Our article is for those holidaymakers for whom the price of an all-inclusive trip to Egypt is the selection criterion.
They want to spend a vacation in exotic Egypt, having a rest on its beaches with golden sand, enjoying the service, admiring the beauties of the underwater world of the Red Sea, its amazing corals. However, they can not afford a vacation at The Ritz Carlton 5 * hotel (the most fashionable hotel complex Sharm el-Sheikh). There are holidaymakers who, possessing sufficient funds, still buy a tour to the rated four-star hotel. For example, such as "Faraana Reef" (Sharm El Sheikh). This is a classic oriental-style hotel with good-quality rooms and high-quality all-inclusive meals. It doesn’t matter for them how many types of main course - 4 or 14 - will be on the lunch menu. But such tourists can use the money saved on excursions, diving lessons. In a word, they pay more for outdoor activities. Other criteria come to the fore: what is the sea, reefs in the water area of the beach; Is the hotel territory suitable for outdoor activities? transport communications.
Inexpensive and solid hotel "Faraana Reef"
People who think in this way carefully select among the economy class hotel complexes those that are built in places that are advantageous in terms of marine resources and external infrastructure. Once again, the Faraana Reef (Sharm El Sheikh) can serve as a suitable example. The positive thing is that this is a first-line hotel, less than 200 meters from it to the sea. Ras Um al-Sid Bay, on the banks of which this hotel complex is built, is a unique place. The diver will find here walls of gorgon corals, grottoes and caves with many lionfish, groupers, glass fish, moray eels. The hotel complex has a beach, which is one of the most wonderful beaches of Sharm El Sheikh.
The hotel has another know-how. It is not for nothing called Italian. Not only for classic Italian cuisine. It is owned by the King Snefro Group international network.
What time of the year is the best vacation at the hotel?
To answer this question, we examined a number of reviews from hotel guests. We have revealed a certain pattern. Indeed, there is an important aspect that affects the activity of local holidaymakers. After all, the climate of the Land of the Pharaohs has its own peculiarities: it is unbearably hot in summer and windy in winter. Therefore, successfully (at the best time of the year), buying tours at the Faraana Reef Hotel, holiday-makers provide the maximum quality of relaxation. The optimal months to relax in the hotels of this resort are April, May and October. Moreover, even in these relatively non-hot months, vacationers should take with them sun protection cream level 30-50.
About hotel pools
The pools operating at the hotel complex deserve a separate description. There are 4 of them: three adults and one for children. The largest pool is located near the main building, it is multilevel, with artificial waves. At the pool there is an artificial waterfall and artificial geyser - a powerful jet of water.
The second pool is a smaller, Relax class. It is good for bathers, around it - a relaxed lounge environment. He is preferred by older spa guests.
The third pool is for active people, it has a very decent depth of 2.5 m. A diving tower rises above its water bowl. Above the center of this original pool is equipped with a jacuzzi, sheltered by a canopy.
In addition, the infrastructure of the "Farahana Reef" (Sharm el-Sheikh), due to its advantageous location, is naturally complemented by a general resort. On the coast, within walking distance from the hotel complex, on the shore of the neighboring bay of Naama Bay is the famous shopping center "Thousand and One Nights." Nearby is the famous El Mercato district of Sharm El Sheikh, as well as a dozen well-known club venues: Hard Rock Cafe, discos "Little Buddha", "Black Horse", etc.
Hotel housing
The architectural appearance of the hotel is stylized-Arabic: a harmonious combination of two-story buildings, limiting the territory landscaped by landscape designers with pools. Buildings with a high ceiling on the first floor, with characteristic stylized arches and relatively narrow windows, niches, wrought iron grates. This design is aesthetic, simple, elegant and harmonious. The housing stock of the hotel complex is located in a two-story main building, sixty-four one-story cottages, ten two-story rooms and ten two-story villas.
The territory of this club hotel is quite large: 110 thousand m 2 . Such an impressive scale of fixed assets of the business (and, accordingly, the financial flows of the hotel) contributes to the fact that the average price of an all-inclusive trip to Egypt for the hotel complex under consideration is not financially unbearable. Moreover, its price - $ 1041 for seven nights of relaxation - multiplied by unique natural resources and developed infrastructure, is attractive for holidaymakers. At the hotel, most vacationers are foreigners.
About hotel rooms
The interior design of the reception area and the main restaurant corresponds to the classic oriental style that distinguishes Egypt. Hotel "El Faraana Reef" offers 448 rooms for its guests. Of these, 393 rooms with a garden view of 32 m2, 23 standard rooms with a sea view of 40 m2, 10 standard with a view of the pool area of 40 m2, 10 duplex suites of 108 m2 (two floors, the first - living room, the second - a bathroom and a bedroom), 12 suites in a Junior class bungalow with an area of 54 m 2 .
Forcedly we will write about the unpleasant (that is, that is). Judging by the jokes contained in the reviews of tourists, moving into the hotel complex "Faraana Reef" (Sharm El Sheikh), you should have with you many times one dollar. By and large, the staff here are friendly and helpful, but the room service staff is not at all against this bakshish. In order not to settle on the ground floor (it is at the level of the paths and can be seen walking), tourists pay extra $ 10. Sad Something this reminds ... Obviously, the reason for this phenomenon is the lack of motivation for their excellent work by managers.
Nutrition
The main restaurant of the hotel practices two food systems:
- actually the classic All inclusive, a red bracelet is issued;
- abbreviated All inclusive with a reduced lunch (snack), the bracelet is blue.
In the restaurant, the cuisine is predominantly Italian. This specificity is explained historically - in the 90s, with the formation of the resort industry of the Pharaoh’s Country, including the private business of Italy, it made decisive investments in Egypt, Sharm el-Sheikh. "Faraana Reef" refers specifically to such hotels of the first generation. However, further he, working profitably, is already invested in his own funds. The last major overhaul of the hotel complex took place in 2013.
However, as is obvious, in the 90s, starting a hotel business, the Italians put their chef. Well, Italian food has taken root. It is not surprising that Italians make up the majority of vacationers in Faraana Reef 4 *. Guest reviews about the professional skills of the chef are always positive. They mention favorite dishes on the restaurant menu. A lot of them. Let's try to list some:
- pizza ("Marinara" - with tomatoes and mozzarella; Hawaiian - with ham; Sicilian - with anchovies; "Fungi" - with mushrooms and sausage; "Diabola" - with salami and pepper; with tuna; with seafood);
- pasta (a la putanesca - with ham and herbs; with seafood; with mushrooms);
- lasagna (classical - bolognese, vegetable, mushroom);
- soups (minestrone and thicker - risotto).
Of course, this is an incomplete list of the offered cuisine of fellow countrymen Celentano. Perhaps the choice of dishes is less than in the classic Egyptian five-star hotel, but the quality of the available assortment, according to the reviews of guests of the Faraana hotel, is higher. Perhaps, in particular, for the quality food, the Faraana Reef Hotel (Sharm El Sheikh) received a stable rating in the famous Egyptian resort.
However, noting the full observance of the Italian style by the chef of the restaurant, we note that seafood in the menu of this "four-star" is available daily!
Resort facilities available to hotel guests
In addition to the main restaurant in the main building, the hotel also has a barbecue restaurant. It is located on the beach. It should be recognized that the dishes that are grilled there, along with uncomplicated vegetable snacks are a success. What caused this: the original taste of meat and fish with this kind of cooking or the surrounding surroundings, the crystal clear sea in the beach area of the Faraana Reef hotel, stars?
In addition to restaurants, hotel guests in the pool area from 10.00 to 18.30 can enjoy refreshments, various pizza (a feature of the "Italian" hotel), snacks, Egyptian beer and wine in the bars located on this territory. A beach bar generally works until 24.00.
Well, what if you wanted to try something exotic?
Nothing is easier! 10 minutes walk - and you are in Naama Bay, with its restaurants, hookah and various clubs.
If you walk (again) ten minutes, but in the opposite direction, you will see a shopping center. Here the prices are fixed, and they are quite moderate. By the way, the Egyptians themselves make purchases here. Therefore, it is best to buy soft drinks and additional fruits, ice cream here. Thus, the infrastructure of the city of Sharm el-Sheikh complements the possibilities of hotels. Faraana Reef 4 *, located within walking distance to its potential, clearly wins.
In the hotel itself, in addition to the beach and pools, there is a sufficiently developed infrastructure for outdoor activities. Some vacationers take advantage of its free features: they play volleyball, indoor soccer, tennis (large and small) at specialized venues, visit the fitness center and gym. However, judging by the reviews, the gym of the hotel complex is not in the best condition: some of the simulators still need repair.
The hotel also has a spa, sauna and hammam. However, we will not recommend them, as they are also not recommended by hotel guests.
Guests are also provided with a number of paid services. For those who want to dive into the underwater coral world, who do not have the appropriate experience, it is highly advisable to take a few lessons at the diving school that operates at the hotel. You should acquire certain skills, even diving with an instructor. Colorful underwater gardens are unsafe with their underwater currents and inhabitants.
Excursions
Almost all tourists, buying a tour to Egypt, plan to make several excursions. We reviewed Faraana Reef 4 * guest reviews to determine which ones are the most popular.
The least capacious in time - a variety of sea excursions. The hotel complex is located on the coast, and its guests are frequent guests of city tour agencies. What can, based on the experience of experienced tourists, recommend newly arrived hotel guests? To begin with - do not “spread thought on the tree”, planning exclusively long-distance sightseeing tours. Although for novice tourists, of course, it is useful to visit Cairo with its historical museum and the famous Giza plateau with four famous pyramids and the Sphinx - a visiting card of the Land of the Pharaohs.
Do not forget that the hotel complex Faraana Reef 4 * is located almost in the heart of Egypt - within walking distance from the famous bay of Naama Bay. Therefore, first we would recommend the hotel guests, I'm sorry for the commonplace, still figure out where they are. There are wonderful excursions directly to Naama Bay, which locals call their Las Vegas.
It is here, during a tour of this largest shopping center in Egypt, you can look at the market and shops of the Il-Mercato shopping area that tourists of the Pharaoh’s Country usually buy for themselves: dishes, souvenirs, clothing accessories. The Egyptians themselves, not without reason, say that all of Egypt is assembled in Naama Bay.
Diving
Ras Um al Sid Bay with its wonderful gorgon corals is one of the best diving spots in the world. The famous ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau believed that the underwater world of this bay, in its richness and uniqueness, takes pride of place in the top ten best in the world.
An interesting diving, which is written by divers - guests of the Faraana Reef Hotel, is promoted by the bottom relief of the bay, gradually lowering to a depth of 20 meters, which is extremely convenient for underwater excursions. Here is the famous wall of gorgon corals, and numerous underwater grottoes and caves.
The dream of any experienced diver is a night dive in the waters of the famous 60-meter coral pillar. The underwater world is diverse, rich and extremely beautiful.
Mini club
Various holidays await tourists visiting Egypt. Faraana Reef 4 * satisfies a wide variety of tastes. It is good for families who come with children, and youth who want bright entertainment.
For small holidaymakers from 4 to 14 years old, the hotel complex has a mini club. Polyglot animators deal with two groups of children: from 4 to 6 years old and from 7 to 14 years old. They have a mini-club room, a games and sports grounds, a children's pool. In the evening, for kids and teenagers, animators organize a mini-disco. Photos of hotel guests confirm this.
Conclusion
The described hotel is known in Sharm El Sheikh as an Italian club hotel complex. It is attractive to holidaymakers for its location (near Naam Bay, the heart of Sharm El Sheikh), a wonderful beach and a rich underwater world in its waters, various pools, Italian cuisine.
In addition, the prices for the tour with accommodation in it are quite affordable. Here, both residents of Western Europe and Russian-speaking holidaymakers rest. Traditionally, there are many Italians. Well, fans of classic Italian cuisine here generally feel at home.
The hotel complex is popular and can be recommended.