just got back from a week at Alibaba palace hugarda I have never left a review but our experience was so bad I wanted to warn others. we arrived at approx 0030, the reception staff are very abrupt and very minimal information is given. There were no refreshments available after a whole day travelling, I’ve never been to a hotel that does not have some kind of snack on arrival. we were offered to be shown to the room, we hadn’t yet changed any money and told them we didn’t have any money and therefore were left to find our room in the pitch black, in 35 degree heat in a complex of over 6000 rooms. we were searching for half an hour before we were able to locate it. The room was very dated, not the cleanest and very very basic. The air con was not on and we were unable to work it, the room was unbearably hot so we went to reception for assistance and someone was eventually sent at 0300. With 2 small children this was less than ideal. We were given a room with a bunk bed that was so creaky and wobbly we had to remove the mattress off the top bunk and put it on the floor, this was rectified once a complaint was made. The fridge door was also hanging on by a thread and didn’t shut properly so was difficult to keep water etc cold. The balcony barely fit 2 people on and with a family 4 didn’t make sense. and we were given a pillow case stuffed with sheets as a makeshift pillow. We were given a reps name and number on arrival, however we did not go to the meeting on the first day as from experience, am aware this is mainly to sell excursions. When I required assistance from the rep, I was ignored (even though I could see the message had been read). If you are not out around the pool for 8am you are not getting any shade. The heat is blistering and for such a big hotel there should be more shaded options. One restaurant was closed, therefore we would queue for a long time to enter the remaining 2 restaurants and then also had to queue for food, the food options were very very limited, and not of good standard, the kids options are also really really poor. However if you use ringos restaurant it is much better quality, however I’m not sure why there is a difference in the 2 restaurants. The “all inclusive” is a joke, absolutely everything is an extra charge. If you book into the sushi restaurant anything of any interest is an extra charge. Ice creams, cocktails, watermelon, bottled beer, milkshakes, smoothies are all an additional charge. Not only should these be included in the all inclusive , you are hounded to buy them, all day every day, and when you decline, they are less than discreet and hiding their disgust. Staff offering Excursions are relentless being hounded by multiple staff multiple times a day, again. Very offended if you chose not to. very basic ice cream is available from 2-4pm only. Alcoholic drinks come in paper cups and are 1/4 pint size, and are unable to get more than 1 or 2 at a time and expected to tip every time you get one. The pool bar offers food at lunch, the queues in the blistering sun are long and a real put off, the portion size is tiny and the staff are miserable. In order to get anything in this place you are required to tip, which we did, and would be happy to do however after paying 3.5k for an all inclusive hotel I expect a basic level of care. We were told no end of times that we were unable to splash In the swimming pool, which is ridiculous when you have small children. Especially when they offer foam parties and pool parties, its just contradictory. I really got the impression that Egyptians do not like English. As soon as they heard our accents there was a problem.The hotel is not geared up for English, and it shows as there isnt hardly any there. We met one other English family whilst there for a week. we left the hotel at 8pm and had to check out at 12pm, our cases were left in the hotel reception and we felt very uneasy about this, there is no where safe to store your belongings. There is no where to have a shower (or not that we were told of). I asked if we could keep the towel cards until later so that we could have a shower by the pool and were told we needed to leave our passports as deposits. When our transfer were an hour late, the reception staff refused to help and just kept telling us to wait 5 more minutes. However I’m sure if we had tipped them they would of been more obliged to help. On a positive note, we needed to use the hospital connected to the hotel and the staff there were very good. The pool parties, foam parties and beach parties are really fun and very original. We went to our friends room to get changed and their room was much more modern and would have been very happy with that standard of room.…
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.