We stayed here for a week in June and although the hotel is nice there are too many things that let it down.
This is not really an all inclusive hotel but a full board with drinks. We were always worried that we would have a big bill at the end of the week and so could not really enjoy ourselves. You can not drink from the mini bar even bottled water or you will be charged, even though you can go to the bar and have as much as you want. We were smuggeling bottels of water back to our room. Although there are about 5 restaurants, only the main buffet is included. There is a grill for bar snacks like burgers and chips, but again this is not included. If you have children that are likely to want something in between meals this is not the place for you.
The rooms are big and spacious as is the bathroom, but there were days when house cleaning did not coming till 6.30pm.
The pool is nice and big, but there is not really enough sunbeds. The beach is stony but a short walk up to the Hyatt and there is a lovely beach and good coral reef for snorkelling.
What really lets this hotel down is the food. Normally it would be a good thing to have no chips or pizza, but here it wasnt. The food was dull and boring and the same everyday, though the staff in the dining room were great.
There was very little evening entertainment and what there was, was not very good. 2 Phillapino girls singing 3 times a week, it was like bad karaoke.
This hotel could be great but it lacks somthing. If you have been to a good all inclusive before do not go here or you will be dissapointed.
Its not bad, its just not that good

Stayed at the Intercontinental from 3 to 17 June 08.

We booked with Thompson’s and flew with First Choice from Manchester. As this length of flight is deemed to be short haul I squeezed into the Boeing cattle truck and prepared to lose the use of my legs. We took off an hour late for no apparent reason and then found that the film was unavailable to rows 1-20 on left hand side (guess where I was) and so I amused myself watching the staff try to cope with being handed Thompson free drinks vouchers when it obviously isn’t in first Choice training pack. We eventually arrived at Taba hut and got through to our coach remarkably quickly. The return journey with the added bonus of the lady in front of me with the extra leg room also reclining like she had a contract to kneecap me. she was sick several times(ha ha ha) None of this is fault of hotel so I won’t deduct anything.

If you travel to Egypt you will get an upset stomach to some degree and whilst neither my wife or I were confined to bed my stomach bubbled away for two weeks like a stew in the slow cooker.

Arriving at the Intercontinental we were checked in pretty quickly and after identifying our cases we were pointed into the darkness in general direction of the Atrium building where we found our room on floor 3 overlooking salt lake and sea. Although some of the exterior views are reminiscent of San Quentin the rooms are big and excellent with enough of everything including a fridge containing gold plated drinks and snacks (judging by prices and these are not in AC package). Nice comfy beds and chairs and yes the shower is huge.

For 12 days of our holiday it seemed that the hotel was only around half full (unless the other half were confined to their loo) as there was always plenty of space. This review would probably have been different if it was maximum capacity.

The facilities and grounds are brilliant with two outdoor and one indoor pools as well as a salt lake. The pools have loads of sun beds which are packed in tightly but no one was forced to sit on top of their neighbours. It was just too hot there and so we decided the salt lake was for us. The lake was bliss to swim in but keep moving or the little fish nip.
There is plenty of space between the thatched parasols and the beds have mattresses.
The beach is imported from a Barret site and is quite harsh and compact and must be laid on rock. Entry to the red sea is over pebbles and shoes help. It is easy to pick a sandy path around the coral so there is no need to walk on it and spoil it, take note Mr Russia.

The food is good with enough choices at each meal for the pickiest of eaters. Always a carvery, stews, fish, pasta’s and salads along with nice soups. Plenty of themed nights for world foods. There was only one night when I struggled to find anything which isn’t bad for 2 weeks of lunches and dinners. Breakfasts seemed plentiful but I usually just had cereal or toast.
It would have been nice to have beach grill as part of AC as I have in Mexico, Brazil and Caribbean.
The staff is either non existent at clearing plates or the complete opposite in trying to take plates before you have finished. I think this depends one the proximity of a boss. The lagoon bar and the lobby bar are nice places to drink. The staff at both are good and friendly and know who is next. The pool bar is fairly busy and I found the staff there pretty poor. They never knew who was next in line and just blanked youngsters, on more than one occasion I had to tell them to serve some poor rapidly dehydrating kid.
It would be hard to single out any individual member of staff but if I did it would be Mohammed.


The entertainment is average at best and poor at worst. It takes place in a blast furnace that resembles sitting inside a tandoori oven. It consists of a one song house band playing a fiddle, drum, knitting machine and a broken banjo. A one routine dance troupe and a singing couple. Once would be enough but they are one a rotation of every other night. Needless to say we went elsewhere.


We went to Jerusalem for our trip. A tip is book with Longwood’s as its £25 cheaper than Thompson for a longer trip and you get to fly back to Eilat which is worth the money just to experience the landing down the main street.

Thanks to diamond geezer Pat & Joan who single handedly changed the lagoon bar dress code allowing the rabble in. Hope your marathon journey home went ok.
Thanks too to Pat and Chris (aka John, Fred, Harry) hope your second week was as much fun.
Last but not least thanks to Janet & Walter who is the campest septuagenarian in Stockport and a scream in small doses.

It is also nice to see that the great British seafaring tradition is still alive and following in then footsteps of Nelson. Only now its flotilla of lilo’s and inflatables causing a nuisance. Grow up.

In summary this hotel is 4 stars. A 5 star should aspire to 6 but this lets itself down on some staff and the little touches. If a 5 star hotel doesn’t have something at one bar then someone should be dispatched to it, someone wanting an iced coffee was given lemonade in its place.
Also the hotel got busier for our last 2 days when a lot of feral French and Russians arrived and the drop in service was immediately noticeable. I wouldn’t want to be there when it was at full capacity.
I hope that wasn’t too harsh as it is the best hotel in Taba Heights.
Go and when you do rest by the salt lake.

We arrived at the hotel, after a very dodgy flight with first choice, the usual cramp you all in airline, our bus broke down on the way from the airport, but after half an hour a man came and fixed it.
got to the hotel which is stunning, our room was on the ground floor so we had no view but it was clean. (always a bonus)
as i work in a four star hotel in the uk i am a bit critical.
We had a lovely first day sat by the pool, we had a cocktail as it was our first wedding anniversary, the food was good,
The next day i started to get ill, i had a very bad tummy, in fact i am never ill, this knocked me for six i had trouble controlling my bowel s!!! not good, i stayed in the room for four days, or just sat by the pool (very close to the loo) i didnt eat anything which is a shame as it was the first time i had been all inclusive but could not enjoy it.
As i was getting a bit better my husband then had it, nightmare,
i was still ill after travelling home, i was dignosed with food poisoning.
we will never go back, in fact it has really put meoff of holidays away from the uk.
On the way home everyone i spoke to was ill during the holiday, something cant be right.

After reading some recent reviews we were quite worried about returning to the Intercontinental Hotel at Taba but please read on as we feel that the negative comments are very unfair on this hotel. We booked with Longwood Travel and as this was our second visit (last Aug) we were upgraded to a sea view room which was lovely looking over the pool and wonderful views of the sea (even though all the rooms are well sized with huge bathrooms but no bath very big showers). Throughout the stay the staff could not do enough for you, the hotel was continually being cleaned (even at 2.30am the garden paths being swept) The pool area was spotless and the pool staff practically ran when the saw you looking at the sun umbrellas to either put up or down for you. The food, well I have never see so many different types of bread, a huge selection of salad and puddings, there was fish, meat, pasta a 'live' cooking station. When I pondered on these negative comments that I have read I wond
ered what these visitors wanted for their 4/5* hotel and if you think about it you get what you pay for and I feel that what we paid for we definately got value for money. I am sure that some people have stayed in more superior hotels but I bet they paid a lot more money for it. In the evening the restaurant is very strict on long trousers for men so make sure you pack a couple of pairs. With regard to the towels being too short for the sunbeds!! They were clean a fluffy and the standard size of a beach towel so I wont even comment of what I have previously read. The other guests were a selection of nationalities & everyone seemed very happy and enjoying their break. Sometimes people did have to wait a few minutes for a table but remember this is a huge hotel with a capacity for 800+ people it is not an small intimate one. On the whole it was lovely and quiet, no loud music blaring out of speakers around the pool, our daughter is is 6.5 years old had a wonderful time playing in the pool from 9am to 6pm!!! and I have never her known her! to eat
so much. My husband and I did have an upset tummys but visited the pharmasist who gave us some tablets and it seemed a lot of people were suffering but I do not think it had anything to do with the hotel maybe just the very hot temp 40's! and when I returned home there has been a tummy bug at home so it could of been that. So all in all we had a great time and will be visiting very soon and please do not be put off by the other comments as it again has surpassed out expectation. A couple of suggestions that I think people with young children may find helpful. Pack some rubber beach shoes for snokerling. Katie was on factor 50 and still caught the sun so please be aware how strong it is. Pack some crisps, biscuits snacks if you can for around the pool and return journey I paid £3.50 at the airport for one can of coke and a packet of crips. They had a Kids Club at the resort that katie enjoyed going to for a couple of hours which took her out of the sun. They had in the restaurant a Kids Corner for lunch and dinner which had a couple of dishes on offer eg pasta, mini burgers, chickhen wings and chips which the adults seemed to enjoy as well. Also if you like running they have a track that goes round all the hotels which a lot of people seemed to be doing very early on in the morning before it got too hot. So if you are going have a great time it is really a wonderful place to stay