Fort Arabesque Hotel

2 readers found this review helpful

Seventh time in Egypt. This was the first with my partner other holidays have been diving holidays with friends. I can only agree with the previous review. Having stayed in a variety of hotels in Egypt including the 5 star Sheraton at Soma Bay & the Marriot at Hurghada overall this is the best hotel I have stayed at.
Having suffered food poisoning on 2 previous holidays due to poor food hygiene I can recommend the standard of food preparation at Fort Arabesque. This is the first hotel in Egypt where I have felt confident enough to eat the salads.
The staff are very friendly & make you feel very welcome. Service particularly in the restaurant was excellant which is not the case in many Egyptian hotels. We were half board & found all the drinks & eating at lunch time very inexpensive compared with other hotels I have stayed at in Egypt. For example a 1/2 Ltr of the good local beer Sakara was 11 egyptian pounds equivalent to £1 & the very quoffable Obelisk wine which was the dearest obtainable on the menu came in at only £8.50.
The grounds of the hotel are well laid out with palm trees & manicured lawns & the gently shelving beach has plenty of sun loungers. Although being February & experiencing some days with cold winds, beds with wind breaks were at a premuim because of the lay your towel on a bed at the crack of dawn saddos. One downside to the beach is, that unless you like ear shattering Euro trash pop Italian style do not park yourself on the beach in front of the Animation Centre, we wondered why this part of the beach was deserted & soon found out!
If you are a diver or want to try diving, don't believe the Thomson rep when he says that the on site diving centre The Crab is 'rubbish' and don't allow him to persuade you to arrange diving with Emporer Divers. He & Thompsons get a kick back from Emporer Divers, which is a mini bus ride away in Hurghada & more expensive & much less convenient than the on site diving centre! The Crab centre is Italian, but all of the very helpfull dive guides & instructors speak some english, & the manager's mother is English whch helps. I did 3 dives with them which were very good & on the first dive on the excellant house reef saw a turtle, shoals of small Barracuda, Stone & Lion fish!
So if you want a laid back, chilled holiday in great surroundings, in a hotel with a very friendly atmosphere, which won't cost you the earth if your not on an all inclusive basis. Fort Arabesque could be the right hotel for you. If you want to be surrounded by overweight, tatooed, white trainer wearing Brits & Germans(And thats only the women!) giving Egypt a try because they are getting bored with the Costa Del Sol, I would book one of the more 'entertainment' based hotels nearby.