We booked the apartment for a week during the May school holidays. The holiday was for myself, my partner and our two boys, aged 5 and 3.
We went away last year to spain for a fortnight and the experience was not great so we were a little trepidatious this year, but we need not have worried, this time was perfect.
We were picked up from the airport and transported to the apartment, door to door by the taxi arranged by the apartment manager, for those of you that have been to Egypt before, you will know that the taxis can be an experience, but this one was very nice, clean and modern.
We were then met at the apartment by the host who welcomed us and had the apartment in perfect condition, including a bowl of fresh fruit and bottled water in the fridge.
We cannot over emphasise how great it was to know that whatever we wanted, the host was there to point us in the right direction. There was very little that we needed but when we did, he was always ready to go far more than the extra mile and at a moment's notice, nothing was too much trouble at all, from local knowledge of restaurants, to excursions, etc. he was always there to help.
The apartment is a good size with 2 very large double bedrooms, a living area, kitchen and 3 bathrooms, all with showers. There is airconditioning in every room which is very welcome in the Egyptian heat. There is a balcony overlooking the impeccably kept garden and onwards to the pool and surrounding area.
The beach is less than a 5 minute walk away and is perfect for small children as it is very shallow for a very long way, with lovely crystal clear warm water lapping around your knees. There are Jetties which you can walk along to get to the deeper water for some snorkelling and the real Red Sea experience, it is also possible to dive on this house reef, I did not do any diving on this trip but have dived the region many times in the past.
The apartment overlooks one of the many pools in the resort, and is at the end of the pool which has the children's section, a circular area about knee deep which the boys loved to play in while we could swim in the deeper section knowing they were safe. All of the facilities we used were perfectly clean and well kept.
We did not see any need to go to any of the other pools in the hotel complex but did go to have a look and they were all excellent, with the largest one having waterfalls and bridges and areas of differing depths to cater for all tastes. Although a communal pool, the one outside the apartment was very quiet and never felt overcrowded, most of the time, we were the only people in it.
There is a McDonalds, KFC, Chinese restaurant and Hard Rock Cafe all within a 10 minute walk, McD's and KFC deliver for no charge, as do the supermarkets, there are also various shops and other restaurants on the way to these, including pizza and a beer shop (Supermarkets don't sell alcohol), for the essentials ;o) Prices are similar to home, an average adult meal from KFC or McD's costing around 50le, which is about £5, and a 500ml Heineken export (genuine) comes in at 15 le, or £1.50.
Genuinely, we cannot recommend this apartment enough, it is very clean, well maintained and in an excellent location, with all of the facilities required in easy reach. And Armands, the host, made it perfect.
Would we recommend the apartment? without question, and we will be back, we are already planning our next trip.