Farana Club and Residence

We were there from 16^th Feb to the 23^rd Feb for a relaxed chilled out holiday, and that is what we got.

Airport was a bit hit and miss, finding transfers was a laugh, no reps in the airport, and suitcases for 4 flights on one baggage belt was a bit of a bun fight, coming back, long queues for both scanning of cases and through customs, beware you need to fill in an exit visa card as well, so have a pen handy or ask for extra cards on the plane coming out,

General room  On arrival at the hotel, we were greeted by the desk manager with a drink and cool hand towels to refresh, who explained all the hotel and that we were the only English couple in today, we were booked for the garden section, but were told we were upgraded to the superior rooms facing the pools with the extra added, the good wife still thinks I had planned this, but did not, the room was as excepted , good size with walk in shower, fridge, coffee tea and kettle, safe (free) plenty of electric  points, TV ( World news and 2 English movie channels.

Beach. The Hotel is right on the beach so the location is superb, although it is a few steps down or a ramp., Basic sun beds no mattresses, beach bar only beer and soft drinks, Don’t pick the beds closest to the sea, because when you climb the hill for your lunch, the tide comes in quite quickly, and soon your belongings are a bit wet, (got some good video of and the attics of the people on return) Although the beach was very popular we mainly stayed around the pool.

Food. The all-inclusive give you a great choice, but there was a few niggles, Breakfast was between 7:00am and 10:00amso the best time was before 8:00am if you require a relaxed meal. Hot food was mainly a choice of 2 egg dishes omelettes to your choice, or fried eggs, sausage was small beef sausage ( sorry no pork or Bacon ) assorted cold meats cheeses bread etc., and plenty of fruit. This was a great place to people watch and see the attics of other nationalities on how they eat, it is impossible for the food to run out as it is well stocked up but why take platefuls of everything and cover their tables only to leave it, and the amount of fruit that was disappearing out of the door was unbelievable,

Again Lunch was an experience but you need to time it well, normally served outside around the pool, but at 12:30pm the masses arrive from the beach, and swarm in onto the serving areas, queuing 40 deep at times for the grill section, again fresh fruit disappears as fast as it is put out, best time is around 1:30pm when the crowd has returned to the beach, and it becomes more relaxed with no queues. There is an excellent choice to pick from so should not go hungry.

Evening meal is in the main restaurant, and again you need to time your entrance it opens from 6:30pm to 9:00pm but we found 7:45 to 8:00pm was fine, and we were always given a table (see tipping)

The other choice is to take a short walk up to the Italian restaurant at the top pool ,around 10 minutes’ walk from the main complex, which is so much more relaxed and quiet, no queuing, etc., yes it is a buffet service, the pastas you decide what you want from the many bowls and the chef cooks it for you, pizzas are well stocked up , but there is a lot of other choices, from duck, chicken , veg, soups and starters and sweets, opens 6:30pm to 9:00pm  but is much more relaxed and you can sit outside around the closed pool area, plus a small indoor Bar attached.  Of the two restaurants I preferred the Italian just for the relaxed atmosphere.

Cliental  It was not until the last day we found another English couple, from Maidenhead as it is made up of eastern European cliental and a lot of characters if you go into people watching. Not sure why the British are not booking here, as it is in a prime location, and offers all the facilities you require, the staff are the best I have ever saw in a hotel all hard working and make you welcome,

Tipping  Yes we tipped , and I am glad we did, it was not a great deal, but the service we got back was perfect  for the holiday, The room cleaner  we tipped roughly  10 or 20 LE pounds every other day total of 100LE pounds, it was worth it just for the towel designs each day, Restaurant staff again 10 to 20 Le pounds each day, they share the tips but as soon as you enter the restaurant , your table is found, and drinks are constantly brought to you,  either breakfast, lunch or evening Meal.

Mainly sat in the main bar perched on a stool, again found 30 to 50 LE at the start and again midweek found we were served straight away ahead of the queues that were forming from the bar staff,   so total for tipping was 300LE pounds for the week (around £30-£33 depending on the rate.)And that was all we spent.  

I would recommend this hotel to anyone, who just wants to chill out, meet some wonderful staff, and do nothing for 7 days,

PS Even on leaving the local rep, missed us and phoned the coach driver to speak to us, to wish us a safe Journey home, now I have never had that service from a TIU rep yet, just made the holiday complete. Are we going back, YES first chance!!