We were a little dubious about this hotel especially as we booked it thinking that Holiday Inn would be involved. Then we got the letter informing us that they were no longer anything to do with it! We needn’t have worried however as the hotel and especially its setting and grounds were excellent. We had a lovely room overlooking the pool and Red Sea with excellent views over to Israel, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. All the rooms shared this view. The staff were amazingly helpful and friendly and very complimentary to ladies, even 42 year old ones! They all wanted to be friends and we came away with many e-mail addresses and promises to keep in touch. That is not to say they are intrusive in any way, just very friendly. The hotel has mostly Polish, Czechs and Germans with only three parties from England when we were there. We usually go to the Caribbean at this time of year and although the food is not as good as it is there, we paid less than half the price, so what can you expect? Don’t worry you won’t go hungry there is always a great soup, different types of bread, chicken, other meat dishes, potatoes and a range of salads and a great variety of deserts!
We travelled with Thomson and were entitled to eat in the al a carte restaurant once during our stay, but we didn’t bother as it was always empty! Now for the drinks – gin and vodka taste the same (a bit like aniseed) but the brandy and lemonade went down well (ask Kory the waiter for half and half he’ll know what you mean) and the Egyptian red and rose wines were very drinkable. The wine waiters soon got to know our particular drinks and we had hardly sat at our table before drinks were placed before us. I am not sure where they get the spirits from but one bottle of vodka behind the pool bar had a lid saying whisky with a seal over it with a vodka label!
Before we left home, I couldn’t find out if they supplied pool/beach towels at the hotel so I ended up packing towels. The good news is they are supplied, you don’t even have to have a card or anything, just turn up at the pool or beach and they will put a mattress and a towel on your chosen sun bed, and there are plenty of sun beds to choose from. Tipping is well received and we took plenty of US$1 & $5 notes with us although they will happily accept anything, I think they prefer these notes and often someone will ask you to change pound coins or even euros for notes. Our room cleaner wasgreat and as well as cleaning the room very well, he produced some excellent towel creations.
We went on one excursion on the Red Sea Cruise, great snorkelling although you do need to swim well because they take you quite a way from the boat. They will supply life jackets if required and the trip cost about £36 each, lunch and soft drinks included. All in all a great, value for money trip. The weather was fabulous with clear blue skies all week except for around two hours one afternoon. The sun was very hot and you will need plenty of sun lotion. The beach is great although very stony (we bought beach shoes at the hotel shop for £5 a pair - great value! The snorkelling is fantastic as there is lovely coral to explore just off the beach with numerous types of fish.
Don’t expect too much evening entertainment as there is not too much going on at night time. There is a Disco in the hotel and the Animation team did try and get people up although when we were there, there were not too many takers! Not sure also whether the drinks in the Disco form part of the all inclusive package.
We had a great time at the Holiday Resort Taba and would recommend it if you are looking for a peaceful vacation in beautiful surroundings, good food and superb staff.

We stayed at the Holiday Resort (no Inn in name now) from 22/12/06 to 05/01/07. Allocated on arrival having read some awful reports we were very worried. Arrived at hotel and staff could not have been more efficient and friendly.

Food - repetitive but good and plenty of it.

Location - middle of nowhere and a 25 min drive to Taba Heights, which Nature Travel can arrange for you, they have a rep on site and the tours are cheaper than the Travel agent reps, we heard good reports about these.
Good location if you want to Visit Petra in Jordan & Israel. We didn't make it to Petra as it snowed in Jordan and our trip was cancelled.

Taba Heights - there are a couple of restaurants and a few shops, the Mexican restaurant was good.

Staff - very good.

Tips - a lot of people on here have recommended pounds coins, however the staff spend a lot of time trying to exchange these for Egyptian Pounds, so Egyptian money is better. There is a bank at the hotel and Egyptian money is readily available.

Entertainment is not very good, one singer who sings and hums.
There is a nightclub on site, but the drinks are not included in there and it is not very large. Italian Restaurant is situated behind the bar and apprarently not worth spending the extra money.

2 swimming pools and a kiddie pool. Pool boys very helpful, tip them well. They reserved our fave loungers for us and even moved them around to face the sun when we went to lunch.

If you want a holiday with good service and complete relaxation, this is for you. There really is nothing to do here except read your book, sunbathe and chill out completely.
Rach1163@hotmail.com

We stayed at the Holiday Resort Taba (no inn) just before Christmas, having booked an all inclusive last minute deal on the net - allocation on arrival.

Having done loads of research before I went, i was pretty terrified of being allocated this hotel!! but surprise surprise, we were...

Thomson use 3 hotels in the taba area, but I would say if you get a dirt cheap alloc on arrival deal, get ready for the HTR because you will almost certainly end up here!!

In addition to the poor hotel reviews, the BBC also claimed it was 18 degrees max in taba, so as you can imagine i was pretty apprehensive...

As it turned out, I needn't have been. The hotel was clean, friendly and secure, and my boyfriend and i enjoyed a lovely relaxing break - in temperatures about 25 degrees!! So much for the Beeb!

The "resort" really is in the back end of nowhere, and if you are not after TOTAL peace and relaxation, this really isnt for you. The evening "entertainment" doesnt stretch much further than one man and his mic.... (who hums most of the lyrics)... we ventured out to Taba Heights one night and had a fantastic mexican, but there wasnt really much else there other than a few dodgy shops

(Incidentally, the cash machine at TH wouldnt take our UK debit cards, but - thankfully! - we were fine using them in Nuweiba)

The food is edible, but pretty dismal and limited on the whole. There appears to be lots of selection when you first arrive, but you soon realise that most of the platters contain delights such as liver, veal or "stewed foul"!! - for breakfast!! - and that you are better off sticking to omelettes. If I had paid full-price I would have been disappointed, but couldn't complain for what we paid... Also, I didnt have any tummy trouble at all, so I guess it cant have been that bad.

We did 3 trips with Thomson - dolphins in Israel, scuba diving and quad biking - which were all brilliant... and although Thomson have you a bit over the barrel with the prices (and we ended up paying more for trips than the holiday!!), it was well worth it .

All in all, a really relaxing break. I wouldnt pay full price to stay in the hotel, but was more than happy with the standard for such a cheap deal. In December when we went, the sun goes down about 4 oclock so you have to make the most of it, and it is pretty windy, but it's still hot enough to get burnt!!

Finally, agree totally with everyone who has said take dollar bills or pounds for tipping. We tipped the cleaner a fiver on our first day and had a spotless room all week... not to mention an amazing and increasingly bizarre range of towel sculptures - swans, crocodiles, er... small children (!!)...

Cheap and cheerful - dont expect too much and you wont be disappointed!!

The Hotel was beutiful with lovely views and a private beach with ample sun loungers, the pool was great with lots of sun loungers and the pool staff where exceptional as you walked towards the pool they waited at the bottom of the steps with towels for you! at lunch time they would turn your sunbeds to face the sun and tidy around for you so when you came back it was all tidy.
The bar staff where great and polite but didn't have a vast understanding of a vodka and coke as quite often you would get the first bottle they came to!! The restaurant staff where extremly helpful and remembered your drinks order from day to day!
The main fault was the food as it was always Rice, wierd potatoes, the food wasn't of a 5 star standard and you can never trust the posters outside the restaurant as the food doesn't match half the time!!!
My main memories of the hotel was the standard of the accomodation and the hard work and dedication from the service staff.