We have just returned home form a 2 week honeymoon at the Coraya Beach - 25th June to 9th July

Simply put our stay was perfection. Never have we had such comfort and 1st class service in Egypt before.

We have been to Sharm and Taba and both holidays were great but the Coraya is in a different league.

I'm not going to say too much, the hotel is just perfect.

The management control the guest numbers to 20% of each nationality at any one time so there is a pleasant mix. When we stayed here the totla guests were 260 (the hotel holds 800) that's less than 30% occupation and we could easily have 4 sunbeds - 2 in the sun, 2 in the shade !!

The staff are fab, helpful, attentive and the waiters have a great sense of humour - Abd Allah at the pool bar was great as was Mr Al Farzy in the restaurant.

We tipped early in the holiday and the staff treated us really well. 100 Egyptian Pounds (£10) was well received and I recommend you do the same.

Towel designs in our room every day with fresh flowers too, I have uploaded pictures to show them. We had a sea view room and it was lovely, right on the main bay.

There were Dolphins in the bay during the last 3 days, some people saw up to 25 first thing in the morning, but alas the toursists became too excited and the unecessary screaming and shouting scared them away.

Weather was very hot - 38 in shade and 45 - 50 in direct sun, not for the faint hearted.

Yes, there was some upset tummies, not sure what the cause was but a swift visit to the pharmacy (1.5 mile walk there and 1.5 miles back + £33 in tablets) sorted that out in less than 24 hours.

Food was good, great choices for even the fussy eaters - And rest assured they do not have fish and chips, pie, mash & liquor nor do they have bacon and eggs - Roast lamb, Roast Turkey, Roast Duck, Veal, Steak, Beef, Chicken, Fish, Stews, Curries, Rice, Pasta, Pizza, Fresh Salads, Fresh Fruits, BBQ's etc etc etc

If you go here then I recomend that you stay "All Inclusive" as half board works out to be very expensive when you count the cost of the drinks you will have to buy.

If you go with Thompson the Rep is as useful as a Chocolate Tea Pot, and completely un-interested so be warned.

We did nothing but laze in the sun and prop up the pool bar, well it does open at 9am !!!!

We have just spent 2 amazing weeks in the best hotel on the Red Sea. The airport is great we got through within 30 minutes of landing. The reps were there to greet you & direct you to your coach. Everyone had a smile (even passport control).

The Coraya was the 1st drop off point it only takes 10 minutes. Our first impressions were wow, the place looked immaculate & the welcome was genuine. We were given a cool towel, which was much appreciated as it was extremely warm compared to the UK. There was a nice cold fruit cocktail (non-alcoholic) to quench our thirst. After the completion of registration forms we were taken on a short walk around the complex as guests were shown to their accommodation. We had not been in our room for more than 5 minutes & our bags arrived.

We cannot thank the staff enough for making our holiday one of the best ever. They were always smiling & always ready to please. They will even tell you off for pouring your own water. We must mention Ali & Alaa in the main restaurant their service was exceptional. Down at the Beach bar there are a number to mention Sam, Hany & Yasser (What’s up). At the pool bar there is Mr Abdalla, Omar & Mohammed 16. If you meet any of these guys you will know that you will be looked after. We also need to mention the animation team Max, Carlos, Sam & Sally they have a hard job trying to get folk to do anything in the heat, they always asked us to join in but we said no but this did not stop them from being friendly & asking us what we had been up to that day.

The snorkelling off the beach is awesome; all the fish you would ever want to see are there. We even had a bait ball in the lagoon for a few days which attracted larger fish. We did go on 2 organised snorkelling trips which were good especially seeing the turtles & the dugong at Abu Dhabab.

The highlight of our holiday was a fantastic dinner in the tent/marquee which is situated on the headland of the hotel. One of our party was celebrating her 50th birthday & we wanted to do something special. We mentioned this to Abdalla from the pool bar & he spoke to his manager Mr Atef the food & beverage manager for the hotel. He kindly met up with us to discuss our needs & mentioned the Starlight Evening dinner. From seeing the menu we decided to proceed as it was just what we wanted for the occasion. On the evening all our expectations were exceeded, from arriving into the area where we were greeted with a fruit cocktail to the meal & onto the coffee at the end. Everything on that night had been planned carefully there were a number of waiters on hand to ensure that our needs were met, our meal was prepared on site by 3 chefs & I would recommend this menu to anyone who enjoys seafood. Forget a 5 star restaurant back home this is the real deal & you wouldn’t get the view or atmosphere at twice the price. This can be kept Top secret by all the staff if you are planning a surprise but remember to tell them it’s TOP SECRET.

We could go on & on raving about this hotel but to be honest you need to see this place for yourself. We have never been back to the same hotel twice but we are planning to make an exception for the Coraya.

Once again we say many thanks to all the staff at the Coraya who deserve the status of best hotel in Marsa Alam.

Four of us have just returned from a 2 week stay at the Coraya Beach. From start to finish we had an amazing holiday. I could go on forever about what a lovely hotel this is. Check in was so easy and we were given such a warm welcome. We have previously stayed at the Movenpick in El Gouna and the Iberotel Grand Sharm in Sharm, both of which are lovely hotels, but we really found the Coraya to be something quite special. This was mainly down to the extra little touches we found here (which I won't spoil by telling you) and the fantastic staff who really couldn't have been more friendly or helpful.

The hotel itself was beautiful and immaculately kept. The rooms were spacious and well-appointed. There was plenty of space around the pools, which were lovely and it was easy to get a sun lounger any time of the day. The beach was also lovely and here there was a waiter service for drinks. It was extremely hot while we there but there is plenty of shade to be found.

The Coraya is the only hotel in the bay to actually sit on its own beach and so has direct access to the sea and the coral. If you do come here, snorkelling is a must. You can also go round to the jetty the other side of the bay (a 10 min walk) to see the fish straight off the jetty (very handy for taking pictures) and I would definitely recommend going round there. Having had a quick look at the hotels the other side of the bay I thought the Coraya was much nicer (but I may be a bit biased!).

We ate at both the buffet and the A la Carte restaurant, both of which were included in the AI, the food at both was fantastic. The breakfast was very good, and both lunch and dinner at the buffet were varied and tasty. There was plenty for kids and vegetarians, and even though we stayed for 2 weeks we didn't eat the same meal twice (excepting the amazing fillet steak at the A la Carte of course!). The waiters in the buffet restaurant were so friendly and welcoming, it really made eating there a pleasure. They were very talkative and so polite. If you are polite to them it is very much appreciated (especially as some guests barely acknowledged their existence). They work extremely hard (18 hour shifts for weeks on end) but always manage to find a smile and make you feel like extra special guests. The barman at Zuzu's bar was also very welcoming.

The hotel makes a big effort to vary the feel of the buffet and despite the fact the restaurant was huge it never felt like a canteen, the service was extremely good (we were told off several times for trying to serve our own wine!) and the restaurant was decorated differently each night. In the day you are also offered tea and cakes, fruit and ice-creams galore!

In the evening the hotel is quite quiet, which suited us well as we ate late, had a nice quiet cocktail, a quick game of pool and then headed to bed. The entertainment was a little bit hit and miss, but that wasn't a problem for us. In the day the animation team were great, always inviting us to take part in the various activities even though we never said yes!

I would recommend paying the extra for all inclusive as this will soon pay for itself. A bottle of wine was about £13 and cocktails £6.50, as the hotel is in the middle of nowhere you don;t have much choice but to pay this. I believe it cost us about £12 pppn to upgrade so well worth it. In fact we probably got our money back in the amount of water we drank! Having unlimited laundry, restocked minibar and 30 minutes Internet access a day came in very handy. If you have already booked half board it is possible to upgrade to all inclusive (Pharoah's club) when you arrive.

Whilst at the Coraya we went quadding in the desert (through the hotel company on the beach) which was amazing (but make sure to ask for a helmet). We also took the bus trip to El Qusair. While I wouldn't say this was the nicest trip, as El Qusair wasn't the biggest town and there wasn't much shopping to be done, it was well worth going as a reminder that the real Egypt is not all 5* luxury.

We had such a great holiday I don't really want to spoil your impression of the hotel but I must say a little about Thomsons. If you want to book excursions do so at the welcome meeting as the rep might prove quite hard to find afterwards - we never saw him again. The flight was ok, we didn't book meals but ended up buying them on the way back as all the crisps and sandwiches had been sold on the outbound leg. Since Marsa Alam is a small (but quite nice airport) there is not much food to buy before take-off, so I would suggest buying the onboard meal.

Would we go again? Absolutely. We're missing it already and as soon as we can afford it we will definitely be back!

Been back a week from Coraya Beach and can't wait to go again. We have travelled the world but always been a little wary of going to
Egypt but not anymore the hotel and staff were absolutely superb they were very polite and nothing was too much trouble we had lots of fun with the waiters and chefs, I had my birthday there and our table was covered in rose petals then after the meal we could hear this racket and it was the waiters and chefs coming through the restaurant beating a drum and singing to me first in their own language then in English then we had dancing it was brilliant as I have had more birthdays than I care to remember but that was fun. Max and the animation team worked hard in a difficult situation as most of the guests just wanted to chill out. Public areas and bedrooms were spotlessly clean and I loved the Nubian village atmosphere with it's little cobbled streets and archways and the gardens were beautifully kept. We were on the all inclusive package and it was well worth the money we paid we tried the free massage and were so impressed we all had another three whilst we were there! The manager at the hotel was a lovely man always around the hotel and not sat in an office and he quite often ate in the buffet restaurant and got his own food like the rest of us, so all in all a fabulous holiday in a beautiful hotel superbly run and with fantastic staff what more could you want it was definately 5*