"The review is based on personal subjective opinion and experience, including comparison with other hotels also having 5* in Sharm el-Sheikh.
A fair 4.5 stars, but definitely not 5, sorry.
And here's why...
Let's start with the good.
The pizziola chef (mustache man) is the soul of the restaurant - IMHO. Always smiling and ready to help with selections, as well as interacting with guests. I wouldn't be surprised if such professional staff were hired by Hyatt or Rixos =).
I'd also like to commend all the chefs in the main restaurant. They're great and work really hard.
Even despite the recent renovations in the beach wing of hotel, some rooms require attention to detail (rusty metal parts, chipped sinks, rusty stains from screws in the bathroom walls, noisy air conditioners...), and old beach towels with sunbeds as well.
As I said before - there are practically no issues with the food, with the exception of the à la carte restaurant. If the hotel offers this option to guests with vouchers valid for one meal per stay, it's worth reconsidering the menu, as the main restaurant offers the same menu and sometimes even better options. Most importantly, the how menu called itself in Russian language.
Pay attention to cleaning of the hotel grounds (hallways). In some cases, dropped food can remain on the floor for half a day.
Perhaps it was a coincidence, but there was a day that turned the hotel into a 3-star hotel.
On Friday, a large group of Arabic-speaking guests checked in. These guests showed up by the pool around 3:30 PM with their boombox and karaoke microphone, which they used to shout out incomprehensible slogans. When I asked the staff if this was normal, I was told that if I didn't like something, I could go to reception and tell them, but they didn't bother making any comments (they just served them and chatted with the staff about other things).
At the same time, instead of call-down these vacationers, my wife and I received a stern reprimand because we had deigned to move the sunshade 20 cm away from ourselves to shield ourselves from the sun, even though there was no one else within 10 meters who would have been bothered by it. This is simply unthinkable.
There was also a misunderstanding with the hotel representatives (guest relations) and on the appointed day, having a voucher in hand, we simply weren’t on the guest list for the a-la carte restaurant.
Well, the most unfortunate incident occurred three hours after checking into the hotel.
We were studying the notice board near the beach entrance, and a couple of minutes later, a huge towel cart crashed into me, crushing my foot. The staff operating it simply wasn't looking ahead, because cart was load of towels over two meters high.
Afterward, I contacted the above-mentioned desk (guest relations) to resolve the issue and wanted to speak with a manager, despite having insurance.
In the end, I didn't speak to the manager, I didn't do anything (like activities) for three days, and as a sign of loyalty, I received a plate of fruit, which is served at every breakfast in main restaurant.
No! I'm not saying I wanted to upgrade to a suite (I had a great one) or get a free tour or something valuable... But a plate of ordinary fruit, which is served at every breakfast – due to damage caused by the hotel – is a sign of a lack of loyalty (in my opinion).
But why am I surprised? Even after booking dinner at the restaurant and receiving a voucher for the evening, we ended up not being on the guest list on the appointed day, which they tried unsuccessfully to conceal, irrevocably marring our wedding anniversary celebration.
As a hotel, it's a good place, but the ability and desire to correct and work on their mistakes are simply lacking.
For now, I feel the hotel can only achieve 4.5 stars. And I really hope it doesn't become a 4-star or lower."
