"Strap in, it's a long one, having read previous reviews.
We went for 2 weeks to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Booked a Royal Swim Up Room and were delighted with the space, finish and terrace we had! The towel art from our cleaner was fantastic and our room was left fresh, spotless and as we'd set it up every day - by that I mean that the towels we'd placed at certain points on the ground outside on the terrace were replaced there and during sweeping or watering the foliage nothing was moved (loungers, umbrella, etc). Everyone on staff we passed in the resort smiled or said hello and all servers and bartenders we had were great.
Huge pool, we never actually went to the one by the restaurant and only went to Bedrock swim up pool and jacuzzi once. 1.5m deep (our large pool) and the warmest unheated one we've ever had on holiday. Fellas cleaning it for hours every day. We could hear the music from the one by the restaurant but it wasn't massively intrusive. We were 1 terrace along from the bridge and had a lovely bartender bring us beers whenever we saw him, plus another guy swapped out pool towels whenever we saw him as well. There are inflatables bobbing about in the pool for anyone to use and we certainly had tons of space on our terrace for the ones we brought, as well as rails to hang wet things on.
If social clubs are your thing then Barney's bar next to the entertainment stage and heated pool will be your favourite for the evening. Fred's bar is more of a sports and casual bar with a couple of pool tables and sport on TV. You can watch bats overhead at night, too.
Bedrock's swim up bar is a deeper pool than expected and be careful at the jacuzzi as the step down into it is very deep and there are no hand rails!
Betty's we only had a drink at once but the fresh pizzas and burgers looked really good and other guests were raving about them, although we didn't have any.
The beach bar is lovely.
The a la carte restaurants were all delicious! The Teppanyaki (Pebbles) was a cracking show - be sure to scoot your seat a few feet away from the bar whilst he's cooking as the fire flares are HOT! The grill (Bam Bam) was tasty and had a selection for each course. The view from the entrance to both of these restaurants is fantastic! The Egyptian (Wilma) was also great - not one for skirt wearers as you sit on 2 very comfy pouffes at floor level and anyone with back issues or problems getting up or down will want to mention that when booking - also not for the vegans and vegetarians may want to mention that to see if there is any alternative menu (that goes for ALL the a la carte restaurants!)
The main buffet restaurant and outside grill were great, plenty of choice in both food and places to sit: outside sun or shade, inside with air con and waiters for beer or wine. The lasagne was the best I've ever had. Great choice of different salads and the breads were jaw dropping. From the external grill, the beef koftas were my fave.
The beach....oh, the beach! Great shades, great views, camels and horses to pet or ride (rides for a fee obviously, not that we did that) and the water....wow.
Low tide it's below knee depth as far out as to at least half way along the neighbouring pier I'd say. Head out towards the floating water bottle from the right side of the beach as that's the smoothest route. Wear aqua shoes. Once at the floating water bottle, the water becomes hip height (again at low tide) and if you go to the right you will be able to swim along the reef in water which (at the front of the reef) at low tide is around 7-10ft deep. If you snorkel over the reef you'll be in water anywhere from a foot to 3 or 4ft deep. There are some sandy inlets at the front you can set down in and be in your depth. I'm 5ft 6 for reference.
I don't know where other people have been going but don't listen to any reviews saying there are no fish!!! I swam with fish we saw in the Grand Aquarium in Hurghada a few days before... Sergeant fish, Clown fish, Arabian Picasso Triggerfish, Damselfish, Butterflyfish, Goby, Sea Bream, Snapper, African Grunts, Chubs...the list goes on and my utter delights were Pufferfish (2 species of), Sohal Surgeonfish, a Geometric Moray Eel, Parrotfish and big Broomtail Wrasse!! I was absolutely thrilled to bits to just be able to walk out 5mins from the beach and be amongst fish I've dreamed of swimming with for years.
Be warned.....the experienced kitesurfers going from the hotel on the left (as you look out to sea) out to deeper water and back are d**** and will aim for you and pass you within a couple of feet at high speed on breezy days. Several people left the water due to them and I ended up having a meltdown as I was buzzed multiple times walking back to shore after being constantly harried the whole time I'd been snorkeling on one particular day. Happily the rest of that week it was flat calm though 😁
Didn't go to any shops and the ATM at the Asian Supermarket was out of order so we used the one at Karma Hotel (2nd hotel to the right coming out of the Caves). We used In Drive app to get taxis to the Aquarium, but the locals outside the hotel would have also been fine. Don't use the hotel taxi as they'll charge at least double....He wanted 950 for one way to the Aquarium! We paid 500 using In Drive and could have got it for 300 from a local who asked if we wanted a taxi.
Lastly....TIP!!! 100 Egyptian pounds is about £1.50 so don't be so stingy. You will have amazing service and it's really nothing to you but a lot to the staff there who are working every day for long hours.
Smile at staff, say hi, ask how they are and don't be so scared. Nobody is out to scam you. The restaurant manager is great, the servers and bartenders attentive. My husband got 3 fabulous sports massages from the spa, which were the best he's ever had. Spa fella said hi, no hard sell....and Wendy the European lass we met on the beach who goes round handing out discount flyers for the shops and offering to help anyone with anything is absolutely lovely.
The only thing we found absolutely infuriating was the Facetime Brigade shouting into their phones (& having replies shouted back at full volume) everywhere. I also wouldn't have wanted the bed any firmer, but the water was hot within a minute or two and the mosquitoes ARE numerous but I highly recommend Smidge spray and Pestescts wristbands, with After Bite pen should you get a bite. The hotel does smoke all through the grounds at dusk to deter them but heads up, you're in AFRICA there are gonna be insects regardless.
We got an esim for our trip so we only used the bar WiFi a couple of times to top that up. There's an in room WiFi option you can pay for at reception which seemed a decent price, too."
