"We have just returned home following a week’s stay at Jasmine Resort.
The hotel itself if very well maintained, especially the gardens - which are beautiful. The pools were cleaned daily and maintained through the day. The rooms were clean and had everything that is needed. I saw some reviews about the rooms being dated, but can only comment on our room which was quite modern and up to date.
The two buffet restaurants (Dunes and Aurora) were fine, there was always plenty of food to choose from, chips were served everyday along with things like chicken nuggets. But there was also a variety of different foods each day, all of which were very nice. We had mixed experiences with the attentiveness of restaurant staff, some would offer drinks but some would avoid the tables completely so would need to get them from the counters our self. The buffets got very busy and sometimes a little hectic.
We tried four à la carte restaurants (Mexican, Chinese, Egyptian and the Italian). Again, we had mixed experiences…the Mexican was beyond awful for us, neither of us liked our food and the waiter in the restaurant was pushy and kept rushing us, we decided to leave part way through our main course. The Chinese was lovely and the staff in there couldn’t do enough for us, they were refilling our drinks when they were running low and asking us about the dishes. The Italian was good for us, the pasta dishes were very nice and again the staff were really attentive and talkative. The highlight for us was the Egyptian restaurant, we helped ourselves to the side dishes and then the staff bought over meat platters - the food was amazing and the service was great. We didn’t try the Indian while we were here.
The lobby and bar area were ok to sit in, the terrace was a little cold due to the winds experienced last week, but pleasant enough through the day. We quite enjoyed the pool bar as it was quieter and the bar staff there were very kind and welcoming. Some of the staff at the main lobby bar appeared quite dismissive, husband thought that maybe it was just him but I found the same when I went up to order (these were for non-alcoholic drinks).
The beach is very nice, mixture of gritty sand and soft sand, the wind shields were very helpful (especially on the first few days of our holiday as it was very windy). The staff on the beach went above and beyond to make things comfortable, setting the shields up, getting the sun bed cushions and putting the towels down for us, and while they didn’t expect a tip, it was very much appreciated. The sea was warm when in the shallows, could walk right out just paddling.
I think we underestimated the strength of the Egyptian winter sun! I recommend at least factor 30 here! Although chilly in the evening, the days in the sun were comfortably hot!
There are shops available on the hotel complex, but are some significantly cheaper ones a short walk away or if you fancy getting a taxi (£8 return) you could go to Senzo Mall. We got some bits for the room here and the prices were insanely cheap (RedBull, Pepsis, snacks and some essentials that we didn’t pack). The shops that are within walking distance, do expect to be bombarded with ‘come look at my shop’ sometimes even when you say ‘no thank you’ politely. Or being asked every couple of minutes if you would like a taxi!
Overall, we did enjoy our holiday, however as many have said it is not a 5* hotel (which we expected anyway due to travelling to other countries close by). It was advertised a a romantic, relaxing hotel but wouldn’t agree with this either. Although visually a beautiful hotel, I don’t think we will be returning."
