How chav is Sharm el Sheikh?

[sorry4]

We are looking for some winter sun. Looking at Sharm el Sheikh for a week all inclusive. We’ve never done a mass scale tourism hotel before.

Usually we stay in small family run hotels or rent a villa or apartment. Rent a car. Go to restaurants and explore an area.

However we are looking for somewhere very relaxing and an AI 5* seems very attractive.

In house entertainment is our idea of hell - but we could simply not participate.

I’m sorry for the question, but how “Brits Abroad” or “Chav” is Sharm el Sheikh? It’s just not our vibe.

Went to Sharm in March. Loathed it. The food, the staff, the airport! That was dante's third circle of hell.

As another poster said, go to Lanzarote for winter sun. Great people, beautiful place and plenty to do.

Yes, but what do you really think?

I'd recommend Luxor. You still get 5 star hotels - old winter palace, sonesta St George but also have links to cultural activities and trips on your doorstep, so the people they go tend to be of the same interests.

I don't think it matters where you go in Egypt, you have to be on your guard. It's not that people will mug you but they will try and trick you out cash etc - even the antiquities police!

What a truly horrible thread. So many horrible generalisations. How depressing.

I haven't been to Sharm, but we found Egypt a fascinating country with lots of very lovely people.

Generalisations? We have been there and didn’t appreciate being groped and harrassed constantly. It was absolutely horrible.

Yep, lots of them. Read the thread and they're there. I can't be arsed to pick them out and itemise them.

Ditto the Four Seasons but I went years ago. Did venture out and it was horrible. I also agree that the Saudi's seem to treat the waiters and serving staff like shit! Clicking their fingers and then laughing to each other. The kids are spoilt brats and seem to be able to do whatever they like.

Nope - wouldnt go again.

It is now a go-to destination for certain heavily sanctioned nations and many hotels cater exclusively for them - nightly entertainment, cuisine, daytime activities. So it all might feel a bit foreign, but NOT at all related to Egypt.

I couldn’t believe the clicking fingers the first time I saw it. Different cultures, but to me so rude.

You don’t have to. I can read and I don’t agree with you.

I got groped by a security guard ,( he grabbed my crotch) while in the Tutankamun museum in Cairo. I was dressed conservatily with a long dress and my husband was in the same area. I wouldn't go back. Had the same feeling in Tunisia where I felt the staff hated us. This was in the 1990s so a long while ago, hopefully better now.

I would happily go to a resort hotel/ AI but there is no way I would go to Sharm el Sheikh or anywhere in Egypt - the combination of terror threats/ shark attacks/ dodgy hygiene/ a disregard for human rights and the stories I have heard about women being harassed! I also don't want to hang out with visitors from sanctioned countries - there is a reason for those sanctions!

I went to Hurghada years ago and was bored out my brain - it was just great big hotel complexes next to each other. We did do a bus trip into Hurghada town one evening which was a bit of of a dump with a few tacky souvenir shops, and nothing much else. The sea was cold, and it was very windy at night, though it was November.

On a plus side, the food in the hotel was excellent, and the Egyptians were very friendly.

Tunisia was even worse. I went with two female friends and we had to hail a taxi because some men followed us and grabbed us. They wouldn’t let us go. But the taxi driver did nothing.

Went to a restaurant at the hotel and they had put so much salt in our food (like tipped it in) it was inedible, and we could see them laughing. We couldn’t go anywhere.

I went there 14 years ago, stayed in an AI in Namma Bay.

It was wonderful! We had a brilliant time, learnt to scuba, loads of snorkelling and everyone we met was lovely.

There were lots of Russians there then too and it was noticeable that they were the ones trampling over the shallow coral reefs and being obnoxious to hotel staff.

They were easy to ignore though!

Sad to think it’s gone so unpleasant now.

Goa in India is great for winter sun. Lovely beaches, cheap accommodation, food and drink. And you get to see cows on the beach!

Personally I'd recommend the canaaries but choose a Spanish hotel brand as they will have an international feel rather than Brits and Germans abroad (we actually like the Anglo German mix in TUI hotels I should add) I stayed at a Bahia hotel last time and had a Spanish feel.

Barcelo Lanzarote Royal Level Teguise is fantastic. Great food, lovely rooms, staff cannot do enough for you and it's Spanish owned am sure.

I went in the winter a few years back and stayed at the Rixos adults only, which was nice. I mostly stayed in the hotel: it was full of Russians, with plastic surgery and age gap relationships. We only met 2 other British couples in the hotel - these people who were not chavs and were very lovely.

I did a couple of excursions, these had very chavvy Brits from other hotels. They were nice people but they made a big thing of not wanting to tip the excursion staff, complained a lot (e.g. about walking), and bragged about not having/needing covid vaccinations, while also delighting in the dolphin theme park they went to earlier.

I think because Sharm is a lot cheaper compared to other winter sun destinations you get all sorts of people. I would just advise you to carefully read tripadvisor reviews for your hotel. What are you worried about with "chavs" - lots of children running round, lots of noise, large groups, people being very drunk very early in the day? This should be in the reviews if it's an issue with the hotel. I wouldn't say these issues are exclusive to British "chavs".

I would go back to Sharm if the price was right or I wanted a cheap getaway.

It's a fucking dump. Don't waste your money.

I always tip generously but I seriously felt like a walking wallet in Sharm. It gets very wearing.

I was blocked from leaving a shop until I booth something. I didn't want anything but they stood in front of the door really aggressively. One kept smacking my bum and laughing. It was just me and DS so I bought a fake parchment paper and they let us leave. I got straight in a taxi back to the hotel.

Cape Verde wasn't much better but that was ten years ago so hopefully the child brothels have been closed down.

Wow I’ve been to Egypt several times and never had anything but an amazing time. We went three times without kids, once when our first child was a baby and have been back with teens. When we went without kids we did the tourist stuff like pyramids and museums and it was all amazing.

We have been to Cairo, Hurghada and Sharm and all were nothing but positive experiences. No bad stomachs for anyone either.

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I used to live and work in Sharm, AI 5 star in Egypt is not the same as other places. In Sharm i'd recommend the Four Seasons although it's not AI. Luxor is much nicer in every aspect