Sunday, July 16, 2006

Our Hotel

We stayed at the Cleopatra Hotel the two weeks we were in Egypt. Now I will state that the reason we chose this hotel was because it wasn't the most expensive hotel on offer. In fact, it was just one step up in price from the un-air conditioned accommodation. We weren't expecting great things from this hotel as it was such a bargain. I must admit that even though there were some signs of gentle wear and odd decor, we were pleased with the place.

The staff bent over backwards to be helpful to us. Nothing was too much trouble. It seemed that they had a genuine desire to make our stay pleasant.

This is Vicky and the hotel "entertainer" Alex. He organized the music, games in the pool and in the evening he ran bingo or karaoke. Despite the cheesy wacky exterior, he was a well educated and interesting man (degree in sports technology from University of Cairo). He was brilliant with the children and teenagers, remembering all their names and keeping them happy so that the parents could relax by the pool or at the pool side bar.
This is Mohammed, one of the very efficient waiters. He kept George supplied with coke and orange pop. George at the pool side bar with water, Coke and Fanta - shown written in Arabic. By the way, George says that the Coke tastes exactly the same but the orange Fanta is a bit different but not so different that he didn't stop drinking it.

One of the nice surprises was the attention that our rooms got each day from the cleaning staff. All the toiletries would be lined up carefully next to the bathroom sink and sometimes they would make things with our bath towels and decorate them with flowers. . .

They made a crocodile, using the tips of Henry's travel tool set for teeth. Unfortunately George got his head stuck in the croc's mouth.

1 comment:

T said...

That crocodile is so clever!

Really enjoying your holiday reports.

We buy German Diet Coke from Costco and it tastes really different to UK Coke (nicer!). Must be the water and the different sweetners they use.