On our holiday, we stayed at four hotels and reviews of these hotels are shown below:
Grand Palace Hotel, Amman
Located out of the town centre, the Grand Palace Hotel was large and
comfortable. Our bed was absolutely huge. The spacious lounge adjacent
to the dining room was ideal for having a pre-dinner drink or waiting
for friends. We enjoyed the buffet meals which were our first taste of
Jordanian cuisine.
Julie needed to buy some sunglasses and we found a tiny shop in the reception
area with some expensive sunglasses in a display case, but the shop was
never manned. Exploring further past reception we found a small room packed
with newspapers, postcards,
toothpaste, and so on, presided over by an
elderly lady who spoke little English. This proved to be the place to
buy cheap sunglasses.
We had no complaints about this hotel but, compared to other hotels we stayed at, it was nothing special.
Two
things stand out about the Petra Panorama Hotel. One is its location on
the side of a hill overlooking the mountains that surround Petra. The
view from our room was absolutely stunning, especially at sunset. The
lounge also had a very pleasant aspect; after breakfast we watched a boy
herding goats much further down the valley. The other is its construction.
As the picture shows, it is built into the steep hill which meant that
getting from the communal areas (reception, dining etc) to the bedrooms
involved an elevator (lift), then a walk of about 50 metres down a corridor,
then another elevator. Julie had a problem in the bar - they would not serve her whilst she
was on her own and I was summoned to act as chaperone. She also had to
insist on entering her own PIN number when paying at reception, and was
led through the back offices to the area behind the reception desk as
the card machine could not be moved. The hotel's souvenir shop was opened on request. We had been told that
souvenirs at Petra were the most expensive in Jordan, but the goods in
this shop were reasonably priced.
The food was excellent and the staff efficient, though the acoustics
of the restaurant made it rather noisy when crowded. Julie had an epileptic
seizure (see www.livingwithepilepsy.org.uk)
in the restaurant and the staff were puzzled but did not make a fuss.
We liked this hotel which was spacious and well designed. In particular,
we spent quite a bit of time in the lounge. This had a large-screen television
(with the sound turned down), English-language newspapers and plenty of
movable seating. Drinks, alcohol, colas, tea/coffee and biscuits could
be ordered here and the location of the lounge near reception made
it easy to socialise with passing members of our party.
The Aqaba Gulf Hotel is located on the Corniche, opposite the ruins of
old Aqaba (Ayla) and next to the larger Movenpick. It is only a few minutes
level walk to the town centre so it is easy to get from the hotels to the shops, sea
front, restaurants and the cinema. Our room had a view of the harbour
and of the town of Eilat just across the border in Israel.
The
hotel is spread out over a large area beside the Dead Sea. The complex
includes a medical centre and shops. Most of the bedrooms have balconies
and sea views. We could see Jericho in the distance from our balcony (see
opposite). There are several outdoor swimming pools and we spent our evenings
beside one of the pools, drinking colas and watching the amazing sunset
(see main Dead Sea page). The food was excellent, though expensive, and the staff attentive. The
breakfast choice was especially good. In particular, several types of
tasty bread were available.Apart from the poolside bars, there was an inside bar cum library (stocked
with books and magazines in German). On one night live musicians performed
outside, but this was amplified so it was impossible to converse.There is direct access to the Dead Sea from a rather rough beach, and
hoses are provided to clean off the unpleasant mud and salty water after
going for the obligatory float.
We would have liked to spend a few more days here as it was a very relaxing
and beautiful place to be. Our only hassle was being ignored in favour
of pushier but later customers at check out time.
Jordan 
Two
things stand out about the Petra Panorama Hotel. One is its location on
the side of a hill overlooking the mountains that surround Petra. The
view from our room was absolutely stunning, especially at sunset. The
lounge also had a very pleasant aspect; after breakfast we watched a boy
herding goats much further down the valley. The other is its construction.
As the picture shows, it is built into the steep hill which meant that
getting from the communal areas (reception, dining etc) to the bedrooms
involved an elevator (lift), then a walk of about 50 metres down a corridor,
then another elevator. Julie had a problem in the bar - they would not serve her whilst she
was on her own and I was summoned to act as chaperone. She also had to
insist on entering her own PIN number when paying at reception, and was
led through the back offices to the area behind the reception desk as
the card machine could not be moved. The hotel's souvenir shop was opened on request. We had been told that
souvenirs at Petra were the most expensive in Jordan, but the goods in
this shop were reasonably priced.
The
hotel is spread out over a large area beside the Dead Sea. The complex
includes a medical centre and shops. Most of the bedrooms have balconies
and sea views. We could see Jericho in the distance from our balcony (see
opposite). There are several outdoor swimming pools and we spent our evenings
beside one of the pools, drinking colas and watching the amazing sunset
(see main Dead Sea page). The food was excellent, though expensive, and the staff attentive. The
breakfast choice was especially good. In particular, several types of
tasty bread were available.Apart from the poolside bars, there was an inside bar cum library (stocked
with books and magazines in German). On one night live musicians performed
outside, but this was amplified so it was impossible to converse.There is direct access to the Dead Sea from a rather rough beach, and
hoses are provided to clean off the unpleasant mud and salty water after
going for the obligatory float. 
