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Gardenia Resort
By Juergen Stryjak
Last New Year’s Eve, my family and I wanted to spend some
time in the sun, far away from Cairo’s traffic and its
pollution, from the noise and the dust and the sometimes rather
overly invigorating cool weather during wintertime in Egypt’s
capital. We chose the Gardenia Resort as our holiday destination,
about 500 km (300 miles) away from Cairo, in Sharm El-Sheikh, on
the south tip of the Sinai peninsula. We got what we were looking
for: peace and quiet, clean air and brilliant sunshine, and at the
end, we were very happy to have made that choice, because we
unexpectedly had a very special reason to spend most of our time,
our five days, inside the Gardenia Resort.
The special reason, unfortunately, was a car accident. We had
rented a car in Cairo, a new Suzuki Swift. Happy to have survived
the overland ride to Sharm El-Sheikh, we started in the morning of
our first day for a little trip to Naama Bay, the tourist center
of the village. Just in front of the Marriott, a Peugeot taxi
crashed into the back of our car, with an alarming speed of
approximately 50 miles/hour! Our car was badly damaged, our
three-year-old son cried, but none of us were injured. We escaped
with only a bad fright, only because we all had already fastened
our seat belts on that December 31st, one day before
the Egyptian authorities started to enforce the new traffic law
which mandates the use of seat belts in Egypt.
To be in Sharm El-Sheikh without a car is a little difficult.
Taxi drivers charge a lot, compared to what one pays for a taxi
ride in Cairo. So, we preferred to enjoy the Gardenia Resort, and
we didn’t regret it. The resort is a fully equipped, romantic
vacation spot, located at the Sharks Bay in Sharm El-Sheikh, which
is the younger brother of the well-known Naama Bay. Naama Bay is
the home of all of the famous Five-Star hotels, with all necessary
facilities surrounding them, restaurants, bars, discos, pubs,
supermarkets, fast food chains, casinos and, of course, wonderful,
wide beaches. The Sharks Bay area, 15 km (9miles) away is
different yet, above all more quiet. Some resorts there opened
recently, among them the Conrad International and the Baron, and a
few building sites around show that Sharks Bay will keep growing,
but we enjoyed being remote from the ever noisy tourist crowd at
Naama Bay.
From our sunny terrace, we saw the Red Sea, especially
beautiful in the morning, and from one of our bedrooms, we could
watch the relaxed goings-on at the pool and garden area inside the
resort. The Gardenia consists entirely of little two-story villas,
build in a style what I would describe as being very modern with a
slight Mediterranean influence, but not very traditional. A lot of
the newly opened resorts around feature pretentious, kitschy
architecture, which pretend to be somehow oriental or Arabic or
Nubian or whatever the architect found in his rich box of
second-hand styles, not at all to my liking. The Gardenia Resort,
on the other hand, is very honest, simple, but smartly styled,
very fresh and bright, an oasis for the senses – and at the same
time very luxurious.
All rooms have large windows, terrace, air-conditioning as well
as a TV-set, both with remote control, a hair-dryer in the
spacious bathroom – and hot water around the clock. All of us
especially liked the interior design of our rooms, which continued
the pleasantly unobtrusive style of the resort outside: floor
tiles in warm pastel colors, cozy sofas and chairs, high-quality
wooden furniture, comfortable spacious beds and tasteful paintings
on the walls. There was nothing left to be desired, and since we
had a rented an apartment including a kitchen, we felt completely
at home. The kitchen was fully equipped with plates, glasses,
cooking utensils, kettle, refrigerator, and stove.
Every morning, after having breakfast at our large dining
table, we went straight to one of the several swimming pools or,
as demanded by our son, to the children’s playground. We could
have joined sport and gymnastics groups, too, but we preferred to
lie around lazily at poolside on the lounges. In the evening, we
dined at a little restaurant beside the pool, but always managed
to depart from the place just in time, before a live band started
to entertain the guests with jazz and pop music.
The Gardenia Resort features a hotel section with 330 rooms as
well as a section for time-share apartments with two, four or six
rooms. Not all of facilities are finished yet, since the Gardenia
Resort only opened last December, but in April 2001, as the
manager told me, the guests will find several more restaurants,
bars, oriental coffee shops and even a large supermarket. The
little private remote Gardenia Beach at the Red Sea is already
working, including cafeteria and bar, but reachable only by car or
by bus. This is not a problem at all, since the Gardenia provides
a free shuttle service to and from the Beach for its guests. The
same comfortable bus shuttle service, by the way, connects the
resort in the evening with the hustle and bustle of the Naama Bay,
likewise free-of-charge. We didn’t use this service, as we
choose to stay in a family-oriented atmosphere, an environment for
which the Gardenia is perfect.
The staff was always helpful and attentive. The manager himself
even offered his personal assistance after our car accident, but
the rental company immediately sent someone from Cairo to Sharm
El-Sheikh, who, in fact, arrived at the same night. This man
solved all problems at different offices, the police station, the
technical inspection etc., without involving us. For people who
look for a good Cairo-based local car rental company with
reasonable prices and well-maintained cars, I highly recommend M.
Hafez Co. Rental Cars – address and telephone numbers see below.
Gardenia Resort. Sharks Bay. Sharm El-Sheikh/South
Sinai. Telephone: +20–62–60 06 06. Fax: +20–62–60 18 80.
Cairo Office: CARRERA Hotels & Resorts. 26, Soor Nadi El
Zamalek, Mohandeseen, Cairo. Telephone: 30 32 766 or 30 58 353.
Fax: 30 34 128. E-Mail: carrera@carrera.com.eg
M. Hafez Co. Car Rental. 4 A, Haroun Street, Dokki, Giza,
Cairo. Telephone: 76 00 542 or 74 86 652. Fax: 74 81 105.
Mobile: 010–14 16 321. E-Mail: mhafez@intouch.com.z
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