we have just returned from sol y mar sea star, the hotel was very clean the staff were very friendly, mary our rep was very good, on hand if we had any problems, their beach was lovely and our thanks to emma and her gang (taba divers) who looked after us all on the boat trip. Food was good, a nice selection every day, but do not expect a full english breakfast ( you are in egypt after all! ). If you need anything at all in the hotel just ask, they are very willing to sort it out for you if possible.
Tip the guys on the bars ( especially Ahmed, the one with green eyes), usually found at the pool bar, he is great and will never leave you waiting for a top up!
Ahmed the towel guy will also look after you and will set out your sun beds every morning before you come down. Worth it to get your usual spot for a couple of small tips i.e 20 egyptian pound is only 2 quid.
The rooms were cleaned every day and to a good standard but you are expected to tip them around 100 EGP per week (10 quid) worth it though.
entertainment was a little limited but if you join in with the animation crew (casper and his gang) they try their best to keep you entertained.
In all it was a good two weeks and we would definately return to see eveyone again, they make you very welcome.

Michelle Tony & Ethan
Stone, Staffs

Just a short one from me as don't want to repeat all the positive things others have said!

This is a really great hotel for a cheap little getaway or late deal, my hubby and I had a lovely tiime here. We booked with Bookable holidays and it cost us about 350 PP!! All inc, we had a perfect break here.
The rooms are lovely and clean, the service impeccable, the management are visible and friendly. We actually got engaged at this hotel at the a la carte resturanet, a lot of the staff were in on the suprise and I have to say the hospitality was second to non. Both my hubby and I have to travel in our work, stay at hotels across the country and love to splurge out on luxury hols when we can that is (lol!) but of all the places we have travelled the Sea Star holds a special place in my heart!

I have to add we preffered ths hotel and location much more to Sharm El Sheik, and enjoyed travelling to the dead sea and Jerusalem while we were here. If you are going here and get chance to do this check out Travel Udi, a brilliant tour guide.

We were aalso ble to go into Eilat in Isreal for a night out and really enjoyed the experience. woud recommend a short stay here to anyone!

Im going to give you all a good decripitive review on the sea star as there is so much to tell about it.

Flights:

The flight is fine from the Uk to Taba, to warn you the landing can be a bit scary as the airport in taba is in the mountains so it can be a little short and sharp. Taba airport is terrible its tiny, and expensive they have orginised chaos with visa's. My advice to you is NOT to buy a visa UNLESS your going to cairo you dont need one just to go to the hotel and surrounding areas its a waste of money, unless obviously your going over border.

Transfer:
No reps are allowed inside the airport as its a miltary airport, so you will get a local rep to assist you. The transfer is less than 30 mins except for the windy mountain roads theres not alot wrong with it.

The military:
I thought I would place a short note on this, you will encounter alot of checks whilst your staying in taba, there are alot of military and police around with guns dont let this put you off its for our safety. You will also have armed guard with you on trips, but they are there more or less just for appearance we encountered no trouble over there.

Hotel:
The hotel itself is great, your rooms are spacious and well air conditioned and the cleaner was there more or less every day to clean our rooms. The staff are excellent and tend to your every need, Achmed the head barman is a wonder with the cocktails and works very long hours up to 17 a day!! The pools are cleaned daily and the pool boys will put your umbrella up for you as soon as you get there.

Animation Team:
Casper is the funniest man in the hotel he will have you doing aerobics, dancing to egyption songs and belly dancing. He really does make the holiday for kids and adults alike! We have also taught him rugby so if anyone fancies playing over there im sure casper will indulge you! Just rember his saying "huja mama!" and you will have an excellent time!

Food:
The food was good, the problem with it is that it was repetitve and I was annoyed that the al la carte resurants werent open! My advice to you is eat out every now and again down taba heights, they hold a fesitival every friday night and its excellent! About £14 return for 5 people. Drinks were good the lager is a little weak but plenty of variety in spirits!

Beach:
You must go down the beach and snorkel you will find so many different fish, we even saw an octopus! The beach bar is good and they hold a bbq every afternoon at 3pm..

Weather:
HOT! We didnt see a cloud for the 2 weeks we were there and it was averagin 105 every day! Stay out of the sun 2-5 it seems to be the hotest time of the day.

Trips:
They can be expensive so buget a few hunderd if you want to do petra or cairo or jerusalum. The stars and dinner trip is the best ive ever been on I would advise it no end! Dinner in dahab is good for shopping, but dont get the boat trip with the reps go down the beach and talk to the diving center they do it for £12 less.

Overall:
I did enjoy my trip to taba, the hotel is very remote and next time I may try down in taba heights but then you wouldent have the excellent casper to entertain you endlsey. The food by the end of your stay you will start to get sick of, I recommend Pub tandori in taba heights for an excellent curry! Remeber to take your passports everywere you go (except for our beach) your required to have them for every trip. Make sure you check out the views of saudi arabia, and jordan they are fantastic!

Have an excellent time, im sure you will! Any futher questions your welcome to ask me!

Just came back last week from Sol Y Mar Sea Star hotel in Taba, we stayed for two weeks from 3rd June, 2008. I have to say it has been one of the best holidays I have been on!
The staff at the hotel are absolutely fabulous, big thanks to Reda 1 and Reda 2 at the beach bar, they were great, also thanks to Emaad in the restaurant who was wonderful, he sent me herbal tea when I was in bed unwell (with Taba Tummy but more to do with me not drinking enough water than the food) the food, by the way, was great, it was the Egyptians twist on everything English, roast chicken, salads, french fries, omlettes etc, yes it does get samey after a while but do you honestly eat something different at home every day of the week? If I like something I might have it two or three times a week. My parner particularly liked the fish which was fresh every day, he generally had this with rice which was always available and lovely!
Casper, the animation team leader was really friendly, we are not big join in people, and he took our "no thanks" every night really well, but he still tried!!
The golf Course at Taba Heights was lovely, my guy played one round, he tee'd off at 7.00am and was glad of the early start as the weather was so hot, the course is beautiful, overlooking the Red Sea with the Sinai mountains behind some of the holes have awesome views!
The snorkelling was also great, the hotel has its own private beach with a little reef, I saw an octopus on my very first day! The beach was never crowded, no more than 30% of the beds were taken on any day, thanks also to Emma at the dive centre on the beach, she made my very first scuba dive really easy!
We went into Taba Heights a couple of times which makes a change and has some nice little shops for gifts, many thanks to our Thomson Rep Mary for all the info!
On the downside, we did take a couple of Thomson trips, whilst the trips themselves were very good, the organisers were filming the trips and we paid for dvds of each of these (Red Sea Cruise and Dinner and Stars) unfortunately these dvds are not very good quality so probably not worth the money unless you don't have a camera with you at all. On the plus side we did take an evening cruise to Pharoahs Island with one of the Dive Centre boats and we ended up being the only four people on the boat with three crew!! What luxury!!!
Other than that, as I said, it was one of the best holidays I have had, we will definately be returning to the Sol Y Mar, maybe when its a little cooler!!