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Club Magic Life, (Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt)
by dkm1981 We recently spent two weeks in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt and we stayed at the all-inclusive resort Club Magic Life in Naqb Bay. I was a bit dubious about Sharm as I haven't heard the best things about the area, but the need for a holiday of sunbathing and generally relaxing, plus a couple of recommendations from friends meant that I went ... ahead and booked it. Location and First Impressions Naqb Bay is about twenty minutes away from Naama Bay (which is the main resort in Sharm El Sheikh) and it is closer to the airport. It is just a fifteen minute transfer from the airport, which is great for getting there quickly, but also means that the hotel is pretty much under the flight path. It's not a massive problem as the flights aren't continual throughout the day but there do seem to be busy periods where the planes overhead are quite low and quite loud. You can get a shuttle bus from the hotel to Naama Bay for five Euros return and the fairly new Soho Square is about ten minutes away in a taxi. We arrived at the hotel at night so first impressions were of quite a grand hotel that has a sweeping driveway that is all lit up and lined with well-manicured gardens. This turned out to be the standard of the whole resort; everything about it is well presented and meticulously maintained. The whole place is like a little village and we were there for days before we found our way around completely. The resort is made up of lots of little buildings linked by gardens and paths. The buildings are all only two or three storeys. Checking in is a simple and relatively quick process. The hotel is obviously aware of when guests are due to arrive as there are extra staff at reception to help speed things up. When you arrive, the porter will take your case and direct you to the reception desk, where you fill in a little form and hand over your passport for the staff to take a photocopy. Once this is done you get your room key and you have to tell the porter which room you are in. It seems fiddly but the whole process is surprisingly smooth. I think at this point you are supposed to wait for the porter to show you to your room but we decided that we wanted to catch dinner before it closed so we headed off on our own. It only took a few minutes for our cases to arrive after we did - pretty good service considering the number of people that checked in at the same time as us! The Rooms We were on the third floor on our block (number fourteen) there are about twenty rooms in each block spaced over three floors. I'd definitely recommend requesting a third floor room, because they seem to offer much more privacy. However do bear in mind that there are no lifts to higher floors so if can't use stairs then you will need to be on the ground floor. We had a garden view room which was excellent. I don't remember being given the option to upgrade to a sea view room, but having now been there, I wouldn't bother. As the highest rooms are only on the third floor, much of the view of the sea is obscured by the tall palm trees, even if you are right at the front of the resort by the beach. The other thing with the sea view rooms is that they tended to be near the restaurants that are all close to the beach as well so in the evening, you'll be overlooking people eating their dinner, which isn't my idea of fun. The balconies are large and it seems such a shame to waste them by not being able to use them for fear of hungry people looking up at you! The rooms themselves are very spacious and bright. I have read people elsewhere say that they are a little dated and could do with a refurb, but I didn't think that at all. I thought that the rooms were well presented and comfortable. They aren't the most luxurious rooms on the planet but they are very of a very good standard. Our room had a double bed that was huge and the mattress was so comfortable - I had fourteen extremely good night's sleep! The rooms are kitted out with the usual - LCD TVs, dressing table, sizeable wardrobe. There is also an electronic safe in each room. The TV channels are pretty basic - there are a few English channels including BBC World News (which I loathe) and a movie channel. Normally i wouldn't mind about this because I don't watch TV on holiday, but with the sun going down earlyish ( around 4pm), there was quite a gap between leaving the beach and going for dinner and it might have been nice to have more variety for that. The bathrooms again are very suitable: large and well lit with a walk-in shower cubicle and oversized sink. I particularly liked the fact that the shower cubicle was slightly lower than the rest of the bathroom, meaning that the water was contained rather than soaking the floor. The showers are powerful and there was never a dip in the hot water despite it being such a big resort. There is also a hairdryer in the bathroom, but it's about as powerful as a hand fan so not really worth the effort! Housekeeping came every day and they did a very good job. i would always recommend using the safe for valuables because you can never be too sure, but on a few occasions, we accidentally left money or phones left out and they were always there when we got back, so no problems with security. The Restaurants and Bars The hotel is all-inclusive and, unlike some of the others I have stayed in, everything is actually included in terms of food. Main meals are taken in the Magico Restaurant which is a buffet. You can have breakfast lunch and dinner in there. Breakfast is good and includes everything you would expect; sausages, eggs cooked to order, fruits, yoghurt, cereals, pastries, fresh bread and so on. I found that, after two weeks, it did become a bit samey as it was the same choice every day - it's up to you to vary it I suppose. Lunch and dinner were similar and included a huge salad station, lots of fresh bread and a wide range of main dishes that are all served from show counters. Dinner offers a bit more variety as they have different theme nights every night, repeated every two weeks. Themes include Mexican, Chinese, seafood and Egyptian, although lots of the staple popular items appear every night regardless of the theme. These tended to include things like pasta dishes and curries as well as basics like pizza and chips, so fussy eaters will always find something to eat. For a bit of extra variety, you can eat at the Buffet Around the World at lunch time. This one is open from 12 until 4pm and is based down by the beach. It is partially open air and so makes for a great place to for a break from the beach. The variety isn't as good as the main restaurant, but it is great for a snack rather than a full meal. There are three a la carte restaurants as well; Mai Thai (Thai), Sofra (Egyptian) and Baia (Seafood). We enjoyed all of them although Baia was our favourite because it was a little more sophisticated and the presentation and quality of the food and service was particularly good. In both Baia and Sofra there are a couple of the dishes on the menu that you get automatically so just bear that in mind when you are deciding what to order. In Sofra we were going to order starters and main courses but when the bread and selection of dips came we decided against a starter because it was such a large portion. The food in general is well cooked and fresh. They managed to keep more or less everything warm as well which is always difficult in buffet type restaurants in particular. We found it much more pleasant to eat in the a la carte restaurants as they offer a much more sophisticated dining experience. You can really tell that the hotel have tried hard to make it a different experience from the hustle and bustle of the buffet, with all the little touches like warm towels to start and being able to order full bottles of wine, and it really does make a nice difference. Having said all of that, there were a couple of issues I had with the dining at Club Magic Life. Firstly the booking process for the a la carte restaurants was a pain. You have to go to guest services the day before you want to eat and book a table. It's supposed to be open from 2pm until 6pm, but the limited places are usually gone by half two at the latest because people queue up before it opens. You can only eat at each restaurant once per week, so it isn't really awful but I could have done without it. The other problem I found was the opening times for the restaurants, particularly the buffet. It is open for four or more hours at both breakfast and lunch, but in the evening it is only open from 6pm until 9pm. We found that very few people used it before seven thirty and so after then it was completely packed until it closed. I'd have thought it would be much better to open until 10 so that you can stagger it a bit. The a la carte restaurants too are only open until 9.30 and the latest time you can book to sit down is 7.30, which again I thought was a bit early, because it then means that you are at a loss for something to do once you've eaten, rather than being able to make an evening of it. There are a few other places to relax around the hotel including a coffee shop that offers cakes and pastries as well as an American bar (which incidentally is one of the only places in the resort that you can get a decent internet connection) and The Eagles Lounge, which is a bar both inside and outside that offers a comfortable place to sit. All of these places are included in your holiday price and, together, they mean that you can get something to eat or drink pretty much anytime of the day. I think I worked out that the only time you can't get food is from midnight until 6am. Entertainment and Passing the Time Sunbathing is obviously the first choice of 'activity' in these parts and there is plenty of opportunity to do it. We preferred the beach because it was generally quieter and I love looking out tosea. It can get a bit windy by the beach, but they have huge wind breakers and the beach staff are happy to move them around to make them into a little den for you. There is also a beach bar so you don't have to wander far for a drink! If you prefer the pool, there are two in the resort. The bigger one is absolutely huge but is where all the daytime activities take place so it can get very noisy. There is also a DJ booth near this pool, so it creates more of a party atmosphere. The sun umbrellas here are also fixed so it can be difficult to find a bed that isn't completely shaded for large parts of the day. The other pool is the relax pool which is much smaller but a lot more people. We noticed that a lot of the older guests seemed to gather around this pool during the day. There is an entertainment team at the hotel and they do work hard. With it being a resort that is a bit in the middle of nowhere it does need to provide something to do, particularly once the sun has gone in. There are a lot of exercise based activities during the day that you can just turn up for including beach volleyball, boules, meditation and step aerobics. There are also five tennis courts and you can borrow equipment for free and there is a gym which is small but has pretty much everything you need. Almost everything is included in the holiday price, the only things that you had to pay more for were tennis lessons, spa treatments and hire of snorkelling and diving equipment. If the latter is your thing, there is a jetty leading out past the shoreline reefs and, as long as the flag isn't red, you can go swim and snorkel during the day. I'd highly recommend it because the reefs and the fish around them are absolutely stunning - I am absolutely not a fan of the sea, but I loved it, as long as I didn't think about the scary stuff that might be in there! Every evening there is some form of show, usually at the amphitheatre. I'm not one for shows generally but they passed the time. Some of the shows were terrible, others were actually much better than I expected. The only problem with the shows is that they are outside and it does get pretty cold in the evening. They do provide little blankets, but you'll need some warmer clothes anyway. Price and Is It Worth It? We booked the hotel as part of a package so I'm not entirely sure how much the hotel cost us. There was a price list inside the room that said our room was 120 per night per room. It didn't say which currency it was in though and I wouldn't like to guess because they do seem to use all kinds of currencies in these parts. Our package was around £1700 for two of us for two weeks to give you an idea. The hotel is a five star hotel and it certainly does have the facilities to warrant this so I'd say it is worth it. It isn't the most luxurious in the world, but it is clean, the staff are very friendly and there are plenty of facilities. I would recommend the hotel but perhaps only for a one week holiday because the food and surroundings can get a bit repetitive, plus there isn't very much to do outside of the hotel either. Overall I'd say it is a lovely place for a nice relax and to enjoy some time in the sun. Read the complete review |
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Ritz Hotel (Cape Town, South Africa)
by Essexgirl2006 As part of my recent holiday in South Africa, I stayed twice in Cape Town and the hotel chosen by my tour operator was the Ritz. I was quite excited at first, until I realised that there is no connection to the Ritz-Carlton chain of hotels. This is a three star hotel and is part of the African Sky group. The hotel is located ... walking distance from the beach front and a short cab ride (40 Rand) to the V & A Waterfront. It is also a short cab ride to the business district. The hotel is tall - 22 floors with a revolving restaurant at the top. The reception area is large and well-lit but fairly non-descript, as these places often are. Even though we had arrived prior to official check in time (2pm) we managed to get our rooms. My first room was 1111, a twin room (I was sharing) on a corner, with floor to ceiling windows across two walls. Décor style was contemporary and the room seemed in good decorative order with a desk/mirror, wardrobe with safe, two beds with plenty of pillows. There was a TV and air conditioning unit, as well as tea and coffee making facilities. The windows offered fantastic views at this height. There was also floor to ceiling windows along one wall in the bathroom - covered with nets - but the bathroom looked slightly more tired with some marks on the walls. It had a shower over the bath, lavatory and sink. There were enough towels for us both as well as a bath mat. Toiletries were 'Botanics' and consisted of a hand soap and small bottles of shower/bath gel and conditioning shampoo. I used the products on my return visit and found them acceptable but the shampoo didn't give a good lather. On my return I had a single room on the fourth floor, containing a double bed and similar furnishings as before. Again the bathroom looked tired - the external bath panel lit up and looked like it needed a good clean, there was only one tea bag (no milk) and the safe was already locked. Strangely I was not the only one in our party who was disappointed with their second room, some had ones with no toiletries or without working lights or safes. The hotel was also a lot busier (not that this should be an excuse) and some of us were disturbed by other guests. The return visit was on a Monday (as opposed to a weekend previously) so there were quite a few student groups and possibly some conferences. On the first floor they have a café-bar called Biar-Ritz, and the main restaurant. I only used this for breakfast, but it also serves buffet lunches and dinner. The selection was good - assorted fruit juices, fruit salads (changed every day), cereals, a cooked breakfast (bacon, fried potatoes, eggs, mushrooms etc), toast, cold meats and cheese. The servers bring coffee around (tea if requested) but you often have to wait a while for this. The top floor restaurant revolves and I am disappointed that I didn't get a chance to visit it. The menu was in the lift and it seemed both extensive and reasonably priced - similar to other mid-range restaurants in the city. The hotel also offers a pool area on the first floor by the restaurant, sadly it was too cold to use as we were there in winter, but it was well maintained and I often saw staff cleaning it and generally keeping the area tidy. There is also conference and business facilities although I had no cause to use them. I understand that internet access it quite expensive, but there are several internet cafés on the nearby Main Road along with a few supermarkets. They have a travel desk to book tours if you are so inclined. If it wasn't for that second stay, and some of the niggles we all had in the rooms, I would have given this hotel 4 stars without a doubt, and would have been delighted to recommend it. After the return visit I have had to knock a star off and recommend it hestitatingly. My stay was included in my holiday cost, but they advertised a room rate at the front of the hotel of 550 ZAR per night (GBP £48/US$79). Read the complete review |
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Le Dauphin Hotel (Fort Dauphin, Madagascar)
by catsholiday Le Dauphin Hotel, Port Dauphin, South Madagascar Our flight back from Fort Dauphin was due to leave at about 7am and so this would have meant leaving Berenty at 1am and driving the four and a half hours along a really awful road so that we would be there to check in two hours before the flight. We asked our guide about this ... and they contacted the tour company and changed it so that we had two nights at Berenty and one in this hotel in Fort Dauphin. It was not difficult as the same people owned both places and there an available room fortunately . Having had two nights at Berenty and knowing it was the same owner we didn't have very high expectations for the hotel .Our driver dropped us at the front door and pointed us in the direction of Reception. A man came from the hotel and grabbed our bags and we followed him in. RECEPTION The lady in reception greeted us with a lovely welcoming smile and asked us how we had enjoyed Berenty. She told us that we were on breakfast and dinner included but would have to pay for drinks and lunch which we did know but nice to have it confirmed. She also told us that our flight time had been changed and now the car would collect us from this hotel at 6.30am so we would actually be able to have breakfast before we left which was a bonus. She explained that breakfast was in this part of the hotel but lunch and dinner were in another part of the hotel just down the road. She then took us and showed us our room which was actually right next to the reception area so not too far to walk in the early morning. THE ROOM Just in front of the sliding doors into the room was a small a patio area which looked out onto the lovely tropical gardens. There was a really comfortable sofa with sponge base and big cushions behind. My husband enjoyed a little siesta there in the afternoon while I wrote a few reviews. The room was not huge but was quite big enough for the night. We had a large double bed with three pillows. The bed was made with white cotton sheets, a blanket and a quilted bed cover in a dark burgundy. As the rooms were all open when we arrived I peeked in a couple and they all had different coloured bed covers but were otherwise pretty similar. A round table and one chair allowed me to plug in my laptop and sit to type. All that was on the table as we arrived was a large lamp with a ceramic base and raffia shade. Behind me on the wall as I sat at the table was a book shelf, empty apart from a silk orchid, an ash tray and an empty photo frame. A fridge stands on a wooden stand but when I opened it I found that it was not really cold at all and when I went to ask at reception about the prices I discovered that it was a mini bar and the prices were higher than at the restaurant so we bought our water from there instead. We had an air conditioner in the room which we hoped to use at night but during the day there was a lovely breeze going through from the back window to the open sliding doors at the front. These were very nice and gave a great view of the garden but did of course mean that anyone passing has a good view of us in the room too. The window at the back had no bars and we were on the ground floor so it was definitely going to be shut in the night. THE BATHROOM This was not huge but adequate and clean and far more modern that those at Berenty. The toilet was newish looking, the basin has a unit around it and two towels were under the sink on a shelf, white and okay, not thick and fluffy but okay. There was a proper shower cubicle with doors. We were only given a small simple soap and nothing else and of course there was no hair dryer either. The hanging space was in the bathroom behind the door as was the safe. When we arrived it was open but in the lock position so we had to go and ask for it to be sorted at the Reception desk. A man came within minutes and left us the key which sorted the problem. LUNCH When we arrived after our long drive from Berenty we had only had our bread and jam breakfast so we both fancied something to eat and a cold drink. We headed to the hotel next door and found a lovely big bar and on the other side a nice restaurant which looked out onto really pretty gardens. We had a bit of a walk around and found that there was a pool but that it was empty which seemed strange. We were asked if we wanted to sit inside or out and we chose outside which was on a sort of patio overlooking the garden. We ordered cold water and cold beer and then studied the menu more closely. It was positively exciting to have so much choice. We could have had sandwiches, pizza, three course meals and there were some Malagasy dishes. We always like to try local food so we chose two dishes from those. My husband had a zebu (beef) and ginger stew dish with rice which he said was very tasty and the meat really well cooked and tender. Mine was a local fish cooked in coconut milk which again came with rice. Rice is the main staple in the country and is grown in many areas throughout Madagascar and we saw a number of padi fields near Antananarivo and also on the drive between Fort dauphin and Berenty. My fish was obviously a large fish as it was almost meat like tuna and the sauce was very tasty. DINNER We hadn't realised that the dinner menu was the same as the lunch special menu and so unfortunately my husband had chosen a dish from the special menu and the other dish was prawns which he can't eat so he had the same meal for dinner as lunch, I chose the same dish as it was the nicest on that menu. The food was much better than at their other hotel in Berenty where we had stayed for two nights before this and the service was polite and friendly. THE GROUNDS There were lovely gardens and walking around we found a large swimming pool but it was empty. I don't know if this was a temporary thing or if they planned to refill it but it seemed a shame. We spent a while wandering around the grounds exploring and had planned to have a look around Port Dauphin but we seemed to be a fair way out of the town and this would have meant a taxi ride and we were not really sure what there was to see anyway . We chose to spend the afternoon relaxing and reading in the garden area which was most pleasant after all the walking we had been doing in the last couple of weeks. NIGHT TIME We attempted to shut up the room and pointed the remote at the air conditioner and sadly nothing happened. We then remembered that we had had the small table fan pointed out to us on arrival. We put this on and indeed it blew hard across us in bed. It was not entirely pleasant to be blown at all night but the choice was that or bake as we had to have the back window shut as we were on the ground floor and backing on the a very dodgy looking piece of ground. The front of the room was one large sliding door so that also had to be shut for security so we really had little choice. GOOD MORNING We had to get up quite early for our journey to the airport so I got up first to use the shower. I fiddled with the taps for ages and couldn't get any cold water. The result was an extremely speedy and rather hot wash of the essential bits and certainly no hair wash. About twenty minutes after we discovered this staff arrived with buckets of water and told us that they had no water in the hotel there was some problem. Luckily we had had a shower the night before and were not too dirty. We also knew we were flying back to Antananarivo and were booked in to the Tamboho hotel which was lovely so we not too bothered. BREAKFAST This was in a lovely room in our part of the hotel so very modern with nice views of the gardens. We were welcomed by the young girl there and shown to a table. She asked whether we wanted tea or coffee and then popped off to return with some fruit juice, our tea and coffee as well as French bread, a plate of fresh fruit and also some croissants. It was a pretty basic continental breakfast but at least we got some fresh fruit and juice with our French bread and jam. CHECKING OUT We were next to the Reception area so we pulled our cases into the lobby and sat to wait for the car to the airport. As we had paid for our meal, not used the mini bar and everything else was included we just handed our key back in and that was all done. WOULD I RECOMMEND? Yes it was a very nice clean and comfortable hotel in lovely grounds but a little way out of the town. That may or may not have been a good thing as I do not know what was in the town and if that would have given you choices in places to eat. Judging by some of the other small towns in Madagascar I would think this unlikely but I may be wrong. There were things that needed sorting out such as ensuring the air conditioners worked as a table fan is not great blowing at you next to the bed. The water problem may or may not have been their fault; it might have been a problem with water supply in the town. The rooms were nice and clean and fresh looking. The little patio areas in front of the rooms with a sofa to sit on was really nice as it was a comfortable place to sit and read. The food was all pretty good, the prices of the food and drink were reasonable and the staff were all lovely, friendly, smiling and helpful. This deserves three and a half stars so i have gone for four stars. Thanks for reading. This review may be posted on other sites under my same user name. ©Catsholiday Read the complete review |
Africa Hotel International |
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