Over the 3 day Thanksgiving holiday, we ventured to Ain Soukhna – Stella Di Mare located on the Red Sea about 90 minutes from Cairo. Unlike Sharm el-Shiekh and Hurghada, which seem to cater more to the European crowd, Stella Di Mare is a favorite for Egyptians because of it’s proximity to Cairo. English and Arabic are the main languages spoken here. As you can tell from the pictures, the weather was nearly ideal for late November. Temperatures were in the mid 70’s during the day with bright sunshine. Three other couples joined us on the trip although not all stayed in the same hotels. We were able to book our reservations early and enjoyed the accommodations of the Grand Hotel located on the beach. We had a short 5 minute walk to the Red Sea.
One of the main features of the Grand Hotel is the Thalasso Spa. This spa features a wide range of services such as massages of various types, beauty and other health treatments. On Thursday, Pat enjoyed a “ant-stress” massage and on Friday, we both spent nearly 5 hours in the heated indoor/outdoor seawater hydrotherapy pool. The facilities here are first-class from the rooms, beaches, pools, and the restaurants.
Our stay was “Half-board” which included full breakfast and evening meals. As with most resorts of this type in Egypt, there are two scales for costs – a “resident” cost and a “foreign” cost. Since we have work visas, we qualify for local Egyptian resident charges. For instance, our room (including half board) cost approximately $110 per night while the non-resident charges were $240 for the room and $35 for the meals. It is easy to see why tourism has become big business here. The cost to stay here for non-residents (while higher than for locals) is still quite a bargain compared to similar resorts on the European side of the Mediterranean. And while the local resident rate is very reasonable, it is out of reach for the typical Egyptian. Most of the local hire staff at our school could not afford to go there more than once in their lifetime. It again highlights the distinct social and economic class differences that exist here among the Egyptian people.
One of the main features of the Grand Hotel is the Thalasso Spa. This spa features a wide range of services such as massages of various types, beauty and other health treatments. On Thursday, Pat enjoyed a “ant-stress” massage and on Friday, we both spent nearly 5 hours in the heated indoor/outdoor seawater hydrotherapy pool. The facilities here are first-class from the rooms, beaches, pools, and the restaurants.
Our stay was “Half-board” which included full breakfast and evening meals. As with most resorts of this type in Egypt, there are two scales for costs – a “resident” cost and a “foreign” cost. Since we have work visas, we qualify for local Egyptian resident charges. For instance, our room (including half board) cost approximately $110 per night while the non-resident charges were $240 for the room and $35 for the meals. It is easy to see why tourism has become big business here. The cost to stay here for non-residents (while higher than for locals) is still quite a bargain compared to similar resorts on the European side of the Mediterranean. And while the local resident rate is very reasonable, it is out of reach for the typical Egyptian. Most of the local hire staff at our school could not afford to go there more than once in their lifetime. It again highlights the distinct social and economic class differences that exist here among the Egyptian people.
