We have just returned from
Sharm El Sheikh, having spent two wonderful weeks at the
Crowne Plaza. A hotel to be
thoroughly recommended.
The Crowne Plaza is among the best that my wife and I have stayed at in over 15 years of package holidaying together, including trips to many European countries and islands and further afield to India, Sri Lanka and Mexico.
It is one of the few holidays where we have approached the packing up day with the thought that we really would have liked to stay longer, rather than that the holiday was nice but it’s nice to be going home. The whole experience was 1st class.
We are currently living outside the UK (in Warsaw, Poland) and, as we were booking late, we felt a little apprehensive of our choice of destination, tour operator and hotel.
All cause for concern quickly evaporated at the airport, where our tickets were readily available from the EXIM desk, and the flight arrived in good time. The reps at Sharm airport, on the transfer coach and at the hotel were efficient, courteous and extra helpful to us as the only English speaking travellers amongst their Polish group.
The hotel reception was well staffed, and we were soon in our room ready to unpack, shower, change and go for our evening dinner. As we had booked late our choice was limited, and we did not have a balcony, but the room was comfortable, clean, well supplied with towels, bedding and toiletries, as it continued to be throughout our stay.
We were on an
All Inclusive basis, or
“I Wish” as we found it to be called here, which gave us only the very minimum of irritation. All meals could be taken in the ‘buffet’
La Veranda restaurant, but if this was too busy it was possible to move into the adjacent HB section, which occurred a couple of times.
We soon realised that lots of people wanted breakfast at 9:00 am so we tended to get there a bit earlier or later; they also wanted lunch as soon as the restaurant opened at 1:00 pm so we avoided that as well, and dinner was best eaten after an aperitif in the bar to miss the early crowd.
Meals could, alternatively, be taken at a variety of other restaurants, some included in the AI package and some were only discounted. The
C-View Beach BBQ restaurant was part of the AI on Sun/Tues/Thursday; booking ahead was necessary but we had no trouble as we did so at least 24 hours in advance on all occasions.
We could also use the
Lebanese or
Italian restaurants with 20% discount ‘I Wish’ vouchers (2 per room per week) and the
Seville bar served a Tapas menu which was charged but reasonably priced.
The food in all of the locations was excellent, and we were especially impressed by the variety on the buffet and the speed at which all the trays were refilled or replaced. I am sure it was overwhelmed at times, but not at any of our visits during 2 weeks.
It does have to be noted that this hotel had large numbers of visitors from Russia, Poland, Italy and the UK, as well as local Egyptians and other nationalities so do not expect chips with everything. Chatting to some of the staff members we found that the winter/spring menu, when we were there, changes to a more UK-friendly one for the peak season when the visitor balance changes.
A concession to the ‘mad dogs and Englishmen’ who want chips and the mid-summer sun!
The AI drinks package included wine and beer, by the glass, and most soft drinks, but not spirits and some other exceptions. The bars available for AI were also at selected times, especially in the evening, but a little patience soon got us sorted out. It was, indeed, possible to get a drink at any time from 10:00 am until 11:00 pm, but we did not feel the need to test this to its full.
Drinks outside of the AI time zones were not cheap, but we did not expect them to be, and quite reasonable really. If you wanted to indulge at a cheaper rate, or to a greater extent, the local Na’ama bay area was only a 10-15 minute taxi away.
The hotel also laid on a bookable regular ‘shuttle bus’ free service if you wanted to plan for an evening out, but we found that the £50Egy taxi fare left us more flexible, and they could also supply a people carrier vehicle at £74Egy for groups up to 7 people.
The sea front area was very popular throughout the day, but never seemed over-crowded, despite some bed hogging with towels from early morning. We never struggled to find a nice place in the sun. There isn’t an actual beach at the Crowne Plaza, but they have constructed sand covered plateaus down to the sea, where there are two access piers into the water
There are several pools around the hotel with free towels supplied against a deposit card, supplied 1 per person when you check in. At the lower sea-level pool there is also a ‘beach’ volleyball and entertainment area, complete with a multilingual group of ever enthusiastic animation team. If you have children with you they will not suffer from a lack of choice of something to do!
Quick notes:
There is a cash machine on site and a bank branch, to change your cash into local currency, but do not take any torn or damaged GB notes with you, they will not be accepted – the Egyptian notes you receive may, however, be in very poor condition.
We tipped the guy who looked after our room, a couple of the waiters, one of the pool attendants, one of the breakfast chefs and several of the bar staff, but nobody will hold out their hand asking for a tip in the hotel.
Snorkelling and scuba diving is very popular in the whole Red Sea area, and the Crowne Plaza has its own scuba PADI approved training centre.
The hotel is built on quite a steep slope, so lots of climbs up and down, lots of stairs; the fit and healthy will enjoy it, not so much fun for others.
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Address: Sharm El Sheikh, , Sharm El Sheikh ---
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on Mar 19, 2008
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