Let's start with the good points: The Club Mistral kite school next to the Ramada hotel is a gem: Well run, professional, with good instructors and an adequate safety boat. The kiteboarding location is good too. Warm water, moderate winds for about 4 hours a day, and a good long beach for beginners. Be warned that the lagoon by the Green Hotel dries out at mid to low tide. The kite "school" at the Green hotel is deserted except for one caretaker instructor.
Now for the rest of it. I chose the Green Hotel on the advice of AirSpace Holidays, otherwise know as the agent for Moonbeach. He advised me that the hotel would be better for us because Moonbeach could not offer kitesurfing. The Ramada was fully booked.
The whole area is a ghost town, and in parts it feels more like a war zone than a holiday resort. The main gate has collapsed, so the first sight of the hotel is a pile of rubble either side of a steel barrel used to block the exit. The area is patrolled by soldiers with automatic weapons, and by numerous security guards. The hotel is surrounded by half finished buildings that have been abandoned. Most of the accommodation blocks are closed, and despite the fact there are probably hundreds of rooms/beds in the Green hotel, the number of guests varied between 4 and 20.
The hotel is apparently being slowly refurbished at night. Yes, that meant machines and building work to keep us awake. I used ear plugs to be able to sleep.
The air conditioning didn't work, and the mini-fridge was so warm it wasn't worth bothering with. On the good side, the bed sheets were changed everyday, but that was essential due to the sweat!
The food was awful. I love all sorts of international food, and in no way am I hesitant to try anything new. But this stuff was tasteless and unappetising. By day 4 my gastric system was in a bad way, and that is still the case 8 or 9 days later. I ended up eating fruit and omelette. I saw one of the waiting staff rearranging a pancake with his fingers which he then wiped on his trousers. We saw a cockroach on the restaurant wall.
The staff are after your money all of the time. The concierge offered us a taxi for 160 Egyptian pounds; the real price was 80. I lost some money and can only assume it was taken from my room. A neighbour had money stolen from his room.
Despite the fact that the kitesurfing was OK, I would not go back.
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