8 - 14 November 2001
Issue No.559
|
Al-Ahram Weekly Online 8 - 14 November 2001 Issue No.559 |
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Current issue | Previous issue | Site map | ||
Honeymoon sweet
Newly-weds no longer have to look far afield to find their idea of heaven. Rehab Saad discovers that many hotels and resorts in Egypt and the Mediterranean make special arrangements for honeymooners
Summer is over, and many couples are looking forward to an autumn wedding. Several hotels in the region are waiting for honeymooners with the full VIP treatment -- a welcome drink on arrival, a fruit basket and flowers in their room, sometimes even a wedding cake. Others upgrade the room to one with a seaview or to a suite for no extra charge and provide a discount on food, use of the hotel's gymnasium, sauna, Jacuzzi and a late check-out. Others go even further, offering honeymoon packages with facilities and prices to make a dream come true. All the prices quoted below are per couple.
Mövenpick El-Gouna offers newly-weds a four-day, three-night package for LE1,234, half board. The offer includes transport from and to Hurghada airport, a "honeymoon cake," honeymoon photograph, three visits to the health club for a sauna, Jacuzzi, or steam bath; and a 50- per-cent discount on tennis and squash courts, not to mention an upgrade to a suite upon availability.
Each night of their stay the couple can enjoy a special dinner. The first is a candlelit dinner in the Sayyadeen seafood restaurant; the second an opportunity to have a special dinner served in their room; and on the third night they can join the hotel's guests in a sumptuous open buffet in the main restaurant.
The Ritz Carlton Sharm El-Sheikh offers the "Cleopatra Honeymoon Package" -- seven nights in a sea-view room at $1,225, plus a 19 per cent service charge and government taxes. The offer includes an American breakfast, a one-hour massage in the Arabian massage tent overlooking the sea, a gift and a romantic candlelit Italian dinner for two in a private room.
In the Conrad Sharm El-Sheikh resort, a couple who book four days bed and breakfast for LE1,200 per couple, including service charges and taxes, can opt for two extra nights free. They also pay only LE50 per person for a dinner supplement rather than the normal rate of LE65.
The Grand Azur hotel in Sharm El-Sheikh offers a double room for LE130 per night, bed and breakfast, including service charges and taxes, while the four-star Rosetta Hotel in Na'ma Bay offers a double room for LE120 per night, bed and breakfast, also including charges and taxes. Both hotels are affiliated to the Tropicana Hotels and Resorts company.
Egyptian travel agencies arrange honeymoon trips for couples both inside Egypt and abroad. The advantage of using their professional services is that they can arrange everything from A to Z, from booking an air ticket to airport assistance and hotel bookings. Couples can relax and leave it to others to make the arrangements. Most offer holidays around the Mediterranean.
Travco Travel Company of Egypt has various honeymoon packages both at home and abroad. Local destinations include a five-day, half-board stay in the Iberotel Makadi Beach resort in Hurghada for LE1,590. For the same price a couple can enjoy a five-day stay at the Iberotel Palace Hotel in Sharm El-Sheikh, bed and breakfast. A stay in the Sheraton Miramar, El-Gouna, is LE1,390 for five days, bed and breakfast. All rates are per couple and include return flights.
For a variation of the theme, couples can combine two destinations at special prices. They could, for example, have an eight-day trip to Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh for LE2,690, spending four nights half-board at the Iberotel Makadi Beach and three bed and breakfast at Sharm's Iberotel Palace. The price includes the Hurghada/Sharm ferry and the Cairo/Hurghada and Sharm/Cairo flights.
Alternatively, honeymooners can combine El- Gouna with Sharm El-Sheikh in a holiday for LE2,850, staying four nights half-board at El- Gouna's Sheraton Miramar and three nights bed and breakfast at Sharm's Iberotel Palace. These rates include the Hurghada/Sharm ferry and the Cairo/Hurghada and Sharm/Cairo flights.
Couples dreaming of the ultimate in romance -- a honeymoon on a Nile cruise -- can enjoy an eight-day package to Aswan and Luxor for LE2,150 per couple. This includes two nights bed and breakfast in a five-star hotel in Aswan, three nights full-board on the Nile cruise and two nights bed and breakfast in a five-star hotel in Luxor. This includes the Cairo/Aswan and Luxor/Cairo flights.
For couples who are casting their sights further afield and want to go abroad for their honeymoon, Travco Travel can provide wonderful options to Turkey, Lebanon, Cyprus and Greece. Holidays begin at LE3,190 for two on a seven- day trip to Turkey. The rest depends on how far you want to go and how much you want to spend.
The Turkish trip is to a three-star hotel, and includes breakfast. An eight-day trip to Lebanon in a three-star hotel with breakfast is LE3,790. For LE4,550, couples can enjoy an eight-day trip to Cyprus in a four-star beach hotel, again with breakfast.
Destinations can be combined: Istanbul and Antalya for LE4,650 covers eight days in three- and four-star hotels with half board. The charm of the Greek island of Myconos includes eight days in a four-star hotel, with breakfast, for LE5,900. A combined trip to Athens with a Greek Island cruise for LE6,900 comprises four nights in a four-star hotel with breakfast and a three-night, full-board cruise.
Emeco travel arranges special honeymoon deals around the world. Mediterranean packages are the cheapest on Emeco's list. You can, for example, combine two nights in Athens with five nights in one of the Greek Islands (Corfu, Crete, Rhodes, Myconos or Santorini) for LE7,000 in a four-star hotel or LE6,200 in a three-star, bed and breakfast, including economy class flights.
You can also combine three nights in Istanbul with five nights in one of the following resorts: Kusadassi, Marmaris, Bodrum or Antalya for LE9,960 in a four-star hotel or for LE8,760 in a three-star, with breakfast, and including an economy class ticket. For the same prices you can visit Lebanon and Syria, spending four nights in Beirut and three in Damascus. These rates do not include visa fees.
Thomas Cook's slogan is: "It's a small world ... explore it with us." A honeymoon couple can enjoy special prices in the Red Sea and Sinai, Upper Egypt, Cyprus, Greece, Tunisia and Morocco.
In Hurghada, Cook's is offering four days, three nights half-board including economy air tickets from and to Cairo at the Melia Pharaoh hotel for LE729, in the Iberotel Arabella for LE693, in the Quality Royal Palace for LE609 or in the Three Corners Village for LE582.
You can also spend three nights, four days in the all-inclusive club of Iberotel Club Makadi for LE789, including economy flights. If you prefer Soma Bay, you can have a three-night, half- board stay in the Sheraton Soma Bay for LE789, including flights.
Packages to Sharm El-Sheikh vary. Four days and three nights with half-board at Le Meridien Sharm El-Sheikh costs LE872, while at the Ghazala Village it is LE884 and at the Hyatt Regency Sharm LE1,007.
In Luxor, a couple can stay for LE538 for a three-night, four-day stay, bed and breakfast, in the elegant New Winter Palace; for LE529 in the Sonesta St George; or for LE433 in the Gaddis Hotel. If your honeymoon dream is Aswan -- and there are few places as idyllic as this -- you can stay for three nights, four days bed and breakfast in either the New Cataract for LE660 or the Basma Hotel for LE618. Even more romantic, you can have the cruise of a lifetime on the Presidential for LE965 with full board. All rates include flights from Cairo.
North on the Mediterranean Sea Cook's has trips to Limassol, Cyprus, for LE3,330 per couple in a three-star hotel, or for LE3,650 in a four-star hotel for four nights, with breakfast and including flights.
Staying in North Africa, a package combining Tunis, Casablanca and Hammamat -- three nights in Morocco and four nights in Tunisia -- costs LE6,498 -- bed and breakfast in Casablanca and half-board in Hammamat.
A five-night stay in Beirut will be LE4,380 per couple in a four-star hotel, including flights.
Karnak travel agency has come up with a Mediterranean cruise for honeymooners priced from LE6,000 to LE9,400, plus $90 port fees per person and $290 per person as sightseeing fees. The cruise starts in Port Said and includes visits to Tunisia, Greece, Rome, France, Malta, Turkey and Alexandria.
Trips to Istanbul, Syria, Lebanon and Greece are also available. A stay for seven days and six nights in a four-star hotel with breakfast in Istanbul is LE4,100 per couple, including transport to and from the airport and flights. A combined seven-day, six-night trip to Syria and Lebanon will cost LE4,500 per couple, staying bed and breakfast in four-star hotels in Beirut and Damascus. As for Greece, you can have a six-day, five-night stay for LE4,500 per couple bed and breakfast in a four-star hotel, including flights and transport to and from the airport.
For more information contact:
Mövenpick El-Gouna: 065-544501
Ritz-Carlton Sharm El-Sheikh: 069-661919
Conrad Sharm El-Sheikh Resort: 069-670585
Tropicana Hotels & Resorts: 2917044
Travco Travel Company of Egypt: 7354650
Thomas Cook: 4171260
Emeco Travel: 5749360
Karnak Travel Agency: 5750729
Prices are correct at the time of going to press. The newspaper is not responsible for any change of prices which might take place.
© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||
| ARCHIVES Letter from the Editor Editorial Board Subscription Advertise! |
WEEKLY ONLINE: www.ahram.org.eg/weekly Updated every Saturday at 11.00 GMT, 2pm local time weeklyweb@ahram.org.eg |
 Al-Ahram Organisation |
Recommend this page