Xperience St.George Homestay

"This was the fourth visit for the wife and I to St George, dating back to 2014. Our 22 year old son and 19 year old daughter came back in 2014 and 2015 when they were aged between 7 and 10. Myself and the wife came alone in February 2023 and our youngest daughter, aged 9, was here for the first time. The thing about Xperience St George is a lot of guests return. We arrived late into dinner, just as we did back in 2023. Back then, there was a small selection of food left out for us to eat and the dining room was left open so we could finish and leave at our leisure. This time reception informed us we would be fine for dinner and we would be given time to eat. Arriving at the dining room 10 minutes before closing, we took plates of main courses and got sat down. Within about a minute we were informed we would have to be quick as the dining room was about to close. Not a very positive start, considering this went against what we were told at reception. The dining room were well aware we had just arrived. Nevertheless we endeavoured to get some desserts and were finally left to sit down and eat. Being a party of 5, we had 2 rooms next door to each other. Unfortunately we were only provided with 2 beds in each room, so politely asked for another bed to be placed into one of the rooms. This was sorted out very quickly and isn't a big deal, just need to point it out, as I know management read these reviews and we never got asked to fill in a review at the hotel. The room also only contained 2 towels, the room cleaner realised on the 2nd day and started providing 3. The rooms are a little outdated and showing serious signs of wear and tear. However, I reckon management will be onto this and a revamp will be imminent. It isn't something that bothers us, we just get on with our holiday. The room is just somewhere to hang our heads on a night. The only other negative to point out is the situation in the dining room with queueing. This is a guest problem, but I believe management need to address it, to avoid any nasty situations. Whilst queueing with my young daughter we actually witnessed an altercation that got physical. Western Europeans will join the back of the queue and make their way down patiently to the end. Eastern Europeans and native Egyptians are more likely to grab a plate and nip in and out of the queue, selecting what they like. I aren't here to claim one is right and the other is wrong, they are just opposing cultures in this regard. The altercation saw a French man actually push an Eastern European lady. I didn't see all of it, so don't know if things had got physical with his wife/girlfriend first. But being as they argued in English I got the gist about pushing into a queue. Luckily it wasn't too bad, I don't think it affected my little one, but I did feel the need to explain to her what the issue was. Now all that is out of the way, I have to harp on about the staff. Every single time they all go above and beyond looking after guests. The staff at the St George have always made this hotel and I doubt that will ever change. From front of house on reception, right across to bar staff and cleaners, they all put in a shift. Making your stay special, remembering your face and what you like, or don't like, Myself and my son took the bus to the coral beach one day, the snorkelling was good. Unfortunately, the waves not so much, so we didn't get as much time as we like. Obviously, we understand it is safety, so I definitely aren't complaining, it's just bad luck that the red flag was flown. The entertainment team were fabulous, Mido managed to get my 19 year old daughter to get involved. He is a very special man, because she is very shy and reserved and I didn't think for a second I would ever see her get up and join in on the club dance. She was also high fiving him when he passed, the man has charisma in buckets. Mido was also responsible for taking us on a night out, Karaoke, at The Hard Rock Cafe in nearby Naama Bay. None of us were ever getting up to sing, but it was a nice change and we all enjoyed ourselves. Debbie usually ran the mini disco, which my 9yo loved. She joined in most nights and thoroughly enjoyed it. Rue spent a lot of time with my littlest one also, painting her face, running the kids club. They definitely formed a special bond. The shows on the night, after the mini disco were standard shows you find on these Egyptian holidays. We only went to 2 or 3, but enjoyed them, before heading to our beds. So, overall, once again we loved our time at the St George and aren't ruling out a 5th visit. I have only scored it 4 out of 5 this time, I am sure the previous 3 would have been the full 5 out of 5. I have to take the one away for the negative experience upon arrival. This is no reflection on the staff, who I would always give 6 out of 5."

"We have now returned home after staying at the St George Hotel in Sharm El Sheikh, and unfortunately the experience was extremely disappointing. The biggest issue was the food. It was very poor quality, repetitive, often cold, and at times inedible. Because of this, we spent over £400 eating outside of the hotel, which completely defeats the purpose of booking an all-inclusive holiday. Even when we did try to eat at the hotel, the standards were unacceptable. The rooms were very dirty, and the bedding was particularly uncomfortable. The sheets felt itchy and were visibly bobbling, making it unpleasant to sleep and raising concerns about cleanliness. The atmosphere around the pool and sunbeds was chaotic and unfair. We observed that staff would reserve sunbeds for certain guests in exchange for tips. This was done by removing towels from beds already reserved by other guests and then guarding those sunbeds for people who had tipped, which caused frustration and tension among guests. Guests were forced to get up as early as 5am to try to secure sunbeds, and despite this there was a physical fight over sunbeds during our stay. This escalated to the point where the police were called and attended the restaurant, which is shocking for a hotel that is meant to be relaxing. On our first day, an ambulance was also called to the hotel, which set a very worrying tone from the start of the holiday. The only positive of this hotel was the bar staff, who were consistently friendly and hardworking. In particular, Ibrham was amazing and deserves recognition for his service. Overall, this stay was stressful rather than enjoyable. Between the food issues, dirty rooms, uncomfortable bedding, unfair sunbed practices, significant extra money spent outside the hotel, aggressive behaviour from other guests, police presence, and emergency services being required, this has been one of the worst hotel experiences we’ve had. We have genuinely stayed in better 2-star hotels than this. Based on our experience, we would rate this hotel 1 out of 5 stars."

"First time to Sharm. Without exception every staff member is lovely!!! Great room although housekeeping is very basic! Don’t wipe sides or tidy anything. Just bed, towels quick sweep. Fridge in room noise. Aircon fab. Hot water loads! Food good always something to eat lunch deffo better than evening. Breakfast was cold everyday. Lukewarm everything and no microwave! Toaster kept breaking and no one sorted it. Staff in restaurant amazing! They need more signs!! Signs for bbq food to stop people walking through tables to look! And put what he’s cooking! Only 2 cabinets for kids. But biggest thing is it’s all lukewarm at best! Not good. Pool lovely, grounds lovely. The dj at large pool you can’t understand a word he’s saying. Lounge music drab and loud Egyptian noise. So no one hangs around. Change a few things and it’d be perfect. Coral beach trip, no swimming as blustery day! Filthy dirty tanned in beds down a shabby road. Awful. At least clean it up! No where to walk from hotel as all dirty dusty broken paths. But weather was fantastic! ."