Pickalbatros Laguna Vista Hotel

My first time ever to Egypt, and I’m so glad and grateful that this was the resort I went to, the area is beautiful the amenities are amazing and the pools are plenty. Everything you need is a short walk away, the food was good my favourite was dinner, breakfast was a bit slim but still good. The room was very nice and clean. My most memorable experience was the team and workers, all of them were so nice and caring and cool, shout-out to Eltayeb, Panoo, Ninje, Taiko, Marcello and Tito, you guys are the best and made the experience sooooo much more enjoyable and people I met are some I won’t forget, I’m so happy of this holiday and it’s something I’ll recommend to everyone!!!

⭐️Our review of our stay ⭐️ Arrived home in the early hours this morning after a 14-night stay with my husband, 11-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter – this review is based on our experience as a family of four. ✈️ Arrival & Airport First a fair warning: on arrival, passport control took over an hour – it was the slowest I have ever experienced, and after 12 hours of travelling we were all completely exhausted. On arrival at the hotel, we waited around 10 minutes for checks to complete. I had booked a pool view room and emailed 2 months before our stay to confirm but they initially tried to give us a garden-facing room at the back. They corrected this once I showed the booking, though it was frustrating after following up in advance. The hotel itself is beautiful, but there are a lot of stairs – we only saw one lift either side leading to restaurants and pools, none near the accommodation blocks. This wasn’t a problem for us, but something to bear in mind if you have mobility needs. The corridors near the rooms do get warm – we were in room 1207 near the lobby, and the open-air roof over the central area lets a lot of heat through. Inside the room though, we set the air conditioning to 24°C and it worked perfectly – cool enough to sleep comfortably but still able to use a duvet.

Also don’t expect towel art we only got 2 our whole stay and we tipped the cleaner and only when we asked we got a towel art kids were disappointed with this as we saw loads of reviews saying how they did every day but didn’t happen for us 🏊 Pools Absolutely lovely! We never had to get up early to reserve sunbeds – some days we didn’t head down until 11am and there was always plenty of choice. We started off at the top pool near the lobby, but then found and moved to the pool above the entertainment pool – it was so much quieter, which was perfect for us – especially as my son is autistic. It was spacious and he could play without feeling overwhelmed. The lifeguard there was wonderful – greeted us every day, even saved us beds without us asking, and was so kind. They are strict about jumping in the pools, which is completely understandable given that they not that deep and they take safety very seriously – honestly, some families pay zero attention to their children, so the lifeguards absolutely deserve a pay rise for the work they do. 🎉 Entertainment Daytime entertainment was fantastic – especially Panou! He always had a smile, said hello to all of us every morning, told us what was on for the day and evening, and invited us to join in without ever being pushy or overbearing. He played with the children, and on our last day he let the kids push him in the pool – just as he’d promised from day one. We went along to the Pink Party but my son found it too overwhelming so we didn’t stay long, but what we saw was really well done. Evening entertainment was a bit of a letdown – the fire show was easily the best one we saw, otherwise we found it repetitive and lost interest quite quickly. I had to leave most nights early due to my epilepsy as there was no warning about strobe or flashing lights, and it often felt more like a loud rave than a family show. Even with noise-cancelling headphones, my son found the volume too much so we mostly avoided it. We were also disappointed with the children’s entertainment – posters (by the kids club which adversitsd children even programmer) advertised things like face painting and magic shows after the mini disco, but only the mini disco ever actually happened. The Miss Queen competition also got quite unpleasant when one family got aggressive and rude when their contestant didn’t win, and it felt like the team had to call a draw to calm things down. We would have loved to see more variety – magic acts, live singers or something different alongside the belly dancing and Latin performances. ‼️Other Guests‼️ Sadly, we found some other guests to be extremely rude, aggressive and pushy, often cutting in and showing no respect for anyone else. Knocking over kids not applogsinng! When I spoke to guest relations about this, she confirmed there have been far bigger issues this year in particular – especially with some Israeli and Arabic guests – and even while we were talking to her, people kept trying to interrupt us. It felt like they were completely selfish and had no consideration for others at all. This was a significant problem during our stay and a lot of guests that we had built friendships with expressed similar feelings and concerns. 💦 Water Park Gets extremely busy! On our first visit just after lunch, my daughter got hurt on the children’s slides – she came away with a nosebleed because a parent was walking walking their child up the slides as she was coming down ( I will add my daughter was with adult on the slides who checked to ensure it was clear before going down the slide and the adult was also innjured because of this family) . My son saw what happened went over to check on her and the family involved were aggressive, made threats and were very rude. The lifeguard was brilliant though – he helped my daughter, checked everyone over and said straight away “this family is dangerous, leave this to me”. It really upset her and ruined the experience at first. We went back at 4:45pm on our last day when it was quieter but she was still nervous and crying. We noticed after we reported it, staff were keeping a much closer eye on the children’s slides – they weren’t being supervised properly at first. 🍽️ Food, Drink & Shopping Tips Overall the food was okay – some dishes were really nice, especially the curries at the Indian station, though options rotate weekly so we did get a bit bored towards the end. Breakfast was mostly eggs, omelettes, pastries and pancakes – we really missed having hash browns or baked beans, so after a few days we stopped going. Lunch was lovely – our favourite spot was the upstairs area in the Captiano pool bar lunch area, but this was closed for renovation in our second week. They had a good range though: pizza, pasta, chicken, beef, kebabs and chips. One very annoying thing: ice cream is only served between 7pm and 10pm – I asked every pool bar and chef I could find and that was the rule everywhere. We really wish this was available during the day. We also found when asking for milkshakes bar staff got annoyed so didn’t ask after that ⭐️Top tip for snacks and essentials: ⭐️We used the Metro supermarket nearby – it’s much cheaper than buying at the hotel or the bazaars. Walk a little way down the road for much better prices on things you need, and I’d advise avoiding the bazaars altogether as they are very overpriced and pushy. There is a McDonald’s across the road which we visited twice, though it does get busy – KFC nearby has closed down. We ate at the Golden Buddha restaurant and it was absolutely delicious. The pastry bar was also a lovely find and we visited most evenings. One bar man was exceptional – he remembered our order every day, also anouther barmen but the pool also remembers us and brought us buckets of ice and drinks and looked after us so well . I can’t remember his name but he was wonderful – we tried to tip him and he was so reluctant to take it, but we insisted. All the staff work incredibly hard and we couldn’t fault them at all. 🚌 Excursions We booked all our trips through the Sea Life rep at the hotel and had a great experience – he gave us a really fair price. Speedboat: 2 hours, £200 for 9 of us – we stopped at different spots, saw Tiran Island, lots of fish and even dolphins! Drinks were included and we all loved it. White Island & Scuba Dive: 3 of us tried diving and it was amazing – great price too. Only wish we had more time to look around coral rather than just stopping for photos, but still a brilliant trip. Quad & Buggy: Good fun, but we were constantly pestered to pay for photos and videos by the activity staff( not the hotel rep) – they got quite frustrated when we said no. We didn’t enjoy the evening meal or show included, so if we did it again we’d just do the driving part. ( be ware that you have to follow a line of people driving we did think it was more free range with guide than what it was but never the less enjoyed) Glass Bottom Boat: Personally didn’t enjoy this one – no air conditioning, it was sweltering, and we only saw fish for about 30 minutes over 1.5 hours. We also had to walk down 50 steps to get to the boat – not worth the money in my opinion. Dahab Canyons & Blue Hole: We thought we’d be driven through the canyons in a jeep, but it was a walking trek – it was tough going but so worth it! We then snorkelled at the Blue Hole and had the most amazing meal at Ali Baba Restaurant – easily one of the best meals we had all holiday with stunning sea views. We had an issue with the photographer on this trip, but when we mentioned it to the hotel they apologised straight away and offered us free watersports as a gesture – we didn’t expect that at all and were so grateful. I’d definitely recommend booking trips through the hotel rep. 💆 Spa & Other Dining I had a facial and pedicure at the spa – I negotiated the price as it was quite expensive, but it was lovely and I’m so glad I treated myself. We also ate at the Western Place one night – food was nice but they messed up our order, mixed up dishes with other tables and our food arrived cold. When I mentioned it, one of the staff said I was “causing drama” because other guests heard – so we won’t be going back. We also tried Hard Rock Cafe which was nice, but avoid the pizza! 📝 Checkout & Journey Home The hotel was fully booked so we couldn’t get a late checkout, but they very kindly gave us a room to shower and change in as our transfer wasn’t until 5pm – that was such a big help. On the way home, airport staff tried to fine a member of our group saying we’d stayed 17 days instead of 14 – it caused so much stress and only when we counted out our dates clearly did they agree. Please double check everything before you travel! 🚕 Taxi We used Abdelrahman for trips to Soho Square and the Old Market – +20 100 773 8773. Can’t recommend him enough – far better prices than the hotel, so polite and professional. He also does excursions which we only found out about after we’d booked ours! Overall we had a lovely holiday and enjoyed our stay – I would come back, but we do like exploring new places so I’m not sure if we will. Thank you to all the staff who made our time there so special.

We had a wonderful stay at Laguna Vista Hotel. The service was excellent, and we are very satisfied with everything—from the hospitality to the professionalism of the entire staff.

We would especially like to thank Mohamed Gamal, who was incredibly kind, helpful, and always willing to assist us with anything we needed. He went above and beyond to make our stay comfortable and enjoyable.

Thank you to you and your entire team for your outstanding service. We truly appreciate your hospitality and hope to visit again!