We were met from the plane and taken straight to the front of the queue at passport control and after a bit of discussion with the officials were let through – this “queue jumping” probably saved us about an hour stood in line, now although annoying for those in the line represented a real saving for us in terms of time and stress – I would strongly recommend this “meet and greet service”.

We stayed in the Ritz Carlton a superb hotel located on a lovely beach (man made) there are four good restaurants to choose from offering either international or local food none of which I could fault. There is a lovely bar near to the reception with a wide range of drinks there are also several other bars near the pools and beach although the bar near to the reception is the only one open during the evening which is slightly disappointing.

There are at least four swimming pools some designed for children. Due to the coral reef located directly at the beach you can’t swim from the beach you need to go out on a floating jetty over the reef before you can enter the sea. If you are looking for diving there is a dive centre too and if you like snorkelling you can also hire the gear. I have dived on a holiday in the Maldives and did feel the diving & snorkelling was better in the Maldives although I can really only speak for the diving and snorkelling around the reef of the Ritz Carlton Hotel.

For a destination to go to for sunshine it would be hard to beat this on a 5/6 hour flight during the winter we had temperatures of around 29/30 degrees so plenty hot enough to sit around and relax. You should note that in December the days are short and come 4.30pm the sun has gone, if your prepared to get up early then the sun is hot enough to sit out in from 7.30am onwards.

The hotel has a good gym with a wide range of equipment and this is open 24 hours a day. I also went on several runs at either the beginning or end of the day these were very enjoyable although you need to watch the unevenness of the pavements and the large curb stones.

We were looking for a relaxing and restful holiday in the sun and we certainly got this, we ventured from the hotel one night into Nama Bay. If you are looking for a big lively cosmopolitan resort then this is it, as with a lot of Egypt be prepared for all the locals wanting to be your friend, invite you to their restaurant or bar, one night was enough for us but we had not gone for that sort of holiday – there were plenty of people who all seemed to be having a nice evening out while on their holiday to Nama Bay.

The only real negative I could say about the holiday was the cost. It was expensive while you were there. I had always felt that Egypt was a relatively cheap place to go to and I also accept that the Ritz Carlton is an expensive international hotel, but in general prices seemed expensive (at least on par with the UK) I would highly recommend going on a half board or all inclusive on your holiday to Sharm El Sheikh.

For a week in the sun in the winter a holiday to Sharm El Sheikh can be highly recommended and worth a visit, if you want to get really hot then a visit in our spring, summer or autumn will guarantee gloriously hot weather.

Sharm El Sheikh Coastline image courtesy of: Nafaraj Metz | Sharm El Sheikh Sunset image courtesy of: Womeos Photo’s

We booked the holiday through Longwood Holidays who specialise in Egypt. It was a last minute deal for 7 nights staying at the Hyatt Regency on Half Board Basis.

We flew with Monarch from London Gatwick on an early morning flight. We did however stay the night before at a hotel at Gatwick called the Mercure (excellent hotel & highly recommended) I would definitely recommend staying the night in a Gatwick airport hotel the night before you depart especially if you have an early morning flight to avoid being delayed and stuck in traffic on the M25!

We arrived in to Taba airport around lunchtime. Prepare to be shocked as the airport is pretty run down. The Suitcases are hurled off the conveyer belt and it’s a free for all to claim your luggage, so not much organisation whatsoever unfortunately.

The transfer from the airport to the hotel is around an hour, the transfer coaches are excellent, and fully air-conditioned. I am always worried about toilets etc abroad and they do have good facilities on the coach which you can use if you need to.

We arrived at the Hyatt after an hour and was given a letter A, B, C or D. This was obviously for the room allocations. There must have been around 100 people in reception queuing for a key at once.  The hotel staff were welcoming and came round with a really nice fruit drink as they could see the shock on everyone’s faces at the length of the queue.

The room we were given was a garden view room. The rooms were spacious and really clean. Probably one of the best hotel rooms I have stayed in. really large bathroom with walk-in shower, and a full mini bar which was very reasonable.
The balconies are large and offer beautiful views of the garden. I thought we had been given an upgrade but we hadn’t, these were standard rooms!

The first evening of our holiday in Egypt we arrived and experienced a sand storm which meant no electricity in the hotel; apparently it was the worst storm they had experienced in years! I have to say I thought it was incredible I have never seen anything like it!
It was slightly unfortunate as the next day they closed the main pool due to the sand that had blown from the beach and then in to the main pool. The pool was closed for 3 days. Luckily there were 2 more pools at the Hyatt that we used. This didn’t ruin the holiday in any way; we still had a fabulous time using the other pools.

Half Board was included in the cost of the holiday. The restaurant buffet food was very good. I was worried as I am a vegetarian but we were really well catered for. My partner is not that keen on buffets so we decided to eat in the paying restaurants for the next 6 nights of the holiday! They do offer a promotional dine around option which means you do get a discount should you wish to eat in an alternative restaurant in the hotel.

The only down fall was the price of drinks! They are really pricey. A bottle of house wine was approximately £30 a bottle. Beer was the cheapest drink that they had on offer. If you can visit the local supermarket which is about a 5 minute shuttle ride away then do so!

The hotel does offer a complimentary shuttle bus which you can use as many times as you like.

The gardens at the hotel are really well looked after, I was really impressed how clean the hotel was! Everywhere was spotless.

The Beach is stunning, lots of sun-beds for everyone to use (which you don’t have to pay for). Taba is excellent for snorkelling. The hotel also has a dive centre.

We only managed to do one of the excursions in Taba, which was the quad biking in the mountains for an hour. This is well worth the money it worked out approximately £35per person, we booked directly with the hotel the evening before.

There are limited things to do whilst you are there, so it really is just a great beach holiday and fantastic in the winter months if you need some sun and time to relax.

I would like to re-visit the Hyatt Regency again in the future; we had such a wonderful holiday in Egypt. Maybe next year I will try the Hyatt Regency in Sharm El Sheikh.

Images:

Hyatt Taba Heights & Taba Beach View –  by 8lettersuk
Marriot Resort from Taba Heights – by Sonysan