Cleopatra Tsokkos Hotel

tHIS IS MY LETTER TO THEM, YOU DECIDE

I am writing with regard to my recent holiday at one of your hotels in Sharm El Sheikh. I have spent close on £2000 including my flights for a two week stay between 7th to 21st of October 2009. I would like to register numerous complaints about the Hotel and would be interested to hear your response on this matter. The Cleopatra Hotel is the worst holiday experience I have ever had. I am 43 years old and have been on many holidays overseas. My wife has been to Sharm on two previous occasions and was very enthusiastic about the resort and the Hotel she stayed at. This convinced me to go with the family but we sadly chose your hotel. What a pity we made that decision. I will now outline my complaints and then make it easier for you to respond. Booked via

1. the place was dirty and in a very poor state of repair.

2. the food was dull and repetitive.

3. the all inclusive was actually not all inclusive as the other hotels operate.

4. the staff on the whole were ok.

5. the games area was a disgrace with all the equipment of no use. bent pool table, broken snooker table, bent table tennis table, table football broken, all surrounded by the odour of the toilets that is is next too. the only way these could be used was because the two entertainers provided their own cues and bats.

6. the swimming pool was dirty and the pool has been repaired with a liner that is creased and damaged.

7. the sun loungers were damaged and the cushions were split and certainly had not been cleaned for some time.

8. the massage beds were cracked and split.

9. the masseur continually walked around touched women around the pool. if I did that I would be slapped by the women, if I did it the UK I would be arrested and I don't know what would happen if in Egypt I did it to an Egyptian women.

10. the TV in the room was broken and you had to put your finger inside the TV to turn it on.

11. the bath, shower and toilet were filthy and stained as were the sheets and the towels.

12. the tennis court looked like a gang of road workers had been there and he net was in the shape of a w.

13. I was pestered for tips from the pool attendant asking for my shoes. the cleaners also were the same.

14. we did two trips from the hotel. we did a quad bike trip to the mangroves promoted by the hotels4u.com rep he assured us that included food and drink and would not involve any money. during the trip we had been asked for money for drinks, we were asked to buy scarves and to pay for photos.

15. we also were asked to pay for photos on a boat trip and this trip which to ros Mohammed via the diving people in the hotel and this was dangerous, not only were there too many people in the water at the same time but also the fact that there were only two helpers in the water for 25 people, not all who were good swimmers.

16. the pool area was not clean including litter and bottles that were there for 3 days along with ash trays that had not been emptied.

17. the cleaners obviously had food that they ate in the stair area between the rooms, there were cups and plates with food on that stayed there for three days on two occasions. this is an invitation for cockroaches and vermin.

18. the landing area was dirty with broken lights and work being done to fit a fire hose, this rubble caused by making a hole in the ceiling was not cleaned up and left on the floor. my wife stumbled on this on a number of occasions as she walks with a stick.

19. the ability to get water is essential in such a hot climate, especially for my wife who is on a lot of medication and needs water to take the tablets, she was refused water until 10am unless we paid for it. as you cannot take it to your room on the all inclusive this proved to a problem.

20. the only saving grace for your hotel were the three entertainers Alex, Ahmed and Mohammed and they were very entertaining. they did this with a faulty Karaoke system, a broken cd player and poor equipment. they did their best with what they have. they deserve better.

I can send you photos of the item as described and I am forwarding this to the booking agent, to the hotel and to you. I am keen to hear your reply and what recompense you will make, this was an expensive holiday for me and my family that has been a pointless exercise. In addition during the stay many people suffered with stomach problems which appears to be cause by the tap water ice served in drinks.

The staff at the Cleopatra Tsokkos Hotel are the best they never stop smiling. Hotel very clean. The whole hotel staff are so kind you should go there. Bad point, not much except bad dj ain't that good.

If you want to eat out may we recommend The Columbus just a short walk away near Fantasia. We booked our diving course in the dive centre at the hotel. Our instructor, Piers, was excellent and had great patience with us.

We are about to return to the Cleopatra (this time half board) for a week to do some more diving. We can't wait, yet once again there are some awful reviews about. Where are these people staying? Reef beach and Sharks bay are lovely. Do go snorkelling (or diving if you feel adventurous). Don't stay by the pool all day, you're in Egypt by the Red Sea and Sinai, explore and enjoy!

When we decided to have a second holiday this year we decided to go somewhere that neither of us had been before. Egypt was a destination that we had discussed in the past but had never entertained as a 1st choice destination.

Sham El sheikh was everything that we had hoped for, wall to wall sunshine clear turquoise water, coral and what fish, a delight to behold.

If only the hotel had come half way to equaling the rest we would have been ecstatic with our decision. However this was not to be the case. As you will see from the comments before we feel the hotel fell short on every level to do with customer care. If we had been dumped in the desert we may have had a better time.

My wife and I stayed at this hotel on our first trip to Sharm and we had a very pleasant stay.

Bearing in mind that the hotel is a 3*, you do get what you pay for. The staff were very helpful and friendly and we had no issues with the food, when we returned from our day trip to Cairo at 10.30pm, dinner had finished, but the chef went out of his way to provide us with a meal.

The entertainment guys were always trying to gee everyone up during the day and join in with things, although if you just want to sunbathe they are a bit annoying. In the evening we found the entertainment quite good, with something different each night - karaoke, Arabic dances, bingo etc... Although be warned that they repeat each week identically so if you are going for 2 weeks it will be repetitive. Our room was ok, and had air con although was a little sparse, but again it is 3*!

The games room was 'well-used', table football, pool table and ping pong - all not in good working order.

If you are wanting a quieter holiday, do not ask for a room overlooking the pool area as you will not get to sleep before 12.30pm.

The immediate area around the hotel is a little barren (no doubt future building sites) but you are within a 10 minute walk of the beach, a small shopping area (Amar Sina hotel) and a bit further on - the Fantasia shopping area where I spent a lot of my time.

The area was ideal for us (we are going back in 2 weeks) as we did not want to be in the middle of Narma Bay. When we did fancy a trip in there was a free mini bus to Narma, although the timing wasn't that good coming back and we had to get a taxi.

The hotel has a few shops, when we arrived at 9pm we were 'jumped on' to buy things, something which was a little annoying, but it is advisable to shop around as the hotel shop prices were a lot more than what I paid for souvenirs. The taxis parked outside the hotel were very good and gave fair prices.

If you are thinking of doing a few of the excursions I do advise that you go the excursions booths at the Amar Sina or at Fantasia rather than booking through your rep. Our day trip to Cairo was £170 each with our rep and I paid £110 locally, which turned out to be a fantastic day - small group, well organised and good guide.