Even by Egyptian standards this is not a 5* hotel.
The rooms are dated, but are generously sized and clean. The TV was a relic from the dark ages! most channels didn’t work and if they did, the signal was terrible. The beds were extremely hard, the safe wasn’t attached to the wall, our toilet wouldn’t always flush and the shower water pressure was pitiful.
The food was a major problem. The main buffet was appalling! The food was wet, sloppy and bland. When we raised this with the hotel manager we were upgraded to the paid buffet free of charge. This buffet was much better, however being a 5* all inclusive hotel, I would expect this to be available to everyone without the extra cost! The À la carte restaurants were ok, nothing special. The Italian was the best of the bunch. The poolside food consisted of pizza, chips, calamari and fish in bread, none of which was particularly nice.
The pool areas at first glance appeared nice but closer inspection revealed the brick work was dilapidated; I saw one child trip badly because their foot got stuck in a gaping hole. Also parents were letting their children urinate in the pool; literally hanging their children over the edge to let them wee!
Most of the staff were friendly, but some were rude and quite frankly incompetent. It took 90 minutes to get breakfast room service because I was told they didn’t “think” they did it, even though the room had a menu. I was sent on a wild goose chase, having to phone different departments; I got nowhere so ended up walking to reception to make a complaint. The manager I dealt with was very apologetic and gave us the room service for free. One of the cleaners cornered me and practically forced me to give him a recommendation on the guest service survey. The man who made the pizza by the pool would always serve the Egyptians before anyone else even though you were first. We were harassed by the hotel sales team on a daily basis. On one occasion when we were by the pool, 4 different members of staff approached us within an hour. The Photography man was particularly annoying, he wouldn’t take no for an answer, and started to do a cockney accent and said he could Photoshop the photos to make us look brown as that’s what white people wanted. Very bizarre. The bar staff and towel attendants were very polite and attentive.
We used the Spa which was excellent; one of the best massages I’ve ever had! The Shisha bar was also fun.
As many European countries aren’t flying to the Red Sea, 90% of the guests were Egyptian (from Cairo seeking refuge). We were made to feel very uncomfortable. My cousin who wore a bikini by the pool was constantly hissed at by the women and leered at by the men. Several made misogynist comments. We respect other peoples cultures, however as an international hotel you should be able to wear a bikini without abuse. I was also called a fascist by a man for absolutely no reason. We didn’t speak out for fear of causing trouble, so decided to avoid the pools and spent most of our time at the beach.
The hotel management tried their best to resolve some of our complaints but there was only so much they could do. The hotel has many fundamental problems.
