Have just spoken to my agent very helpful has spoken to 3 people at First Choice one finally said someone had bought a stomach bug in from the uk but only a few people have been ill still on the case he he!!

Hi
I don't if this will help any of you in your quest for info but on monday my local FC shop confirmed there were quality managers out there at the moment. Why if there is only positive feedback from guests?
Lally

Why is it, that when there is a stomach bug on holiday..... someone from the UK has always brought it out with them.....??

Quality Managers out there at the moment, when they assured me that it was getting the best reviews of any Holiday Village??

Hes`s hoping to those of us going soon that things will improve.

There were told quality managers were in the resort ironing out any problems when we were there in late May. Seem to be taking some time, surely to goodness that when a child cannot get to the toilet and has an "accident" right outside the resturant entrance it is time to do "something".

hi all
going to hv in 2 weeks and after reading reviews really dont want to.have two kids ages 13 and 11 picked this holiday as there seems a lot for them to do. at the moment feel sick about going after paying thousands of pounds to go

we have just booked this hotel for next year but i have been to egypt before on nile cruise where a lot of people had upset stomach's and tried to blame the food.i think it was not a case of bad food but a mixture of sun,far more water than your used to and of course the food is richer/spicy....
not to forget the money over there is gross truly filthy and you need to wash your hands after using it.
we went to bulgaria 1 year with first choice and that hotel was awfull with the food,changed chefs 3 times in two weeks but the food never changed.first choice had to pay a lot of people out in compo for that place..
you would think they would learn from experiance but they dont.

I've booked to go to the HV next year (June 09) and was concerned with the number of negative postings I've read. I had emailed HR with my worries and they have replied very promptly with good detail to ease my concerns. Hope the email from Mohamed Shaarawi the Resident Manager at HR will go a long way in stop people worrying.

"Hi,

I've recently booked the Holliday Village for my next years holiday destination for June 2009. I've recently read on a number of UK holiday forums (trip advisor, holiday truths and ***** *******) about the number of people failing ill with stomach complaints.



They are complaining of the plastic glasses not being washed properly and food not be cooked fully and being left uncovered. Also the water bowsers not being in the shade but in direct sunlight. I know allot of these complaints could be just down to the climate change etc



I'm starting to get reservations about coming because I'd hate my family to become ill during the holiday and spoiling our fun.



I was just wondering if you are going to address these problems (new plastic glasses each time, hygiene etc) and what assurances I could get that everything in your power that it will be ok. I'd hate to cancel my holiday because the hotel and amenities look amazing.



Thanks,

Dear



I can see where you coming from concerning your below concerns. We do not reuse plastic glasses, reusing them would mean collecting them from the garbage. What is meant here is the acrylic glasses.

As you might be aware, that the rule as per the brochure says that only 2 drinks to be served per person at one time. But we didn't apply this rule till 2 weeks ago. The reason we had to apply it is that guests used to take up to 6 drinks per person at one time. This caused long time queuing, fake shortage in glasses and other service issues. As a result of that, glasses were quickly washed to be immediately used again to avoid this shortage. But I don't agree that they were used when dirty. Maybe when warm, yes, but not dirty. And warm acrylic have a smell but against hygiene.

We have tried tray service (staff going around with mostly consumed drinks on trays) but still guests kept on the same routine. Eventually we had to resort to applying the rule of 2 drinks. Now it is working fine. There is always enough glasses, no more queues and cold drinks are always available.



As for the food and people falling ill. The classic symptoms of food poisoning are vomit, diarrhea and fever. Non of the guests who wrote on the mentioned forums did suffer from that. We even invited the health and safety team to assure to us that we don't have a major issue of hygiene. It is mainly due to not drinking enough water, excessive alcohol usage when in the sun, long times of exposure to heat and sun in a 40 degrees temperature if not more and most importantly is self medication.

But unfortunately, the easiest for some people is to accuse someone else for that. For example, the last review on TripAdvisor ("all those with the mystery bug read this"). the guest is saying that he/she contracted Clostridium difficile due to lack of hygiene in the hotel. I have researched this and found out that it is also called (antibiotic-associated colitis and pseudomembranous colitis) and is only caused by hard dosages of antibiotics and food has nothing to do with it. and you can verify this from this link:

Sadly, when people post such info they are emotionally driven without realizing the damage they might cause. Actually I'm preparing a management response on this particular review. Noting that we also have good reviews on both sites.

I can assure you that we are running a successful operation and we definitely do not intend to jeopardize this over some easy to follow hygiene practices. I can't say that we are a perfect operation without issues. But I can assure you that we are an operation without threatening concerns



I hope this is assuring to you and if I can be of any further assistance please contact me



Kind regards

Mohamed Shaarawi

Resident Manager



Tel: (2) 069 3710 600

Fax: (2) 069 3710 610

Email: mohamed-shaarawi@coralsearesorts.com

I have to say that I find the email back from HV reassuring, it's shows that they are listening and reading the reviews
I also agree that it is the combination of sun, lack of fluid etc that do cause the sickness etc

I'm looking forward to going - if you look at the positive comments on HV they outweigh the negatives ones

A very good response from an excellent manager.Its also a very interesting point about self medicating with antibiotics if tummy upsets do arise.It can simply make things worse in the long run.Drinking ice cold drinks in 40+ temperatures is another reason so many folks get ill.I would have no hesitation in going back to this lovely hotel,but in our winter months when non of the recent problems occur.
C diff is not something you will get from "food poisoning".It mostly occurs in hospitals where an elderly patient has been prescribed a strong antibiotic such as Vancomycin.

Just to put everybody's mind at rest, we returned on friday after 2 weeks there and have to say not one of us came down with anything, as has been said just use the tips that are on here,No Ice ,bottled water only including teeth, and use handwash and don't over do it with the alcohol. Have to say we had a brilliant holiday a few very very minor things but we would definatly return! i will eventually write a review and have to say if your getting a kids den room then i do recommend block 5.

Thanks for letting us know that you had a great holiday

Can I ask what the situation is with the water bottles that you collect in a morning and also did you notice if there are sunshades for the swim up rooms

Im sure the swim up rooms didn't have sun shades but i wouldn't like to say 100% as i just remember looking at their pools more than anything. As for the water we used to just pick up 1 bottle each (although others picked up 2) and take them back to the room and put them in the fridge and take the one's from the day before, they don't stay cold for long though not in 55c heat as it apparently was on our first thursday there! but they do have water refilling stations next to all the bars for you to refill them with.

THe problem is that the "filling stations" are actually just small water units with the large 18ltr upside down bottle on top (as you would have in an office). These warm up nicely during the day so you end up with horrible warm water, just what you don't want in that heat - also it takes so long to refill your 75cl bottle this way. I think this is the main reason people drink so much of the colder fizzy stuff and not enough water and end up getting bad stomachs.
Yes you fill your bottles up and put them in the fridge for the next day, but considering you are supposed to drink around 3 of these each day it could mean that you would spend a lot of your hoiday time at the water station!

Been away for the weekend and come back to all of these bad reviews. I can't believe that people are talking about the same hotel we were in (last 2 weeks of May) . The only thing stopping us going back are the stupid prices!

The swim up rooms did not have parasols but I did notice that because the beds are close to the terrace at some point during the day (depending on which block you are in) the beds are shaded by the shadow of the hotel block.

Themcs: We were there for the last 2 weeks of May as well. What do you mean by stupid prices? We re-booked before we left to go back and it was only £180 more.

Hi all we are going on the 14th August the correspondance from the manager has made minds a bit more at rest.

I dont mind the warm water actually better for us than ice cold, better for our tummies.

I agree there is a price hike, the same 2 weeks next year is currently nearly £2000 more for our party.

9 weeks to go

A strange question - but do you think the prices for next year at the HV are cheaper if you book whilst out in resort, rather than back home?

quite a few people leaving reviews have said they'd booked for next year before leaving resort, so it cant have been that more expensive!!

Hi!
Me and my family are off to Red Sea Holiday Village Thurs 26th June..just 10 days to go!!! Was really excited now a bit nervous especially after reading a recent post on trip advisor.
Surely it can't be that bad if people are booking to go back before they leave?!
Some reassurance please...pretty please!!