Hot summer deals

It's summer time, and travelling is easy -- Egyptian resorts are offering lots of attractive package deals for holiday makers. Rehab Saad guides you through the best summer bargains
As soon as summer comes, hotels and resorts all over Egypt announce special offers to lure holiday makers. Some of these offers are great value for vacationers, while others can only be described as reasonable.
Traditionally, the Egyptian summer is a low season for international tourism, with foreign hotel occupancy rates not exceeding 40 per cent. This year's seasonal drop is further compounded by the current tension in the Middle East, which is affecting tourism in the region as a whole. Hoteliers are turning to the local market -- Egyptians and foreign residents -- with package offers to suit all budgets.
Sinai hotels in Sharm El-Sheikh, Dahab, Nuweiba and Taba, where occupancy is well down, are offering great bargains for holiday makers. Even Alexandria -- usually chock-a-block at this time of year -- has been affected by the political situation. Even though this is the city's high season, one of its most famous hotels, the Sheraton Montazah, is offering a tempting summer package for the first time in its history. Hotel officials say they do not have the usual numbers of travellers, and add that while they used to deal extensively with the corporate market and foreign companies, there has been a marked drop in this sector.
As a result, and coupled with the Egyptian holiday season being at its height, hotels and resorts are competing to fill rooms. Never have holiday makers had such a choice of favourable summer deals.
Here are Al-Ahram Weekly's holiday suggestions, the most attractive summer packages on offer. These offers are all especially priced for Egyptian and foreign residents, and are subject to availability.
El-Gouna resort, 20kms north of Hurghada on the Red Sea, is making tempting offers to summer guests. The resort, famous for its picturesque artificial lagoons and Nubian-style architecture, has a wide array of activities including diving, water skiing and golf. El-Gouna is often described as a "miniature paradise" on the Red Sea.
At the Steigenberger Golf Resort El-Gouna you can save up to LE95 for a double room per night on holidays booked before the end of September. In this period, the room rate drops from LE360 for a double room with breakfast to LE265 for a double room with half board, including taxes and service charges. So you won't only save LE95, but you will enjoy extra meals too.
El-Gouna's Rihana Hotel offers no discount on room rates or accommodation, but it does give a free fourth night to holiday makers who book in for three. Each paid night is LE149 per person in a double room with half board, including all taxes and service charges.
A lucrative package is on offer by the Swiss Inn chain, which owns three hotels in El-Gouna: Sultan Bey, Dawar El-Omda and El-Khan. If you book your holiday this month you will not only save up to LE70 per night for a double room, but you will be able to earn free nights as well. All three hotels offer double rooms for LE260 per room half board, including service charges and taxes, against the usual rate LE330 per double room. If you book three nights you will get the fourth free, and if you book five you will get two more.
Sheraton Miramar officials claim that they have the most competitive prices on the Red Sea coast. Through the month of August, they are offering double rooms for LE200 bed and breakfast, tax and service charge-inclusive, a discount of LE70 on the usual rate.
For those who like to holiday in style at a reasonable price, then Mövenpick El-Gouna could be a suitable choice. This elegantly-styled Red Sea resort offers a tempting break which could allow you to save up to LE210 on the bed and breakfast rate. A double room in Mövenpick El-Gouna, which could cost LE460 in high season, will now cost only LE250, with breakfast, on Sundays through to Wednesdays. At weekends the price is LE30 more, with the rate mounting to LE280. This rate applies until the end of September. If you want to escape the summer crowds and book your holiday in October, you could still benefit from a certain discount, but with a higher fee -- LE330 for a double room with breakfast. Yes, you will have to pay an extra charge ranging from LE50 to LE70 for an October stay, but the added peace may be worth it.
Honeymooners can also benefit from a special deal if they stay in Mövenpick El-Gouna this summer. The "Paradise Package" is the hotel's offer for newly-weds. This honeymoon special is for three nights with half board for only LE1,234 including taxes and service charges, and includes a special transport service from and to the airport, a welcome drink upon arrival, a wedding cake and an upgrade to a suite upon availability.
There are some more good Red Sea offers in Hurghada's hotels. Three Corners Village Empire offers a double room for LE220 half board, including service charges and taxes. This also offers the fourth night free on bookings of three nights.
On the other hand, if you book a holiday at Conrad Hurghada Resort this month through to the end of September you will be able to make substantial savings. The hotel offers three nights for LE750 per person in a double room on half board -- which means one night costs LE250. If you try to book a room at the Conrad at any other time of year you will find it will set you back from LE300 to LE480 for half board, depending on the season. The package does not only include a discount on room and food rates, but it also includes a late check-out, free use of the health club and free transport from and to Hurghada airport. Moreover, there is no charge for children under six years, while those between six and 12 are given a 50 per cent discount.
If you want to avoid Hurghada and its summer holiday crowds and opt for a quieter resort, you could head south along the coast towards Port Safaga. A price-saving deal is on offer from Three Corners Amira Hotel, where a double room will cost you LE186 for half board. Again, if you book three nights you will get the fourth night free.
In Qusseir, more southerly still than Port Safaga, is the elegant Mövenpick Qusseir Resort, known for its serenity and state-of-the-art diving and snorkelling facilities, you could save up to LE145 if you booked your holiday during the month of August. Double room rates this month have dropped from LE325 to only LE180 per night for a minimum stay of three days, with breakfast. There is no charge for children under 12 staying in their parents' room, and a 50 per cent discount on their meals.
If you are not having a vacation unless you are in Sinai, then this is your chance to make use of the extensive bargains on offer there this month and until the end of September. Sharm El- Sheikh hotels -- as well as those of Dahab and Taba -- are offering the best deals ever.
In Conrad Sharm El-Sheikh you again have to book three nights in order to make use of the discount. The rate for three nights is LE780 for a double room with breakfast, and you then get a fourth night free. This means that if you stay in a double room for four nights it will cost you LE195 per night, a saving of up to LE205 per night on the usual room rate of LE400, including breakfast.
If you choose Sheraton Sharm El-Sheikh for a vacation, you will not have a discount on your room rate but you will enjoy full-board accommodation, which means you will get three meals a day for the price of the room. A double room will cost LE370 a night with a minimum stay of two nights if you book your holiday this month. Prices for single rooms are LE285 per night. Usual prices are LE280 for a double room with breakfast and LE380 for half board. For single rooms, the usual rate is LE250 with breakfast and LE300 half board, so it does give savings on meal prices.
At Hyatt Regency Hotel you could save up to LE83 per night if you make up your mind now to book a holiday. From the original rate of LE398 for a double room with breakfast, the rate has dropped this month to LE315. If you want half board accommodation you will be charged LE60 extra per person per dinner against the usual table d'hôte fee of LE113. In cooperation with Thomas Cook, Hyatt Regency is offering a three- day stay for LE919 per person in a double room with half board. The price includes a return flight to Cairo.
Another hotel offering full board accommodation in Sharm El- Sheikh is the Holiday Inn Resort. For LE320 for a double room, you can enjoy a fun-filled stay making use of a free hour of tennis, squash, or billiards plus use of the exercise room, as well sumptuous meals. The usual rate is LE340 for a double room with breakfast only. Families can also take advantage of special treatment in the hotel. Couples with children may be upgraded to a suite for an extra charge of only LE50 per night. This offer is valid until mid-December, excluding public holidays and feasts.
If you want to save up to LE111 per night, then Sofitel Accor Hotels and Resorts is the place. For LE270, against the LE381 usual rate, Sofitel is offering a double room with breakfast throughout August. If you want to save more you could wait until September, when the price will drop to LE220 for a double room with breakfast.
In Dahab in Sinai, prices have been cut drastically. In a hotel such as Coralia Club Dahab guests are offered a nearly 50 per cent discount throughout August and September. For LE170 you can get a double room with full board -- in other words, each person pays only LE85 for one night's accommodation, meals included, as opposed to the usual LE310 for a double room with half board. So you will save up to LE140 per night if you book now.
In Taba, offers are also competitive. In Taba Hilton Hotel a double room in August will cost LE176 with breakfast, saving up to LE54 a night. If you stay until September you could get an even better offer as the double room rate will drop to LE110, including half board accommodation. The usual rate for a double room is LE220 with breakfast only.
In Hyatt Regency Taba Heights you can save up to LE50 per night if you book a room in August or September. For LE250 a night, you can book a double room with half board, saving LE50 on the usual LE300.
If you want to escape the heat of the Red Sea and Sinai you could make your way up to the Mediterranean, specifically to Alexandria. If you choose Sheraton Montazah you can enjoy an almost 50 per cent discount on the room rate. From the usual price of LE600 for a double room (room only) you could now, and until the end of October, book a double room for LE320 with breakfast, basis including taxes and service charges, if you stay a minimum of three nights between Sunday and Wednesday. A room with a sea view is an extra LE40 per person per night.
If you are a Cairo resident and have no chance to travel to any of Egypt's resorts, you can make use of the deals offered by Cairo hotels especially those situated in more far-flung areas such as the Cairo--Alexandria road in the Pyramids district. Meridien Pyramids, for example, is offering, this month and until the end of September, double rooms for LE300 per night and single rooms for LE250, with breakfast and including taxes and services, thus giving guests the chance to save up to LE70 on double rooms and LE40 on singles per night. Usual rates are LE370 for double rooms and LE290 for single, and breakfast is extra.
If you want to feel you are in a real resort then you can spend a wonderful weekend in Cataract Pyramids Resort on the Saqqara road, down from the usual LE390 to LE280 for a double room with breakfast. Guests can thus save up to LE110 a night by booking in August. The package includes service charges and taxes.
In Intercontinental Pyramids Park, you could save up to LE90 per night in August, when a double room in the hotel will cost you only LE250, including breakfast, service charges and taxes, against LE340 for the room only during the rest of the year. The package also includes late check out. Children under 12 will have a complimentary stay in their parents' room.
Summer is here. and there's no excuse to stay at home -- just choose the offer that suits you, your family and your budget.
Information was correct on time of print. The newspaper is not responsible for any change of prices that could be done by hotels or resorts.
Alexandria
Sheraton Montazah, Tel: (03) 548 0550
Cairo (Pyramids)
Cataract Pyramids Resort , Tel: 384 2901/3/7
Intercontinental Pyramids Park, Tel: 383 8666
Meridien Pyramids, Tel: 383 0383
Dahab
Coralia Club, Tel: (069) 640 301
El-Gouna
Mövenpick El-Gouna, Tel: (065) 544 501/(065) 580 120
Rihana, Tel: (065) 580 025/029
Sheraton Miramar, Tel: (065) 545 606/680
Steigenberger Golf Resort El-Gouna, Tel: (065) 580 140/142
Swiss Inn chain, Tel: (065) 545 0060/2/3
Hurghada
Conrad Hurghada Resort, Tel: (065) 443 250-7
Three Corners Village Empire,
Tel: 336 5202/5/6
Port Safaga
Three Corners Amira Hotel, Tel: 336 5202/5/6
Qusseir
Mövenpick Qusseir Resort, Tel: (065) 332 100
Sharm El-Sheikh
Conrad, Tel: (069) 670 585/595
Holiday Inn Resort. Tel: (069) 602 130
Hyatt Regency, Tel: (069) 601 234
Sheraton, Tel: (069) 602 070
Sofitel Accor Hotels and Resorts,
Tel: 069 600 081
Taba
Hilton Hotel, Tel: (069) 530 140
Hyatt Regency Taba Heights, Tel: 577 7828
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