Having booked this holiday just a week before we went , we were looking for a relaxing week away from the British winter. After trawling through websites and visiting First Choice we decided on the Holiday Village in Sharm el Sheik. A week in the sun with our 11 year old daughter was booked and away we went. We live in South Wales so having to fly from Birmingham wasn't an issue. We booked the Airparks facility for £22 which was a bargain, they take you straight to the departure terminal in a bus, takes about 15 minutes and runs every 20 minutes or so. Check in straight forward, usual stores trying to prise money out of your wallet and onto the flight. It was on time which always gets the holiday off to a great start. Now i don't know how tall the people that Thomson's model their seat design on, but it cant be anybody above 5 and a half foot! I have never been on a flight that has been that cramped, no space what so ever.
Decent flight down, took just under 5 hours, and off the plane. Your given a visa on the flight to fill in, this has to be stamped by immigration, only pay them if you want leave the resort and go to the pyramids for example, if your staying in the resort do not pay any money and make sure you tell them. Easy to collect cases and then outside to meet the Thomson reps. Nice short transfer to the hotel which was taken by a comical local guide.
Fist impressions of the hotel were great, very clean, make sure you fill in the cards the reps give at the airport as it saves a lot of time when checking in at the hotel. You leave you cases outside the front door and you are taken in groups to find your room. Its quite impressive as you walk through the gardens for the first time, nice water features, play grounds for the children and a really pleasant atmosphere. We had booked a jacuzzi suite and we weren't disappointed at the size and facilities you get for your money. A superb sized bathroom, this is split into 3 parts, a toilet area, a centre area for the wash basin and an excellent walk in shower. The sleeping area again was large with a superb sized bed which was wider than it was long!. The terrace was large enough with the jacuzzi set in the corner. Word of warning if you like your privacy and you are given a room in block 3 ask to move straight away, there is pathway 10 meters away from the terraces which gives you no privacy at all.
First venture into the restaurant gave us a first taste of the great selection and range of food that we enjoyed for the week. Always something to choose from, always hot, never had that canteen feeling, although the breakfast can be somewhat of a mission to get a seat. The only negative was the waiters started to clear away the deserts long before the end of the meal session, making you rush sometimes.
Bed was calling so our first night gave us a taste of what was to come. Even though we were very tired after a full day of travelling the noise from the nightclub on the beach was so loud!. We managed to drop off after 2 to 3 hours and were promptly woken up at half 6 by the little cherubs above us running up and down the room.
The welcome meeting the following day was the usual 10 minutes on the resort and then the sales pitch on the excursions. They did not give enough info on where the relevant children's clubs were and where to sign in etc. The pool areas are superb, clean and the staff cannot do enough for you. Pools are absolutely freezing , except the heated pool which is to the left of the main reception area. This pool gets all the sun beds taken very very quickly, we thought the Germans had arrived as you have to get up early to get a bed. We tended to stay at the main pool by the beach as it gave us access to the children's clubs, pool bar and was near to the room.
Our second night was unbearable due to the music coming from the beach!. The bass coming from the speakers literally made our windows vibrate. Not a minutes sleep was had that night and morning couldn't come quick enough. We reported this to one of the reps who said it had been like this since she started at the resort 6 months ago!!! 8 rooms were moved that day due to the music. We were told that every Tuesday they have a foam party where the music is turned up and not to worry as it wont be the same that night. It happened again on our third night, we phoned reception, who sent someone down to complain, but after 15 minutes the music was turned back up loader than ever. Enough was enough, literally 8 hours sleep in 3 nights was not the type of holiday we had booked, perhaps 20 years ago on an 18-30, but not this one as my wife has a major operation on the 20th and this week was for her to relax and take her mind off it.
Off to the rep again to ask for a room change as we just wanted to fly home. She duly filled out the complaint form and said as soon as the manager was in she would arrange a change with him. We were told to wait until she called me on my mobile to come to reception. We went back to the room and packed, something you don't really want to do half way through your holiday. After waiting 2 hours for a call that never came I decided to chase up what was going on, as we were wasting a day of our holiday. The rep took me to the assistant manager, who offered us "an upgrade to a jacuzzi suite". We were in one already so it wasn't a sweetener at all. We told to come back in 2 hours as the room was not ready. So we waited around wasting more time. Eventually we were taken to the room in block 1 with a view of the beach. Only difference that the plasma was a bit bigger. Lets hope we get a decent nights sleep in this one.
The night time entertainment varies from night to night. For the families there is the paroahs bar which can be a bit Butlins at times, but it does cater for everybody. Reps work very hard to put a show on most nights, so credit where credits due. After 3 nights we used the View Bar as it was near the children's clubs so easy to collect them as you have to sign them in and out. You have to be fit on this holiday as the amount of walking you have to do does add up. Its a ten minute walk from reception to the children's club. Its a pain if you are in the buffet and have sign your child in a the club and then have to walk back to the entertainment area. The View bar is adults only and is a great escape from the kids, we found quite a few mums and dads with the same idea as us. It got frustrating in the adult bar though as the quiz they put on would finish around 10.40, on goes the entertainment, we always had to leave half way through as the children's activities finished at 11. It wasn't fair on the reps who saw half they bar empty half way through their act.
It was the first night in our new room and we were crossing our fingers, hoping there would be no noise. We weren't that lucky, although the bass wasn't as bad, the music was still so loud. The only way we could sleep was to have the air conditioning on, freeze to death to drown out the noise from the beach. There was no point in moving again so we just had to enjoy the days and dread the nights.
The weather wasn't the best , it got better towards the end of the week, but nothing can be down about that.
To sum up its a great hotel, excellent food, room quality and staff with so much to do for the children. For the adults its a bit limited, but you do this type of holiday for the children. The First Choice reps are great, always on hand.
Now the negatives. There is no chance of sleep in blocks 3,5 and 1. Do not book a jacuzzi room, not worth the money. I acknowledge the hotel has no control over the music coming from the nightclub on the beach as they do not own it, but First Choice have known about this issue for months and nothing is being done about it. This is not a 2 star holiday, customers are paying on average £1500 to £2000 a week for this "relaxing break". We had our holiday ruined by the music, having to move half way through the holiday, not being able to use the new room on the second day as it was being fumigated and the smell of what can only be described as petrol was too strong for us even to enter it. Staff came and sprayed air freshener . Simply not good enough.
You will have an amazing break if you can get a room where the music does not keep you awake. This review is not to put people off the hotel as it is genuinely very very good. Call the hotel first if you can to avoid blocks 3,5 and 1. Otherwise take pot luck, and take your ear plugs.
- Coral Sea Holiday Village Hotel
