Just returned from my third visit to the Grand Rotanna & Spa.

The hotel and staff are improving every year. The grounds whilst always were magnificant are now maturing making for very tranquil surroundings. Ramy is excellent around the pool as are all the staff --very attentive right down to the cleaning of your sunglasses. As usual they gave me a lovely room (same number as last year)

Great hotel, great surroundings, great staff.

This hotel lived up to expectations it was suitably impressive as you drove up from the gate. Our room was excellent as we had views across the pool and the sea.

The staff where really friendly and helpful and the food was of a good standard.

It was the perfect getaway for my wife and I and we could always get a sun lounger and relax reading our books. The pool was colder than the Red Sea but great for refreshing.

There were the already mentioned Russian clientele but I didn't find them as rude as people made out and they didn't take over.

Also the gym was absolutely top class with the best cardio equipment and I use lots of hotel gyms. All brand new and there is bottled water on side.

Ok, I don't have any major complains: it is a nice, affordable 5 star resort. Great for families. And they really try hard to please you. But it is not a luxury hotel.

There was nothing terrible about our experience: it was clean, the service was great, very attentive, there was a diversity of restaurants, amazing house reef. We had a very nice stay because we spent most of our time there diving and snorkelling... BUT:

* It is NOT the place for you if you would use any of the following words to describe your ideal hotel/vacation: Exclusive, elegant, chic, luxurious, intimate, romantic, designer, outstanding, atmosphere, cool, fashion, hot, trendy, stylish, special... This is family-oriented, average 5 star. Practical, convenient. But not exciting.

* It does not have a Beach: It's right on the reef, which means great snorkelling, but you have to walk over an ugly plastic jetty to jump in the ocean. Forget about strolls up and down the beach or playing with the surf. And if your chair happens to be far away from the jetty, it can be a bit of a hike to get there. And chair are cramped on gravel-filled terraces, and are not serviced.

* The rooms were the biggest disappointment: 4-star, at the most. The decor is old fashioned, more like a convention center hotel type. There's not enough closet space. The toiletries are cheap. Only one chair inside the room: one of you has to seat on the bed if you order room service. And we had a Club Rotana room, so I imagine the standard room must be worse.

* If you believe the guests make up for half of the hotel atmosphere, the clientele of this one puts the Grand Rotana at the level of a 2 star. My guess is that the guests were 80% Russian. I've read complaints in other reviews about their rudeness. I did not see any of this. They were quiet and their children behaved perfectly. But, and I do not mean to offend anyone here, their sense of style and fashion is... well, different. I showed up for breakfast the first day just to find most of the men were wearing tank tops and the women... let's just say they'd have been solicited in the streets of any western countries. And it got worse at beach time: the vast majority of Russian men favour the Speedo-type kind of swim suit, regardless of body shape and weight. Anywhere you look, there it is: a tiny Speedo pulled very high over the hips. I will not be arrogant enough to tell people how the have to dress. After all, this is just a matter of personal preferences. But, if this is not your crowd, don't choose this hotel.

I guess my disappointment is based more on personal preferences and subjective opinions, but these things DO count for many of us when choosing a hotel. I was thinking of a very chic, luxurious, second honeymoon with my husband, and the family and Speedo-oriented crowd ruined the atmosphere a bit for us.

Have just returned from a weeks stay at the Grand Rotana. The hotel is large but is designed so as you don't feel as if you are in a big complex.
The rooms are pleasant, we were in a Premium beach front with a wonderful view of the Red sea, but i wouldn't rate them as 5* more like 3+.
The pool complex kept my 11 year old amused for hours and the sea with its fantastic array of marine life entertained the rest of the family.
We went B&B, which i would recommend as the Rameses restaurant is ok but not what you would choose for every meal. Like other reviewers we ate at the Silk Road which was excellent, unlike the Italian restaurant (can't remember it's name) where we ended up sending the food back because it was so awful.
Definitely eat your breakfast in the Sky Lounge, i couldn't believe the number of people who ate inside in the Rameses.