Egypt or Greece for Honeymoon in Jan?
 

Having a tough time with our honeymoon planning as Jan is probably not the best time of the year to pick a destination especially if we have ruled out Australia and S.E. Asia (been to both).

We are keen on picking a new spot to visit and the best I can come up with at that time of the year is Egypt/Morocco. Are there any suggestions from anyone on the best SPG hotels/resorts in Egypt considering we are honeymooning. I could not find any posts or much information on the Starwoods in Egypt although there seem to be quite a few. Most are category 1 so will get a great value for my points but not sure of the quality. We are also considering the Blue Palace in Greece during the same trip but unsure of the weather conditions and we dont want to be anyplace too cold. Any thoughts on how visiting Crete and Santorini might be like in early Jan or should we stick to Egypt.

I think you will find Santorini up closed in Jan.

We were there in the first week of October last year and everything was closing up by the end of the month.

From memory they said everything gets going again around April/May. You can probably still go there, but i'd doubt many things would be opened.

Others will interject if I am sprouting rubbish :D

Here are average highs for Crete by month -- not cold, but not really beach weather. Weather in Sardinia is similar but it's hardly tourist season.

Africa seems a reasonable destination perhaps.

We have visited both Greece and Egypt. Greece is really quite romatic and beautifull. I think of Egypt more of a vacation for learning and siteseeing. Much of Egypt is very very busy and no what I would think of romantic. Turkey is very nice but I would think that I would be very carefull due to the current climate with terrorist. I must say I felt very safe in Egypt but very on guard in Turkey and Morroco. Have you given any thought to Bali or Thailand. We have been to both and feel that they are very romatic places for a honeymoon..Also Italy..

Try Santorini in Greece.
Is fantastic for honeymoon !
^

I would hole up in the Grande Bretagne in Athens... very romantic and the spa is worth its weight in Mycenean gold.....

On the Africa theme, how about Tunisia? It's one of my favorite places in Africa. There is a Sheraton resort in Hammamet (I haven't stayed at the Sheraton but I've been to the town and it's got very nice beaches + interesting local culture) that might be worth a look.

Depending on what you're looking for, you could also rent a car and explore other parts of the country (Tunisia is not very big and the roads are actually pretty good). You've got Tunis if you like cities, Carthage or El Jem if you're history buffs, and several nice beaches. Caveat is that I don't think it would be particularly warm in the timeframe you're considering.

Tunisia definitely sounds like an interesting option that we didnt consider. We have both travelled to the usual honeymoon places such as Bali and Hawaii and just wanted to do something more exciting and different.

Has anyone stayed at any of the Sheratons in Egypt and has any opinions on them (Plat upgrades, amenities, etc.) I think I will count Morocco out since it seems it does not feel that safe there. Last thing I want to worry about on our honeymoon is safety issues.

Not to sound glib. . .but honestly, is anywhere safe these days? :(

There's so much to see in the world and so little time and you can't let your fears run your life. Too many people in the USA live off of fear and their emotions, you need to get out and see the world :D

I have been to the Sheraton Hammament last summer with my parents. I'll post some photos here for you and others. It was an AMAZING resort, but the beds aren't the best. The bathrooms are nice. We (my parents and I) stayed in the SPG area with great views of the Med. The water/beach was unreal, so warm and so clear! Simply amazing! Where else can you be in a Muslim country with topless French women on the beach, camels walking outside your room, and arabic women in full dress swimming in the ocean? The evening buffet is exotic to say the least! Also, the Noodle Bar has the best pizzas I've EVER had in my life!! They typically stop making them because so many people want them. Also, tip well! This is a country where $30 USD is the average monthly income. $2 at dinnertime goes a long way. I noticed a lot of the French people didn't tip. There were Swedes, Germans, but mostly French at the hotel.

This hotel isn't for those spoiled by Heavenly Beds and SPG perks, but it's truly a place where you can relax and forget about the troubles at home (and it's a Cat. 1). We heard NO English the entire time we were there (except the BBC on the TV). All the locals thought we were French or German. When we told people that we were from the USA they were amazed. They went and got 10 of their friends and we all had tea together. This had to happen at least a dozen times (mostly when we took day trips). Most people said they hadn't seen an American in 4 years or more. A lot of people told us that they love Americans, but hate our government, and they don't understand why so many Americans hate them. All Tunisians seems to speak Arabic and French. I felt safer in Tunisia than I do in my own home state. If you go to Tunisia you will notice that there are lots of pictures of President Ben Ali all over the place. Also, the carpets in Tunisia are amazing! We bought a large carpet that we should have paid thousands for here in the US for only $50 US there.

My parents originally stayed at the Hammamet in the 70s after driving from Morrocco and Algeria. They decided to go back and took my sister and I there last summer after we were in Rome for a while. I loved it! It seems like the people who stay there are customers year after year. We had dinner with the manager at the beach one night (private dinner for free, on him!). He was a nice man, who traveled to and from Belgium a lot (I think he said the hotel is owned by a Belgian firm and someone in Saudi Arabia).

We're going to Egypt this summer and staying at the Sheraton Miramar Resort. A fairy tale resort on the Red Sea designed by Michael Graves. Egypt (away from Cairo) is NOT crowded despite what another posted said. The best part is that all of these hotels are all Cat. 1.

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So true, Ex0dus. Your description is spot on, especially regarding the variety of people you interact with and their openness towards you. Also, I agree that I definitely felt safer in Tunisia than in some other parts of Africa that I've travelled to, but as a foreign woman I still had to deal with the high levels of interest that you tend to get in places that are less of a tourist destination (usually fine but occasionally a little too invasive especially w/ groups of men). The only time that this really made me feel uncomfortable was when I was travelling around the country to places that were really off the beaten path, but I thought I'd flag it for Bungee77 (or his fiance, if Bungee's a man).

The point on $ is also spot on. I don't know what the exchange rate is now, but I spent 2 weeks there several years ago and I think I spent $300 all in (hotel, food, all the traveling around the country, etc). Very inexpensive. Plus, did we mention that it's beautiful? :D I've spent time in Greece and Egypt as well, and I'd definitely pick Tunisia. But that's enough spouting off on a place that Bungee77 didn't even ask about. . . :p

Interesting discussion but no longer has anything to do with *wood. I'm moving this over to TravelBuzz for further discussion.

ldsant
*wood Moderator

Exodus and Letisko, Thanks for the great descriptions. I have actually started looking into tickets to Tunisia as a possible option... :cool:

Moderator, didnt mean to make this discussion non-relevant on the Starwood forum but if you notice in my posts I have been specifically asking just for SPG hotel recommendations in Egypt. Maybe there are just not enough people who visit SPG hotels in Egypt. :(

Tunsia looks very interesting. Has anyone been there for golf? How was it?

I applaud you for wanting someplace different for your honeymoon. While I also like Starwood, why not try a different hotel for your honeymoon? Check out http://www.fourseasons.com/cairofr/index.html and http://www.fourseasons.com/sharmelsheikh/index.html. You will be guaranteed a wonderful time at these places.

Alternatively you could choose DXB instead of CAI or perhaps do both. There are some fun Starwoods in Dubai. The Creek and Jumeirah Beach are nice.