InterContinental Taba Heights

Travelled to taba on 11 December 2006 to the hotel from gatwick. Not the greatest of flights (monarch) and as for Taba airport one passport control open for the whole flight. took ages to get through. trip to hotel was ok on bus and then arrived at hotel def an oasis in the desert. a truly beautiful hotel. lobby was huge and always clean, marble floors always sparkling. shown to room with seaview/also overlooking pools.brilliant room and great hot water shower. was on halfboard so did only eat lunch once and that was at the tapas resturant overlooking the salt lake. brillant meal and cost so cheap. could have upgraded to AL for 26 euros a day but decided against it, but its worth it i think,. only drawback is there is no entertainment in the hotel at all, but sure it will come in time. staff very helpful but watch out for what u sign as no id to say if u half or allinclusive. the 7 days flew by and will def go back there again next year

We have just returned from our second visit to The Intercontinental Hotel, Taba Heights. The first visit was in September 2006, followed by the second visit in November 2006. The hotel is luxurious in every aspect, and has been very well designed so that most rooms seem to have a sea view or failing that a salt lake view which is very pretty, and makes a pleasant alternative to swimming in the sea or pool/s. The restaurant has a vast chocie of international food, my favourite being the Egyptian theme, and the freshly cooked pastas. The restaurant faces the sea and private beach, making breakfast particulary special. Above the restaurant and again facing the pools and sea is the hotel bar, particularly pleasant on the warm evenings we spent in September, although still comfortable in November. November is officially winter-time in Egypt. One of the large pools is heated, in fact the temperature is more representative of a jacuzzi than a pool! Failing that there is a wonderful indoor pool complex complete with sauna's, jacuzzi's etc. On the terrace leading to the indoor pool complex is pool tables and table tennis, which were a useful pastime for the November holiday when the sun sets slightly earlier. What really makes this hotel stand out from all the other hotels we have visited in Egypt, including the Ritz, several Hitlon's and a Hyatt, is the staff, including the management who ask you each time they see you if everything is alright. The general Manager, Franke, is very visible around the hotel, and again regularly asks if all is well. Sherief from Reception Desk is most helpful. Before we left the UK in November we contacted him to say we had stayed before and had an upper floor room, which we had enjoyed. When we arrived at the hotel Sherief had booked us into the same room that we had in September, which was most appreciated. The bedrooms are well appointed and maintained to a high standard by the housekeeping staff. If you fancy eating at a different hotel, dine-around has recently been introduced, enabling guests to use other hotel restaurants. Additionally there is an Indian restaurant in 'down-town' Taba Heights which was recommended to us from another guest. The Taba Heights area can be rather quiet in winter, but perfect if you just want to spend a week relaxing with a good book. I would recommend this hotel withoug hesitation and hope others enjoy it as much as we have done.

Having for many years we have been independent tourists, booking flights, hotels and car hire etc and this was our first experience of a package holiday for many years. I also travel on business and have stayed at numerous 5* hotels around the world. The hotel is advertised as only just opened and many features are unavailable. Limited restaurants, spa, banking or entertainment. It is situated at Taba Heights, which is a completely new tourist resort and is about 10 miles from the small town of Taba. From the hotel you can see Saudi Arabia, Jordon and Israel across the Gulf of Aqaba. Reception Staff were the most disappointing aspect, even though only two couples checked in, the staff were indifferent and on checking out, there were so many mistakes with the bill, it took half an hour. The room was large, very clean and clearly new and well appointed with a small balcony over-looking the pool and coast. A 6ft double bed, couple of chairs and table and still the room did not feel crowded. There was a mini-bar which was reasonable, - small bar of chocolate £1 and can of beer £3 – which is cheaper than some 5* hotels. The shower was very large and good flow of hot water, but didn’t seal properly with a small flood on the bathroom floor after each shower. The showerhead is powerful, but very small. The pool area was large and even when full, there should be sufficient sunbeds for everyone. The pool staff were very attentive and friendly and although they have a voucher scheme to swap for towels, if you ask for more, they will provide additional towels. The heated pool was very warm, sea temp was reasonable and the unheated pool was very “fresh”. The beach was a very short walk from the pool area and was well laid out with thatched parasols and sunbeds. You could also walk along the beach promenade to the other hotels. Marriot, Sofitel and Hyatt. The half-board provided is a buffet. The staff were attentive and friendly and the food was excellent with some examples of Egyptian food. There was a good range and the Egyptian sweets are very sweet and well worth trying - they use a lot of coconut. Only complaint being that the plates were not sufficiently warmed so the food ended up being a little cold before you finished your meal. You can charge meals and drinks to your room, but there is a 2% charge for the privilege and we found a large number of mistakes on the bills. Previous experience of Egypt has been the constant “begging” for tips for any small service provided. Apart from the arrival and departure from the airport, there was no attempt to seek tips, the staff remaining very professional. The hotel very much suited us as a quiet hotel with very low occupancy and gave us a chance to relax. There is a lack of facilities, but this is made clear by other reviews and the agent.

We spent the first week of November at the Intercontinental, after seeing a holiday advert on the Internet, and checking out previous Trip Advisor reviews. To coin a phrase..."it does exactly what it says on the tin"! ie. A week's Winter sunshine in good quality accomodation in a very new and still developing resort! WEATHER: In the week we were there, one day was about 17C - too chilly and cloudy to be sunbathing. The rest of the week there were clear blue skies with temps of about 25C - very pleasant to lie by the pool. I would say though that, with it being Winter, the days were short - it was only warm enough to sunbathe from about 10am to 3pm. You can always retire to the Indoor Pool and Gym after 3 pm! In the evenings you definitely need a sweater or jacket if you go outside. HOTEL: The beach front at Taba Heights consists of 4 hotels so far - the Hyatt, the Sofitel, the Marriott and the Intercontinental. The hotels have only been built over the last few years, and the IC is the newest, having only just been opened a couple of months ago. From speaking to other tourists, I think the quality in all 4 would probably be pretty similar. However, the buildings, grounds, and pools of the IC are beautifully laid out and probably the most pleasing to the eye. It is billed as 5* but, we would rate it as a 4*. Absolutely nothing wrong with it - but, as is often the case, just not 5* by British standards! One point about the pools - one is like a hot bath - you're more likely to fall asleep in it than swim in it! Meanwhile the other is not for the faint hearted - and can only be described as COLD! I did brave it once at the start of the week for Aqua Aerobics... but learned my lesson and didn't go back! I think a happy medium could be achieved for both pools! Management take note! Rooms are huge, not lavishly decorated but very adequate. We were in the Crescent buiding which had a large balcony and views over the pools and out to sea. We found the staff very "smiley" and friendly. Absolutely no problems. FOOD: Breakfasts were buffet style - again quite adequate but not 5*. The usual fruits, cold meat, yoghurts, hot selection were all avail. I can recommend having your pancakes freshly cooked while you wait! I also have to rave about the breads, rolls and pastries that were produced every day! The hotel definitely has a baker to be proud of! We enjoyed sitting outside every morning as the sun was shining down without being too hot. Most days we didn't even move from our sun loungers to have lunch - the Pool Bar is more than happy to serve sandwiches, pizzas and drinks to you, and the cost is very reasonable. Dinner again is served at the buffet with soup, salads, hot main courses, and a choice of desserts. We used the hotel's beach-side restaurant El Mar one night - excellent quality. Using the Hotels' dine around programme, we tried the Tuscany rest. at the Marriott - nice atmosphere but dodgy quality steak! Also, we used L'Asiatique at the Sofitel, which I could definitely recommend. RESORT: As I said earlier, it's definitely in it's infancy! The IC, being newest, was running at about 15% occupancy when we were there - upside was no fighting for sun loungers, downside was a bit of a lack of atmosphere! A previous review mentioned there are no direct buses from the IC to the other hotels. I'm not sure why you would need one - you can walk along a paved beach-side path from the IC to all the other hotels, as we did several times! We also walked inland, over the golf course (not quite up and running yet!) to see what the "village" had to offer. Again, there are just a handful of shops to browse round at this stage, but it does have potential! My husband had hoped to do a bit of snorkelling while we were there but it was really quite windy which churned the sea up a bit too much to enjoy it. TRIPS: Can thoroughly recommend day trip to the re-discovered 2000 year old city of Petra in Jordan. VERY long day (we left at 6.30am and returned to hotel at 9.30pm!) but we did have about 4 hours at Petra, and it's just one of those amazing sights you probably have to see in your lifetime! All in all, a week away in an inexpensive "4* quality " hotel soaking up some Winter sunshine before Winter really sets in in the UK! I'd like to go back in a couple of years to see the resort complete and a bit busier!

Have just returned from a week at the Intercontinental, Taba Heights - (this was our second visit to Egypt this year, having stayed at the Hilton Sharm Waterfalls in April) First the good news; our sea view room was spacious and well appointed - the walk in showers are a real feature! Public areas are also impressive, certainly the best in this resort (particularly so if you have a 'thing' for beige marble); my one reservation being that for a 500 room hotel the grounds and pool area appear small - if the hotel were operating at anything like capacity there would be some fight for the sunloungers. Now the less good news; Who is this place trying to cater for - holiday makers or businessmen? Surely as a holiday destination, even allowing for the fact it was only at 10-15% occupancy during our stay it is unforgiveable to have NO live entertainment through an entire week, the management seem to equate 'relaxation' with playing piped classical music on a loop.(the Marroit next-door was much better in this respect) Food at the evening buffet was OK, if a little school-dinnerish.. let down by a lack of flare in presentation and evidence of rehashing desserts from day to day. (Does anyone know a Red Sea Hotel where the food is genuinely good ?) Staff were courtious, but we could'nt help feeling this was very much a superficial veneer - We certainly got no sense of warmth from them. In summary then, the place came across as a little 'soulless' and therefore as an overall package inferior to our previous experience at the Hilton Sharm Waterfalls.

This hotel is still not fully up and running. There is no bank on site. It takes two busses to get to Three Corners-the commercial centre or a ten minute walk to the Marriott to change money. It is difficult to visit the other hotels as the Intercontinental is not on the route that serves the other hotels. There are no shops at the hotel for emergency toiletries. Or evening entertainment. Only local wines and spirits are available. My week was marred by the end of ramadan and the six hundred plus Egyptians who took over the hotel so no peace and quiet for us. There is no snorkelling off the beach as the reef is too shallow, so it is a good half hour walk to the Hyatt to do so. The Hyatt will also get snooty if you use their sun loungers whilst at their beach even if you do buy lunch! The beach at the Intercontinental is clean and well cared for. The staff try their best ,most are still being trained. I had problems with a noisy room, the reception staff were pathetic but the general manager contacted me and moved me to a more superior room. Overall the food is of a better quality than the other hotels but it is not gourmet. Cocktails are approx £5.00 wine approx £16 per bottle. The massage in the spa is very good but that is all that is on offer at the moment. The management are expecting an outside company to come in and get it up and running with a full spa service shortly. The rooms are spacious but the sheets on the beds are not cotton! The management are working very hard to get this hotel up and running and are very much a presence. Franck and Hans were always around to talk to. I will be very interested to see how this hotel is doing in six months time!

Starting with the positive. Our room was spacious with a nice view of the beach and hotel pools. The chefs that cooked the fresh dishes at breakfast and dinner were very friendly. That unfortunately is where the good news ends. The waiting staff in the evening are dreadful. If you pay for your drinks with cash you will not be given change. If you sign for your drinks what you sign for bears no relation to what they charge to your hotel room. I had to speak with reception every day of our holiday about overcharges that were never corrected. I had to spend the last day of my holiday in bed as I contracted food poisoning. I had arranged a late checkout, put the do not disturb sign on the door and my husband told the cleaner I was ill and in bed. Still we had the cleaner knocking on our door every half hour and trying to break the chain on the door to get into our room to collect a tip. The hotel also has no activities or entertainment other than massage. On an excursion to Cairo booked through Peltours, more on that below, the hotel was meant to provide a breakfast box. That consisted of three stale rolls and a honey and jam punnet in a plastic bag. There was no cutlery to spread the honey or jam on the stale rolls and no napkin. There was also a slice of sweaty cheese and very dubious processed meat. Neither of which had seen the inside of a refridgerator. The excursion to Cairo booked through Peltours was two days of being held against our will in shops being bullied to spend a lot of money on very poor quality products. We were restricted to one hour at the Cairo museum and one hour at the pyramids so that the tour guide could maximise the commission he was paid by the shops we were forced to spend the rest of that day and the next at. Taba Heights is a great location if you want to dive or snorkel. I recommend staying at the Hyatt. I stayed there two years ago and the service is much better, it has very good activities and entertainment and it is the only hotel at Taba Heights that has good snorkelling off its beach. It has a jetty out to a great section of coral.

This was our 2nd time at this resort,first was at Marriot. My daughter and i thougt the hotel was fantastic and all the staff were great. It was the best holiday we have ever had,it could not have been better. All the managers and staff did everything to make our stay the best we have had,nothing is too much trouble. Our room had plenty of space and keep spotless every day. We had a sea veiw,and i watched the sun rise every morning,it was fab. Every night the food was out of this world and all the chefs were friendly and explained what each dish was. I would highly recommend this hotel,i cant wait to go back.

My wife and I (in our 60’s) have just returned from a memorable week’s holiday at the Intercontinental Resort – Taba Heights. Following many years of non package long haul holidays we decided in early September to look for a week in the sun to celebrate my wife’s birthday and our 30th wedding anniversary. Trawling through the t’internet I stumbled on Magic Breaks part of the Co-operative group offering an unbelievable packaged price from Manchester. Following an hours quick research on our destination and the Intercontinental Resort we went ahead and booked. As we intended to celebrate whilst there I managed to acquire from Intercontinental Guest Relations in the UK the email address of the Resorts General Manager who I contacted asking if they could advise on arranging a special day for my wife. By return I received a reply informing me that we would be contacted on our arrival. On arrival we were greeted by Mr. Hans Van Steertegem – Food and Beverage Manager and shown to our room. The deluxe room 1138 was located on the ground floor with a huge balcony overlooking on the left hand side the Lagoon Restaurant on the Salt Lake and to the front the beach and sea. The room furnishing and décor was 1st class, definitely 5 star, as was the Bathroom. A huge basket of fruit was delivered by room service, compliments of the management. We can only describe the hotel as sumptuous luxury in all departments; it would be unfair to single out any one aspect. The resort and location I describe as having the “Tranquillity of the Maldives and the Luxury of Dubai”. We made one error of judgment by asking to upgrade to all inclusive from half board. In our opinion the half board package more than suited our appetites and we found we drank less alcohol than on other holidays. Never the less almost all arriving from Germany were all inclusive and they found it excellent value. With regard to hotel occupancy when we arrived less than 10% where occupied and when we left less than 20%. But I would suggest that even with 80% occupied the hotel would be still tranquil and relaxing given the size and structure of the resort. The new General Manager Franck Naulleau has a very positive attitude as to how he sees the resorts future development and the maintaining of the high standards currently in place. He is very approachable and appears to be leading from the front and is very visible during the course of the day and night, as are his other managers. With regard to our special day, my wife Sandra commented that the level of service and attention by all resort staff we met was overwhelming. Hans Van Steertegem and his Assistant Manager along with the Executive Chef met with me in the lobby bar one afternoon and put in place the perfect day. From breakfast on the balcony (Perfectly boiled eggs, Sandra’s favourite) to a lobster dinner with all the trimmings in the El Mar Restaurant and a decorated anniversary cake followed by tears of joy from Sandra! I must also mention the excellent state of the art Spa Centre which is well worth visiting. During that afternoon Sandra had a combined Japanese and Reflexology massage, which she described as the best ever anywhere! She has had quite a few in her time! Unable to stand pain! I lounged in the steam room the Jacuzzi and indoor pool. Whilst not wanting to favour any of the resorts service staff I would like to say well done and a very big thank you to all, they carry out the very thinking of the resorts management and make this one resort and Hotel you would definitely want to return to over and over again. Since returning home I have started to take up golf again as the new golf course nearing completion (November-December) looks to be an added bonus during my next visit. To conclude: We have always looked to Tenerife for a week’s winter sun, not any more. Tenerife is not value for money compared to this Resort.

OK I'm a big fan of the Intercontinental Hotel chain, but the new property in Taba is excellent. My wife and I drove up from Sharm El Sheikh (Intercontinental) on the coastal road. The drive took three hours. The scenery is incredible. We had booked ahead by e-mail, a process that was not straight forward. The Intercontinental Taba is not yet on the Priority Club web site and so ended up having to get telephone numbers / e-mail address from the Intercontinental Hotel Semiramis in Cairo. My wife and I had a junior suite which is on the top floor of the hotel overlooking the Gulf of Aqaba. The room was large with an on suite bath room. Bath room only had a shower - excellent water pressure ! The finishings in the room are good, evident that the owners have invested for the future. The hotel was only 20% full, explained by the fact that the hotel is a new property and yet to be openly marketed. It is evident that the hotel is trying to be selective in where the property is promoted. Excellent service in all the restaurants, with good attentive staff that speak English, and by all accounts a number of other languages ! Some of the restaurants were not yet open, though can recommend the Medditeranean restaurant on the beach front. Internet connection facilities are not yet up and running, but were advised that this is an on going project and Wi Fi should be available by the end of September. It is evident that the management team are trying to maintain the international standards of the Intercontinental chain at the Taba Heights. Check out the freshly raked sand on the beach, the huge beach towels, and the cold wet face towels regularly offered during the day. If I only have one criticism it is the insistance of the pool area staff to have loud music playing when trying to relax and sunbathe. This hotel is not alone in this matter - I think that it must be an Egypt thing ! All the hotels we stayed in in Egypt over the holiday seem to insist on loud background music. At Taba use the beach, its quiet there !