Arrival When we arrived at 6pm, check in was swift and courteous. The luggage staff accompanied us to our room to help with our suitcases. We did try to take our own luggage, but they were insistent and to be honest, we would not have found our room without them! The staff accept tips in any currency, so save up your coins; they will be greatly appreciated and are on the whole very much deserved. The room was a family room with two bedroom areas, separated by the bathroom and wardrobe area. It was immaculately clean and extremely spacious. All four of us found the beds extremely comfortable. The bathroom was outdated and needed a little TLC, however, this was not an issue. The shower temperature was also not constant, but again, this was more of a small irritant than a big inconvenience. We did have tea and coffee facilities, but no cups nor spoons (we phoned to ask for some twice, but still did not receive any, so we have to get them ourselves from the reception lobby). Also no milk/whitener-luckily each room had a fridge so we bought fresh milk. If you are a big tea drinker, take your own tea bags. There is no guest information in the rooms; a book of useful information (like how to change beach towels, how to get laundry done, key telephone numbers, late check out charges, spa booking details) would be...Arrival
When we arrived at 6pm, check in was swift and courteous. The luggage staff accompanied us to our room to help with our suitcases. We did try to take our own luggage, but they were insistent and to be honest, we would not have found our room without them! The staff accept tips in any currency, so save up your coins; they will be greatly appreciated and are on the whole very much deserved.

The room was a family room with two bedroom areas, separated by the bathroom and wardrobe area. It was immaculately clean and extremely spacious. All four of us found the beds extremely comfortable. The bathroom was outdated and needed a little TLC, however, this was not an issue. The shower temperature was also not constant, but again, this was more of a small irritant than a big inconvenience. We did have tea and coffee facilities, but no cups nor spoons (we phoned to ask for some twice, but still did not receive any, so we have to get them ourselves from the reception lobby). Also no milk/whitener-luckily each room had a fridge so we bought fresh milk. If you are a big tea drinker, take your own tea bags.

There is no guest information in the rooms; a book of useful information (like how to change beach towels, how to get laundry done, key telephone numbers, late check out charges, spa booking details) would be very welcome. Incidentally, there is no 'towel hut;' you have to approach one of the cleaning staff to change your beach towels, or to put the sign up on your door.

The Food
Overall the food was excellent: it exceeded our expectations. We have been to a lot of all inclusive hotels in Europe and the Caribbean, and particularly for the price point, this was among the best. We ate at the Botanica reastaurant, as it was smaller and had more of a restaurant atmosphere. The other buffet restaurant Gusto was much bigger, and felt more like a canteen. At 7pm there used to be a queue and a near stampede to get into dinner every evening, whereas the Botanica was far more relaxed. If you want a seat at the Gusto adjoining Mastaba bar for a pre-dinner drink, get there before 6:15 or after 7pm.

The salads were amazing, and the variety of main courses across the week was very good (NB, no pork is served). Breakfast included an omelette chef and a wide selection of fruits, yogurts, cereals and some meat options. I did hear somebody grumble about there not being a 'kids' corner,' but our 7 and 9 year olds loved the buffets and always had lots of options.

The coffee was horrible. I ended up having instant coffee with whitener, as the machine coffee was terrible and not hot enough. The coffees served in the bars were amazing however, so it is worth holding off to get them afterwards (although I did see somebody bringing in one to breakfast). They did only have one toasting machine which took three 'rounds' to get the toast brown, which caused a lot of waiting and grumbles.

I had a big issue with the design of the serving trays, due to the amount of people being burnt (myself and children included) by the hot steam as they opened the lids. Obviously hot food is a must, however, the handles need to be a lot longer to avoid burns. I am very surprised that we have not seen any 'sad face' articles in one of the popular UK tabloids by the 'compensation bandits' based on this.

We ate at the Asian a'la Carte restaurant on our last night, just for a change. The food was good and the service excellent. We were massively put off by the booking system however, wherein you have to use a touch screen in the morning to not only book your table, but to pre-book everybody's courses, from starter to dessert! I don't know about you, but I'm often unsure as to want I want for dinner that night at 9am in the morning, and for me, part of the fun of a restaurant is getting the menu and making your choices at the start of your meal.

Drinks
As many previous reviews have stated, the wine is terrible. It has a slight fizz, comes out of a machine and has barely any flavour, nor alcohol in it. The hotel has replied to reviews saying that they continually look into improving, however, this seems to have been a key issue for years. I did buy a couple of glasses of Merlot (about £3.20 per glass) at the Shisha lounge, which were ok, but defeats the object of being 'all inclusive.' It was annoying however, that at the bar Mastaba, despite advertising selling wine per glass, they would only sell per bottle, so I had to go without.

The beer was hit or miss, depending on which bar/time of day/bartender. At best, you would get draft beer in a glass, at worse you would get warm bottled beer in a plastic cup. When serving with bottles, they would strictly use just one large bottle between two cups, so you end up with half filled glasses and a lot of froth. Spirits and mixers were ok. Lemon/lime slices should be included as standard. We all had the ice (and washed salads, and brushed our teeth with tap water) and none of us had any hint of upset stomachs.

Staff
The staff were amazing (apart from maybe one or two grumpy bar men). Friendly, courteous and very genuine, they are a credit to the hotel. If you do not wish to be approached by the tour reps by the pool or at the beach, ensure that you display the red 'do not disturb' flag provided in your room, and you will be left alone (I only knew about this from reading other reviews).

The Beach
This was my favourite part; clean, turquoise waters and dotted with palm trees, it was reminiscent of being in the Caribbean. It was however fairly difficult to find, as there are no signs, and you pretty much have to walk down the side of their derelict third hotel passing by the security guard in order to access it (their beach hotel does appear to be going under refurbishment after being closed for several years). The snack bar was very good, with burgers, hot dogs, ice cream and freshly made pizzas. Being a quiet time of year, it was always easy to find a sun lounger; we preferred to be further down the beach away from the loud music. There is another, quieter bar hidden away at the other end of the beach.

Pools and slides
Our children had great fun on the slides (there were a couple that did not open during our stay). The pools were not too cold considering that it was February; the Sindbad club hotel pool was heated, which was great.

Horas Spa
My husband and I had a good massage here (be prepared, these women take no prisoners with getting your muscle knots out!), although I feel that the rep Mido made the experience out to be far better than what it was. He said that the whole family could come along (our children are 7 and 9) and use the jacuzzi, and that he would add on two 'extras' two our massage (face reflexology and lymphatic drainage). In essence, we just got two 45 minute massages. I would have presumed that the extras would have been in addition to this, but they were both a hasty inclusion. We also thought that the 'package' included time relaxing in the jacuzzi and sauna. In reality, our kids were taken to the jacuzzi during our massage, left there for a little while and then they were sat at reception on our return. They also said that the jacuzzi was freezing so they didn't even go in properly. So whilst the massages were relatively cheap in English terms (£26 per person), the spa experience did not live up to our expectations.

Entertainment
We did not experience much of the entertainment: our kids preferred to play in the indoor park that adjoined the entertainment lounge. The entertainment in general was all quite late, with the main shows starting at 9:30pm. The animation team were very hard working and enthusiastic, and the shows that we saw were mostly a mix of dance and game shows, which were not really to our taste. It would be nice to see perhaps a singer in one of the other bars as a more relaxed option.

Check out
We got a late check out for $15 until 3pm (quoted currency was always a bit changeable). When we returned to our room at 1:30pm our key did not work, which would have been a big issue had the cleaner not have been around to let us in. Card payments were not working at either of the reception desks, which was an inconvenience. Again, checkout was quick and courteous.

Overall we loved it (I know that it sounds like a lot of grumbles, but I am a great believer in constructive feedback for future improvement). We would definitely return, although the December 2020 prices are looking extremely high at the moment :-( Thank you to all of the team at Sindbad, Egypt's tourism industry really deserves everybody's support.More