30 SEPTEMBER 2015
7 NIGHT STAY AT THE SIVA GRAND BEACH RESORT IN HURGHADA, EGYPT
27° 11' 7.468''E 33° 49' 51.589''
It has been 13 Years since I last visited Egypt, Amanda has not been before, so she was in for a real treat. I just knew she was going to love Egypt, especially with the excursions I had planned for us to do.
TUESDAY 30 SEPTEMBER
We got afternoon flights out of Manchester at 2.25PM and the flight went well and after around 5 hours we arrived in Hurghada airport at 10.00PM.
ALWAYS HAPPY WITH CHAMPAGNE IN HAND
NEXT STOP EGYPT
The flight over was smooth and comfortable and was perfectly fine, we were sitting opposite each other on either side of the aisle on this flight, and as usual, I slept for most of the flight over.
Once at the airport we headed straight to the visa desk and waited around 30 minutes for the visa applications to be checked, then once that was done we flew through customs checks, and quickly boarded the minibus which was taking us to the hotel. The airport is literally only 20 minutes away from The Siva Grand Beach Resort and we were first off the minibus, so this was perfect for us.
The minute we arrived at the hotel, the porter came straight over and grabbed the suitcases and stated that he would take them up to our room, he then proceeded to direct us the way over to the reception desk.
The check in process was quick, but there was no real directions as to where are rooms were located, so we were simply pointed into a general direction and left to find our own way to the room, which wasn’t ideal, and as its around midnight now, getting lost on the resort, was starting to get right on my nerves.
THE TOWELS WITH MY INITIALS EMBROIDERED ON THEM WAS A CLASSY TOUCH
The first room we wouldn’t accept and we immediately asked for another room, again the second room we didn’t like either. The rooms are a bit shabby and on the third attempt I’m happy with what we settled for given the price we paid overall, I did try to upgrade to the main area which have been recently updated to more modern rooms with the pool views, and was more than happy to pay the extra to upgrade, but the resort is fully booked in these best rooms, and I couldn’t get one until Sunday, so we decided to stay with the third room we were shown, which is shabby, but clean and perfectly acceptable for a 7 day stay.
WEDNESDAY 1 OCTOBER
POOL DAY
We had a quick walk around the hotel complex and down to the private beach to establish our surroundings, then we made our way to the reception area, where I paid £50 British pounds for a 40mb physical SIM card, I sharing this with Amanda by using my hotspot, this lasted for the entire duration of the holiday and worked out fine, however I was actually cheaper in the uk to purchase a electronic virtual sim, so will do this next time visiting Egypt.
IMMACULATE BEACH AND CRYSTAL CLEAR WATER
THE MAIN RECEPTION AREA
THE UPPER LOUNGE SEATING AREA
I was struggling to get any local cash as I had not brought my physical Revolut card with me, I assumed having the card on my Apple Wallet would be ok, but this turned out to be inaccurate.
I eventually managed to get a cash back transaction in the hotel’s local leather bag shop, and I was changed £60 on my Revolt card via a contactless transaction, this gave me £3800 Egyptian pounds, and bag shop charged me around 5% to cover there costs, we agreed to return at a later date and purchase a bag, which was the shop owners incentive for helping us. We actually returned on two separate occasions and purchased two bags from him.
With the cash situation sorted out, we went to the restaurant and had an amazing buffet breakfast, then lay around the pool for the rest of the day, I had a swim in the pool, Amanda wouldn’t go in, due to her fear of water.
The hotel was having an Oktoberfest celabration day for all the German guests, but the music was terrible, so we went back to the room for a kip at 3.30pm as we were both absolutely shattered from the full day travelling yesterday.
THE LOVELY SWIM UP BAR AREA
THESE SCRUFFY LITTLE TERRORISTS ARE WORSE THAN SEAGULLS FOR STEALING FOOD
After a nice cool shower, we got ready, and went out for some dinner, and to watch the night time entertainment, which is the typical folly of singing and dancing, then after a few beers, we returned just before midnight for an early night.
So tired, but I’m not surprised really that we are both sleeping so much, given the amount of cocktails and beers we have been drinking, I have literally consumed over 10 cocktails and god knows how many beers I had consumed.
NIGHTTIME VIEW OF ONE OF THE RESORTS ENTERTAINMENT AREA'S
THURSDAY 2 OCTOBER
BEACH DAY
The day started brilliantly, we woke up early at 6.20am, we had a quick shower and got ready and headed out to the beach, we put our towels on our favourite sun loungers for the day then went to get some coffee.
The resort actually has its own Starbucks cafe on the beach, we ordered our usual latte and flat white and the total price for both drinks was only £3.60 which is incredible value, compared to the usual £10.00 in the UK.
SUNRISE OVER THE RESORTS PIER AREA
EARLY MORNING FISHERMEN CASTING THEIR NETS
OUR MORNING ROUTINE ALWAYS STARTED AT THE RESORTS BEACH STARBUCKS CAFE
After we finished our coffee’s, we had a walk along the beach and up onto the resorts private pier, this resort is absolutely immaculate every where you go, it’s beautiful, the only thing letting it down is the rooms, which are straight out of 1980 and in desperate need of upgrades, however they are kept spotless and are cleaned and made up every day.
MORNING SUN OVER THE PIER DINING AREA
THE BEACH BAR SEATING AREA
WALKING ON WATER
After a half day of sunbathing on the beach, we agreed to try and organise some excursions we had planned on doing, we did this with the resident tour operator in the hotel lobby, we booked to go to Dolphin Island to hopefully see dolphins in their natural habitat, and then onto Orange Bay for some food and drinks, the tour also includes snorkelling and diving, but as Amanda doesn’t like the water and I have already done it before in Sharm el Sheikh, we decided to stay on the boat during these activities.
AMANDA ENJOYING THE BEAUTIFUL SCENERY
LOCAL STAFF AT THE RESORTS BEACH BAR
For this afternoons entertainment, I thought it would be nice to go to Hurghada town for some drinks, food and shopping, this turned out to be an absolute nightmare, due to lack of research on my part, apparently there is old town and new town, and we went to the wrong part of town.
We ended up in Hurghada old town, and it was honestly like Beirut, to the point where Amanda was feeling very scared and getting quite upset, some of the local men were leering at Amanda and making comments as we passed by, I found this amusing but Amanda took offence, they were saying things like, ‘wow Swedish due to her bright blond hair, anyway, I quickly called for taxi and got us out of there.
HURGHADA OLD TOWN
THE GREAT ESCAPE FROM OLD TOWN HURGHADA
After that awful experience, we finished the afternoon off at the trendy Hurghada Marina which is beautiful, we had some beers and cocktails, and then dinned at the Las Vegas Restaurant, which is an American Steakhouse and the food was amazing, Because I was feeling guilty over the previous escapade, I decided to treat Amanda, and buy her a nice leather handbag to cheer her up, this and some more drinks seemed to work.
Once night time started, We ordered a taxi, and made our way back to the hotel, We had a relatively early night, as we are having an early start on Friday morning.
HURGHADA TRENDY MARINA AREA
THE VARIOUS BARS AND RESTAURANTS AT HURGHADA MARINA
FRIDAY 3 OCTOBER
DIVING SAFARI
This excursion was for two snorkelling destinations, a coral reef diving experience and a stay at the beautiful Orange Island and also the chance to watch dolphins.
We met on the beach at 8.30 AM, we watched as the various tour guides warmed up the speed boat motors and prepared the boats ready to leave, we were soon on board with another couple from our hotel. The journey over the bay was very fast and only took about 15 minutes, we climbed off the boat and on to the small harbour area where there was multiple cruiser boats waiting.
SATURDAY 4 OCTOBER
NIGHT ON THE TOWN
Nice and easy day planned, we had a full day on the beach, with plenty of beer and food, just a really good chill out day overall.
When we were on the Diving Safari, we got chatting to a couple from Tennessee USA, Christina and Jacob, we got on well with them, so arranged to have a fun night out with them, and agreed to meet up in new town, Hurghada.
WITH CHRISTINA AND JACOB, AL FONDOK, SHERATON ROAD, HURGHADA
Amanda made the arrangements and found a cool bar called the London Pub on Sheraton Road, which we thought was the trendy main area in Hurghada, we turned up and it was horrible, not at all what we imagined it would be, we had a quick drink, then our American friends picked us up in their taxi, and we went to the correct destination, which is called Sheraton Street not Sheraton Road, easy mistake to make given we have never been to Hurghada before.
We asked the taxi driver to drop us off at a good local bar in the heart of Hurghada, when we arrived it was completely dead, we all decided to stay and have a drink before moving on to something better, some locals wandered in off the street, and they were singing and playing music and asking us to join in with them, asking us to attempt to play with their musical instruments, I don’t know what the instrument is called, but it resembled an upright violin, we messed about a bit, and had a good laugh, trying to play it, which was fun and provided some much needed entertainment.
JACOB TWANGING THE EGYPTIANS THINGY
None of us had a clue where to go drinking in Hurghada, so we asked a few locals, who kept pointing us in a certain direction and still we found nothing, so we asked a young lad and he immediately said follow me, so we did, down quite a few back streets we went, and eventually we got to his family’s bar, which again was completely empty, and was fully decorated in birthday ballon’s, although, most of the local bars seemed to be decorated in birthday balloons, for some reason, so we decided to have one drink then leave because again it was empty.
The owners were really chummy, and pulled out all the stops to make our time with them enjoyable, they were very very welcoming, they handed us their mobile phones, so we could play our English music from them, which played via bluetooth, through the bars loud speaker system, so we essentially had our own private disco, playing music we all liked, we drank and partied and guess we were pretty loud, even the locals were stopping outside the bar, and laughing and singing, were even videoing us dancing and singing, we stayed for more drinks as it was a really great night, even the owners were all joining in, singing and dancing with us, making memories, it was brilliant.
Amanda got bladdered pretty quickly, and I could see that she was starting to get in a tangle, so we said goodnight to our friends, and I got us off and into a taxi, we got back to the hotel about 1.30AM, having a 24 hour food hall in the hotel was a welcome bonus, as we were both starving, a few slices of pizza soon sorted the hunger out.
SUNDAY 5 OCTOBER
Amanda is hanging, and is completely wrote off after all the previous nights drinking, I am in a slightly better place than she is, and after a decent lie in, we eventually make our way to get some breakfast, thank god for all inclusive, as the food here is absolutely amazing, still, another few hours in bed afterwards didn’t hurt.
After plenty of rest, we decided to spend the rest of the day on the beach pier, as as day time turned into night, we watched the sunset, which was incredible, and the views from the pier were pretty good too.
ENJOYING A PEACEFUL MOMENT ON THE PIER
SIVA GRAND BEACH AT SUNSET
ARRIVAL INTO HURGHADA AIRPORT AT SUNSET
MONDAY 5 OCTOBER
STARGAZING SAFARI
This traditional Bedouin dinner is a desert feast which consisted of slow-cooked meats, rice, bread, and vegetables, and dates, the various meals were prepared using an underground fire pit and also a traditional over coals cooking method. The dinner also consisted of Arabic coffee, Bedouin tea, and a selection of traditional desserts. This safari experience, exceeded our expectations with cultural shows, opportunities for camel rides, shisha smoking, and finished with an unbelievable stargazing experience, we certainly sampled the full cultural immersion of the entire experience in a beautiful and unique desert setting.
TUESDAY 7 OCTOBER
KING & QUEEN FOR THE DAY
Its home time, and we had a late flight at 11.00PM, so to finish off the holiday in style, we hired the King and Queen cabana for the day, which is right next to the pool, this only cost £75 British Pounds and is fully inclusive with all the trimmings, bottles of Stella, Rum, Gin, fruit juices, wine, soft drinks, and a huge serving dish of fresh fruit, also there is a mixed grill lunch with steak, kebabs, calamari, prawns, rice, chips, salad etc.
WE WERE TREATED VERY WELL FOR THE DAY AND WANTED FOR NOTHING
THE VERY GENEROUS FRUIT BOWL
THE MIXED GRILL AND SEAFOOD PLATTER, TOGETHER WITH EGYPTIAN ROSE WINE
THE VIEW OF THE BEAUTIFUL POOL AREA FROM THE CABANA
This was an amazing finish to an excellent holiday, I would throughly recommend finishing the holiday in the cabana.
We were collected from the resort at 8.00PM to be taken to the airport, we were collected in a top of the line Lexus as we were to only guests leaving, once at the airport everything went smooth and drama free, despite reading lots of negative reviews, our night flight was fine.
SIVA GRAND BEACH HOTEL
I get bored on holiday after about 7 day I am usually ready to leave, this holiday was no different, but that is not a reflection on this hotel or Hurghada, we were all inclusive, on this resort, and we couldn’t complain about anything except the slightly shabby rooms.
Food
the food was amazing, well cooked with plenty of choice and daily variation, I consider this hotel to have the best food of anywhere I have ever stayed, so this is the new bench mark for future hotels.
Amanda is a relatively fussy eater, but she agrees, the food at this hotel was amazing.
There are multiple restaurants and various smaller bbq type area’s to get food from too.
The accommodation
The entire resort is immaculately clean everywhere you go, the staff throughout really can’t do enough for you.Perfect location and glorious settings, as stated previously, the rooms are tired but immaculately clean.
Location
Superb, this hotel is in a perfect location with everything to hand, just walk off the resort and you are immediately in a mini high street, with shops, bars and food, and even a pharmacy on your door step.
The Beach
The hotel has its own private beach and pier, also it has its own Starbucks Cafe on the beach, you can enjoy coffee or a restaurant meal on the pier, or just sit and chill out, waiters serve you drinks, throughout this resort, no matter where you are.
The Staff
The staff are amazing and try the best to help you, but what really grinds my gears is the constant tipping culture, some staff actually asked for tips, especially around the pool area, I did tip, and was very generous, to the people I thought went above and beyond to provide us with a good service, but some of the staff were a bit pushy, unfortunately for them, I really don’t get intimated by anyone, so I just say no, and walk away, for instance, I used the toilets in the main reception area, and while washing my hands, one of the hotel staff got some paper towel and immediately started to dry my hands for me, I didn’t want nor expect this, so afterwards I just said thank you, and walked away.
The Animation Team
The animation team are friendly and as usual, try and get you to join in with the daily pool side activities, at night the shows were ok, but not to our taste, so we didn’t really bother to watch them much after the first night.
Conclusion :- Excelent solid 4 Star hotel
Would highly recommend this hotel, the location is perfect, the hotel is spotless, the food is great, honestly there is nothing to complain about, would definitely return if we ever visit Hurghada again. I would rate it 9/10, deducting a point only because of the rooms.
SO WHAT IS HURGHADA LIKE?
Hurghada is a popular Egyptian tourist resort town on the Red Sea, It is primarily known for its beautiful white-sand beaches and world-class diving and snorkelling amongst the colourful coral reefs and shipwrecks. Its proximity to the Eastern Desert is perfect for safari adventures, stargazing, camel rides etc.
Once a fishing village, it has grown into a major holiday destination and now offers water sports, beachfront hotels, and a trendy and bustling marina, while also providing relatively easy access to visit ancient Egyptian sites like Luxor or the pyramids.
With that said, having visited Sharm el Sheikh previously and now Hurghada, I would choose and prefer Sharm el Sheikh to Hurghada.
The Weather
The weather was a constant 35 Degrees in the day time, and lovely and warm at night, we never needed jumpers or jackets, we couldn’t have asked for any better weather. there was no rain whatsoever, just constant blue sky and lovely heat.
SOME CHALLENGES WE ENCOUNTERED
Apparently things have changed significantly since I was last in Egypt, getting Egyptian pounds (EGP) in the UK is nearly impossible due to a shortage of Egyptian currency in general, additionally you are only allowed to bring £5k of EGP into Egypt, at the time of writing this is only around £78 UK Pounds, so a complete waste of time even trying to get it exchanged in the UK.
What I did instead was to take British Pounds and exchange them when we arrived in Hugadha, I used my debit card for larger purchases, and only used the EGP for small incidental purchases and tips, the Egyptians expect tips for everything, but to be honest the equivalent of a £1 is more than enough in most cases.
What I don’t like, Prices for goods and services are shown usually in Egyptian pounds, but once they hear you speak English, they immediately start charging or quoting in either american dollars or euro’s, apparently Americans and British all sound the same to the Egyptians.
So for instance we accept a price of say £70 British Pounds and when its time to pay they charge you in whichever currency is the best for them, so in the above example, I was charged in euro’s which cost me £74.75, this annoys me, but when I said, I will pay in Brith pounds, they always have an excuse as to why they can’t accept this transaction.
By the end of the holiday, I was really hard faced with all this nonsense, and only paid what was agreed beforehand, or I simply walked away, you need to be hard faced, and you definitely need to be good at haggling.
EGP £2,000 IS ONLY £32 BRITISH POUNDS
Thoughts on “7 Nights in Hurghada"
Leave a reply
Your comment will appear shortly..........