"Long review from our trip in October.
Hotel grounds: pretty and well kept by the gardeners however it is starting to look very dated with cracked tiles, paint coming off, chipped or broken surfaces, wobbly handrails etc.
Reception: very clean and pleasant to sit in and relaxing with aircon and music.
Staff: all super friendly and helpful especially those at the bar. However, at dinner although they are doing everything they can there is not enough staff to actually serve drinks and clear the tables so you end up having to ask and wait for someone to clear it for you.
Rooms: we kindly got upgraded from a garden room to a sea view which was lovely to look out at. The rooms were spacious and the beds were comfy. Towels and linen changed everyday. However the cleaning such as wiping of surfaces and mopping the floor is to be improved. It has a mini fridge which you only get water in. You get some mini shampoos, conditioner and body wash although I wasn’t a fan of the smell it does the job if you forget it. The only other things you get in the bathroom are a bar of soap and a cup.
Entertainment: lovely relaxing lobby music however if you want to watch a show you need to make sure you’ve got a table outside when dinner opens to be able to watch the show as there is not a designated separate area like normal. We watched the show a couple of nights and they were good.
Cleanliness: most areas are of average cleanliness. The rooms could be cleaned more on a daily basis. The areas around the pools were filthy on the floor and your feet or shoes are black after 5 minutes. Tables at dinner when “cleaned” were just brushed down so sometimes stains on the linen from previous people. The toilets by the pools are filthy and I never once saw anyone cleaning it in the daytime although it did have toilet paper so maybe I missed them.
Drinks: I found them good with a good choice of cocktails and mocktails. Drinks come out cold and fizzy as they should do. Only local spirits available unless you go to the lobby bar where they’re quite expensive if you want imported. By only improvement to say would be if at dinner the hotel could have staff provide water to the guests at the table as they do in every other hotel we’ve ever been to so that they stay hydrated.
Food: now this was the biggest problem. The food was AWFUL. It was always cold and things that should be soft were hard and things that should be hard were soft. There was the same thing almost every night which were chips, rice, beef stew and vegetables. We have been to many buffet hotels before and there is at least a few choices. We love trying other foods but there was nothing warm to try. If you like salad there is a nice salad bar. I did enjoy the omelette in the mornings. We complained to reception after going to the shop for crisps and nearly ordering McDonald’s. They gave us a free al a cart for the last two nights we were there. The Italian was lovely, food fresh and hot. The other al a cart although the food was warm there isn’t a choice you just get given 4 cubes of chicken, a kofta and some rice but at least it was warm. My dad was terribly ill for 6 days and is still recovering which the doctor said is because of the food (not Egypt tummy as we’ve been so many times and know what to do/not to).
Trips and extras: we didn’t do any external trips this time as we weren’t here for very long. We did book a massage on-site which they tried to sell us for £70 each which we said was ridiculous and explained we pay £25 at home, he went down to £35 each which we accepted as we thought it may be nice. It was not a very good massage as it seemed like they didn’t know what they were doing at times even though he said they were qualified. There was no background music like there often is so we just laid there is silence listening to people outside chatting and chairs moving around upstairs etc so it wasn’t very relaxing.
Pools: we mostly spent time by the swim up bar where the staff were friendly and there are toilets nearby (although filthy). The pools feel absolutely freezing but once you are in it’s not too bad as the weather outside is warmer. They close at sunset.
Beach: STRESS! Trying to find a sunbed for even 2 people near each other was impossible. We went early and by 9am it was packed with not a bed in sight. The drinks apart from the water and juice machine don’t open till later and you spend about 15 minutes queuing for a tiny paper cup of water. I went down one afternoon about 4pm to swim in the sea and at that point there were a few more beds available. The sea is beautiful with loads of lovely fish and coral so if you go I would recommend going for a swim.
Check in: simple to get room key and quick. Given information on when things open on a piece of paper and then shown how to get to our room. Now I room was near reception so we didn’t see anything apart from the sea through our balcony doors. We were not told where anything was. No map given on arrival no tour nothing. So we went back to ask as we had no idea where food or the pools or anything was. They directed us to a map on the wall behind reception which we took a picture of to try and help us find the way.
Check out: simple and quick no problems at all.
Overall: felt safe and the staff are lovely although overworked but everything else is not up to standard so would not return to this resort."
