Mexicana Hotel - Sharm

Hi All, was thinking of getting a cheapie out to Sharm at the end of September but the usual deals with Explorers are no more. Apparently they will cease to exist and will be absorbed by Thomson. Also, Ocean Club is going under refurb for a while. Has anyone stayed at the Mexicana Hotel and if so, would you recommend it? Any other suggestions? Cheers!

I stayed at the Mexicana March 23 - April 6.

Some of the rooms are pretty nice...especially on the first floor.
Make sure NOT to get a room all the way at the back as last time I was there there was a generator running 24-7 at a building site behind the hotel.

The Mexicana is located in Hamata, so it is quite a long way from Naama Bay and most diving centres.

The food is generally okay...not superb, but eatable.
The roast is no good...and unfortunately the morning coffee is no good either.
But the rest is okay...especially the cakes

I go again to the Mexicana September 10-17...might see you there?

Thanks for that. Can't be too bad if you're going back for seconds ) I read on a tour operators website somewhere that some rooms are under renovation. What dive school did you use? I presume it's pretty near Ocean College at Ocean Club?

Topper1972:

The Mexicana is located in Hamata, so it is quite a long way from Naama Bay and most diving centres.

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I think you mean Hadaba, as Hamata is really far away from Sharm

Yes...Hadaba (and not Hamata lol
I too would agree that Hamata is 'a few miles' from Naama...about 700-800 kilometres would be right?
Hadaba on the other hand is only 10-12 kilometres from Naama Bay I estimate.

Diveschool...in Sharm I use Werner Lau...and this next time around I also go on a liveaboard during the second week Sept 17-24...the liveaboard will be with Sinai Divers.
Liveaboards seem to be available at a very good price these days...I get the impression they are hard pressed to fill up the boats due to a lower influx of divers.

I haven't used Sinai Divers yet...so really can't say anything about them yet.

Regarding Werner Lau...it is a German outfit...seemed very professional to me.
The staff is a mix of Danish, German, Dutch and South African instructors (plus a single Hungarian, Finnish and Colombian).
The clientele I would say is 35% Danish/Scandinavian, 35% German, 15% Dutch/Belgian/French, 15% other nationalities.

Rooms at the Mexicana...ask for a room on the first floor somewhere near the main pool...that way you should be well away from that 24-7 generator on the building site beyond the hotel...and also that way you are well away from the hotel bar.

The shuttle bus for the Werner Lau diving centre picks you up each morning at around 7:45 AM...and so would shuttle buses from other diving centres it seemed to me.
The afternoon return shuttle bus would bring you back to the hotel around 5-5:45 PM.
A taxi from the hotel to Naama Bay would be around 15-20 Egyptian Pounds (around 2 GBP)...depending on your haggle skills price could be a little less.

In general I would say the Mexicana is a very quiet hotel...which suits me fine because I come to Sharm for the diving and pretty much nothing else.
There didn't seem to be much of night time entertaiment...except for maybe having a drink at the hotel bar up near the main lobby.
I didn't see the other hotel guests much (everyday I was diving), but I got the impression it was a mix of English and Russians...and the occasional Scandinavian (me).

Now...just be aware that this last time in Sharm was my first time there...so I am no expert on Sharm!
If you want a hotel closer to Naama Bay and in the same cheap price range as Mexicana, I was recommended the Sharm Cliff Hotel, too...that one is just 12 minutes walk from Naama Bay.

All the good centers will pick you up from the Mexicana, transfers are normally included in the cost of diving, cameldive.com have very reasonable rates, have a look at trip advisor for more info on hotels