Steigenberger ALDAU Beach Hotel

"Excellent Relaxing Stay at Steigenberger Resort We had a fantastic one-week stay at the Steigenberger Resort in September and would happily recommend it to anyone looking for a relaxing holiday in the sun with excellent service, spacious rooms, and a beautiful resort. Accommodation Our suite was outstanding and had everything we could have asked for. One of the best touches was the daily replenishment of the complimentary minibar. The balcony was spacious, the beds were extremely comfortable, and the double sinks added an extra touch of luxury. Cleanliness and Facilities The swimming pools, loungers, lazy river, beaches, and surrounding grounds were immaculate throughout our stay. The hygiene team deserves particular recognition for their exceptional efforts. They were constantly cleaning and maintaining the resort, both during the day and throughout the night. Having travelled extensively, including visits to Dubai and several luxury spa resorts in Austria, I have rarely seen such a dedicated cleaning team. Each toilet facility had an assigned cleaner who worked diligently whilst remaining friendly and welcoming. Their commitment to cleanliness made a noticeable difference to the overall guest experience. Resort Atmosphere The overall vibe of the resort is relaxation. If you are looking for peace and tranquillity, you will not be disappointed. There was no loud music, disruptive behaviour, or overcrowded entertainment areas. It was exactly the type of environment we were hoping for. Staff Recognition Whilst it initially took some time to build relationships with staff due to the large number of guests, several individuals went above and beyond to make our holiday memorable. Zika brought incredible energy and positivity to every activity. We played water polo together, joined his aqua aerobics sessions, and he even accompanied us to the local lounge across the road. His enthusiasm and friendliness made a real difference to our experience. Sandeep the Chef recognised that we do not eat beef due to religious reasons and kindly prepared a special lamb curry for us. He made us feel that our feedback genuinely mattered. More broadly, all of the chefs were hardworking, passionate, and clearly took pride in the quality of the buffet each evening. Peter one of the restaurant Managers was extremely attentive. When one of our friends felt unwell, he recommended a special tea and also ensured that Hamdy Mohamed looked after us during our meals. Mohamed Omar Regularly checked on us around the loungers and kept the drinks flowing, always with a smile. Madonna and Verena Kamal, Both representing the small female team and provided excellent service and were professional, friendly, and attentive throughout our stay. The lifeguards and hygiene staff were always visible when needed but never intrusive. They maintained exceptionally high standards throughout the resort and ensured guests adhered to the lounger reservation rules, which was admirable and helped keep things fair for everyone. Ahmed Karam (Reception) ensured our departure was smooth and stress-free and was a pleasure to deal with. Suggestions for Improvement Although we thoroughly enjoyed our stay, there are a few areas where improvements could enhance the guest experience even further: The toilets near the pool and restaurant areas would benefit from refurbishment. The cleaning staff did a fantastic job, but the facilities themselves feel dated. Additional toilets would also help reduce waiting times. The lounge area could be more relaxing if separated from the reception space. Whilst comfortable, it felt quite dimly lit and lacked the atmosphere expected from a dedicated relaxation area. The shops located within the hotel were significantly more expensive than local alternatives, which may explain why they appeared relatively quiet. The restaurant booking system was frustrating and overly complicated. A mobile app allowing guests to make and manage bookings directly from their room or phone would be a major improvement. It would be great if the Taj restaurant could be included within the all-inclusive dining options. As someone with an Indian background, we were very impressed by the quality of the food, service, and pricing and felt it would be a valuable addition. Evening entertainment was held outdoors, and the mosquitoes meant we rarely stayed longer than ten minutes. Alternative indoor or more sheltered venues for entertainment and socialising would encourage greater participation and make it easier for guests to meet one another, particularly for those who are not German speakers. Obtaining small denomination notes for staff tips was difficult, which unfortunately means some staff may miss out on well-deserved gratuities. Whilst I appreciate that pork is not served due to the country's culture and traditions, beef was heavily featured. As Sikhs and Hindus typically do not eat beef, it would be welcome to see more lamb dishes and a wider variety of chicken options. An Asian-themed night featuring dishes such as lamb curry, chicken curry, onion bhajis, and similar options would be very popular. Some vegetables were overcooked, and the potato dishes were often either dry or watery. The quality of these side dishes could be improved. Helpful Tips for Future Guests We found the resort spa prices too expensive and instead visited Venus Spa, where treatments were available at around a quarter of the price. In our opinion, Hurghada Old Town was not worth the time or expense. Uber was reliable and inexpensive, costing approximately 150 Egyptian Pounds each way to Hurghada Old Town. There is limited evening entertainment and nightlife in the immediate area, although we generally felt safe when out and about. We booked a Pyramids excursion through the GetYourGuide app for approximately £150, including flights and transfers. Whilst seeing the Pyramids was absolutely worthwhile, the day was extremely long. We were awake at 3:30am for a 4:30am pickup and did not return until around 10:30pm, with no dinner provided. In hindsight, arranging flights independently, using Uber locally, and hiring a guide may have offered a more comfortable and flexible experience. Overall Rating A wonderful resort that excels in cleanliness, service, accommodation, and relaxation. Most importantly, the staff genuinely care about delivering a great guest experience. With a few improvements to dining options, booking systems, and evening entertainment, this would be close to perfect. We would definitely return.★★★★★"

"We had a fantastic family holiday at the Steigenberger ALDAU Beach Hotel. Everything contributed to making our stay truly enjoyable. The food was excellent, the hotel and our room were spacious and very clean, and the entire staff was incredibly welcoming, friendly and attentive. A very special thank you to Saif, who went above and beyond to make our stay as pleasant and comfortable as possible. His kindness, attention and care for our family made a real difference and added a very personal touch to our holiday. We had a wonderful time and left with great memories. We would be very happy to return!"

"Visited with my wife in September for 10 days, firstly the good points: Standard and size of room was very good and housekeeping kept it spotless Same for the grounds, they were extensive and everywhere you looked there were staff cleaning and tidying, I didn't see a single bit of litter anywhere. Food was excellent with a good variety, we tried several of the a la carte restaurants, more on these shortly The bits I wasn't so happy with: Whilst the Tappenyaki restaurant was a fun experience with great showmanship from the chef, the noodle restaurant next door was a complete let down. There were only 2 other couples in there, we were all sat apart. The food was presented to us and we were left to get on with it. We were sat at a small table next to the window, it seemed like a street cafe. There was no music and no ambience whatsoever. A real disappointment. The 2 main bars were situated off the main atrium/reception area, one a smoking bar and the other a non smoking bar. The fact that they were all part of the atrium area meant that smoke drifted over from one bar to the other. It also meant that we felt we were sitting in hotel reception all the time, the nearest thing I can compare it to is an airport lounge! Ok for an hour but you wouldn't want to stay any longer. Perhaps if they could be partitioned off from the main atrium it would give it a better atmosphere. The bar staff worked very hard, at times they struggled to keep up, additional help as busy times wouldn't have gone amiss. I know it's been commented on before but there wasn't any sparkling wine on the all inclusive package, if you wanted this you had to pay extra. This seems a bit of mistake when targeting European guests as all other resorts in egTurkey etc include this. And if you fancied to splash out on a bottle of Moet & Chandon this would set you back over £500! Entertainment was poor for a hotel that classes itself as 5 star. The main entertainment seemed to finish by 9pm on most nights and this consisted of the local entertainment seem dancing to some songs, often with a 5 minute break in between songs for a costume change. Given that the show lasted 30 minutes you didn't get much actual entertainment. There is a lot of building work nearby although we weren't much troubled by the noise. There is a lot of gentrification going on in the area with lots of hotels and shops being built, although is has to be said most of the shops alternate between pharmacy, leather shop, perfume shop and tat shop every 100 yards, not much variety. And of course, being Egypt be ready to haggle. If you don't want to go through that hassle then go to the Red Sea Bazaar and Cleopatra's about a 100 yds to the right as you leave the hotel, these are fixed price shops. If you're looking for genuine fakes, make sure you try them on as sizing is all over the place, even for same size in same t shirt. I found quality to be rather poor, logos etc are pretty rubbish, you get much better quality and better prices in Turkey. don't come here looking for high quality garments at good prices. Talking of shops, the hotel does of course have its own shops on site. I visited a couple of these and found them to be extremely expensive, eg in the perfume shop I was told it was £2 per ml, ie a standard 100ml bottle of perfume was £200. Twice the price of my wife's favourite Coco Chanel. It has to be said I don't think the shops did much trade during the time I was there. Managment, you may wish to revisit your pricing strategy! Other than the tourist shops around the hotel there really isn't much to do unless you book an excursion (tip- use tripadvisor or getyourguide, not the rep/hotel). We visited the marina for a couple of hours one afternoon just to get out of the hotel for a bit. Tip, local taxi drivers will try and charge you 300, the uber price is 80 and we refused to pay anymore than 150. They will remonstrate with you but if you walk away they will call you back and happily do it for 150 - the ride is about 15 minutes just to give you an idea of distance/cost. Tipping is very big in the Egyptian culture and this hotel is no different, you don't need to tip big, we just gave our table waiter or drink waiter a 50 every couple of days. Problem is there is nowhere to get change to facilitate this. There is a cash atm in the hotel reception, you can just drop you £ or € etc notes into the machine and it gives you Egyptian £ in exchange. The rate we got at time of visit was 70 to a £ which seemed reasonable. Problem was it was all issued as 200 notes. I tried changing some up at reception explaining that I wanted it for tips but their policy is that they don't exchange notes. Not very helpful for guests wanting to tip. Note to management, your staff would earn more in tips if you had a cash desk where guests cold exchange notes for smaller denominations. Overall would I come here again? No. But if you are happy sitting around one of the many pools all day eating and drinking then you will probably love it. We just prefer going out and exploring a bit and found this hotel didn't really cater for our preferences. Overall i ha"