Xperience St George Homestay

We recently stayed at this hotel for a week and it was exactly the relaxing break we were hoping for. There is not a great deal around it but nothing is too far away. The is a pharmacy 2 mins walk away if you needed one We spent most of our time either at the quiet pool or down at the beach. The quiet pool was fantastic-peaceful, spotless, and never overcrowded. A special mention to Mo at the pool bar who was great at remembering drinks / coffees and would bring them over and the pool towel guys at the quiet pool always very friendly and the bar manager who often brought us our drinks The shuttle bus to both of the beaches was great and only a short ride . The beaches were beautiful, sandy to chill and coral if you enjoy snorkelling and there was drinks and food there too as part of the AI Once again, the staff were very friendly, welcoming, and always happy to help. We also made use of the free shuttle service to the Old Market and Naama Bay and soho square (which has a great pub called the queen vic ) this was a great way to explore the area What really makes this hotel fab is the staff Every single person we encountered was warm, attentive, and genuinely seemed to care about making our stay enjoyable. The hotel and rooms were kept very clean, and our room was serviced daily to a high standard. The food was what you would expect from an all-inclusive resort, and we were always able to find something we liked. Overall, we had an incredibly relaxing stay and wouldn't hesitate to return. We would 100% recommend this hotel to anyone

Have stayed at this hotel many times. It is our home away from home. Staff are so friendly and nothing is too much trouble. Drinks brought to your sunbeds at the quiet pool with a smile. Room cleaned to a good standard every day. Food in the restaurant was varied. We could always find something to eat, especially the rice pudding for my husband! What did spoil it for the whole week was a group of about 8 people who thought the quiet pool belonged to them. From morning till night, you could hear them shouting, smoking in the pool, playing music, and their language was disgusting. Complaints were made, but nothing changed. Fortunately, being returning guests, we know this isn't the normal, but someone visiting the first time it would certainly put me off returning. We will be back in the future to this lovely friendly hotel.

We had an initial bad experience with the hotel but after issues were resolved it was on reflection a decent hotel.

Positive

• Exceptional customer service from Pastry Chef Muhammed Abdul B (who recently returned from Hajj). This chef who went out their way to make our lunch/dinner service the best possible and even had a specific dish cooked for one of our group. Outstanding!
• Friendly reception staff – one team member in particular stood out. His name was Shenouda and he was really empathetic to our issues and always happy to help us
• Free shuttle to two beaches (one day each) and old market (every other day). Must be booked in advance
• Enough sunbeds for guests for pool and beach areas (we went Mid-June so might be different in summer holidays/busier periods)
• Decent variety of food for lunch/dinner
• Security gate check taxis when they pick you up. Made us feel safe.
• Can get packed breakfast if doing an overnight excursion

•   Rooms cleaned daily
  

• General Manager (I think his name was Mahmoud) was very helpful once issues were escalated to him

Negative

• We arrived late due on the first evening due to delayed easyjet transfer bus and were not offered any late dinner service (even though the hotel do provide)
• Hotel has no lift and offered no assistance with taking luggage upstairs (though that may have been due to initially not accepting help with luggage going into hotel from the bus)
• Room safe didn’t initially work (but then resolved next day)
• Reception is not manned 24 hours
• No help from guest relations desk inside lobby for issues, very much a ‘cannot do anything’ attitude.
• Hotel tried to overcharge us for a card payment with incorrect exchange rate (this seems to be a common occurrence in Sharm El Sheikh but didn’t expect it at the hotel…)
• The hotel rep (Salem Ismail) didn’t help us and acted as if he knew he would get away with doing nothing! Whilst not a direct employee of the hotel it reflects badly on them and Easyjet as he is the person you’ll be dealing with on the ground
• Not near other hotels so often picked up first for excursion (so longer time going around picking everyone else up)
• Many issues we raised were only resolved once escalated with EasyJet head office and subsequently met with the general manager. Had we not done this, our experience would have been much worse.

Also worth noting you cannot exchange money at the hotel e.g. if you have British Pounds and want Egyptian Pounds (you can however withdraw from their ATM if you have a card but most card companies charge fees). I appreciate not every hotel can offer an exchange service so this is not a criticism. The only place in the city we found that did this was an exchange in the old market and they require a physical passport.

Once again we would like to thank Pastry Chef Muhammed Abdul B, receptionist Shenouda and the general manager who kindly met with us to resolve our issues.