Your rating of this hotel:
9.0
from 10
Hotel ratings by criteria:
Rooms:
10.0
Service:
9.0
Cleanliness:
7.0
Food:
10.0
Amenities:
10.0
We rested in this hotel from 1 to 16 September. I have never been to such a luxurious hotel. We settled in a spacious two-room suite on the 5th floor in the main building. The beach is not very far away, you can walk, but it is much more convenient to go to the main restaurant, the atrium room and the spa center are also nearby. All rooms in the hotel one way or another sea view. I recommend it to everyone, despite the relative high cost of tours, and I will try to objectively highlight the positive and negative sides. There are many more pros, but I'll start with the cons.
1. Despite the real five stars, the cleaning of the rooms in this hotel somehow does not add up. A dollar or two left in a day does not change this situation in any way. There are two chairs and a small table on the balcony. On the table for the first week of our stay there was a layer of dust as thick as a finger. Then for several days there was a gift from a pigeon that happened to fly by. The bar in the room was simply not wiped.
The minibar was replenished daily, several times before our departure, and they forgot to do this (complaint about guest relations helps). The tables around the lobby bar in the central atrium have dried stains from beer glasses. Tables are not wiped in principle. The ashtray could be changed twice while you were sitting, or not changed at all. In the main restaurant, dirty plates and greasy cups came across several times - however, very rarely, mostly the dishes are clean, no complaints.
2. There are bad detergents in the room (soap, shampoo, conditioner). When we arrived, there was only one bar of soap - and that so-called intimate one (it lay on the bidet). There is so much glycerin in the composition that it is almost impossible to wash off your hands. Doesn't give any foam. Liquid soap was enough for exactly two times - and also no foam. Guest relations complained twice, after which they began to bring soap bars, which were a little better, at least somehow washed and relatively washed off.
Shampoo was not used in principle after the first attempt, it's good that I had my own. Soap is also better to take from home.
3. There are a lot of Russian-speaking vacationers, but only one girl from guest relations understands and communicates in Russian. We only saw her twice during our stay. All other communication is in English only. The animators understand Russian (two from Georgia, one from Latvia), but the rest are also better in English. Bartenders understand in Russian separate phrases like "four beers". When trying to make a complex order (such as "ice cream cocktail, ice cream separately, two balls in separate cups") in English, there were problems. The waiters in the main restaurant speak good English and limited Russian. The most clear bearing and understanding of the waiters in the lobby bar.
Now the pros. Much more, as promised.
1. The biggest and undoubted plus is the lack of binding of towels.
In other hotels, only two are issued in the morning literally against signature (or in exchange for a card). At Palm Royale, you can take as many towels as you like, whenever you want, and leave them wherever you want. Nobody is following them. You can take two towels on the beach, then another one by the pool, then go to the spa and take two more towels, which you leave on the beach in the evening. Towels are always clean and ironed. I have never seen such a system in any hotel.
2. In all restaurants and bars only packaged juices. Everywhere and always you can take ice cream (there are no restrictions either in place or in time). The ice cream is quite tasty. Chocolate seems to be creamy, and strawberries and mango are in the form of sorbet.
3. The hotel has four a la carte restaurants (Asian, Libyan, Italian and Greek). You can visit any of them by appointment any number of times during your stay (at least every day). Booking for the next day only.
A very big plus of the hotel is the absence of bracelets. Sometimes bars ask you to sign a check.
5. In the room - a kettle with replenished stocks of tea, instant coffee and sugar. There are scales in the bathroom.
6. In any bar, when asked to bring water, they give a liter bottle of local water. Very convenient to go to the room and make tea.
7. Large health-center, which can be visited for free. Includes: private outdoor pool, large gym, two saunas (dry and wet), Jacuzzi and a small indoor pool to take a dip after the sauna. I have already written about towels.
8. No bananas or water slides are offered on the beach. Local excursions are offered very unobtrusively (apparently, they remember those who have already been approached). Women are offered a professional portfolio. Animation is a little more intrusive (daily cries of "bocha" (which is actually petanque), "aquajim", "volleyball" and hotel dances by the end of the holiday just got sick).
But the guys-animators are great, that they arrange musical, dance and comic evenings on their own. One can argue about the level of these evenings, but the invention, enthusiasm and artistry of the guys are undeniable.
9. In general, the hotel has very friendly, polite and attentive (especially at first) staff with an obvious desire to help. They always say hello and ask if everything is ok. Once, a janitor, passing by, noticed that we were going to the elevator, and called the elevator. Of course, the waiters or who will be nearby open the door for you. A trifle, but nice. At the end of the holiday, the pool-boy, of course, already knew us and, on his own initiative, brought towels. The beach-boy brought towels and made sunbeds (albeit irregularly).
10. The most important advantage of the hotel's location is a large sandy beach and a smooth entry into the sea (only sand everywhere). Never had a problem with sunbeds. In the evening no one takes.
In addition to umbrellas, palm trees grow on the beach, so shade can be found at any time of the day. Of course, you can only swim until 6 pm local time, but then you can just sit on the beach and no one kicks you out.
A few negative impressions about the rest, which are not directly related to the hotel.
1. Almost constant wind, due to which windsurfers from all over the world go to Palm Royale and other nearby hotels, makes staying on the beach somewhat uncomfortable. Near each umbrella there is a small barrier from the wind ("pimples"), but it really helps only so that the slippers do not blow away. The wind usually subsides in the afternoon, but sometimes in the morning it was very strong.
2. Very annoying flies. Despite gusts of wind or attempts to drive them away, they continue to sit quietly on the part of the body on which they managed to land. If it turns out, they even fly into the mouth. Five minutes to lie quietly on the beach is a problem.
Surely they are not near the pools, so people lie there calmly. We opened the balcony doors at night, because the air conditioner blows very strongly and you can really catch a cold, and the next morning there were several flies in the room.
3. For some reason, rest in all hotels can be normal, only until Russians stop by in large numbers. After this significant event, the feeling that we were in the Crimea did not leave us. There was no crowding in the sea, only Russian speech with a characteristic Volga accent was everywhere, children splashed in the water, and ran on the beach, filling you with sand, and some 8-10 people who were on a spree laugh and talk so loudly that they even block the music from the animation . One day the whole beach was worried about little Romochka, how he pooped, since the whole process took place in public, and was commented no less loudly. In short, we went to distant respectable Egypt, and ended up in our native Crimea.
4.
The biggest disappointment and the biggest surprise at the same time awaited us on the last day of our stay at the hotel. When we bought the tour, the return flight, as written on the tickets, at 9 pm local time. It is clear that we wanted to go to have breakfast and swim in the end. On the penultimate day in the evening, we learned that the flight had been rescheduled for 9.30 am! It is clear that no bathing was out of the question. Feverish gatherings began. They stole a whole day of rest! In fact, we bought a tour from the TUI operator, but since most of the return flight was Pegasus tourists, we understand that the initiative to postpone the flight came from him. Many thanks to the tour operator Pegasus!
In general, the vacation was very pleasant - both me and my girlfriend. The girl is the ninth time in Egypt, but she says the first time she did not want to leave the hotel - she liked it so much.
A large beautiful area, friendly but unobtrusive staff, delicious food, varied leisure activities, of course, the sea with a large sandy beach deserves the highest mark! We will definitely come here again.
1. Despite the real five stars, the cleaning of the rooms in this hotel somehow does not add up. A dollar or two left in a day does not change this situation in any way. There are two chairs and a small table on the balcony. On the table for the first week of our stay there was a layer of dust as thick as a finger. Then for several days there was a gift from a pigeon that happened to fly by. The bar in the room was simply not wiped.
The minibar was replenished daily, several times before our departure, and they forgot to do this (complaint about guest relations helps). The tables around the lobby bar in the central atrium have dried stains from beer glasses. Tables are not wiped in principle. The ashtray could be changed twice while you were sitting, or not changed at all. In the main restaurant, dirty plates and greasy cups came across several times - however, very rarely, mostly the dishes are clean, no complaints.
2. There are bad detergents in the room (soap, shampoo, conditioner). When we arrived, there was only one bar of soap - and that so-called intimate one (it lay on the bidet). There is so much glycerin in the composition that it is almost impossible to wash off your hands. Doesn't give any foam. Liquid soap was enough for exactly two times - and also no foam. Guest relations complained twice, after which they began to bring soap bars, which were a little better, at least somehow washed and relatively washed off.
Shampoo was not used in principle after the first attempt, it's good that I had my own. Soap is also better to take from home.
3. There are a lot of Russian-speaking vacationers, but only one girl from guest relations understands and communicates in Russian. We only saw her twice during our stay. All other communication is in English only. The animators understand Russian (two from Georgia, one from Latvia), but the rest are also better in English. Bartenders understand in Russian separate phrases like "four beers". When trying to make a complex order (such as "ice cream cocktail, ice cream separately, two balls in separate cups") in English, there were problems. The waiters in the main restaurant speak good English and limited Russian. The most clear bearing and understanding of the waiters in the lobby bar.
Now the pros. Much more, as promised.
1. The biggest and undoubted plus is the lack of binding of towels.
In other hotels, only two are issued in the morning literally against signature (or in exchange for a card). At Palm Royale, you can take as many towels as you like, whenever you want, and leave them wherever you want. Nobody is following them. You can take two towels on the beach, then another one by the pool, then go to the spa and take two more towels, which you leave on the beach in the evening. Towels are always clean and ironed. I have never seen such a system in any hotel.
2. In all restaurants and bars only packaged juices. Everywhere and always you can take ice cream (there are no restrictions either in place or in time). The ice cream is quite tasty. Chocolate seems to be creamy, and strawberries and mango are in the form of sorbet.
3. The hotel has four a la carte restaurants (Asian, Libyan, Italian and Greek). You can visit any of them by appointment any number of times during your stay (at least every day). Booking for the next day only.
A very big plus of the hotel is the absence of bracelets. Sometimes bars ask you to sign a check.
5. In the room - a kettle with replenished stocks of tea, instant coffee and sugar. There are scales in the bathroom.
6. In any bar, when asked to bring water, they give a liter bottle of local water. Very convenient to go to the room and make tea.
7. Large health-center, which can be visited for free. Includes: private outdoor pool, large gym, two saunas (dry and wet), Jacuzzi and a small indoor pool to take a dip after the sauna. I have already written about towels.
8. No bananas or water slides are offered on the beach. Local excursions are offered very unobtrusively (apparently, they remember those who have already been approached). Women are offered a professional portfolio. Animation is a little more intrusive (daily cries of "bocha" (which is actually petanque), "aquajim", "volleyball" and hotel dances by the end of the holiday just got sick).
But the guys-animators are great, that they arrange musical, dance and comic evenings on their own. One can argue about the level of these evenings, but the invention, enthusiasm and artistry of the guys are undeniable.
9. In general, the hotel has very friendly, polite and attentive (especially at first) staff with an obvious desire to help. They always say hello and ask if everything is ok. Once, a janitor, passing by, noticed that we were going to the elevator, and called the elevator. Of course, the waiters or who will be nearby open the door for you. A trifle, but nice. At the end of the holiday, the pool-boy, of course, already knew us and, on his own initiative, brought towels. The beach-boy brought towels and made sunbeds (albeit irregularly).
10. The most important advantage of the hotel's location is a large sandy beach and a smooth entry into the sea (only sand everywhere). Never had a problem with sunbeds. In the evening no one takes.
In addition to umbrellas, palm trees grow on the beach, so shade can be found at any time of the day. Of course, you can only swim until 6 pm local time, but then you can just sit on the beach and no one kicks you out.
A few negative impressions about the rest, which are not directly related to the hotel.
1. Almost constant wind, due to which windsurfers from all over the world go to Palm Royale and other nearby hotels, makes staying on the beach somewhat uncomfortable. Near each umbrella there is a small barrier from the wind ("pimples"), but it really helps only so that the slippers do not blow away. The wind usually subsides in the afternoon, but sometimes in the morning it was very strong.
2. Very annoying flies. Despite gusts of wind or attempts to drive them away, they continue to sit quietly on the part of the body on which they managed to land. If it turns out, they even fly into the mouth. Five minutes to lie quietly on the beach is a problem.
Surely they are not near the pools, so people lie there calmly. We opened the balcony doors at night, because the air conditioner blows very strongly and you can really catch a cold, and the next morning there were several flies in the room.
3. For some reason, rest in all hotels can be normal, only until Russians stop by in large numbers. After this significant event, the feeling that we were in the Crimea did not leave us. There was no crowding in the sea, only Russian speech with a characteristic Volga accent was everywhere, children splashed in the water, and ran on the beach, filling you with sand, and some 8-10 people who were on a spree laugh and talk so loudly that they even block the music from the animation . One day the whole beach was worried about little Romochka, how he pooped, since the whole process took place in public, and was commented no less loudly. In short, we went to distant respectable Egypt, and ended up in our native Crimea.
4.
The biggest disappointment and the biggest surprise at the same time awaited us on the last day of our stay at the hotel. When we bought the tour, the return flight, as written on the tickets, at 9 pm local time. It is clear that we wanted to go to have breakfast and swim in the end. On the penultimate day in the evening, we learned that the flight had been rescheduled for 9.30 am! It is clear that no bathing was out of the question. Feverish gatherings began. They stole a whole day of rest! In fact, we bought a tour from the TUI operator, but since most of the return flight was Pegasus tourists, we understand that the initiative to postpone the flight came from him. Many thanks to the tour operator Pegasus!
In general, the vacation was very pleasant - both me and my girlfriend. The girl is the ninth time in Egypt, but she says the first time she did not want to leave the hotel - she liked it so much.
A large beautiful area, friendly but unobtrusive staff, delicious food, varied leisure activities, of course, the sea with a large sandy beach deserves the highest mark! We will definitely come here again.
Translated automatically from Russian. View original
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