Reviews of Calimera Habiba Beach Hotel, Marsa Alam, Egypt

Excellent Accommodation Horrendous Catering

Overall Rating:

4/10

Board Basis:

All Inclusive

Date of Holiday:

Oct 2008

Tour Operator:

Thomas Cook

Submitted By:

debbiedavidson

Comments:

We paid almost £800 each for a week here. If you haven't paid yet, I would ask to change resort due to the almost impossibility of managing a week here without falling ill. If you have paid, dont panic. The accommodation is 5 star. It is just the food and drink which lets it down and any ok food will cost you extra.
First - Thomas Cook fly Monarch to the destination and we were told 4.5 hour flight which is actually nearer 6 hours. Seats cramped and plane claustrophobic, one of the worst flights I have ever been on in all my years of travelling. But cabin crew were absolutely great and food was ok on flight.
Transfer was 20 mins and was efficient. Welcome was great at complex. Staff are excellent and cant do enough as long as you offer them some courtesy in return and a smile.
We upgraded to a suite for an extra £13 per night between us which was worth the money. The Royal Suites are up on a hill away from the noise of the pool and beach. Brochure says steps and there are actually 72. So not suitable if you are not relatively fit and able. Room, bed, bathroom, living area, huge balcony and jacuzzi all immaculate and serviced daily. We could sit in the Jacuzzi and look out over the resort and sea... bliss. 5* quality accommodation and all communal areas.
The only food for free is buffet food. This is of tepid temperature at best and the microwave for the children's food is poor for trying to reheat it. Our welcome meeting consisted of a large section of what to do when you get ill. Basically dont suffer with immodium in your room, get to the Dr and get the magic pills to make you better. I did and I was fine within 24 hours. However, we only ate at the buffet the twice. High risk food for food poisoning and I would say that it affected EVERY other other english couple bar one whilst we were there. People by the pool dwindled daily which was almost laughable if it wasnt so awful. We were forced to eat at the Italian Restaurant and pay for the priviledge as Pizza was the only hot food we could find which we felt wouldnt make us ill (and even then, it wasnt great). Dont get me wrong, the food isnt expensive but why would we want to pay for it when we have paid for an all inclusive holiday. To be honest, drinks werent much better. Although machines state Coca Cola - I doubt any of the fizzy varieties have been near a Coca Cola endorsed plant. local alcohol was undrinkable except for the beer. water comes free only from 'machines' and ice comes from machines plumbed into the mains so I would avoid it at all costs. We paid for bottled water at 250 EL per bottle (around £2.50) as we only got 2 small bottles of water in our room fridge per day. And dont be fooled as there is no mini bar although we only discovered this when we arrived when a big poster told us the facilty had been withdrawn.
The complex caters mainly for Italians, followed by Russians, Germans and lastly, English customers. We had no trouble with anyone although other people seem to have had. Culturally we are all different, that's all. There are announcements and games all day long by the pool and beach, some of which get pretty loud and annoying. However, poolside loungers are fabulous with pads and huge clean white canvas umbrellas manned by the towel man at the pool who was more than helpful.
Our flight home was over 6 hours delayed which apparently isnt out of the ordinary so if you need to be at work the next day you may want to think twice. We paid extra for day flights but landed in Manchester at 4am the day after we were supposed to return and so missed a work day.
Overall our holiday was about 40/100. Food and drink are a huge part of your holiday and we were really let down. We didnt feel the resport should be 4 star, but regraded due to poor catering and drink quality.
One last point, we did the Bedouin Night for £20 and it was FABULOUS. HOT COOKED FOOD BUBBLING IN PANS AND HAND COOKED IN FRONT OF YOU. Great company and entertainment. Well worth the money.
Accommodation, pools, staff excellent. Food and Drink minus rated! But we met some really lovely people.
It's a big world so we wont be returning to Egypt, but had an ok time overall. A bit disappointing but not as terrible as some people on this site make out.

We were at this hotel over...

Overall Rating:

10/10

Board Basis:

All Inclusive

Date of Holiday:

Dec 2007

Tour Operator:

Thomas Cook

Submitted By:

p600amb

Comments:

We were at this hotel over Christmas, arrived back on the 29th December, it was one of the best holidays we have ever had.



The hotel was fabulous set in the most gorgeous place right overlooking the sea. It had four swimming pools one of them heated.



The food was out of this world, the hotel staff could not do enough for you.



The rooms were big with large bathrooms. We could not find fault with anything in this complex and would recommend this to anyone.



The only drawback was that we had to come back to the wind and rain.