A fantastic hotel, couldn't have asked for better. We had stayed in the iberotel coraya on the other side of the bay in January so we knew pretty much what to expect.
We had e mailed in advance to ask for a high up, sea view room if possible. That's exactly what they gave us, a lovely huge 3rd floor family room even though there was only two of us! It had a large balcony overlooking the bay which was beautiful, especially at sunset.
The food was fantastic, amazing choice of dishes, I had lots of authentic Egyptian/middle eastern food. I'm vegetarian so there was lots of choice for me. There was an amazing array of salads,puddings and the beer and wine were good too. We've never done an all inclusive before, it was such good value. We didn't actually drink a lot of alcohol as we were getting up early to snorkel. We also didn't bother with the entertainment in the evening.
Our main reason for visiting is the snorkelling, it's amazing in the bay. We usually went in three times a day. Either off the jetty or we walked round the bay a bit where you can just walk in. We also snorkelled over to the other side to the reef outside the Coraya. It's best to get up early and go as visibility is much better. We wore shorty wetsuits some of the time but not totally necessary.
The fish are beautiful, we saw barracuda,shoals of mackerel, lion fish,eagle rays,blue spotted rays, crocodile fish and turtles on three occasions. As well as all the usual amazing fish. This hotel is perfect if you just want to relax in the sun and snorkel for a week, there's no where really to go outside the hotel do bear that in mind if you want nightlife!

I travelled to the Lamaya resort with my girlfriend in mid-November, and on initially arriving we were highly impressed - the hotel lobby is impeccably kept and we received a friendly welcome, along with a refreshing drink and a cool towel. It was after this however we realised the hotel was big on style and less on substance:

The Room: although extremely spacious with a huge comfy bed, had an unpleasant sewerage smell which never really went away despite leaving the balcony doors open. The air-con was noisy and the room did get really hot at night without it. After a few days my girlfriend began developing bites all over her body. At first we thought this may have been due to jellyfish or sealice, however on later research the most likely culprit appears to be bed bugs! See some of the earlier reviews (not what you expect from a 5* hotel!). One of the highlights though were the beautiful sculptures made from towels left by the cleaner each day.

The Food: this is what really let the hotel down... more 3* than 5*! The food is buffet-style, with a themed night (e.g. italian, oriental) each evening. I'm not a fussy eater, but i really struggled to find anything I wanted at times. To make matters worse, both me and my girlfriend became ill after a few days, despite being careful with what we ate. The drink selection was limited (most of the cocktails were disgusting), although the beer wasn't too bad.

Evening entertainment: Laughable! This consisted of one guy murdering pop songs in french/german and amateur shows put on every night from the amination team (painful rather than enjoyable to watch). Other than that there was nothing else to do after the sun went down. Do go and watch the sun setting on the hill as that was fantastic but dont and I mean DONT drink the cocktails they hand out.

The Germans!!: If you don't agree or like the German holiday etiquette this is not the hotel for you especially in November......

Location: Now this is where our holiday was redeemed. The location of the hotel is directly on the beach which is shared amongst a few hotels and therefore you can walk all the way around the bay. Also there is a corel reef on your door stop and lots of fantastic and beautiful fish to see. Best time to go into snorkel is before 9 am as there is less people around and the sea is clearer. After noon you don't really have a chance to see that much as it gets quite choppy. Definately go on one of the snokelling trips to see the turtles and get the DVD of the trip (actually quite good and the camera guy can hold his breathe for ages).

Overall lovely location and attentative staff but food and entertainment shocking.

we have just returned from a week here and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves,what a lovely place this is,the staff were brilliant and the check in very swiftly done with wine and strawberries dipped in choc yummy,it was very quiet with it been just before christmas pools were empty even the heated one,we spent most of the time on the beach or snorkelling which was brill even though it was windy down on the jetty and felt cold the sea life made it worth it,the food was really good and we never went hungry,the manager invited us to a asian night in one of the restaurants it was very tasty 5 courses and nothing was too much trouble for them ,we shall definitely come back here and we never say that about the places we stay, one of the best bits were the decorations they put up for christmas the tree and the giant gingerbread house they built with real biscuits and icing lovely,well done deserves the 5 star raiting..............

We have just returned from a weeks holiday at the Lamaya. For what we paid it was a nice last minute break. We cannot fault the staff or the cleanliness of the hotel. Although a few little extras like a waiter service in the bar and restaurant would have been nice.The dining experience was another matter. The restaurant was more like a works canteen. As soon as we walked in to the restaurant we felt despondant. You start off with the lack of atmosphere then the lack of anything decent to eat. I lived on bread and butter for the whole week and sometimes even that was not very fresh. I am a fussy eater so was quite expecting not to have much but a few chips would have been bettter than nothing. My Husband who usually eats anything anywhere was even struggling with the choices available. We will be trying the coraya next time just wish we had this time.