Grand Palace - Adults Only 18 Years Plus

Date of visit: 8/06-15/06 Reception and lobby - nicely air conditioned (as it should be), seating capacity is good, taxi service right at the front, however the bar could be a bit more presentable and staff could be more attentive when serving drinks. There is a fountain in the middle which is a nice feature but it isn’t always on. In my opinion you should get the 5* feel when you walk in, but you don’t. - Staff are hospitable and we were able to get upgrades at really good prices. Pool and beach - the pool and beach areas are nice and of a good size. Your beach towels are in the room. They do not give extra towels at the pool or beach so remember to take it from the room and also take them back - The tiling in the pool has chipped away in certain areas. It is quite sharp so be careful. - There are not many waiters around to take drink orders so be prepared to wait a little - The outdoor toilets require frequent cleaning - Subtle background music would be nice near the beach and pool areas Food and drinks - the hotel has a main buffet style restaurant and 4-5 other restaurants dotted around the place. - Breakfast is decent (heavily based on eggs if you’re a fan of eggs). You have other options like falafel, salads, pancakes, waffles, selection of breads and pastries, porridge. Note, the salads are the same everyday and the selection is not great. - Breakfast finishes at 10am but they start clearing 15-20 minutes before. I was still eating and the waiter tried to take my plate. I found this very rude. - We tried the indochinese restaurant and Indian restaurant for dinner. The indochinese was very good the first time (the menu is limited and the same every day. It must be booked a day in advance via reception). When we went the second time round, I ended up getting a really bad upset stomach (to the extent I was puking all night). The Indian restaurant on the other hand was poor. Batched cooked and salty. However, they did have other items on the menu at an extra charge. Some items were tasty (especially tandoori prawns). The main buffet style restaurant was okay - nothing special. For a 5* I was expecting a wider selection. One thing to note is that dinner finishes at 9pm in all restaurants (inclusive option). Not ideal if you have done a full day excursion with no dinner option. - As a general tip, if it doesn’t taste right or if it is warm when it’s supposed to be cold (like salad and dairy) or if it is cold when it is supposed to be served hot, don’t eat it. Hotel management should consider in investing in more cold units so salads and dairy can stay cold. Otherwise they risk more people getting ill. - Alcoholic drinks are severely watered down and of cheap quality. It might be worth taking a few bottles from duty free to enhance the experience. Also, the cocktails are not what you think they are. Standard ones like pina colada are okay but do not be surprised if the rest taste different. In my opinion the best cocktail was sex on the

We stayed in this hotel for 10 days, and paid extra for a room with a swim up pool . the swim up pool was dirty and mould in all tile grout to the steps entering the pool was disgusting. Food in this hotel was not great. i only got the right drink 3 times in 10 days. How can you get a vodka and sprite wrong, and rum and coke wrong. the staff were very slow. My wife got locked in the toilet to the asian restaurant as the door handle was missing, it took 4 staff to open the door after 30 minutes. Our shower in our room flooded and overflowed the drainage was terrible, when i reported it ,i was told that it was always a problem all over the hotel. We were told by the hotel not to use the taxis outside the hotel,so we used the taxi organised by the hotel which cost 10 dollars each way for 5 minute ride, only to find out it would have cost 1.5 dollars with uber. Staff expects a tip for almost everything, Our stay in this hotel has made us less likely to return to Egypt, We also had bad stomachs for 4 days before we cam home. John Earl

This was our 2nd visit to this hotel ,from start to finish was relaxing and chilled.staff were on the game every day from the beach staff who got us a bed every day for 2 weeks without getting up early like some people reserving beds ! Nicolas and mossin and achmed in the lobby bar always had my Heineken cold for me after a bit of complaining by me lol, top men at their jobs.as I have said before the food is to a good standard and you can always find something to eat .the pool bar guys work tirelessly none stop Brilliant.Even realising my wife was not drinking enough and constantly got her water and reminded her to drink. Our cleaners figely and Sammie did a great job room was always cleaned with a smile and a hello and to a high standard. reception however need some happy pills they do their job and I think that is enough for them.They do not change money at this hotel and never seem to have any change when paying for your bill I don’t know if it’s their way of keeping the change or not .The pools are good and chilled so when it’s too hot a nice dip keeps you going, Now for my friend abdullah what can I say this man is the best he set a table up for my wife’s birthday with decorations and a cake we had camel steak which was cooked brilliantly by the chef ,they sang happy birthday and made it so special.THANKS BUDDY.yes we will be back again.

got 2 the hotel looks very nice were given a room at the back no view so complaine and were give what we had asked 4 a pool and sea view the food is ok but a lot of reheats in the mix the ala cart resturants were a hit or miss the only and best bar was the beach bar nice food my wife was swiming and went under the water in a flash the life gard was down 2 help thank u all in all a good holiday but hot also the drinks could be better water down wine and very bland sprits bling it up a bit more if u want a five star this is not it the guy who did our room was great so thank him 4316 ian and toni

Amazing views and service. All food, drink included. Adult only. Nice to hear the peaceful sound of the beach. The buffet has a large assortment of freshly cooked food, fruits and desserts served three times daily, all included. The specialty restaurants are a pass. Check out the menus first.

We booked for our 25th Anniversary and had a delightful, romantic, tranquil, peaceful no fuss, no dramas stay. The Grand Palace lives up to it's name with beautiful Arabian architecture and grounds, the rooms are beautifully decorated, clean and very spacious. When you arrive the facade of the outside of the hotel and then the lobby with its' beautiful, huge, grand chandelier, throne seats and indoor fountain gives you a sense of high grandeur and puts many more expensive hotels to shame, all the bars and restaurants were nice to spend time in also. The staff are brilliant, highly dedicated to looking after you and we really appreciated the standard of service for an AI hotel, it has beaten all our previous experiences in Europe, Asia, Central America, and Egypt. After a while we felt like we were staying with friends that were treating us like royalty. I wish I could name every member of staff that I would like to thank and congratulate on their excellence, professionalism, and ceaseless hard work (seriously they work so hard, long hours in very hot temperatures and really make you feel special), all the waiters in the main restaurant busy clearing tables and bringing drinks, but will have to limit it to the ones we interacted with the most: Mohamed Al Deeb who served us drinks by the pool with such a lovely polite and friendly manner, nothing was too much trouble and he taught us some more Arabic, Samir and Mohammed Fayez both very pleasant to interact with and bring you cushions etc for the sunbeds and provide security around the complex also, Mosim Ali also lovely and friendly, served drinks with a lovely smile at the terrace bar and lobby and got me hot water for my herbal teas at night. Falkhali was our "domestic technician" who kept our room spotless throughout our stay and made up the bed including towel swans, love hearts etc, we had a mysterious leak in the bathroom which he quickly traced and got fixed without any disruption or fuss. He was a lovely guy, we would be happy to have the same room and him looking after it next time we visit. The gardeners do a Stella job at the grounds upkeep and tending the beautiful flowers and accept praise graciously. The Assistant manager Hamdy was very warm and welcoming, attentive and caring and gave us good information, advice etc throughout our stay and was even there to wave goodbye when we sadly had to leave. Tipping: Please change up your Euros and £1 coins before you fly or get some 1 dollar notes (or Egyptian once you arrive). Tipping with coins is absolutely useless to the staff, the banks wont change them and unlike €, $ and £ notes, they are not accepted in shops. Staff don't hang around for tips but you should budget to reward them after they have served you frequently each day. A nice gesture is to exchange a few coins for GBP/EGP etc before you leave to relieve them of the useless coins This is not a party hotel, no loud discos or loud groups, it is perfect for unwinding in peace a

Don't let this hotel from the front mislead you,outside it looks beautiful but when you get inside it doesn't deliver the experience firstly it's supposed to be all inclusive but you find yourself having to pay for WIFI/ food /Beer/wine I've been to Egypt 12 times and this us the 1st hotel that you have to pay for sakara an Egyptian beer. The food is OK but generally cold and the beer is warm the staff are very good and really Try there best but the management are not the best the rooms are strange as well your TV doesn't line up with your bed which is hard work the restaurants are ok but if you want decent food you've to pay so overall very poor and we won't be back to this hotel