Arrived at the concorede on sunday 6th July first impressions was wow room was lovely view ok, the A.I was basic to say the least finished at 11, then it was very expensive and also the prices changed all the time. the water was never cold and they also never had any change to give you, the bar staff are very friendly once you have tipped them a couple of times. There were loads of russuans who were very rude and thought they owned the place the entertainment was rubbish it was like ground hog night every night the live band were not live they would plug in the ipods or laptops and just sing from there, also it was generally for the locals and the russuans and the czechs i have never seen so many english people playing cards travel scrabble and monoperly at night. beach was lovely people selling the trips on the beach were great never pushey me and my partner did a scuba dive it cost ?45 each but it ended up being a full day trip as well doind loads of snorkling and free food a drink too. Our rep i thought was none existent every time we had a problem her day of would change or she would come early instead of the time stated. also when you check out they cant wait to cut your bands off before anything else if tou have a night flight your A.I will finish at 3 then you will have to pay ( bit wrong i think). Also at the airport if you are over on your bags they will charge you ?10 per kilo over so make sure you use you hand luggage as lee way.

Firstly we stayed in the sports complex, however we did book the main hotel, when we mentioned this to thomas cook they said we had to pay an extra supplement, even though we paid ?50 more per person to stay in the main hotel compared to the sport at the time of booking. This seemed to happen a lot with other thomas cook customers not sure about other tour operators so if you did book with thomas cook i would check with them before you leave as you may well end up in the sport complex. After checking out both sides there didnt seem to be much differance other than the the main hotel is on the beach and the sports hotel seemed quieter. The hotel was very clean, had the room cleaned everyday by the maid and the room was nice. You do need to be up early to get a sun bed as by 10ish there were none left, even though some people would hardly use there sunbed all day. The problem with the hotel is the all inclusive, there are too many ifs and buts with what is included, such as ice cream is included in the day but not at night, only beer, wine and local spirits are included, you have to pay for cocktails ?2.50, juices ?2, and drinks such a named spirts for example ?6 for a malibu and coke, also water is free but if you want a bottle you pay ?1 even though it comes from the same bottle. There is no mini bar enless you pay, and you have to pay after 11pm at the bar which is annoying. Also there is only 1 small bar in the sport side at night and it can get a little busy could do with another bar. The food was good, however did get very repetative after 2 weeks and the food a lunch time is the same as at night, also they charge you to have ice cream, and if you want to take food away eg fruit or cakes. The service could be better in the resturant sometimes we got a drinks quick other times we didnt even get asked if we wanted a drink. The resturant did seem to get busy round 8ish in the second week of our holiday, possible due to the start of the school holidays starting. One thing i could not get my head round was the queueing for a plate and food, us english will queue for the buffet from one end and half the buffet will be empty. Normally people just get a plate and go to the areas they want to get there food from but here people just seemed to queue (but thats us english we love to queue for everything even when it isnt needed).Also the food is only served between 7-1030, 1300-1500 and 1900-2200, if you miss these times you will have to wait or pay for room service. I didnt get ill while away neither did my girlfriend however some people we spoke to did have upset stomach, so i couldnt say the reason behind this maybe its differant foods. Over all it was a nice place, however i would proberly try a differant hotel because of the all inclusive thing, iv never known there to be all these differant rules with an all inclusive. When iv been to all inclusives in mexico and cuba everything was included, mini bar, all the resturants, all drinks inc cocktails and branded drinks, and food and drink was 24hours (isnt that the concept of a all inclusive?).

The hotel reception area/dining room/ very nice but the rooms are tired and the curtains and bed throws are in serious need of a wash. The majority of hotel staff are very pleasant but a couple of the waiters don't like being asked for things by females - sad. Saying that the pool/sun bed guys are great – we were told to take with us ?1 coins and each day to give the sun bed guy a coin once he had ?10 he asks you to swap them – by doing this your favourite bed is there ready and waiting for you, when and if you need it, we did go out and about but the time spent at the pool or beach we always had really good beds. This is the first time we have stayed in a hotel over-run by Russians - arrogant, rude, bullies and well they take over the place which is very unfair. They have very little control over their children who are allowed to run all over the restaurant, not the safest place in the world to run around for you or the kids. The food is basic, fairly bland – would recommend the pancakes though. The fact that everyone is expected to get a bad stomach is awful, the reps don’t help with any advice in that quarter – so go prepared. Our Thomas Cook rep Fiona was loud and not that helpful. Trips to Cairo & Giza were great, as was the overnight stay to Petra but it could have been run by a better company on the Jordan side as we spent 2:5 hours on the side of the road while a farce took place for the driver and co to change a tyre, it would have helped if he had listened to the passengers on the bus who were telling him that they were tightening the nut. Piece of advice if you do go on this trip – it’s great really it is, but make sure your name is on the list given to you on the return journey on the ferry as if it’s not the customs – who let you through the day before and stamped your passport accordingly – will threaten you that they will send you back to Jordan. On another note to do with the rep make sure you check the dates and days that you have booked a trip, Fiona messed up our trip to Raz Mohammed but we were told that we could go the next Friday, sadly that was the day after we come home! Our rep Fiona didn't recommend the dive centre onthe beach but a far more expensive one, my husband used the centre on the beach half the price and dive packages to suit where he wanted to go and more to the point when. Taric was brilliant as were all the team there. Don't be put off by the shack appearance of the dive centre - they are a lovely group of people. All in all it was a good holiday but a week would have probably been better then we could have travelled to another centre. I personally would give Concorde a miss – nice but not for two weeks.

When first researching this hotel and finally choosing it we spent a fair time going through the reviews. The general consensus throughout is that you either get the hotel you asked for and have a great time or get food poisoning and hate it. So as we've just returned last night (21st July) I thought I'd share our thoughts and give you an idea of what the hotels are like... We booked through Thomas Cook and on reflection got a pretty good deal. (Approx ?500 for a week in the height of the summer) A week before we were due to set off we had a letter through the post saying that we had been booked in to the sport complex and there was a admin problem on the site. After various attempts of trying to get through, we eventually gave up and accepted our fate. Now a note on this because its really annoying, If you book with Thomas Cook they still are falsely adverting the hotel on there website. * Ask them before you travel, So, after an appalling fight with Thomas Cook (reasons being) - Very poor in-flight entertainment - Prison like food - Cramped conditions - circa 1980's plane We arrived at Sharm El Sheikh airport. (bit crazy and unorganised, also if you're not going to Luxor or Cairo, you don’t need to pay for a visa) The bus started to drop people off and as the main Conchord hotel was 1st we got to look at the place we were meant to be staying. Of the 2 parts to the hotel, the main section is definitely more attractive to look at. We arrived at the sport side and were efficiently checked in. As AI ends at 11pm we couldn't get a drink and just went to the room (admittedly p*ssed off that we a) couldn't get a drink for free and b) we'd be moved and had the less attractive hotel) The room was very clean and comfortable though, so no complaints what so ever about that. In the morning, we had really cheered up. The weather was fantastic and on further inspection of the resort we were pretty happy. Everything was really clean and well presented. Quick note about the weather. Although its 35c-40c there is an amazing cool breeze that last most of the day. Makes its really comfortable and easy to tolerate the heat. On the second day we went over to the main complex to have a good noisy about. There is a bus that constantly runs so its really not a problem at all.. Takes 2 mins and we used it all the time. So here's the thing. We were booked out to the sport and by the looks of things so were many others. Sorry that I’ve waffled on a bit so I’ll keep it simple and bullet point what our opinion was of both the hotels. MAIN SECTION Good points - Very nicely lay out - Slightly bigger choice on bars restaurants - Beach on site Bad points - Way to busy - Most sun loungers are away from either beach or pool - The majority of the rooms don’t have good views - Reports of waiting ages to be seated etc SPORT Good points - Very friendly and personable staff - Can always get a sun lounger next to pool (We never had a problem) - Restaurant was always pretty easy to get seating and get some food - More of a cool breeze in sport (weird as its not next to the sea, but main is more secluded) - Good view of either pool or sports complex on the majority of the rooms Bad Points - Not quite as good for photo opts - As on both hotels, AI is sometimes limited (Didn’t really bother us that much though) And that’s about it!!! We thought that we'd be annoyed but after spending time in both complex's we found the sport very much more quieter / relaxing and if you didn't find that they hey it's a 2 min bus ride to the main complex... If you want a relaxing holiday with amazing weather then I'd suggest it. We didn't get ill but maybe because we were careful. I genuinely think that some people talked themselves into getting ill. Anyhow, dont drink the water, be careful of the sun (Breeze makes it feel a lot less hot) and if you do get booked out of the main complex, its really not the end of the world. The sport is a really nice hotel and the main hotel is i'm not kidding a stones through away... Have fun Oh, quickly - The duty free on the way back is rubbish! Really expensive and to be honest it probably more expensive than just going to macro. Also food is total rip off '?5 for a slice of pizza.' Although on the whole I thought the Egyptian people were friendly they don’t half try and rip you off when they can!!! Beware of supermarkets with no prices on them - Always ask the price!