complex but when leaving the room at the back you felt almost part of the rumble. Personally felt this area wasn't really ready for the public. After some perseverance we were moved a block within the complex, therefore were now not aware of on going building issues. This problem aside the holiday was fantastic. The egyptian staff were very hospitable and made the holiday for us. The food was delicious and fresh. The pool side BBQ and al a carte restaurants made a nice change. Pool areas large, clean and comfortable sun loungers with plenty of shade with the parasols. Staffed by pool guys who provided the towels and who restricted too much lounger hogging. Much to some peoples disgust but this maintained fairness. The beach wasn't used, probably due to the course sand and lack of close facilities in place. The large swinging beds were a nice touch but the jetty was too short. The night time entertainment by the first choice team was not our cup of tea but this was made up by the day time activities. Local traditional entertainment would have been more interesting of a night. Have to say this was one of our favourite holidays and the weather played a large part in this. The area is a bit built up but once in the hotel was unaware. Shall return in a few years, as this hotel will be amazing once completely finished but i imagine the price's will reflect this.

I was expecting a 4/5* Hotel that still had some building work going on. In reality the whole complex has been rushed. We had a swim up room and the finish of the bathroom was not up to the standard of a 1* Hotel! Plasterwork hadn't been finished off & the tiles were mouldy already! Yes the room was huge & plenty of wardrobe space which was a plus. No umbrellas outside though (we took a parasol with us & stuck it in a bin full of rocks) but we were told umbrellas are on order. Pool was great although you need to be careful as it's slippy. Air con worked brill and as the temperature hit 55 degrees this week - you need it! Have an issue with First Choice as there was a family with 3 very small children in a swim up room near to us. When I quizzed the First Choice Rep I was told that the guests probably paid full adult price for all of their children to get them a swim up room (must be millionaires then!). But it clearly states that children under 12 are not allowed in those rooms for Health & Safety reasons. The lack of finishing applies really to a lot of the Hotel. The Reception area needs a bit more work as do the toilets in the main block. The food was excellent - we could not fault it. Tried the a la carte restaurants which we liked but the buffet restaurant was the best. Bars not so good - we travelled in a party of 18 adults and at one point they refused to serve us because there were too many of us! They also asked us to collect our own glasses and return them to the bar! A swift complaint sorted that along with the attitude of the reception bar staff. Another complaint we had was that you can get bottled water from the buffet restaurant up until 10am but after then you have to refill them from the water coolers dotted around (nowhere near enough of them though!) The 9 children we travelled with were stopped from filling their bottles by the bar staff! Again we complained as this was not on! Again swiftly sorted. None of our kids tried the clubs so can't comment on them. And also the entertainment wasn't to our taste as it is mainly shows put on by the reps themselves and we felt there should have been more professional shows. Also the shows seemed to be repeated again the second week. Sorry to be so negative if you are going in the next few weeks - this is only my opinion. My hubbie & I paid £1758 for 2 weeks which is the most we have ever spent on a holiday. We just expected to be wowed and we weren't. We will never travel again with First Choice. We have been with Airtours, Direct Holidays, Thomson etc in the past and have never had to write complaints whilst we've been away. Just one word of warning - First Choice ran out of soft drinks including bottled water very soon into the return flight yesterday so make sure you get water etc at the airport because it's a long flight home when you & your kids are thirsty.

Returned from HV on 3rd August and have to say my hubby and I had a brilliant time. We weren't looking forward to it because of all the negative comments on this and other sites. To be honest arrival at the hotel didn't help much as the ongoing building work all seems to be around the front of the hotel so wondered what we had let ourselves in for. Once inside the hotel however things were very different. We had a Select room which had an excellent view across the main pool to the sea and Tiran Island. The room was huge with a super king size bed, sofa, dressing table with a large lcd tv, and walk in wardrobes. The rooms were cleaned every day and we opted to "go green" and have our towels and sheets changed twice a week rather than daily. Food was brilliant in all of the restaurants. Went to all three a la carte restaurants twice and the Seafood restaurant, on the beach, once. The main restaurant always had a vast selection of food so anyone who can't find something to eat must be very fussy!! As we don't have any kids our haven in the evenings was the View bar, in the same building as the a la cartes, this is an adults only bar and the barman Essam was brilliant. All in all our holiday was fantastic. We will definately be back. The staff are amazing and work extremely hard for very low wages they deserve all the tips they get and more. Yes there is still some building work ongoing, but we didn't hear anything and yes some of the finishing in the hotel has been rushed however it is not as bad as a lot of people have made out. We met people who moaned for the sake of moaning and who were determined to get some money back from first choice but to me these people are more to be pitied than scorned. If you're booked to go to the HV, I hope you have as good a time as we had. As with anything, if you look close enough you can find problems with anything. Go with an open mind, relax and I guarantee you'll have a good time. The only complaints I have would be that the reps are completely useless and the hotel does not have facilities to change travellers cheques. Sunbeds were getting a bit silly by the time we left with towels going down at around 6 am.

on arrival at the holiday village, we entered through gates which a security gaurd controlled, and travelled down a short private road to the hotel. We had a few problems organising rooms at reception as we were in a group of 17, and wanted rooms together because of children needing to be with parents. We were met by waiters who had trays of soft drinks, we then had to put stickers on our cases as they came off the coach and the bellboys then brought them to your room. we did have to wait a while, but sat outside and enjoyed a few beers!! ACCOMMODATION the accomodation (block 10 next to reception) was spacious and very clean, but the finishing in the rooms was of a very poor standard, we had a kids den and we did not get a playstation until the second week, but you couldn't plug them in the room anyway as there was only 1 socket for the tv! kids den light didn't always work as was the same for the bathroom and shower. maid service was very good towels changed daily. shower constantly overflowed, drainage blocked had them come out 3 times but didn't drain all holiday. bean bag for kids den delivered day before we left as was the tea and coffee facilities. ample wardrobe space, but poor lighting in this area and not many hangers- 6 in each. HOTEL AND SURROUNDINGS We found the finishing in alot of the areas around the hotel to be much like the rooms. Toilet doors didn't close but this did get sorted by the end of our stay. Grounds were constantly being stocked with shrubs and flowers and looked very impressive towards the end of our holiday. pool areas were lovely with good quality sun loungers and shade. We did find some of the white swimwear had a orange tinge when we got home but the floor around the pool areas is orange so i would think this had alot to do with it. we didn,t turn orange or our hair!! beach is a problem as they were still working on the fish restaurant, wires and building debri at the front of the beach and the beach bar only had warm drinks from a cool box. STAFF AND ENTERTAINMENT Staff couldn't do enough for you, very friendly and helpfull this includes the first choice staff, daytime activities were excellent, we all joined in and had a great time. night time entertainment wasn't always our cup of tea but the staff put in 100% and you couldn't fault them. FOOD the food was excellent, lots of choice and variety for all meaal times. SUMMARY Although this hotel has been rushed and there are still problems it is improving everyday, as a group we had a fantastic fortnight and would definetly go back, the food was excellent as were the staff and the activities.

Hi Villagers, any questions not answered here, please fire them into the forum later! We are all now fully aware that the Village is not yet fully operational, and work is still ongoing at every part in some shape or form, so please take that into account when reading all reviews. This work will obviously affect different people in different ways, but I will describe my views only, and will be an "overall" view! BUILDING WORK... Look at brochure map, and main areas with problems were both access roads (left and right), and much to very back of complex. Verandas and rooms dont look into these areas, but doors and access to rooms back on to them. My room was situated below reception area, so cannot comment on noise/state/leering builders etc. FINISHINGS... A lot still to do everywhere re facings, wiring, sealing etc, but mainly cosmetic and didn't bother us. In the grounds there are some open manholes, cables, and potentially dangerous debris at times, but there are many beautifully landscaped pathways leading and snaking everywhere, so my advice would be to try and keep children to pathways for time being. Perhaps these areas should have been attractively fenced off somehow, for both safety reasons, and to protect the establishing grass and plants. Within the complex there were often guys around touching up, painting, grouting etc, but we didn't find them intrusive, it needed to be done after all. ROOMS... Very comfortable and spacious. We didn't get our expected "rain" shower like some did, what we got was a straw with a thimble for a shower, but once they "eventually" came 2 days later to up the pressure, it sufficed. There is a safe in room (6 digit number, keep secret!), and mini bar, but it is very expensive to use and many (including myself) were being charged for using when we certainly didn't, so get it emptied if not going to use. (We caught mini bar checker drinking juice from ours, but that's a different story, and was dealt with severely!) Cleanliness was good, and poorly paid cleaners (£30 pm), often left animal shapes from towels etc, and seemed very trustworthy and reliable. STAFF... FC REPS... some more helpful than others, and seem to change when we were there, but mostly working to script. Never had much to do with them really, so will leave that to others. ENTERTAINMENT STAFF... Great bunch, very friendly and extremely professional. HOTEL STAFF... Mostly excellent, but if not happy with any staff member, management will come down on them from a great height, and publicly too, so be careful if you make a complaint and it is justified, as I witnessed a very nice hard working poorly paid individual nearly lose his job over something very trivial that a guest complained about. They are bending over backwards to please for a pittance a month, so give them a wee bit slack for off days now and again. POOL GUYS... Same for them, hard working, attentive, on the whole, excellent! FOOD... Some nights fair, some nights excellent, but usually found something for all of us. Don't go last knockings though, as they start to run out, and what remains is usually only warm. On the whole, experienced better, experienced worse, but 1 visit to each of the a la carte's per week made a big difference. ( Thai, Indian, and Mediterranean, but book early if you can, as they are becoming very popular and spaces are limited!) ENTERTAINMENT... Will try and put sample schedule in the pics page! Lots of different things like quizzes and games during day, and lots of audience participation stuff etc. Main evening shows were mostly by the e-team upstairs in entertainment room (beware, there are only a few tables in there at present, and the rest is just rows of seats, but more tables were being added all the time!), and a good job they made of it. Once or twice a week ther was an act from uk on (singer/comedian), and a few Egyptian acts which I felt were pretty naff. Around 11pm there is usually something extra on in the amphitheatre at poolside, like singing, adult games, Arthur up on stage dancing like a constipated fairy etc etc, but usually quite a laugh. POOL... Excellent area, but getting busier and noisier daily as more families with younger kids were arriving, well it is a family village after all, and there is a quieter pool at top end etc. There is plenty shade around the pools, and a nice breeze, but be wary of the sun and cream up regardless! The whole pool area sits on an upper level, with kids clubs, gym, spa, and some newly opened shops selling crisps sunglasses trinkets etc underneath it. The view over the red sea to Saudi Arabia is lovely. Pool bar can seem under seige at times, so try and time your visits to it to save standing too long. BEACH... We thought it was fantastic! Sand is very gravel like and hot, so wear swim shoes etc. It always seemed empty, no idea why. Beach bar not complete, but we always found a guy in the main tower with a coolbox with juices and beers, so it did the job on way back from snorkeling and suchlike. Edge of reef is approx 300 yds out, and our jetty only goes out half that, but it's safe to wade out the rest. Beware of long spiked sea urchins dotted around as they can give a nasty bee like sting, ask my daughter. They're easy to spot, jet black and needles pointing up a foot or so, but don't fret, just walk round them, as I said, you can easily spot them from above. Before you get to reef edge, there are areas/small lagoons of bits of coral away from any currents, and contain many lovely fish if you don't want to get out of your depth at reef edge. But if you do make it to reef edge, WOW, and worth the holiday money alone as far as I'm concerned!!! SHOPS... More opening weekly within village, and a few on promenade left and right about 100yds on beach in front of LTI and Laguna Vista hotels either side. They sell trinkets, lilos, snorkels crisps etc. Up front drive to main gate on main road and turn right. Along a few hundred yds on right there is a shopping centre, and a little further on a supermarket. Opposite, on the other side of road there is "La Strada", another small complex, but has a very friendly wee supermarket selling beers/wines/spirits/cokes etc, it's just a bit of a hot sweaty humph back laden with bottles, but the pool is a welcoming sight on return! Up to main gate again, but turn left, and a few hundred yards that way will take you to some more souvenir shops, and more importantly, the bank! I think this is shut fri and sat though. A little further on on opposite side is a larger shopping area, and very busy at night with many Egyptians around. Can feel a little intimidating in evening on main road area as many workers line the roads waiting for taxis, but never seemed a threat, so don't worry. MONEY... You could probably get away with using only English money, as everyone accepts it, but some Egyptian is certainly handy. Pound coins go down very well for tips, but the staff cannot change them at the bank, so don't be surprised if a staff member asks you sheepishly for a note or two in return for coins of same value. The bank of Arthur was opening a lot, I can tell you, and my case was laden with coins that it was overweight at airport, and yes, they were being weighed (the couple in front were charged £50 pound), but a wee slide of a £2 coin to baggage man seen my case go through smoothly, luvvly jubbly. EXCURSIONS... FC were charging unfair prices I felt, but if you go to prom, turn left, along 200 yds, and on beach on left there is a row of tents/cabins and a company named Lenda Safari or Lenda Dive Centre, and myself and many other villagers used them for quads etc, and at half the price, eg quad biking in Sinai desert for 2 to 3 hours, bedoiun camp, sunset etc for £15 single £20 double. Fellow in next door shop will sell you scarf for £1 each. So that's all I have time for just now, so if I have left anything out, just ask on the forum. Will try and upload photos now, so hopefully this idea works out well. We all had the best holiday folks, and what an adventure into the bargain, so you can do too! Arthur and family Just a few further add-ons, and when I think of more, I'll put them on here! ADAPTORS... Same as you would use in Spain (2 pinned ones!) BOTTLED WATER... It's free, but ONLY at certain times. The first week you could get it in buffet restaurant at lunchtimes and evening meal times only, but that changed without notice to breakfast times only, so stock up when given a chance, as it will cost you outwith these times! DRINKS... Pepsi, Fanta, 7-up etc all over, but sometimes machines didn't work and they had to revert to bottles! ALCOHOL... Local gin, vodka, rum etc, was okay and did the job! BEER... Local again, and a bit gassy for me, but wasn't complaining in that heat, just remember that above fluids alone are not enough, so keep drinking water also or you'll suffer for it, believe me, I did! Also meant to mention, that when the sun goes down, (around 8ish), all the pathways are lit up with highly attractive low level lighting giving it a very beatiful ambience, forgot about that! PHAROES REVENGE... Yes, it struck me down! Antinal was on sale at shop underneath pool at £2.50 for 12, but didn't help me much, so I guess my problem was due to heat and dehydration, so immodium worked for me until I was rehydrated! MOSSIES... I had 2 bites, and Mrs Arthur 5 and daughter 2, but they got theirs in Cairo. I did notice several people with lots more, but Avon skin so soft does wonders! POOL SNACK BAR... Opens at 1 near pool, and serves great burgers, chips, salad, sometimes fried chicken, and just before we left, some tasty pizza, so you don't have to go up to buffet restaurant if you don't want to! COFFEE... Pretty "tinny" in restaurant, but you get nescafe from 10 at pool bar! TAXIS... There is a hotel limo/taxi service in reception with price lists, and a shuttle bus several times a day to Naama Bay which costs £1 each way per person, and you have to book on day! POWERCUTS... A few when there, but only lasted a minute or two, and if in room, take key out an re-insert, it worked for us a few times! DINING ROOM... Has smoking area, but not many take advantage of this fortunately! ENTERTAINMENT ROOM.... Is non smoking throughout! JETTIES... The LTI have a much longer jetty next door out to edge of reef, but it is private, and unless you want a huge arguement with guard at both ends, it's not worth the hassle. I won the battle first time (took my wristband off), but couldn;t be bothered going through all that again, so stuck to our own! CAIRO.....Many people have been asking about this! We booked through FC at onset, but you can book when at hotel. The price per adult was £160 for flight, and £90 by coach. I cannot speak for the coach trip, but was picked up at hotel around 4am for trip to airport. Flight took approx 50 mins, and we arrived back in hotel around 9pm. Trip included early visit to museum, lunch at Hard Rock Cafe next to the nile, pyramids and sphynx, and a little shopping at a couple of papyrus and nick nack shops! Expensive this way, and there are a few of you all together for the day, but still glad I did it! Visa stamps you get at airport before collecting luggage, and cost seems to vary between £7 and £15! Coach driver will sell you bottled water at a fair and reasonable price! Guide was very knowledgable and fun, and stays with you all day, as well as an armed guard dressed in a suit! Don't worry, this is normal, and was not intimidating! Dear, hot, hassled, and sweaty day, but worth it I feel!

Well where do we start, it was our 20th wedding anniversary and our son had just finished his exams so we thought this would be a nice treat. We booked it last year and thought HV would be open in May, First Choice wrote to say everything was finished but the Tennis courts and Multipurpose. We rang them 2 days before we left to check as well and they assured us it was ok. On our arrival (at night) we drove past loads of building work, from the entrance to the reception. We had a swim up room not quite the luxury we expected you could see it had been rushed with holes and gaps in the walls and bits fallen off the side of the pool. There were manholes where the workmen kept their tools so no privacy when you were sunbathing. As the standard rooms weren't finished they were putting families with young children in the swim up rooms - the brochure clearly states no children under 12 in these rooms funny how the rules can be bent to suit them. So much for peace and quiet when you're sunbathing. The seafood resturant wasn't finished it was surrounded by building rubble and wires sticking out of the ground, no beach bar and if you said anything the reps said there was a beach bar - I don't think a man with a table and cool box is much of a bar he was fighting a losing battle to keep the pop cold in that heat. There were nails sticking out under the bridge in the main pool not to mention the wires, it was also staining peoples swimsuits the reps were telling people they should wash off their suncream before they go in (plenty of sunburn then)!! They buffet resturant wasn't organised and the food didn't vary much (not at all really chips more chips, rice more rice, and eggs you could count on it)!! The staff were trying their best to be very friendly trying to over compensate for the mess the complex was in, I felt sorry for them. The reps weren't helpful just saying the same thing over and over again, that is after you've stood in a queue for nearly an hour to see them there was that many people complaining!!! All in all a terrible holiday First Choice have a lot to answer for!!

GOOD BITS We had standard rooms - interconnecting, these were superb. The building work was right behind us and you do not notice it. Pools were excellent. Food was OK, standard AI fayre. Beer/drinks were good. Staff were very attentive. Everywhere is spotless. Kids clubs OK. Beach nice but no one ever on it ! A la carte restaurants superb. BAD BITS Evening entertainment was a disaster, it is held indoors in a large room with chairs in rows, no tables and the bar consists of a guy serving warm drinks off a decorating table. It is all rep based entertainment and nobody watches it. Most people resort to playing cards in the reception !! Sun bed wars broke out, achtung baby. People reserving beds by the main pool from 0700, by 0900 all sunbeds have been reserved. This will be even worse as my accomodation blocks come into use.