Reviews of Hyatt Regency Hotel, Taba

Stayed here for a week in September - weather was very nice & hot but not unbearable as we feared. It was ideal for sunbathing by the many pools, which were well-designed and pleasant.



The hotel gardens were also beautiful. Our room was very spacious and had a large balcony with a spectacular view of the gulf and Jordan. The room was well-equipped and comfortable.



Rooms were arranged in 'villas' which added to the feeling of exclusivity.



Breakfast was good, with lots of choice e.g. different types of eggs, cereals, fruit, croissants etc. There are several restaurants at the hotel, we tried a Lebanese meal one night but tended to eat in the main buffet-style restaurant.



The standard of the food was good, and the meals were varied during the week we were there. We found the staff to be friendly, helpful, and very courteous.



All in all it was a great place to stay; we enjoyed our holiday and would definitely return.

We went at the end of November, intended for a week of sun & relaxation and the Hyatt Regency certainly ticked all the boxes.



The gardens are tranquil and you can hear the birds singing in the background. Take a couple of boxes of wine with you (bought at the airport). You can do as little or as much as you want here, there is a selection of pools to choose from, though only 2 are heated.



The beach is a short stroll away and you can walk into the sea if you choose the area carefully! The fish are spectacular & photos taken from the jetty come out fine. The food was ok and it was safe to eat the salads and have ice in your drinks. The staff were extremely polite and helpful at all times apart from the waiter in the Rock bar.



Our room was cleaned well everyday and again nothing was too much trouble. The Longwood reps were very knowledgeable. We would certainly return to this hotel.

We've just come back from a super holiday in Taba Heights. The Hyatt isn't really a proper 5star hotel, but then neither are its prices.



It's a super location for trips, good beach (although you can't walk into the sea from the beach because of the coral). There is a jetty leading out to sea for sea swimming and snorkelling, and a salt lake in the grounds if you want to wade within your depth. Lots of pools and water features, something for all tastes. The landscaping will be terrific when it's matured and it's pretty good now.



The service is very friendly but not very slick. The food is very good although you'll pay uk hotel prices for meals in the restaurants. The international cuisine in the buffet restaurant (the half board option) is good but not great.



The room service prices are quite reasonable. The mini bar prices are the same as in the hotel bar, pricey but bearable for drinks - about £3.50 for an Egyptian beer, £5 for a glass of local wine a bit more for a G&T. The room and facilities are brilliant, the entertainment was very low key (which suited us).



The internet was awful, slow, inaccurate keyboard, no help with switching to English characters, a lot of the internet sites were blocked (couldn't access my hotmail) and £8.50 for half an hour! Good location for a restful break, bad for nightlife or shopping.



We'll go again and recommend the hotel.

Would rate this hotel 4 star for overall facilities and cleanliness but only 3 star for food which was quite disappointing. Most of the 'hot' dishes were either tepid at best or in some cases barely lukewarm, the 'fresh fruit juice' at breakfast was made from over-sweet powdered concentrate and there was very little fresh fruit at all either at breakfast or at dinner!



Food credit for dining at other restaurants was a joke... the 30 Egyptian pounds per person did not even cover the cost of a starter! We ate at the Italian twice and ended up paying 230 Egyptian pounds each time, but at least it broke up the monotony of the main restaurant. All drinks expensive and the only really cold bottles of water were from the on-site shop.



Pools and beach very good with plenty of loungers for all and clean beach towels each day.

Entertainment poor, same show 4 nights of the week.



Welcome meeting not worth wasting 2 hours of your holiday, all the info given here is available from rep 8 hours a day at the Longwood desk in hotel foyer.



Excursions: Eilat Fun Day, great if you want to snorkel/dive with dolphins! We went diving and it was well worth the money. If not doing either of these activities then 3.5 hours at the Dolphin Reef too long just sitting around on a small beach. This trip is completed by 1.5 hours of shopping at centre in Eilat. This shopping mall was sold as 'full of designer shops' and all at duty free prices, the centre was run-down and certainly not a designer store in situ! Prices may have been duty free for the area but more expensive than at home! Avoid.



Waterworld: Very good facility. We went on a day cruise, snorkelling at 2 sites and diving with instructor...excellent day out. Lots of fun activities here as well and prices reasonable [and in Euros].



Golf: Played 9 holes, good course, hardly anyone playing! Once again take your own shoes, glove and balls as all expensive, but the hire of clubs really cheap. Prices again in Euros.



Currency: take Egyptian pounds, Sterling and Euro...do not need US dollars. If going to Eilat take local currency as they will not accept Egyptian pounds anywhere, can change at border.



Snorkelling off hotel beach was fantastic, take own gear as hire is only for 30 minutes at a time.

Take own toilet rolls as hotel paper really cheap and rough!



The upgraded sea-view rooms [a deal done with Longwood] were in the back block...to upgrade to be nearer to the beach would cost 20 US Dollars per night.



Overall good place to relax!

We have just returned from a 7 night holiday. What an experience, superb hotel set in beautiful grounds that are so well kept- a little bit of paradise!



A real contrast to the landscape outside of the Taba heights resort. We went for a relaxing holiday not intending to leave the hotel and did just that other than going quad biking.



Snorkelling at the beach is brilliant. We bought snorkels and masks before going. This proved more cost effective as you don’t want to snorkel all day on the day of hire just half an hour each day.



The room was comfortable and air conditioned- a must in the heat- It was about 38-42 degrees all week. Daily room service was good. The hotel never seemed busy albeit we were told that it was relatively full.



The food was a bit samey as stated before but different options were always available every day.



Breakfasts were great with continental, Egyptian and British type breakfasts being available. The egg counter was good with fried, poached, scrambled and the good old omelette.



Coffee never seemed that strong with others commenting on this, so it wasn’t just me.



Dinners were also reasonable in terms of quality and choice and as for the desserts, a huge selection which varied every night. We did both however get taken over by the dreaded Taba tummy for a couple of days but nothing the Imodium couldn’t sort!



Wine really expensive £15-45. Local beer £3.50 per can. Take a couple of wine boxes!

There were a couple of happy hours where with the local beer you got the buy one and get one free approach which made the prices seem a bit more sensible. Bought some beer at the dive centre and it was half the hotel price!



We took dollars given the good exchange and this worked to my favour as the hotel will take many currencies. Although I was usually getting change in Egyptian pounds, I still always got a better deal overall.



Staff were very polite and very helpful. Consider the Hyatt Gold card as this does some free extras... free coffees and allows late checkout where possible.



Only been back a week and really miss the place. Certainly excellent value and we would happily go back ......hopefully very soon.

Taba is a new and quiet resort. This hotel was wonderful, great rooms, swimming pools, private beach etc. Staff were friendly and very helpful, whilst the food was an OK standard it did sometimes feel very samey.



Would I recommend this hotel? Yes I had a great holiday, very relaxing, my 3 yr old son had a whale of a time.



This is not an action packed holiday but you will return relaxed and feeling good.

We were looking for a week’s holiday that was purely about relaxation and chilling out. This is definitely what we got at the Hyatt. Although there is nowhere to really visit locally out of the hotel, staying onsite is exceptionally easy with wonderful swimming pools, a deserted private beach, brilliant snorkelling with a wide variety of colourful fish, excellent buffet of a very high standard everyday and relaxing bars with staff who were only to pleased to help.



We had a lovely room, and although we had a few problems with our gold card- fruit basket not received, our mini bar never being stocked, and water not being allowed to be discounted due to it not being a ‘soft drink’ (we were allowed one free soft drink a day) we had no real complaints.



I would definitely go back. I would go back for longer than 7 days though as I was only just starting to unwind, but the food could get repetitive for another week.

The Hyatt Regency is a wonderful hotel, very grand and probably the best out of the four hotels at Taba.



One warning, that is all there is there. There are no restaurants, no cosy bars and no shops, except in the hotels, and you pay hotel prices. The journey by air was uneventful, we landed at night in the pitch black, and the transfer was around 40 minutes.



A very slow journey by coach, it wasn’t until we travelled back that we realised that it was through the Sinai mountains. If your not travelling outside this area, don’t bother with the Visa - write "Sinai only" on the back of your card at the airport (a rep in the arrivals lounge should let you know this).



We went in March which was winter to them and it was a bit nippy, if the wind weren’t blowing it would have been a very nice weeks break. So if you are going out of season, take a wind break, you will be the envy of everyone.



The Hotel was immaculate; leave a couple of dollars every day on the bed makes a difference to the male maid. One grumble is that they insist on showing you to a table for dinner and this creates a queue, so we found that it opens at 6.30pm, so going around the 7.00 mark allows for the early birds but misses the late night owls.



Although the weather let us down, as I found it too rough to venture out into the sea, we did have a very relaxing holiday.

Having just returned from a 7 day holiday, staying at the Hyatt Regency in Taba Heights, Egypt I wanted to write a review as it was reading other reviews, which encouraged me to book my holiday, and I was not disappointed.



After a 5 hour flight two friends and myself arrived at the tiny Taba Airport. After being given a bottle of ice cold water we were ferried on to our coach to start our 40 minute journey to our hotel. On arriving at the hotel we were greeted with a thirst quenching drink - Don’t be fooled though the champagne glasses are filled with apple juice and what looks like red wine is really blackcurrant!!!



After getting over our disappointment we were checked in. The checking in system is very well organised – room numbers are allocated before arrival. We were escorted to a beautiful large airy room with a balcony and sea view and our luggage was delivered to our room.



Shortly after our arrival we made a visit to the restaurant not expecting too much but were greeted with such an array of beautiful fresh food we didn’t know where to start - Diets forgotten we tucked in - No dodgy tummies for us. All the fruit and veg is apparently washed in purified water and I suppose the fact that we didn’t have to touch our Imodium stash proves this!



We found the staff to be genuinely friendly and polite, nothing seemed too much trouble although sometimes service was a little slow but you get used to this once you slip into holiday mode.



The hotel is really well designed, clean and quite beautiful, you get clean sheets/towels everyday - There are plenty of pools to choose from and plenty of sun beds although some people still felt the need to get up early to bag the “best spots” – Towels are provided so save space in your suitcase for other stuff i.e. box of wine!! Steer clear of the “lap pool” unless you are into exercise as this where “water sports take place i.e. aerobics water polo etc etc. ….As exercise wasn’t our thing we tended to give this pool a wide berth!! Although if exercise is something you like there is a well equipped gym. Also everyone was impressed with the massages and beauty rooms too.



The beach is lovely and although its manmade it feels like its always been there. Snorkelling is fantastic – The water is crystal clear and the fish/coral are amazing. You can hire snorkels and fins for the day – for about £6.00 – Be aware though the water is freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeezing!!!



A day trip to Cairo is a real must despite the 2.30am rise in the morning – The Egyptian museum and the pyramids/sphinx make the early rise worthwhile and you can always spend the next day sleeping on your sunbeds like we did!! Cairo is a bit of a culture shock but has to be seen to be believed. Beware at the pyramids though – 2 seconds after getting off our coach I had a tea towel thrown round my head and some guy took my camera insisting I have a picture taken with his camel – Luckily I was too heavy for him to throw on it (all that lovely buffet food!) but my friend was thrown on a camel and we had to “pay” to get her back - Don’t be frightened though as there are plenty of police around who intervene if needed. In Cairo all the Egyptians wanted money and didn’t seem to care if it was sterling, US dollars or Egyptian pounds!! Take some small notes etc for tipping and don’t get your wads out otherwise you’ll be mobbed!!



The Camel Trek with the Bedouin people was good fun too although don’t expect too much from the “Bedouin Tent”!! You’ll see what I mean when you get there. Take lots of small money to give the children and money to buy some trinkets etc. What else is there to say – all had a fab time and I did not hear one negative thing from anybody who was staying there.



The one thing people might be spooked about is the security – You have an armed guard on your coach wherever you go but this is just a precaution in case you break down in the desert and you soon get used to it and the other thing that might spook people is the price of the drinks!!! Drinks are not cheap!! A beer is about £3.00 and spirits i.e. vodka and Coke about £6.00!! You have been warned. Do what we did and take a couple of boxed wines in your suitcase and a bottle of your favourite tipple to drink on the balcony before you go out!



Oh yeah the entertainment ……….. don’t forget to pack your hot pants as DISCO is the thing in the Rocks Bar – although you do get a show most nights with Russian Dancers or Belly Dancers plus there may be a karaoke night but there are plenty of other places to find peace and quiet if you’re not into music/dancing!!! Watch out for the hubbly bubbly room?! Oops sorry this is so long – You can tell I’ve only been back a couple of days!!

2 tour operators Pelltours and Longwood Travel – share a plane and use the same hotels Radisson all inc, Marriott, Sofitel and Hyatt.



Air Austreus 737-700 from Manchester. Easy flight 4.5 hours. Pay for all drinks but meal provided. No in-flight entertainment.



Arrive Taba – watch on the Left side of plane for 2 huge arrows in the desert marking the way. lol



Now start getting used to showing your passport several times – fill out arrival card. If you are planning to just stay in ‘Sinai’ write ‘Sinai only’ on the back . It’s part of the 1993 peace agreement that visitors to this part of Egypt don’t need a full Egyptian visa. If you’re thinking of going to Cairo you’ll need a full visa but not just for going to Israel or Jordan.





Hotel

Transfer to hotel for us it was the Hyatt, which is the longest, established one with mature gardens and making new improvements now. It’s a great hotel. 2 heated pools – avoid the lap pool if it looks murky as heated sea water turns to algae easily and needs regular cleaning, 1 unheated refreshing pool , a lagoon to play in on boats and the best private beach for snorkelling as it has built a jetty straight over the reefs so you enter sea down a ladder and are beautifully placed for brilliant snorkelling. Turn left to orientate yourself with 2 small reefs just yards away and turn right to follow the reef down the coast line for as far as you want to go.



If you have been organised and got yourself a Hyatt gold passport you will get an upgraded room and as they cannot provide papers and a daily coffee you get a discount on your weeks ‘extras’. Ring ahead and quote the gold passport number so they can be prepared.



There are currently no shops at all offsite – just the small hotel ones.



Breakfast and dinner are in the Limones dining room with a great variety of food. You can also eat at the seafood restaurant or Lebanese one with dinner credits - No Taba trots at all fro anyone we knew due to this yummy food.



Do take plenty of $1.00 bills –universal currency of tips. It is regarded as part of their wages for room cleaners and waiters and bellboys. Only 60 p to us but means a lot to them. If you leave the room cleaner enough he’ll make you towel swans etc



The staff are great . Loads of staff all very willing and ready to help you with anything. They really appreciate people trying a few words of Arabic but English is very widely spoken by everyone in the dining room and the hospitality staff around the hotel.



There is more washing. mopping and cleaning going on around the entire resort than I’ve ever seen previously



There is a gym, sauna, Jacuzzi as well as ping-pong and billiards. There is also a casino upstairs. Internet access has to be booked by the 30 mins slots at 35 LE and is only available from after 5 pm and is incredibly and painfully slow.



The children’s club seems to be all day long except for lunch and the kid’s entertainment at night is at 8 pm on terrace full of hokey cokey etc . The adult entertainment seemed to be mainly dancing girls of various sorts- get to the Rocks bar early to get a seat – gets very crowded .



Excursions

Longwood’s really take the lead here. We went to Egypt with Pelltours but did 2 Longwood trips. Better organized with choices of days, they were better value for money and we saw more in each day.



Petra and Jerusalem were both long days leaving at 6am and 4 am and returning about 21:30 but were wonderful.



Be very patient at border crossings and don’t make any sudden moves at the Israeli borders. Get ready to show your passport 6 times to get from Egypt into Israel.



Security is tight - Shoes that don’t ping at international Airports will ping here as well as under wired bras, hair elastics with metal on them and the tiniest zips. SLR digital cameras ensure you’ll be well searched. We tried engaging the girls in conversations whilst being searched and it did lighten the atmosphere considerably.



We never felt at risk though on these trips and both were great, highly recommended days. Be prepared to have your passport stamped in Israel. I specifically asked not to have it stamped and one day was fine but on the next trip she looked at me and deliberately stamped it anyway.



Taba

Taba is growing – apart from the 3 hotels there is water world – a free hourly shuttle bus away which is where all the diving/ sailing / par ascending happens. It has a great lunch restaurant too. It takes about 40 mins to walk there along the beach. Each hotel has a water world hut near its beach too for rental of snorkels/wetsuits etc.



There is now an apart hotel inland and plans for a golf course and the whole resort infrastructure to go with it - so it’s growing slowly but currently there is nothing else there.



We had a fabulous week and really made the most of the resort and its facilities and would happily return again



On the return journey there is nothing at the airport – take loo roll and tissues just in case but this seems to have improved within the last year. No shops - duty free or otherwise and you’re sent to the airport 3 hours ahead of time so pack a book. You can haggle with the coffee bar staff- quote them what a coffee was at your hotel and the price suddenly drops.. The flight home tends to be an hour longer due to head winds .

This is our 3rd visit to Taba, which apart from the Taba Hilton is the best hotel, we have stayed at in Egypt. Whilst the food did become a bit monotonous after 2 weeks, you must remember that this is a resort hotel, which is different from 5 star city hotels that do al a Carte menu as opposed to buffet style at the resorts. We had no complaints about the food, which was plentiful, well cooked, well presented with a good daily selection – especially the deserts! We arrived mid December 04 departing 1st Jan 05, on a half board basis and had the pleasure of the New years Eve celebrations – “an absolutely wonderful evening” which started at 8pm until 3am- then back to our rooms for a sleep, into breakfast, a swim in the sea, back to the room for a shower, pack and flight home (for a well earned rest I may add!!) The shop at the hotel is a big rip off for sun cream etc etc Please don’t forget to take your own otherwise what we pay for in the UK at say Boots - £15, will cost you over £45 in the shop. Wine is VERY expensive at the hotel £40 for a cheap local red which is at best “yuck”, Lansing Champagne £150 compared to Tesco’s £35. Take some decent bottles of wine with you as well as some bottled water to get you started. WARNING: “you must not drink the tap water – if you do – BEWARE of the “Taba tummy”. There were one or two stomach complaints from guests but they had drank local water, or, over indulged on the desserts at dinner, otherwise there were no real problems – just to be on the safe side take some Imodium tablets and a bottle of cordial especially if you have children – the shop will charge you £12 for Imodium as opposed to £4 in the UK. Water from the shop is £1.20ltr. There is however a garage/shop about 2 miles away on the main road to Nuibia – it’s a pleasant walk if you like being in the sun as there is no shade on the road. They sell bottled water for .30 pence litre, ice creams, sweets, sun cream, beach things etc all at reasonable local prices. If you do go there, you may like to take an opportunity to sit down outside, have a cup of local coffee, a smoke from the water pipe and talk to some locals – this is the only Egyptian culture you will find at Taba. The resort is still under construction from what is (and still is to a greater extent) a desert stopover. A day trip to Nuibia is worthwhile if you are looking to buy some carpets - which are a good buy, or other trinkets at the market – BUT hone up on your haggling skills. DON’T whatever you do, have any food or drinks (unless you can actually see the bottle being opened at the market shops – if you do, have the Imodium and toilet paper handy as they wash the salads and make tea from the local tap water – You have been warned - again!


Take a small kettle, adaptor, tea / coffee and dried milk to have in your hotel room as regretfully these are not supplied and again expensive to buy. A pot of coffee or tea is about £1.50 pp from the hotel. I appreciate this sounds like penny pinching but if you have 4 coffee’s each a day for 2 weeks – it adds up!


My wife did the day trip to Petra, which leaves at 4am returning at 10pm. She arrived back absolutely exhausted but thoroughly enjoyed the experience and, much to my surprise, she would do it again. At the local sea-world (transport provided free of charge) try the parasailing. We are both over 53 and enjoyed every second of it. The staff at sea world are VERY professional taking every precaution to ensure YOU are safe. They also do an intro to diving course, which I understand is a brilliant experience. We did want to do this but all sessions were fully booked – you do need to book a couple of days beforehand for the majority of activities at sea world. If you are with Longwood, use their passport system for payment – it’s a lot more convenient and dare I say, cheaper, as you pay in sterling. You will love the hotel and the facilities. As stated by other reviews, take some small US$ bills with you for tips. Have a good stay.