Naama Inn Cafe — Hotel in South Sinai

I've been staying at Naama Inn ever since I started coming to Sharm El Sheikh six years ago. It was one of the cheaper lodgings right in the center of Naama Bay and it met my needs. However over the years it has declined, as many of the hotels in Sharm, due to the lack of guests and the need to remain competitive. Now, with the excellent rate of exchange for euro and dollars, it's much less expensive for westerners to stay there, yet their clientele remains primarily Egyptian and other Arabic nationalities, many with families.||The rooms are spacious enough, with a small fridge, TV, attached bathroom with hot water, and A/C. However there is poor maintenance. For example if the fixture which holds up the shower head breaks, it is not repaired. Burned out light bulbs are not replaced, faulty air-conditioning not repaired. And cleanliness leaves a lot to be desired. Though towels and sheets are changed daily and floors superficially wiped, the staff do not ever go to the trouble to clean the grime behind the toilet, remove hairs from the floor of the shower, clean the outside or inside of the trash cans, fridge, or the shelves of the closet, or vacuum the rug in the room. I have never had any problems with cockroaches or ants, so it could be worse.||Internet worked very badly for me during my entire stay. Nearly never a connection in my room and even in the reception area there was not an easy connection. According to a friend of mine who lives in Sharm and works at another hotel, wifi connections don't work well with iPhones or iPads. Apparently Sharm locals avoid getting an iPhone because of this difficulty.||The TV channels are mostly in Arabic. During past visits, the hotel staff was kind enough to have their technician alter the satellite dish orientation when I requested an English-speaking news channel. This time it took them four days and repeated requests from me before I had CNN in the room. The receptionists are not as friendly as the previous personnel and their English is more limited.||I booked breakfast with my room, which was a mistake, though the charge for breakfast was minimal. The buffet caters to the taste of local guests with a bean-paste known as "foul", mashed potatoes, inedible processed cheese, and unappetizing pastry, all served room temperature as there is nothing under the serving pans to keep the food warm. They did also have a nice white creamy Egyptian feta cheese and some cucumbers, which were good, as well as the possibility to get a fried egg or omelet, which would have been tasty had it not been soaked in oil, as was a dish composed of fried eggplant and peppers. There is no fruit juice, yogurt, or fruit and only instant coffee (and tea) is available.||The hotel has a pool and outside tables, and a little bar which kindly gave me hot water whenever I asked, to make a cup of tea or cappuccino which I'd brought along with me. I think with a bit of upkeep and attention Naama Inn could be a great budget hotel, but management either doesn't care or doesn't have the financial means to maintain standards of hygiene or service. I stay here because it's so cheap and they give me a double room even though I'm alone, without charging extra; for just a bit more money I imagine I could find a better hotel option or rent an apartment. However paying only €117 for 8 nights in a conveniently-located safe hotel, well, I guess beggars can't...

I've been staying at Naama Inn for a week every Easter vacation for the past five years. The rooms I've had have been spacious, well-lit, with air-conditioning and a very useful small fridge. There's a desk, table for luggage, and a large closet. The TV unfortunately gets all Egyptian channels, not foreign ones. After begging the reception, they finally changed the settings for the TV in my room to enable me to see CNN. There's a pleasant swimming pool and bar area outside. Although free WIFI is, in principle, available, my connection was very erratic in my room and even in the reception and pool area.||||Though the bedroom is cleaned well, the bathrooms aren't, and I often have to wipe up previous guests' hairs and dirt around the toilet and in/around the shower. I don't understand why the cleaning staff take away my bath mat or one of the towels inexplicably or don't check if the toilet paper roll needs replenishing.||||Whenever I've had any problem in the room staff have done their best to find a solution. They have always let me make local call at no extra charge. Though they provide a voucher (on request) to use a local beach, I much prefer to go to nearby Hadaba, where the snorkeling is much more beautiful. At first I was taking taxis, but soon I realized that if I just walked to the end of the main pedestrian street, I could catch a blue yminibus going to the Old Market or all the way to Hadaba for a few cents!||||I booked on Agoda.com and took the room without breakfast because several years ago I ate breakfast here and really found it to be pretty poor. This visit I sampled their dinner buffet one evening (60 Egyptian pounds) and thought it was terrible. The food was not even lukewarm and largely carbohydrates: rice, potatoes, macaroni with breaded chicken (with hardly any meat) and fish in batter, and some overcooked beans and carrots in tomato sauce. The soup was inedible and the dessert table consisted of sweet, stale-tasting cakes, jello, pudding, custard, and hard dates. No coffee or tea, just water. It could be that this menu appeals to their primarily Egyptian clientele, however I will stick to my "room only" plan in the future.||||Listen, I don't come to Sharm for the food. I come for the snorkeling and diving. Naama Inn is a short walk from the main road where for just a few cents I can hop on a blue minibus and travel to the part of town known as Hadaba, where there are numerous optionss for lovely snorkeling/dive sites. These minibuses shuttle back and forth every couple of minutes and are very practical, even going the other direction towards Nabq. It's a very economical option to taxis.||||The hotel is in a perfect location, in the heart of Naama Bay. There are a zillion restaurant and shops, as well as dive centers, money changers, day excursion agents, etc. it's lively and sometimes noisy, but with the huge decrease in foreign tourists due to the media scare, it has become more bearable. I like being at Naama Inn and traveling solo it's well within my budget. The hospitality and convenience outweigh the negative points and I'll continue to come back to Naama Inn...

Per chi cerca una sistemazione "centrale", sicuramente il Naama Inn è l'ideale: nel cuore di Naama Bay, a pochi passi dalla spiaggia, circondato dai vari caratteristici Bazar, vicino all'Hard Rock, Pascha (discoteca), Carrefour e così via ... più centrale di così ! || ||E, pur centrale che, in genere, è sinonimo di 'rumoroso', il Naama Inn non è affatto rumoroso, anzi è molto silenzioso e tranquillo e, veramente, si dorme che è una meraviglia: lo dice uno che ... ha problemi di sonno e/o rumori ! || ||Pulizia senza pecche, cambio biancheria ... giornaliera, cucina internazionale e cibo veramente gustoso ! || ||Torte e dolci ... 'na favola ! Noi, che siamo dei golosoni ... !!! || ||Il personale e/o "i ragazzi" ? ... || ||E' superfluo fare commenti, diciamo semplicemente che "ci si sente a casa propria" ! || ||I ragazzi, "carucci" come sempre, sono sempre disponibili ... anche quando non sono in servizio ! || ||L'albergo offre, tra l'altro, anche un diving interno, al quale ci si può rivolgere/affidare per bellissime escursioni subacquee.|| ||In 2 minuti a piedi, a pochi passi, si raggiunge la "Viva Beach", spiaggia ben tenuta, curata e pulita, che offre, tra l'altro e a prezzi ottimi, fritture di pesce fresco, succhi di frutta fresca (mango, melone, fragole, etc.) .|| ||Per gli amanti degli sport acquatici, oltre al nuoto, si possono praticare (come già detto) Immersioni (con la I maiuscola) e Windsurf, si possono esplorare i fondali marini anche ... senza andare sott'acqua, semplicemente facendo un giro su una delle numerose barche col fondo di vetro (Glass Boat). || ||E, per gli appassionati del tatuaggio, proprio sulla spiaggia, c'è Abramo che, con 'pochi soldi', fa ogni tipo di tatuaggi di quelli "usa e getta", cioè, tatuaggi che dopo due/tre settimane 'vanno via' ! || ||E, bisogna dire, che sono tatuaggi bellissimi !|| ||A proposito, se prima si è menzionato il Carrefour, è d'obbligo/doveroso menzionare anche il "Ragab & Sons" (nella zona di Nabq), supermarket locale che "nulla" ha da invidiare agli altri supermarket 'nostrani' !|| ||Per finire, ringraziamo tutti, dalla Reception all'ultima ruota del carro (solo per modo di dire) dell'albergo, da Hisham ad Amr (spero di aver scritto bene i nomi) che si sono presi cura di noi, ringraziamo l'amicizia, la familiarità di Abramo ("Il Tatuatore") che ci ha fatto compagnia sulla spiaggia e, naturalmente, tutto il personale della Viva Beach !|| ||E, tornando all'albergo, da come siamo stati trattati, per noi è un albergo a 5* (anche se ne ha solo 3) ed è sicuramente un albergo da consigliare !|| ||Pino & Silvana||||P.S.: le uniche note dolenti del viaggio (che nulla hanno a che fare con Sharm nè coll'albergo):||||- la cancellazione del volo di rientro ... appena arrivati a Sharm, cancellazione che ci ha causato non pochi problemi !||||Per fortuna, abbiamo incontrato un Angelo (con la A maiuscola) di nome Silvia, una ragazza di Milano (mi sembra), amante della subacquea, che ci ha indirizzati a un sito ... "salvandoci la vita" ! Grazie Silva, ovunque tu sia !||||- in 5 settimane e poco più, ne conosci di Italiani a Sharm, gente perbene e ... meno perbene.||||C'è ancora gente che va in giro "attaccata" ai luoghi comuni e, sicuramente, poco colta e poco educata; gente che, manco ti conosce e già ti dice "... eh, ti conosco io, voi napoletani, voi del sud, con la vostra parlantina ... fregate di qua, fregate di la ...", etc., etc., nel 2018 ?!?||||Se fosse stato solo uno scherzo ... ma non lo era; ci hanno 'torturati' quasi ogni giorno ... hai voglia di svicolare per far finta di non vederli !||||Ed essendo in vacanza, abbiamo ritenuto opportuno far finta di niente e ... riderci sopra !||||E volevamo vincere la guerra (come si diceva una...