В отель вернёмся, рекомендую приезжающим с семьей и для отдыха с друзьями-парой We will return to the hotel, I recommend it to those who come with family and for a holiday with friends-couple

REST AT THE MIRAGE BAY HOTEL AND MEETING 2022.
Having visited many hotels in Egypt during the period of work and holidays, even in pretentious 5s, this time the hotel was chosen for a vacation in terms of proximity to the Senzo Mall, where we often buy, a good entry into the sea and a territory where there is where to take a walk)
Reviews that have been written on the Mirage Bay hotel in the past are extremely contradictory - from "a normal hotel for its price" to "won't go again even for free". I wanted to find out for myself how to relax at the Mirage Bay hotel.

We flew in from Belarus on December 24, the departure was in the evening and due to the fact that we had been waiting at the airport for a long time on a general transfer of passengers, who already after the Minsk duty free began to celebrate the beginning of the holiday, we arrived at the hotel after dinner. The only minus of the check-in is that we were offered a late dinner only for a fee, again, maybe just a flaw in the manager who checked us in, then Katerina, the guest relation, said that they should have been fed for free. We did not go at 10 pm to look for a restaurant on site, but chose a check-in, hot shower and sleep.
We had a room in a renovated building, 2269, we asked for a room on the 2nd floor, everything worked in the room - a kettle, a refrigerator, a hairdryer, a TV. The air conditioners in this hotel work only for cooling, you can’t even turn them on for heating in winter - again, it’s not always convenient)), but our room faced the sunny side and got very warm during the day, so it was warm and comfortable even getting out of the shower with wet head, not cold.
The room is spacious, a king size bed, an extra single bed, bedside tables, a lounge chair and two benches, one of them for a suitcase near the entrance to the room and the second at the exit to the balcony, fit comfortably. There is also a lot of space on the balcony, it was convenient to do sports in the morning and drink coffee in the evening overlooking the sunset over the warm pool - there were 2 chairs and a table.
The cleaner cleaned as needed, if there was a do not disturb sign - he could just leave water under the door and, if he saw it in the corridor, offer to change the towels in the room and pick up the garbage, cleaned normally, there was minimal dust even under the bed)), sometimes left swans (regardless from money or chocolates in gratitude, rather, it depended on the loading of the hotel with guests) and, in general, behaved correctly and adequately, replenished water, tea and coffee with sugar, brought clean towels upon request.
The staff is generally cheerful and adequate, there are no comments - everyone smiled, behaved correctly, communicated calmly without getting personal and excessive intrusiveness, no begging for tips was observed anywhere.

The territory of the hotel is large, decorated beautifully. At the entrance there is a warm pool with a children's area, next to it is a bar with drinks and a towel dispenser. An alley of rams with frescoes from the life of the pharaohs leads from the entrance - beautiful, especially in the evening when the backlight turns on. Then the reception area with a lobby bar, which is located on the terrace, and further paths to the main restaurant and various buildings and to the sea.
Breakfasts, lunches and dinners are held in the main restaurant, which is located near the beach. Next to it are 2 of the 3 a la carte restaurants, those that are currently working. Behind the main restaurant is the beach area and the beach bar. Near the main restaurant there is a large swimming pool with a children's area, which is not heated in winter, a shopping area and an evening relaxation area with an outdoor disco and entertainment for children, a towel distribution area and a bar that serves ice cream for lunch. There is a bar on the beach, from 12 o'clock they also gave out french fries and hot dogs, sometimes with minced meat, sometimes with sausages. In each bar, drinks were poured from bottles, even Fanta, Cola and Sprite, beer was also bottled, Stella was poured from a glass bottle. We did not try local alcohol, but the choice was rich - rum, whiskey, vodka, gin - this is just what I saw in bottles. Wine was poured from large boxes, we did not try red wine, white wine is normal, does not sour.
The food is delicious, who complained in the reviews that there was little food - even surprising) The hotel cooks delicious, even surprising in comparison with the cost. Breakfast - they always cooked pancakes on the street, thin, sweet and tasty, from the fillings for them - jams and chocolate sauce. For breakfast, they always served halva, cut into large slices, tasty, tahini. There were also always cheeses, both local feta of at least two types, and just cheese cut into triangles. They served ham, on arrival it was pale pink, unexpectedly very tasty, similar in taste to a balleron, moderately salty, then they served veal sausage with pistachios, more peppery, but also tasty. Always standard products for an Egyptian breakfast - beans in sauce, baked mashed potatoes, tomatoes with cheese, sausages (also delicious, having a taste, and not like paper, as usual in Egyptian hotels), French toasts, local dishes (falafel, sauces for it ), eggplant baked with tomato sauce. Eggs were cooked separately - boiled ones lay, and fried eggs or just baked eggs were prepared individually. They baked buns, and delicious ones - both croissants and puff buns with filling (apple, dates, banana), salty buns with feta cheese inside. There were cereals and milk, both cold and hot. Of the fruits for breakfast were melon (sweet and tasty, cut into neat pieces without peel, only pulp), orange slices and a mixture of fruits in a sauce with pomegranate seeds. They served yogurt, there was also greens (I saw arugula, lettuce, fresh dill and parsley), various fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and olives. There are always a lot of pastries on a separate table - salty buns, local bread, various buns with filling.
Lunch and dinner in the restaurant did not differ much, usually in Egypt there is always the richest dinner, and here even at lunch they prepared a lot of dishes. There were always soups - mashed soup and soup with vegetables, they cooked beef, fish and poultry, there was Egyptian bread separately in the restaurant, a woman also baked individually, the bread was hot, it was very good with soups. Pasta was prepared individually from side dishes, potatoes (in sauce or baked in slices), there was always a vegetable sauté with zucchini and cabbage, both regular and broccoli-colored, delicious baked fish, mackerel, and it was cooked well, not half-baked, they also cooked fillet fish in a creamy sauce, for dinner a day later they also baked a whole fish, a small one, baked to a crust, not overcooked, generally delicious. For dinner on the grill, they cooked on the street either a beef jacket, or chicken pieces, or a la carte beef. There was always something to choose from. Fruits for lunch and dinner were most often served whole - bananas, tangerines, dates, guava were cut in half. There was also persimmon, strawberries were also served, sometimes just whole, sometimes fruit slices on skewers with strawberries. There are a huge number of desserts - cakes, pies, soufflé s, jelly, various pastries, both just soaked biscuits and local rolls stuffed with fruits, cakes with cream from the finest local, like hairs, kunaf dough, Egyptian sweets. There were 2 tables with desserts, in two halls, and the choice on them was different, so you could look for what you like best to your taste. For lunch and dinner there was Egyptian pudding, it was especially tasty with apple flavor - moderately sweet and very fragrant.

You take the food yourself, they served only portioned meat for lunch and dinner, sometimes the chef stood separately for desserts, who helped cut the cakes. The restaurant has two halls with serving, the lines were only at rush hour, and then, it was necessary to stand in them for a maximum of 3-5 minutes only due to the fact that the hotel was full occupancy. Seating is a multi-separate room with a children's area with a TV, a large room with distribution, a second room with distribution and tables on the terrace, which was protected from the wind and which was also quite cozy for lunch and dinner. The waiters always ran around - cleaned, washed the tables, brought napkins, appliances, did not see the table standing uncleaned after past guests for more than 3 minutes. They constantly cleaned and wiped everything, for a service in Egypt, too unexpectedly - neat and clean. The plates were probably in five places - at each distribution, in the place with soups and desserts, near the entrance to the restaurant. As needed, plates were brought constantly, clean, hot - steamed. They came across with chips, yes, but not critical, you could always choose.
Coffee was poured at the lobby bar from the machine - cappuccino, latte, americano, in the restaurant you pour coffee yourself, you could dilute it with milk. For stronger drinks - there are 2 bars in the restaurant, one constantly poured local alcohol, beer and cola-fanta-sprite, there was a machine with juices and water, the second bar also poured wine and had bottled schweppes in addition to other carbonated bottled drinks.
Along the beach - neat, large, the hotel has its own horseshoe-shaped lagoon, around the beach. A lagoon with a sandy entry, corals are not critical, there are practically no large stones, they came across only after a strong thunderstorm, it can be seen that a storm washed through the net. The water in the lagoon is clean, you can see the bottom completely, small fish swim up periodically, there are no large dangerous inhabitants in the lagoon, the children splashed calmly. On the right side of the beach, if you look from the entrance, you can walk to the bridge with a passage to a separate beautiful island, equipped with sunbeds and umbrellas for sunbathing, nearby the pier, which is still closed for reconstruction. We didn’t swim with masks, but the vacationers who swam said that there are fish, you can even see rare and beautiful fish) During our vacation, the sun loungers on the beach were replaced, new ones with a plastic coating were installed, it’s comfortable to lie, the sunbeds are plastic, light enough , you can safely move them yourself, not heavy. Near the entrance to the beach and in the relaxation area on the beach there were wooden swings, quite a lot, you could ride, the swings are reliable, they can easily withstand the weight of adults.
I saw a kids club next to the main restaurant with a playground, on the beach the children were entertained by animators - face painting, games (volleyball, darts), invited to exercise. This time we arrived without children, I can’t personally evaluate the services for them, but I saw quite a lot of children on the beach, no one was particularly bored - they splashed in the water, ran to the playground, rode a camel - they offered riding on the beach. Many vacationers spent time near the heated pool, there is a water park with slides, both for children and adults.

According to the animation - in the morning on the beach there were standard yoga, exercises, then they were invited to play volleyball and darts, then aqua aerobics in the sea, in the afternoon, judging by the schedule at the stand, there was belly dancing and other activities, in the evening there was a children's mini-disco in the amphitheater (closed , with a stage and chairs, it was quite comfortable to sit even at 21 in the evening in Egypt in winter during the windy season), after the mini disco there was a show for adults - we got to belly dance and fakir show, cool. Music was turned on near the main restaurant in the evenings, you could be asked to choose Russian songs, and an impromptu disco was held, there were also video games for children with VR glasses, near the reception in the evenings there was a rental of cars, bicycles and electric scooters - I can’t tell you the cost, but popularity used in children and adolescents.
There are many shops on the territory of the hotel - two supermarkets with sweets and souvenirs (the price tag is adequate, you can bargain), two shops with various silverware-glasses and other beauties, two shops with clothes (tunics-pareos-swimsuits-tales-t-shirts), point with oils and cosmetics, a point with bags, both beach bags made of fabric and leather bags, a point with shoes. also for every taste - both slippers and sneakers), a papyrus shop, near which the artist worked, painted cartoons and portraits, shops with souvenirs. There was a pharmacy, but far from the main trade area, they could not check the prices for medicines there, they were purchased on the territory behind the hotel and in the city. Of the advantages of the hotel - located near the Starfish restaurant, you could go out in the evening for their seafood soup or grilled shrimp. There is also a street with shops near the hotel, within walking distance of Anton Bazaar and two Cleopatra shops with fixed price tags for souvenirs and things, right next to the hotel there is a Three Pyramids shop, there is also quite an adequate price tag) To the left at the exit of the hotel there is a fur shop and skin, you can also plan to buy a fur coat or a leather jacket-bag-coat, everything is adequate for the price tags, it’s worth haggling.
Close enough to the hotel is the local shopping center Senzo Mall - for those who like to walk and calmly endure walks for up to half an hour, walk, or take a taxi or Uber (the cost of the hotel is a little more than a dollar), we called Uber. We bought a SIM card in Senzo, it worked correctly, they helped to turn it on and install it, you only need a passport. The hotel Wi-Fi at the reception is free, it seems like there is not even a surcharge in the rooms.
There was a safe in the room, but it didn’t work, they provide a safe at the reception, a separate room, sign up for the first visit, choose the number of the safe and then you can come at any convenient time, even at night if you need to go on an excursion. It was unusual, but they left documents and things quite calmly - there were 2 video cameras in the room with safes. Cameras were also hung everywhere on the territory, both in the buildings on the corridors, and in the lobby and near the restaurants, pools, near the buildings.

The hotel has a gym and a spa, offers massage services and a spa on the beach. You can sign up at the reception and for excursions, both for sea and for safaris. We ordered on the Internet, but on the day of departure, while the bus was waiting at the reception, I heard the price tag for a safari, quite adequately, cheaper than the guide offered at the meeting. On the day of departure, by the way, the bracelet was not cut off, we checked in the room until 12 and quietly dined at 13 and walked around the territory, handed in the bracelet only before leaving, Ekaterina asked for a guest connection, the bracelets are counted at the end of the month at the hotel. The most interesting thing is that we also had guests with bracelets on the bus to the airport, that is, they don’t insist on the fact that you are obliged to return the bracelet at check-out, but they asked about it.
Meeting 2022 at the hotel was active - first dinner in the main restaurant with live music (the singer is a man, quite beautifully), the food was very tasty, they served grilled turkey, beef and lamb, seafood was oysters, shrimp with garlic and tuna, desserts - a huge number of cakes, pastries, rolls and portioned desserts, whole fruits - apples, oranges, tangerines, guava, bananas, dates, strawberries, everything was constantly replenished. Of the appetizers, in addition to the standard ones, there were rolls, various salads, ham, chopped cold meat rolls. After dinner, a mini-disco with animators took place on the terrace near the reception, then an evening oriental show, a disco and a walk - decorated tables and chairs were placed on the territory near the reception, you could choose a place in advance and sign up by room number, and then just enjoy the holiday in peace . From the hotel, each guest was presented with a branded package with a New Year's cap, a pipe and a clapperboard - fun and interesting, especially for children, of whom there were quite a lot. It was fun, whoever wanted to, continued to walk both on the territory of the hotel, and could go to a disco in the city, the animators invited.
In summary - the hotel is good, especially for an adequate price. We would return with pleasure, especially in summer, when the lagoon is warm, and with children. By the summer, repairs should be completed on the territory, where buildings are being renovated and new ones are being built, right next to the passage to the main restaurant, a whole alley of new villa-type buildings is being built, it should be very beautiful. The construction, by the way, did not interfere with rest in any way, it was not heard, and the territory itself, which was being renovated, was fenced off, there were no extraneous sounds.
Thank you for our good stay guest-relation Ekaterina, any issues were resolved instantly and without our participation. We will return to the hotel, I recommend it both to guests who come with their families, and to relax with friends, a couple, there is something to do for any category of guests!