We have already booked the Egypt/Jordan Caravan tour and I am concerned about the accommodations, specifically the Santana Hotel. This hotel received horrid reviews on Trip Advisor.com. One reviewer even called it "vile." Out of 14 reviews that I read, 13 were very negative. Everything was mentioned from lack of cleanliness, noisy location, rude staff, shabby furnishings, roaches. This is very concerning to me. It also makes me question the other accommodations during the tour. My questions are: Why would Imaginative Traveller book their clients here if this is true? Does anyone have firsthand experience at this hotel and can speak to these reviews? Please let me know ASAP. Thank you.
Santana Hotel
Re: Santana Hotel
Hi!
I posted the other day about hotels in Egypt and I actually stayed at the santana hotel in Cairo a couple of years ago when I did a trip in Egypt. I found it to be fine really, the staff were nice, the room was clean with a fridge and air con, and I could buy food/drinks and get money changed at the hotel. I was pretty happy and don't know what more you would want from a budget hotel. Its also right next to the Indiana hotel which Imaginative uses and you can go in there and use the rooftop bar for a view over Cairo at night which is pretty cool.
The other hotels on the tour were fine also, and the Melody boat is really comfy - the crew are so lovely and friendly, the foods great and all the rooms have air con and your own toilet/shower. If you want posh hotels and 5 star in Egypt then a budget tour might not be for you. On a separate diving holiday to Egypt I booked my own hotel in Sharm el sheikh and looked it up on tripadvisor - it got some really horrible reviews so I was quite worried, but once I got there it was actually a very nice hotel. I think most of the people who put reviews on trip advisor are the ones who had some kind of bad experience and are bearing some kind of grudge! The people who thought the hotels were fine probably dont bother to post so you get an artificially bad picture of the hotels.
Just my thoughts!
Youll have a great time on the tour and remember if you have any problems just say so at the time - my tour guide was sooooo helpful when I did my trip and made sure we were all fine.
Re: Santana Hotel
Hi,
I just stayed in the Santana Hotel in October when I did Egypt and Jordan Caravan. It was fine, the rooms were an okay size, clean and had large bathrooms with showers. Our room had a view of a garden. The breakfast buffet was good. We had dinner one night in the restaurant and it was fine. We did find that the front desk staff weren't very helpful and they tended to ignore women. The internet worked one time, but there were internet cafe's in close proximity. There was also a good market for water and food near by. The bar at the Indiana Hotel (around the corner) was great, cold beer and a nice view. On an average all the hotels we stayed in were fine, except for the hotel in St Catherine's. It was not very clean, especially the fake fur bed covers.
Catherine
Re: Santana Hotel
Hi there
I stayed at the Santana Hotel in November when I did Nile Safari with ImTrav.
Honestly, I think it is luck of the draw. I was accommodated as a single female, and from what I saw, the couples got better rooms as they were more suite like.
My first room was on the first floor over the kitchen, and the noise was pretty unbearable (charis scraping etc). I'd flown in at 1am so that probably didn't help.
But the rooms were large and the bathroom well-sized. Showers were a bit dodgy in terms of getting them to work, as well as the exhaust fans![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Two large beds. Bar fridge. TV.
I would agree that the desk staff were average. But the cafe/restaurant on the 1st floor - the staff were wonderful. Very friendly, funny. Great breakfast spread. (I had to learn "eggs" in Arabic before the guy would make my omelette - he WAS joking![[Smile]](smile.gif)
)
The guy in the gift shop was lovely too.
Cabs are right outside. And a short walk gets you to a cheap great internet cafe, a pharmacy, a great little supermarket with ATM, and a take-away/eat-in restaurant. Felt very safe in the area - even walking to the supermarket later at night. (Then again, Egypt is awake way into the small hours!)
I didn't see cockroaches. When moving into my new room I thougth the bathroom smelt a bit and I asked the cleaning staff and they gave it another going over straight away. Yes, its a little worn in some rooms, but definitely NOT vile.
And the Melodie - wonderful! Great for getting washing done, the staff are brilliant, and from my experience (one person in a room paying single supplement) I thought the rooms were lovely. (The lowest floor rooms did smell musty, but I was only there one night then they moved me up a floor when a room became available.) I do believe that couples have larger spiffier rooms also (of course, subject to availability).
You'll have a wonderful time, and as Little Miss Happy says, it is very important if you have any issue, to tell your tour leader straight away as they will endeavour to sort something out for you - they really do aim to please.
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Megan
Re: Santana Hotel
Hello Everyone
Many thanks for all your posts on this subject. I'm pleased to see from your replies that our travellers are generally happy with the Santana hotel in Cairo.
It may also reassure you to know that from Imaginative Traveller's point of view that we have a regional manager based in Cairo who regularly reassesses the hotels we use, and in addition to this that our Head of Operations from the UK office recently visited the Santana hotel (in October 2007) and is satisfied that this hotel continues to be appropriate for our groups to use.
I myself have also stayed there and was happy!
Thanks again to everyone for taking the time to post your opinions.
Re: Santana Hotel
As I have not stayed at the Santana, I can not comment on this particular Hotel.
However as I have done a number of tours with ImTrav in Egypt, I thought I would pass on my own thoughts.
Generally you are only in the Hotel of origin for maybe 2 to 3 days in total. This is at the start & end of the tour. So even if the hotel is not exactly what you expected, that short amount of time isn't too hard to deal with ....is it?
I have found that as the tour goes on the Hotels actually improve, some times in leaps & bounds. In fact when I was a member of the Jewels of Egypt tour the Hotels just blew me away. In particular the Three Corners Hotel & the Hotel in Alex, whose name has now slipped my mind.
I find the posts made on Trip Advisor can be greatly unfair. I have read poor reports on Hotels that I know are rated as 5* plus in Egypt that I have stayed in myself & were fabulous.
So I try to have an open mind when I read these reports.
Again this is all just my own thoughts......Debbie
Re: Santana Hotel
I just returned from Egypt on the Nile Safari tour and stayed at the Santana one night. It could use some updating, but I found the room to be clean. The shower took a while to get the temperature I wanted, but the water is hot. The room had a small balcony, fridge and a tv. The staff was polite and helped us arrange a taxi to the airport and a wake up call although the wake up call was 25 minutes late so make sure you set an alarm too.
The neighborhood is nice and safe. There is a grocery store, internet point, ATM and KFC nearby. For a budget hotel, I found the Santana to be perfectly adequate.
Re: Santana Hotel
One thing about the Santana Hotel is many of the rooms are totally different.
We had no aircon in our room and moved -- the transformation was incredible - we then had a room with a huge bathroom almost big enough for a small party, a balcony overlooking some beautiful trees and a fridge plus two double beds and there was still room.
So, if you are unhappy please talk to the helpful staff and asked to be moved. It is a big hotel and not always 100% room capacity!
Hi
I just stayed in the Santana Hotel in October when I did Egypt and Jordan Caravan.PDF Password Remover for Mac