EGYPT Red Sea
cost from €145,000 (£128,000) for 83m2
one-bedroom apartments to €180,000 (£159,000) for 103m2
bedrooms; or golf apartments at €200,000 (£177,000) for 115m2
beds or €330,000 (£292,000) for 195m2
two- two-
three-bedroom apartments. “Prices are in line with the best
resorts of the Red Sea,” says Jamil Saad, the owner of Soma Bay (www.
somabay.com). “The resort offers an oasis of tranquility with superb weather, extensive wellness and sporting options in and out of the sea, all on a peninsula of great natural beauty.” The owners are a cosmopolitan
bunch: Egyptian, British, German, Italian, French, Swiss, Russian, Belgian – and a Welshman, Ian Marsh, who divides his time between the UK and Egypt while running Think Egypt, an advisor to Egypt’s residential tourism industry (
www.think-egypt.com). As someone ideally placed to
compare and contrast all of Egypt’s resort offerings, why did he choose Soma Bay? “I viewed it as an El Gouna of the future; somewhere that could learn and develop with the benefi t of the experience of this successful resort,” says Marsh. “Also, I like the fact that it is smaller and feels more
Main The marina at Port Ghaib, near Marsa Alam
Below Left The Red Sea is among the world’s best scuba diving sites Below right The port of Safaga is a welcome taste of real Egypt
exclusive than the larger, busier resorts where you can feel like a number, even though there may be more to do on them,” he adds. However, Ian Marsh admits it can
get a little lonely when other residents are away, and some people might fi nd the resort’s somewhat isolated location away from everything else – such as the bustling downtown of a traditional town such as Hurghada, for example – a little limiting.
So what about Marsa Alam, the Red Sea’s southern-most resort? This former fi shing village with unspoilt white-sand beaches and coral reefs really began to develop following the permission for its fi rst international airport in 2001. A new road was built which made
the journey by road to Luxor far easier (now three hours), and beach-front developments sprang up all along the road that runs from north to
south along the Red Sea coast. “There’s been much talk about Marsa Alam during the past six years but there is still a lack of fl ights in number and frequency [since XL’s demise it’s now down to Thomsonfl y for direct fl ights from the UK] and it’s a long way by road to Hurghada,” says Marsh. “But there’s bountiful wildlife, fi shing, plenty of hotels and small resorts and it seems to attract the Italians in particular. They currently like Oriental Coast, where prices are reasonable and there’s a good beachfront location.” The self-contained resort is a 50-
minute drive north of Marsa Alam town – 20 from the airport – and will have a 600-berth marina, 18-hole golf course as well as all the usual bars, shops, hotels and restaurants. Apartments there start at around £30,000, villas in the region of £143,000 (
www.oud.com.eg). However Port Ghalib is perhaps
the biggest project in Marsa Alam, an eight-million-square-metre integrated resort community that is hoping to become an international destination drawing golfers, yachties, divers and business travellers alike. Its nine villages will include a 1,000-berth marina, 23 hotels, conference centre, yacht club, 165 shops, golf and 8,200 residential units, plus 1,200 timeshare bedrooms – all to be completed by 2025. It is only fi ve minutes from the airport – which is operated by the same company as the resort, the M.A. Kharafi Group of Kuwait – or two hours from Hurghada. Prices start from £44,000 for a
studio; one-bedroom villas are from £112,000 and three-bedroom villas cost from £142,000. So far the buyers have been 30 per cent Egyptian, 20 per cent British, 20 per cent Middle Eastern and the
JUNE 2011 A PLACE IN THE SUN 59
“There’s been much talk about Marsa Alam during the past six years but there’s still a lack of fl ights from the UK. However there is bountiful wildlife, fi shing, plenty of hotels“
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100