Reviews of Sonesta Beach Resort, Taba, Egypt

This was our first time at al AI...

Overall Rating:

2/10

Board Basis:

All Inclusive

Date of Holiday:

May 2006

Tour Operator:

First Choice

Submitted By:

Mrs T J Clarke

Comments:

This was our first time at al AI hotel, and if not for the comments of the other unhappy guests, it would be our last. On arrival we went to our room to find 2 beds rather than the 3 we asked for, they then said our 27 year old daughter had to sleep on a camp bed, we complained and had to pay for an upgrade, which First Choice are unwilling to pay anything towards.



The food was luke warm and very similar for both lunch and dinner. The hotel is on its own, so unless you pay to go on the trips, these are very expensive or take a taxi costing £25.00 a time to the next resort which has 4 hotels on it, then you were stuck. We have been to the Red Sea 3 times previous and this has been the worst. Guests were going down with stomach complaints on a daily basis, tablets were being distributed from guest to guest, apparently the First Choice rep thought it might be the water in the pool, she looked after one other hotel, ours was the only was who had stomach problems.



If you want a lovely holiday at the Red Sea do not go to the Sonesta Beach, the Hilton at Taba is brilliant as it the Hiltons at Sharm El Sheik.



To all the other guests we met at the Sonesta, I bet you are as glad to be back in England as my family were.

What can I say? I traveled with...

Overall Rating:

9/10

Board Basis:

All Inclusive

Date of Holiday:

May 2006

Tour Operator:

First Choice

Submitted By:

Miss H Bunce

Comments:

What can I say? I traveled with my partner and we had the best time. We went for a quite stress free 2 weeks and we definitely got that.



The hotel reception is lovely and clean & cool what you need when it’s so hot outside. Are bedroom was a suite and it was huge. It was cleaned every day and we were given fresh towels. We even had swans and hearts made from extra towels with rose petals. Which was lovely.



The pool is fantastic very, very cleans as we watched them clean it for 3 hours. The food is fantastic lots to choose from. The staff were very friendly and extremely helpful will do anything for you. We did venture out to do quad biking and I would recommend that to everybody.



Go to this hotel its fantastic!

Lovely location for a quiet...

Overall Rating:

7/10

Board Basis:

All Inclusive

Date of Holiday:

Oct 2005

Tour Operator:

Peltours

Submitted By:

Dr A Juhasz

Comments:

Lovely location for a quiet relaxing beach holiday, but absolutely nothing to do outside hotel complex without travelling. Hotel grounds and rooms lovely. Generally staff very nice and friendly, some staff too friendly with female guests.



Food good. The only thing that really spoiled holiday was going all inclusive because guests who ordered drinks this way were treated and second class-tiny measures and small plastic, often chipped, glasses. However after 10.30 pm when all inclusive ended and you paid for drinks suddenly the measures became normal and the glass wear was brought out.

The hotel’s location is...

Overall Rating:

8/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Jan 2005

Tour Operator:

Soliman Travel

Submitted By:

T Hegarty

Comments:

The hotel’s location is stunning, as is the quality of their rooms.

The food is also OK though definitely not 5 star (more like 2 star).


Internet access is patchy, with only 1 working computer for the entire resort during our stay, so it is best not to rely on it being available.


The in-resort shops that were open during our stay sold only the shoddiest kind of tourist knick-knacks, and during our 2 weeks we never actually saw them sell anything. However there were a couple of outlets that looked classier, but they rarely seemed to open (perhaps because it was off-season). If you are expecting to buy batteries, cigarettes, maps of the area, or just about anything that you might normally expect to, then bring them with you as you will not be able to buy them in-resort.


Service is fine if a little over-attentive. It really doesn’t take a team of 3 to hand out and collect the occasional beach towel for example, and on one unforgettable occasion we called a cab for a few hours sightseeing and shopping, to be accompanied by the driver, one of the hotel porters and an unexplained third man for the entire trip. Its funny in a surreal way I suppose, but as the tipping culture is the reason for this behaviour , it quickly becomes wearing.


The guys who run the hotel’s telephone system are excellent, totally professional and very helpful.


There is no ATM machine on site, though there is a branch of the Bank of Egypt, which opens in the evenings. The banks' service is fine, speedy service and their exchange rates are good.


The few minor hassles that I’ve mentioned above are more than made up for by the quality of the accommodation. However the thing that really got us down was the constant efforts of the hotel staff to control our movements outside the hotel, by shoehorning us into overpriced tours or taxis. Presumably they have an "arrangement" with the various drivers involved. On the first occasion that we contacted a local taxi company direct (halving the quote we had been given in the process), we must have had the words "tour guide", "you are waiting for tour guide?", etc said to us every 30 seconds or so during our 15 minute wait in the lobby. We got the impression that they were horrified that we were bucking the system. If you allow yourself to be sheparded onto their preferred tours and you want to visit Cairo, Jerusalem, Petra, etc it is quite possible to spend many hundreds of dollars to no real purpose. The is a reliable and cheap bus service (the East Delta Bus Company) which can be hailed directly outside the hotel. If your journey is to or through Israel do not be put off by the fact that the bus stops short of the border, as it is only a few minutes walk north from the bus terminus at Taba. Not only will you save a great deal of money this way, but we found the bus journeys and our trips with local Bedouin taxi drivers much more fun and relaxing than having someone "in your face" the whole time, which was our experience with the organised tours.


I wouldn’t want to put anyone off going, and I would certainly go again as I had an excellent holiday, though this was partly in spite of, as opposed to because of, the Sonestas assistance