Rixos Radamis Sharm El Sheikh

"Extremely disappointing service at Rixos Radamis! I personally organized this holiday for 11 people, including children, and we booked FIVE rooms at a considerable cost. Unfortunately, the service does not meet five-star standards. Despite the large number of à la carte restaurants, getting a reservation is extremely difficult. Staff repeatedly tell us that everything is fully booked and offer unsuitable alternatives. Even worse, the hotel promised a birthday cake with candles for a 9-year-old girl in our group but never delivered it. The child was left in tears on her birthday. We have repeatedly asked for assistance and have already sent a formal complaint to management. So far, nobody has contacted us or offered a solution. We are still staying at the hotel, and instead of enjoying our expensive holiday, we are spending our time trying to resolve these problems. I URGENTLY REQUEST THAT THE GENERAL MANAGER CONTACT ME PERSONALLY AND RESOLVE THIS SITUATION DURING OUR STAY. A beautiful hotel means nothing without proper service and respect for guests."

"Before I share my experience below, I think it’s important to share how the hotel ends up with so many 5* reviews. On our final day around the pool, we were approached by a lifeguard who began to make small talk. After a brief conversation, he pulled out a QR code and asked that I scan it. Up pops Tripadvisor and he’s immediately pushing for a 5* review with a special mention reserved for himself that he could share with his superiors. It’s important to add that we booked this trip in part down the positive trip advisor feedback we originally saw. However, on closer inspection of the reviews it’s now evident that the vast bulk of 5* ones are from guests who have been pushed to do so by various members or staff. Those reviews are often short and reserve praise for a particular member of staff. Please of not be fooled!! If you take a look at any reviews less than 5* you will soon notice the genuine and fake posts. On the hotel itself, Beachside is modern with new and spacious rooms. It has the benefit of a sandy beach, numerous pools and a decent water park. The facilities in general were very good. Unfortunately, thats where the positives ended… I’ll start with breakfast. For starters, you don’t approach a host who will seat you down, you have to locate your own table which we struggled with. On the rare occasion we managed to get a table as someone was just leaving, none of the staff were interested in cleaning it. Getting basic things such as a coffee was a nightmare and the breakfast food generally was lacking. On the final two days we had to sit in the kids area just to get a table (on small kids size stools). No one will clean it for you without asking numerous times and we ended up eating at a table that they had no spray to disinfect. We were also given disposable cutlery to our dismay. We were never offered a drink in the whole 7 days. In short, the restaurant is far too small for the amount of guests on site resulting in a stressful, dirty, chaotic experience. In the evenings, getting into most of the restaurants is a chore. You can’t book in advance of your stay and can only book three days in advance. That means that most of the restaurants are unavailable to book as they are already full. Complaining to reception was our only option which did in part help. However, I wouldn’t rate any of the restaurants themselves. The food is below average and the service is dreadful. In the Indian restaurant, we waited almost 30 minutes to have our drinks order taken. It was then a further 30 minutes until the drinks arrived by which time we’d already had our starters. The mains arrived cold and had to be sent back and before you know it we had been in the place for almost 2.5 hours which wrote off the rest of our night. Food in this hotel is the worst we have ever experienced. Lunch is repetitive in each location and just low standard fast food. On the second day we decided to hire a beach Cabana for the day with a hot tub. The cabana itself is lovely and is meant to come with a private butler who is on hand to serve drinks and food on request. However, we spent large parts of the day unable to locate the waiter and didn’t get served all of the promised items. At the end, he still expected a tip despite the fact we’d barely seen him and spent $450 on the hire! The food ordered from the small menu was rubbish, very disappointing. Staff in the hotel are generally rude and inattentive. Reception and concierge are barely staffed so you face long wait times getting to see anyone. We wanted to order a taxi into Sharm and waited 15 minutes for someone to return to the desk. When they did, they proceeded to order a taxi that never turned up. After 45 minutes of waiting I ended up downloaded a taxi app and sorting myself. No apology was given and when I complained to guest relations about this, I was told that ‘my comments would be shared with staff’. In short, no one cares. Entertainment in the hotel is poor. The main stage entertainment is mostly tribute acts. Theres no comedy shows, dance acts, circus acts etc. as you might find in other hotels. Im surprised by this because the main stage is huge. Kids club is pretty decent but you can only book on the night and it’s usually oversubscribed. You find many people pushing in so be prepared to get your elbows out! We witnessed fighting in the kids club and children behaving very badly. The gondolas on site are a nice touch, but it’s $20 dollars per person for a 5 minute ride. I couldn’t believe how expensive that was. Around the pool you are continuously pestered by excursion companies, diving companies and the spa. Drinks around most of the pools are served in paper cups and there is no service to your loungers. The buggies that operate around the hotels race around at high speed making it difficult to walk safely between buildings. The buggies are often full and people push and squash onto them when they arrive. We got taking to numerous guests in this hotel who all shared the same frustrations. You book the hotel thinking you’re getting a Rixos brand to turn up and experience a total different service. It’s rare that I come home from a holiday annoyed and disappointed, but this was certainly one of those. To summarise, the food is awful. The bars and drink selections are poor (no bars have drink menus either which make ordering difficult). Be prepared to tip despite the poor service and don’t expect staff in the hotel to care about your stay. On the final morning the room attendant rang the door bell and woke our children as he wanted to know if we could exchange some money for him which we had given him in tips, we would have been happy to do this if he had waited for an appropriate time but we were very annoyed he woke the children up early for his own gain. On the flight home my wife became poorly and the day after returning myself also- not pleasant at all. My honest advice? Avoid this hotel completely and stay somewhere else in Sharm."

"The restaurants are good, and the swimming pools are nice. However, the reception service is very poor. There were several problems with the rooms, and the response to complaints was extremely slow. Unfortunately, the poor service at reception negatively affected our overall experience. The pool service is excellent, and the staff working at the bar are very friendly, welcoming, and helpful. The coffee is also excellent. Overall, it was a wonderful experience, and we really enjoyed the service around the pool. H2"