Rixos Sharm El Sheikh

We had 8 nights here and everything was above expectations. The food in each restaurant was of a very high quality. The staff always very attentive and constantly maintaining the property. Very proactive staff if you need something. For us it’s the best holiday resort we’ve stayed in and we travel a lot.

Visited in August. The hotel itself is great, with lots of different pools and restaurants to choose from. We had a junior suite in a block near the restaurants which I would recommend- and I feel I should mention an amazing cleaner who went out of his way to create great towel designs on the bed everyday and gave us a beautiful fresh flower display.

However apart from the cleaners and buggy drivers the service wasn't what I would expect from a 5 star resort. This artly depended on how pushy you were which isn't my style. There was extremely limited waiter service for drinks by the pool - you were generally offered a drink once per day in the morning which took approximately 30 minutes to come as they were asking every single person at the pool at the same time. We weren't using the main pool with a bar in the water, so even more important to have someone serving. For other hotels I have visited the waiters were continuously asking guests if they would like a drink, cold towel, lolly etc. this was distinctly lacking.

Within the Palm the waiters were trying their hardest but at times the wait to order drinks was much longer than I would expect and some days it was easier to go to the bar yourself which isn't what I want to do on holiday.

The evening atmosphere wasn't quite what we were expecting think more 18-30 Ibiza vibe with DJ music starting in the beach bar from 4pm and ending in one of the bars at approximately 2pm. Even though I am out of the age range my opinion is the hotel manage to create a good party style atmosphere, but many others were complaining. Shows took place every evening with lots of different dancers and fireworks which were good by hotel standards.

We were unfortunate enough to surcome to Egyptian stomach on the second day, likely from the Palm buffet as we hadn't been able to book into a restaurant - recommend buying Antinal from local pharmacy.

My advice is to try to book restaurants for every day for dinner rather than eating in the buffet for a much more pleasant experience. It is a bit of effort to get a booking but worth it.

I am vegetarian and on the first day I thought the palm buffet selection was amazing, but very quickly realised it was basically the same every single day for breakfast, lunch and dinner with very limited hot food vegetarian options mainly the salads and mezzes.

Restaurants La Gusto Italian - lovely waitering staff with decent quality food including a number of vegetarian main meals, it would be good to have at least one vegetarian starter, but the appetisers of bread, olives and mini bruschetta are sufficient. Staff were encouraging us to order more and brought out things we hadn't ordered for us to sample which was really lovely. Recommend the chocolate fondant.

Mangal BBQ at your table is a really clever concept with choices for meat eaters and vegetarians. You can go to the counter and choose exactly what you want them to cook. Food was flavoursome and hot.

Brazilian Unfortunately this is the one that everyone hypes up and one of the hardest to book into however for us this was really disappointing (and clearly for others at the table beside us who stood up and walked out leaving their meal). Vegetarian option delivered to me was two pieces of carrot and two small pieces of courgette. There were some salads available but by this point with my stomach I was trying to avoid them and just wanted something different to eat. There was a delicious looking potato gratin which I put on my plate but it was completely cold. Grilled pineapple was good Not lots of choice of meat and what was there was fatty. At the end of the night the manager clearly realised that I had basically had the amount of food a four year old would have and then offered some pasta but by this point it was just too late and every other diner had completely finished..Wouldn't return to this one.

Turkish we weren't sure what to expect for this one as a vegetarian after being at the Brazilian, but it surpassed our expectations. Really helpful knowledgeable staff who immediately offered vegetables grilled as an alternative. Food quality was very tasty and this ended up being our favourite restaurant. The starter bread with the mezzes selection was delicious. Staff were very kind and friendly, made you feel welcome and like having a proper evening out.

So back to the hotel the pool area was damaged, and it felt like you were walking over a building site to get into the pool - definitely not a 5 star look or feel. The idea of making it look like a beach is cool but not in practice. I have never put up a photo, but really was disappointed by this and had to wear flip flops right to the water edge so please see the attached image.

On the positive side I will say there was no shortage of sunbeds at all, towels plentiful, lifeguards helpful with umbrella, the sunbeds were comfortable and not on top of each other.

Access to the pier to be able to snorkel is definitely an added bonus for the hotel. There are plenty of shops locally to buy snorkeling equipment.. Hotel offers life jackets and flippers for those that want them.

For the ladies minor points but things I like to know, hairdryer is connected to the wall and pretty useless, no light for make up mirror in bathroom, no sockets near mirrors for hair tools, but two really good full length mirrors within the dressing room and bedroom. Different sockets available (UK and European) within the room. No face clothes provided. Shampoo, conditioner and shower gel along with body lotion all ok. Dressing robes and slippers provided.