Taba Heights & Hyatt Regency - a travel agents view

I decided to take advantage of a special 'Travel Agent offer' and book a week in Taba Heights, Egypt for my fiancé and myself. Due to the fact that I had sent several customers to the 5* Hyatt Regency in the past and always had great feedback we decided that is where we would stay and it was certainly a good decision.

We arrived on the evening of the 8th June to the very small and basic Taba Airport, after getting my worst part of a holiday out of the way (waiting for our luggage to come around the conveyor belt, I'm always convinced mine will be the one that doesn't appear!) we were soon sat on the air-conditioned coach waiting to get on our way! The coaches leave the airport in a convoy following a police escort.

There isn't much to see on the way to the hotel, desert, desert and more desert oh and a few goats and a couple of camels!

As we approached the resorts I recognised the Hyatt straight away from the pictures that I'd seen of it and it does look very impressive.

When we arrived all the staff were very polite and after check-in we were shown to our sea view room followed shortly after by a porter with our cases.

The rooms are nice and spacious and we had a lovely big sea facing balcony. Very comfy king size bed, TV, mini bar and large bathroom with shower and bath, overall we thought the room was very nice.

We went down for dinner in the main, buffet style restaurant which is just off the reception area, I was worried that I might not like the food on offer but when I saw the choices I knew that even I would find something that I liked ( I can be a bit picky, I don't like spicy food, seafood etc!) I ended up having chicken in pepper sauce, steamed vegetables and potato wedges which was really nice! Worry over and I was already looking forward to breakfast!

The following morning again we were not disappointed, there was a large choice for breakfast, from cereals and fruit to a full english along with tea, coffee and fruit juices which were all included in the Half Board basis.

The hotel has so many different pool areas to choose from that when we finally decided where to plonk ourselves to sunbathe it was like having our own private pool and there was certainly no having to get up extra early to fight for a sun lounger. It was so peaceful that it was easy to forget that there were other people at the hotel, bliss!

I would definitely recommend this hotel for couples and singles wanting a relaxing holiday, there were families staying at the hotel with young children but to be honest I don't think it would be suitable for families with teenage children purely because I think they might get a bit bored! Don't get me wrong there are tons of excursions and activities that you can book but if you went expecting to relax and let the kids amuse themselves I think they would struggle to find a lot to do other than swim.

We went for a chill out week and it met our requirements perfectly but I spoke to another couple that had been there 2 weeks and by the sounds of things hadn't spent a single day by the pool! They had been to see the Pyramids, had a camel ride, been scuba diving, played golf etc! So this resort really is suitable for a relaxing break or as a base for an active holiday.

The one thing that we did decide to book was called ' Desert Drifters' which was basically tearing around the desert in a dune buggy for an hour! I left the driving to my fiancé but it really was so much fun. You follow a guy on a quad bike out along a track through the desert, there are a couple of stops to give you a chance to have a drink and take some pictures and then you are off again! I think it worked out at about £35 each for the hour but it was well worth it and that does include your safety equipment (the not so glamorous helmet and goggles! Gloves etc).

I would say that it was reaching 40 degrees when we were there in June and I know the temperatures carry on rising through the summer so unless you really like it baking hot I would maybe avoid Egypt in July and August especially with young children. Egypt is also a great winter sun destination as temperatures are still in the 20's through the English winter time.

If you're thinking of booking a holiday to Egypt or the Hyatt then please give me a call and I'd be happy to tell you more about it.

Overall we liked Egypt and think that the Hyatt is a lovely well presented hotel with friendly staff.