Concorde el Salam Hotel

The Concorde Sport Hotel rather than a 5 star was like a glorified holiday camp. The dining area could have been a lot better more like school dinners. The pools were not drained once the fortnight we were there. The massage "hut" poolside should have been inside the main building. One side open to view! nowhere to put belongings. Full of flies. The girls simply go from one client to another there is no washing facilities for them. We certainly wont be back nor recommend this hotel to anyone.

Disappointing and not worth the money.

As seasoned travellers we were disappointed with the Concorde el Salam Hotel in Sharm el Sheikh, and the All Inclusive deal.

I would rate this hotel as more of a 3.5*, not the 4.5 or 5* given in the brochures.

We found the rooms to be pretty standard size and the facilities. The bathroom afforded all the usual complimentary toiletries, and although it was cleaned very well every day the grouting between the tiles had discoloured, giving it a shabby appearance. We were in block 5, which was very well situated for the pool, and it was not too far to walk to the beach, restaurants and reception. You do need to be aware that this is a large complex, and some of the room blocks can be miles from the main pool, beach, reception and restaurants.

The pool area was very cramped. The sun beds were actually lined up touching each other with no room in between to access them! If you weren't down at the pool by 7.30am you struggled to get a bed at all. When someone else put their umbrella up you were often in the shade too! There are more beds down on the beach area, but like much of the Red Sea coast, it's not a very nice beach. Towels and mattress are provided. There was only one toilet at the pool, which was pretty ridiculous for the amount of people there. There was no waiter service around the pool and you had to fetch your own drinks, but the guys at the swim-up bar and all the hotel staff were extremely helpful and eager to please you.

On the food and drink side - The drinks (local spirits) were generous measures and mixed with whatever you chose, and they tasted great. They were no different to me than the usual imported stuff. You can not get a decent glass of wine, and the white wine leaves an antiseptic like aftertaste. Urgh!

My husband drank ample supplies of the beer, so it must have been OK.

The food at lunch time was OK. You could have pasta, pizza and salads from the Italian, which has a very nice terrace. Or burgers, tuna roll, hot dogs, fries, calamari at the pool (if you could get a table due to the restricted space).

The evening meals were dire. All buffet style, all the same - soup, salads, some sort of meat in a gravy, potatoes and veg. A good selection to be fair, but never hot enough, and very samey after the first 3 days.

We didn't enjoy the evening entertainment at all. A lot was audience participation - Mr Concorde, where the men did a variety of tasks to win points - all described in 5 different languages - burst the most balloons, sing, kiss the most ladies etc. Belly dancer, local folk dancers, a guy who sang badly to a guitar one night, then equally badly to the piano the next.

We did the snorkeling trip to Ras Mohammed Marine Park at a cost of £35 each - waste of money (booked with the rep). The trip was so rough that 3 of us were seasick, and it wasn't adverse conditions, it's normally like that. I managed one of the 3 snorkeling stops, and I found it disappointing! The snorkeling was better off the reef outside the hotel. I must say this was fantastic! The variety of fish was amazing and they came so close.

The weather of course was faultless.

I wouldn't go back here, and I wouldn't recommend it.

If you want a more up-market holiday, try the Movenpick Hotel in El Gouna. Fly into Hurghada and it's 20 minutes up the coast. The hotel is excellent, and the resort has a small downtown area and Marina. The restaurants all serve great food.

My girlfriend and I wanted some cheap winter sun in January so we decided to head to Sharm el Sheikh, Concorde el Salam. The hotel is situated in a quiet cove called Sharks bay with two other hotels. It is a short bus ride from Sharm el Sheik, which is nice but very touristy. Good for kids. Sharks Bay was much quieter with all amenities within the hotel grounds. We paid about £450 each all inclusive for a week so to be fair I wasn't expecting much. I was very pleasantly surprised. The hotel is large but not not a monolith. It is spread across a wide area punctuated by manuicured gardens and I think 4 swimming pools. We never tried the pools, or did we see anyone else in them; they were pristine but ice cold. I don't know why they were so cold because the air temperature was a lovely about 25C and the sea was about the same even late at night. The hotel itself was very clean, well kept and the staff fantastically helpful. Food was great, massive range and a good combination of buffet and cooked to order food from all over the world. There is also a lebanese restaraunt which was fantastic and a pool bar which served gerat burgers and kebabs. Drinks were great, local beer (bit like Grolsch) and spirits were all good. I only dared try the wine on the last day (6 days of beer from 9am and I had to have a change!). Surprisingly it was good. But alas only for cooking. The white was a lot better though.

Rooms were immaculate, airy and well serviced. Free movies for the kids and silent aircon. The minibar can be stocked at your request. They do charge for this but it works out at about £1 a drink.

Facilities are endless; running track, football pitch, basketball, tennis, squash, ice skating, horse riding (about £10), aqua gym resistance machines, full gymnasium, indoor pool, night club, shops, bank, blah blah blah. Everything but a cash point - there's one in the hotel next door, takes switch cards with no charge. Basically it has everything you need.

The best part of the hotel is not the building, it is the location. The reef meets the beach and 10-25m out you are it amazing snorkeling territory. We counted about 20 species of fish and they are there in there hundreds just meters from the beach. I say beach in the loosest sense. It's rock. It has been terraced well and is well equipped but there are no expanses of white sand. However go on a trip just 20 minutes away to the national park and you are on a beach that is 5 miles long, and you are there by yourself. If you do fancy any excursions I do recommend the Ras Mohammed National park and the quad bikes into the desert. The bikes are great but get good travel insuranes because they can be a bit hairy - but fantastic fun. We shared a bike and loved it, £25 for about 4 hours, fantastic value. Don't wear good clothes and do take a back pack with water, it is not provided and there is nowhere to get it.

To summarise then. The hotel staff are good, but great when tipped. Unfortunately there are a lot of Russians. I hate to make sweeping generalisations but on the whole they are a bunch of bad drunks and very bad dressers. They are also very rude to the staff. This is a good thing though because we found the staff loved the British holiday-makers as a result. Great food, cheap as chips, great booze, great facilities, good entertainment, great for kids, great staff, AMAZING snorkeling.

Is it 5*? No. I've been lucky enough to stay in some true 5* hotels; they have robes, exquisite food, wines, decor and a concierge that will take a bullet for you. Concorde El Salaam is not a Hilton or Raffles. It is "Egyptian 5*". It's a European 4* hotel with a LOT of facilities but if you are after 5* luxury then this hotel does not tick all the boxes. But it comes close. For me that was the only let down - it was sold as a 5* hotel. 5* hotels don't charge you US$10 for a bathroom. Concorde does. If it marketed itself as 4* I would literally not be able to find a single fault in this hotel.

Some tips for Egypt:

DO NOT GET ANY EGYPTIAN CASH IN THE UK!!! They will sell there mothers if the buyer paid in sterling. In the airport I baught fags (incidentally there is duty free on arrival for ciggys) they were £10 sterling, when I asked to pay in egyptian it worked out to be £15.

Do get GB£50 worth of Egyptian Pounds in small notes to use for tipping. Get used to it. Its common place in Egypt and not just for tourists. Little and often. About 10-50p for a waiter/barman or porter is fine. They will not be insulted if you don't tip but they do expect it. Do not tip more than this. There is a level of work ethic that Egyptians won't exceed no matter how much you tip.

Don't trust anyone. Sad but true. There is actually very little crime in Egypt. But, they are very good at adding extra charges or even trying to make you pay for visas that don't exist at the airport. Just say very firmly "No". You must look them in the eye. They soon back down and you find that they leave you alone very quickly.

Do not drink the water - very clean, no bugs, but very high mineral content.

Get your suncream here. The stuff there is useless.

Sharm el Sheikh, Concorde el Salam - We went here in February 2005. The hotel complex is very large and there is lots to do. The food is very good and varied, with lots for all tastes. The hotel staff are very friendly and go out of their way to make sure that you have a great holiday. Situated in Sharks Bay, it is about a 20 min bus ride away from the main Naama Bay centre. The hotel puts a complimentary shuttle service on several times a day. The hotel is spotless and there is lots to do. The best for us was snorkelling on the offshore reef. We enjoyed our holiday thoroughly and cannot recommend this hotel highly enough. We will definitely be returning.