Spent two weeks 14 to 28 November. The 2nd week cost me €146 extra pp = €20 per day!!! Given this cost the value is astonishing. The resort has many plus points; Food is good to excellent (could have had a "Middle East corner every day and not once per week); anyone who cannot find something good to eat at each meal has a serious problem. I heard rave reviews about the pasta. Staff were friendly without being pushy. No "baksheesh" begging. Room quality/service was impeccable, after some initial equipment problems.

There was a mix with Russian, Italian (not on the dives though) and Germans dominating, but with a good representation by Dutch and British. A mega-plus is access to the best house reef in my 20 years of diving; superb snorkelling; close to Elphinstone; professional dive centre with competitive prices. Weather was perfect; sea temperatures excellent. Warm and fresh swimming pools. Easy beach access. Gym, chemist, hairdresser, massage and clinic on site. Pretty gardens. Alcohol quality was remarkably good, even the white wine, but the red was dreadful. Beer was cold and pleasant. Brilliant pool bar.

Cons: One case of 'Gippo' tummy, sorted out by the pharmacist in 24 hours. Wonky room equipment - speedily repaired. Decorations and ambiance of the dining room and lobby bar reminded me of old railway stations. Bring repellent for the mozzies for pool bar sundowners. Very limited english TV

After a pleasant flight and journey to the Royal Brayka, it was made even more pleasant by a cold drink and hot towel on arrival. A quick check in with a smile and explanation of services. Mohamed Yahia is the best member of staff on reception, though reception staff are extremely kind and helpful.
The room was average size, with comfortable twin beds, the satellite reception on the TV was not wonderful but we only had BBC World News on now and then. Only a shower in the bathroom, would have been nice to have a bath but shower was powerful and there was always very hot water available. We were on ground floor and in a good position for beach / pool / restaurant / reception.
We used the heated pool, which at times was like getting into a bath! Whether or not it was the time of year (First 2 weeks in December) but the hotel was practically empty, always sun beds by pool and on the beach. Not many guests, most of which were European (thankfully not many Russians either!)
The beach was quiet, and relaxing - it would have been nice to have a pier/pontoon too enter the sea, but as there is a bay you walk into the sea and the fish are amazing - lion fish / blue spotted stingray among others. Also egrets and eagles, buzzards and bats of an evening if your lucky to see the fly at dusk. There is a bar on the beach and towel desk.
The pool area was again quiet, with a bar, and towel desk. The heated pool area is low down and sheltered and is a sun trap.
The weather is definitely warmer than Sharm El Sheikh. If you want a trip in the desert its right outside the front of the hotel. It was worth a trip on a quad bike, this desert is different to the Sinai desert.
The food in the restaurant was different every day, though nothing exciting it was hot and there was variety, the bread was decent enough. We never got ill with the food! The waiters were exceptionally good.
A lot of the entertainment catered for the Europeans, and where the hotel is situated, you are relatively stuck where you are, but if you want a holiday where you do absolutely nothing just stay at hotel this is ideal. We were there for 2 weeks and wern't bored, we were thoroughly relaxed.
If you get chance to use the Wellness Centre then do. It was clean, very good deals and rates and the staff polite, I had Wael massage me, I recommend him.
All in all I had a great time, and I think those who are couples and older in years will enjoy this hotel, but, I would say give it a try and see for yourself, you maybe pleasantly surprised... I will certainly come back here

Arrived at Royal Brayka to an easy check in process and a welcome drink. We had a brief explanation of services etc before being taken to our room. I marked the room as average because it was a simple room - standard twin room with the appropriate amenities. However, I think there are various room types around the resort which range from standard to a bit more high spec (i.e. beach front).
We stayed in Block 3 which was protected from any noise pollution from the nightly entertainment which was great as we had to have a few early nights for our diving trips.

Staff are great - Hany (Thomson's Rep) very friendly, informative and helpful and is at the hotel everyday. Reception staff are great - especially as we had to order take away breakfast and lunch 4 days running they made sure this was ready for us early every morning.
Room was cleaned very well, everyday by Mustafa who was very nice and got us some nice plump pillows and made some nice towel art for us. Pool bar staff are friendly too.


Food was varied every day and we had no problems with any of it - there was always something nice to eat. The BBQ outside had some AMAZING food, and the pasta station was lovely too. Plenty of desserts to try - some better than others. There was always a nice selection of food and it was not repetitive despite it being the only restaurant - the other two restaurants were not included in the all inclusive deal.

Pros about the resort are;
1. Lack of British tourists which is a plus for us
2. Good time of year to go - half the resort was empty so it was very quiet - only busy during breakfast, lunch and dinner
3. Nice, relaxing atmosphere in the resort
4. Options to use the Brayka Bay bars and entertainment, including the Bedouin tent for shisha
5. Beach and snorkelling was good, plenty of fish, reef wasn't amazing compared to diving locations - watch out for the lion fish when the current is weak they chill out in the shallow waters

Cons;
1. Definitely wouldn't stay here in high season - think it would be too busy around the pool and beach and certainly the restaurant
2.Good diving location for a couple of days but if diving for more than 3 days the journey to Port Ghalib is a bit too far - used Emperor Divers (approx 45mins-1 hour) from Port Ghalib

Overall, had a great holiday - I tend not to holiday in the same place twice but would return to other parts of Egypt for more Red Sea diving. I would 100% recommend Emperor Divers - who were extremely organised, professional and have fantastic boats. I booked my advanced open water diving course in the UK before I left and saved around £100 - Madida (my instructor) was amazing!!

We stayed one week in this resort in a beachfront room. What we liked the most was the food which was simply superb. A lot of choice and excellent quality. The room was also good large with basic furniture. The view was directly on the sea which was great. Take good earplugs if you don't want to be bothered by the evening parties.

The beach itself is quite well maintained, you need to be an early bed to get the first row places.
What we didn't like was the fact that, despite being a new structure, it is not very well taken care of.
Rusty umbrella's and chairs on the beach. Many places where it was clear that they did not clean, broken tiles, unfinished or dirty walls. We saw how they clean the tables and it was really very disappointing. Also other aspects like the table tennis tables and billiard were basically abandoned and barely usable. The staff didn't seem motivated, for some of them it was like they were kept in prison.
Every day or two the beach and front beach rooms were "smoked" with some antimosquito treatment which was a bit weird; so we had to be careful to close the doors to avoid to be intoxicated.

The reef can be easily accessible by the sandy beach making it very easy also for children; despite the large variety of species, the snorkeling was not particularly good due to the often limited visibility and pollution (in the sea and the shore there was a lot of plastic bags).
The resort nearby offer diving and snorkeling trips which were not really advertised and we discovered only during the last day.

In conclusion I would recommend this place if you are looking for a relaxing holiday without many frills and requirements; if you want a higher standard holiday go somewhere else.