Intercontinental Resort Hotel

Hotel:

Great place for soaking the sun and the sea. Well managed with really pleasant and helpful staff. I think it is the greenest of all the resorts in Hurghada. Spacious rooms - great lay out such that almost all rooms have great sea views and balcony. Lying in bed watching the night-lights across the bay, or waking up watching the turquoise blue sea were such great pleasures. Don't know what other 5star hotels are like, but this one certainly had the opulence to make it one. Mini bath tubs – so no romance there! Plenty of beautiful pools, but only one is heated. Who cares – head for the sea! Don’t take any towels – plenty of fresh towels every where for the beach.

Hygiene: Cleanliness is generally very good - however full of dust (expected for a desert land). Contrary to most reviews, did not have any stomach troubles (stick to bottled water). Did not wash mouth with bottled water either (but did religiously use Listerine after using tap water!)

Food:

We went on a half board package (buffet BF and Dinner). Plenty of choices, although nothing special to write home about (i.e., no exquisite top chef cuisine - clean and good food and plenty of it to keep you happy). Included meals can only be had from one restaurant (the main one - Cafe Stella) - but in fact, the others were always empty (Greek, Italian, Lebanese, Sea food - closed) - so I would not want to be the only customer there any way! BF includes drinks. But, for included dinner, you need to pay for drinks including water. Water is expensive at LE15 per 1.5ltr at the hotel. If you can, buy a whole crate full, before you leave the airport. Besides, everything has around 12% service charge and 10% sales tax on top. And if you charge it to your room, another 2% on top! – So, pay cash at the restaurant.

Shopping: WARNING: KEEP AWAY FROM THE HOTEL SHOPPING CENTRE. These are independent shop keepers who pay a rent to the Hotel. Because the resort is located a cool 50USD taxi trip from the nearest town and shopping center, they know people fall for the trap. And we learned from experience what a trap it was. Paid LE250 for 400 grams of Egyptian Hibiscus tea (Karkade) from the Hotel spice & exotic oil shop. Thought it was a good deal when we haggled it down from LE400. Only until when next day a manager at the hotel told us it costs no more than LE30 per 500 g!!!. They generally hike up the price some unbelievable 15 to 20 times what locals would pay. Then you haggle it down to half, they would still have ripped you off big time! And they do this at all shops there - mainly because they know that people who come to a 5* hotel are reasonably affluent, probably have very little local knowledge, and are trapped in the resort due to its remoteness from other shops, and lack of competition. Of course it is the basics of a free market in action - but to me this was sheer disgusting robbery. And they are exceptionally good at smooth talking, swearing in the name of God (God forgive them) and giving you a welcome drink and free gifts. Opposite the spice shop, there is a souvenir shop - that's even worse! Never ever seen such aggressive in your face selling and gut wrenching greed and rip off mentality. Worst is if you don't speak Arabic, the thought that they really laugh at you and take the mickey with their colleagues - or at least you feel like that. Left us with a real bad taste and spoiled two days of what was other wise good break, and really could not trust any of the locals any more. So, if you are planning to include some shopping in your holiday, you may wish to reconsider location of the resort. Or, if you really want to buy souvenirs, my advice is to try and include it in a paid excursion to Hurgadha (£25pp day trip) and venture in to the town bazaars - sure, they will all quote sky high prices - at least you have the choice of different shops to compare and decide. A third option is to try and get to know one of the local hotel staff (they all expect and get tipped any way - and ask them indirectly, how expensive are things etc - don't ask direct, or they will either not tell, or worse, stitch you up with some shop for commission!). Finally, unless you really know the value of something you are buying, or are desperate, never pay more than c. 30% of the price they quote. We also later found out that shopping at airport (departure) was a relatively better option - plenty of shops with lot of choices - and certainly prices more close to real life. To break our heart, we found the said tea bags being sold at fixed price of Egyptian Pounds 14 for 100g!! We were stupid and learned our lesson... Also, don’t fall for buying any exotic items (oils etc) they sell on the beach – not genuine.

Water sports: Great for surfing, etc etc, diving & snorkelling. If you are planning to take a diving lesson (facilities at the resort), and are doing it for the first time, insist on getting your initial training at a pool. I went to open water when the sea was choppy (Force 4 according to instructor, who thought it was ok), and was asked to jump in to some 3-4m of pounding sea! – Jumped, panicked and bottled it!!! But the guys were great and offered to do it again another day (I chickened out!) and so they charged me only half (€40 instead of €80).

Semi-submarine trip: Not worth it at £27 (GBP). The sales material has some colorful photos & videos- but you are unlikely to see them on the trip - most corals looked Grey (dead?) and there were not many fishes. I suspect the amount of powered boat activities in the vicinity have started to impact the marine life. London aquarium (for those who can go there) has more marine life at £13 (two for one if you take London trains!).

£70 (GBP) Trip to Luxor - one day bus trip, great lunch and generally pleasant albeit long trip - 6-7 hour drive. Great tour guide from hotel (Marhaba Travels) who was really in to his subject. But, most tombs are closed for restoration/maintenance. Also, need to pay LE100 extra to see Tutankamen's tomb (and corpse). Finally, unless you are an expert in Hieroglyphics, the tomb visit will be over in under 5 minutes a piece - there are absolutely no explanations in any language to say what is what - you just see the writings - the guide will not come into the tombs. - and after one or two, they all look the same (no photos or videos inside either). The temple visits were great. However, the mini bus driving was scary to say the least. The highway to Luxor is mostly single lane; but with different speed limits for different types of vehicles. So vehicles are in a way forced to over take - and overtake do they do - at one point, our mini bus was overtaking another truck, which was overtaking another lorry - and I started saying my prayers...! Having said that, in the seven hours of driving, never came across a single accident - but in the one hour we drove back from Gatwick to our house on the famous 3 lane M25, we passed a really awful car crash! The guide will take you to a village factory that hand makes pots, bowls and statues out of all kinds of famous stones – Alabaster, Onyx, Basalt etc. And then you have a chance to buy them. They say it is fixed price – don’t believe a word. They quoted LE1000 for something and someone in our group bought it for under LE400!

We went with Mark Warner – great package – great staff, and very well managed overall. No complaints at all (cramped flight is what you get for what you pay – and non stop weeping babies (lot of them) – that’s what babies do – so no complaints there either). Their local partners (Marhaba Tours), were also great. Tip – if you book local tours etc through them, ask and you WILL get discounts! Its like, haggling and tipping is a way of life.

Overall, the resort is best for pure relaxation – and for water sports – although I personally would not support motorboat activities, as I think it wont last long. If you have shopping in mind, think again.

We have just spent £5K for a week long holiday (2 adults and 2 children) in what I can only describe as a prisoner of war camp with some beach and watersports thrown in. Do not venture out of the front (main entrance) of the hotel by foot complex for fear of being chased by wild dogs. The holiday was akin to an Ikea shopping experience - how do I get out of here??

For the same money I could probably have gone to Florida for 2 weeks, rented a villa with a pool and gained access to Disney World!

Food was average - DO NOT EAT IN ANY OF THE RESTAURANTS OTHER THAN THE CAFE STELLA. Many people did on our holiday and got food poisoning. Cafe Stella is OK and our children were well catered for.

Beach is excellent - one of the high points. I wanted to waterski however but the boat was broken and their RIB did nothave sufficient power to ski behind - poor!!

Accommodation was spacious but bathroom smelt, aircon did not work, bedroom door did not close and despite asking for these things to be fixed nothing was done.

Alcoholic drinks are pricey and water is £2.50 a bottle (1.5L) but that is to be expected when there is no competition.

Mark Warner staff were generally excellent as was the MW kids club. But, they need to do their homework and understand that the resort does not sell itself for repeat visits.

Certainly not 5*

No hot water for 3 days

No heated poole for 4 days

Air-con not working

Flies everywhere

Room very shabby, filfy quilt covers and settee

Childcare block being renovated by local workmen whilst kids were in club.

Kids exposed to paint fumes and tools were left lying in the play area outside (included stanley knife and other sharp tools)

Food poisoning for 3 days

.....5 hour flight delay home as plane was faulty and smaller plane they sent had to refuel via Athens on the way home!!

To cap it all Mark Warner refused any compensation on the basis that the holiday was portrayed as it is in the brochure!!

Awful holiday and won't be using or recommending Mark Warner anymore

top hotels, what you pay for is what you get, top location located in busy village road, very helpful staff and the food was absolutely awesome.

Just returned from a March 2006 trip to Mark Warner in Abu Soma, Egypt. Here is what was good and bad:

Bad:

- The holiday was a creche, with watersports on the side. One of the two questions at the watersports brief was 'where can I find nappies?'.

- Tonnes of screaming children - and I mean tonnes. If you are after some head peace, then forget this one. Bring earplugs for the flights. No need for an alarm clock - the kids will wake you between 5am and 6am. The marble complex is just one big sound chamber.

- It is in the middle of nowhere. This isn't a bad thing, but the hotel plays on the fact when they price their drinks.

- I counted nearly 10 people in the hotel pub on the busiest night. Four of them stood behind the bar.

- There is no informal beach bar for snacks during the day.

- 1/7 days the wind was too strong for sailing. 4 further days were blown out for a large proportion of the day.

- Rescue boat cover seemed poor, with one rescue boat covering both the windsurfing and sailing areas.

- The Laser dinghies were poorly put together - a pity - as they were newish boats.

- Mark Warner staff morale seemed low.

Good:

- Nice rooms.

- Polite hotel staff.

- Great weather.

- Good food.

In all, pretty disappointing stuff.

We have just returned from a weeks holiday with Mark Warner to this hotel where we had a fantastic time. My husband loved all the watersports activities, particularly the windsurfing and my daughters aged 6 and 3 had a fantastic time at the childrens clubs. The weather was lovely and although sometimes the wind could be a bit chilly it was always hot around the sheltered (heated) outdoor pool in the health club. The main pool looks fantastic, but unfortunately isn't heated so was a bit cold to get into although by the end of the week as it was getting warmer alot of the kids were paddling and jumping in! Both the MW staff and the Egyptian hotel staff were great - they were all so friendly and helpful and nothing was ever too much trouble. We had been worried about getting bad stomachs before going but we needn't have worried as the food was lovely and we had no sickness problems at all and didn't hear of anyone else being ill. Bottles of water are provided in the rooms and at lunch and dinner so very little chance of being dehydrated! The rooms overlooked the sea and were very nice and clean - only thing I would warn about is that the beds are very firm! so don't expect to bounce up and down on them!!! We tried the lebanese and Italian restaurants and had lovely meals in them both - the beef medallions in the Italian were especially good. There isn't alot of evening entertainment - we only saw a show on our 1st night (which incidentally was very good), but the bar has a nice cosy atmosphere - it was just a shame there weren't more people there! The safari day trip to the Bedoin village was a really good experience. Overall I would highly recommend this holiday and we would definately go back again.

Great Hotel, unlike other Mark Warner holidays the accomodation was fantastic, we had a suite which housed us and our two children (plenty of room for more), there were huge windows floor to ceiling that over-looked the beach, what a great view (2 tellys' and a mini bar together with a bathroom bigger than my kitchen at home!). Food was great, spoiled for choice, staff were fanstastic in the hotel, evenings were quiet and I was surprised how quiet the Hotel was, however with such great weather (agreed it was windy) we had no complaints. The pool by the Health club was totally sheltered a real plus. I would return as other guests said the excurtions were fantastic although not great with small children. We spent Christmas week there and maybe 2 weeks with no excusions would be a bit much, we made full use of all the water sports and our children did a couple of days in the kids club which offered fantastic experiences such as wind surfing and canoeing which our children loved. Also loved the fact we really were in the middle of knowhere!

Hotel amazing. Staff so friendly and on hand to provide anything you could possibly need. The rooms were outstanding! We had a panoramic suite which offered the most wonderful views. The rooms were cleaned and bedding and towels changed daily. It was a race back to the room each evening to see what shaped the towels had been arranged in!

Childcare fantastic providing fun and excitement for all children giving us the opportunity to relax and have fun ourselves!

Plenty to do in the water, staff so helpful and patient with beginners.

Food fabulous, plenty for everyone. I have a lactose and yeast intolerance and found no problem what so ever. My vegetarian daughter was well catered for with plenty of hot food. Water was limitless with meals and enough was provided in the rooms for the rest of the day.

The best steam room I have ever been in!

The trips on offer cater for everyone, from scuba diving to overnight trips to Cairo. The guides on these trips were very helpful and informative.

The evening atmosphere was lacking though we imagine that being to the small number of people staying! I would imagine only about 80! However it provided a wonderful way to meet people and make friends.

We shall definitely be returning to this resort!

This is a five star holiday with five star standards.

What a fantastic holiday we have just had!!!!

My husband, myself and our 6 children (ages 12, 11, 11, 5, 2, 2) have just had the most amazing holiday ever. Mark Warner are fabulous, they made our childrens holiday, the best ever in their words!!!! The hotel itself is beautiful and most definatly deserves its 5 stars, the buildings, surroundings, beach, health club all top notch and as far as the staff and food go ........... wonderful! Cafe Stella is excellent, however the other restaurants (small supplement required) are nice but not as good as cafe stella. Yes there is a slight wind (which you need for some watersports) but we were there at the coolest time of the year (though still hot) and it is not gale force , nothing that would spoil your holiday anyway, unless you are really nit picking! The rooms are very spacious, we had the panoramic suite which to be honest could have slept about 10 people, it was so big. Everywhere is spotlesly clean, towels are provided for around the pool and beach. My only small complaint (though it didn't really bother me) would be that there are no washing facilities, only the hotel laundry service which can be a little pricy when you have 6 children, but hey it is a holday after all and who wants to be washing when you can be lying on the beautiful beach with a cold beer listening to the waves!!! I would reccommend this hotel to everyone, especially if you have children, they will love it, in fact we hardly saw any of the for two weeks, so you get the best of both worlds with this resort a family holday, but also lots of time on your own to relax. Go on book it you will be so glad that you did, we are already planning our visit again for next year, it really is paradise!

P.S The trip to Cairo is a must for all (except small children) and the Mega Safari is brilliant!

Our family of four (children aged 14 and 13) had a wonderful three-day winter break, away from it all. We were impressed by the facilities, especially water sports, the choice of restaurants, and the cleanliness of the hotel. Soma Bay, where the hotel is located, has a natural sandy beach, something one rarely finds in nearby Red Sea resorts. Water colors are unbelievable and snorkeling was lots of fun. The staff was courteous and helpful. We would very much like to go again.