Name: Pickalbatros Laguna Vista Hotel
Price range: from £651.06pp (7 nights includes flights and transfers)

Select Room & Board Basis | Mercury Holidays

Product Details

Went away for Christmas for the first time and this hotel did not disappoint, hopefully we will return in the future.
As soon as we arrived they were very welcoming, check in was very quick. 
You get taken to your rooms with your bags in a buggy, which was great the kids loved it. 
Our room was very nice, clean and spacious, I went back to reception as we had one bed less than we needed and I noticed the swim up rooms as I was walking by, we wanted to upgrade but because of the bed misunderstanding we were given a free upgrade straight away! 😀 great service from the start.
Food - We are a fussy family, our son has sensory issues with food so finding things he will eat is always a worry when going away, we managed to find one or two things which he would eat, so that was a massive relief.
The rest of us found the food a little repetitive, not much choice and the meats a little dry but we still found something we liked so it wasn’t a big problem. The only thing I didn’t like was the children being allowed to go and get their food unsupervised, I seen some touch the food with their hands and put it back. 
Staff - The staff were amazing, always there to get you drinks, even by the pool. You didn’t have to get up and go to the bar, which is great for people who want more of a relaxing holiday. 
Pools - There were so many pools to choose from, kids pools, quieter pools and also adults only, I didn’t go in them all but the one near the beach is heated. My kids enjoyed the water park, it’s not massive but enough
For them and the slides were safe to go on ( in some places I’ve been they can be quite lethal)
One small thing by the pools is that the lifeguards are a bit whistle happy, the kids can’t jump in.

Excursions - The next morning as we landed late-ish we were waiting in the lobby for a meeting with MTS to give us information about excursions, hotel and our transfers. He was quite late! 
He told us not to go with any other person for excursions as they weren't to be trusted and for insurances, I looked at the reviews for MTS and they were not the best!!
Each to their own but I didn’t want to risk it not being an enjoyable trip.
We ended up choosing to do our excursions with The sea life diving centre at the hotels beach with a guy named Hassan. 
Hassan was very friendly, gave us the option to shop around and see what the best price was that he could give us after looking at other companies prices! We went on two excursions with them, the quad safari tour and the swim with dolphins with the dolphin show.
We had a great experience with them, not one problem and they always asked if we were ok!
So I would definitely recommend sticking with them.

Dolphins at Dolphina - This was well out of my comfort zone but we had a good experience with the dolphins who were extremely clever and friendly! It was the highlight of my children’s holiday. 
I wouldn’t do it again though, although they seemed to be cared for and treated very well I didn’t like how small the pool was for them, they obviously wouldn’t survive in the wild now having been raised there from babies but they definitely need a bigger pool area. 

Outside the hotel - It’s fine to walk about (stick together) but just ignore people pestering you, and people constantly asking you if you want a taxi. It’s a little annoying but don’t let it ruin your holiday, We stuck with the hotel for taxis and got a fixed price. 
Soho Square was a little disappointing for me, whilst it looked really nice for Christmas, way better than the poor effort put in for Christmas in the UK! It was boring and just full of shops! I expected it to be more from what I read.

Mosquitoes - These are a problem but we used the Avon skin so soft spray and 3 out of 4 of us didn’t get one bite using this! On the last day I showered before leaving and forgot to put it on and was bit 4 times 🤦🏼‍♀️  
My partner was bit quite a few times but he fell asleep at night outside on the sunbed for about 15/20mins! 
There is a pharmacy across the road that can give you some cream to help with the itching. 

Restaurants outside the hotel  - opposite the hotel there is a McDonald’s and KFC, we chose this hotel for this reason incase I couldn’t find food for my son. We didn’t have use any of them but we walked by and the McDonalds I didn’t like the look of, it was very outdated and all the seats were ripped which made me wonder what the kitchen would look like and how clean it would be so we didn’t risk it!  
The Hard Rock Cafe is also right next door to the hotel, it’s clean, staff were friendly and the food was nice.

Airport - This has got to be the worst Airport so far for me. Upon landing we went to the toilets, they were so dirty & no toilet roll yet there was still a man asking for tips ( he didn’t work there). 
Returning back to the airport to go home, there is random men with trolleys to get your bags! DO NOT TRUST THEM!
 We didn’t but thankfully I had read before that they take your bags and charge you to get them back!
You don’t get any help inside the Airport so finding our desk was confusing at first but look at the boards it will tell you the number of the desk you need. There is also men in the airport offering help that don’t work there, he tried to show us the wrong way to get a tip but luckily security seen and told us.
Again the toilets weren’t clean, the toilets wouldn’t flush nor did the taps work as there was no water! There was someone on the door asking for tips to give you water to wash your hands! We walked straight out and waited to use the toilets on the plane! 
It’s also quite expensive! Two slices of pizzas were over £20. 

The cons to this holiday for us was the Airport, pestering and the rudeness of the foreign tourists. I’ve never seen such rudeness, for a lot of the foreign tourists, their manners and knowledge of what Ques were are non existent!
We didn’t let it ruin our holiday, the pestering is often but you just  politely say no one or two times and along they go. 

Overall we had a great holiday, I’ve gone on a bit but I wanted to cover all the things I that I wanted to know but couldn’t find before travelling! 
The hotel was amazing, the cleanest hotel I’ve been too. ( they are always cleaning).
They have a surf machine and pedal buggy’s at no extra cost to entertain the kids which I found quite good and forget to mention!
Staff are amazing and friendly, I would definitely return.

Great hotel!

Clean resort , good food , nice people. 

The room was spotless, the staff were incredibly friendly, and the spa services were top-notch

Thanks to Ashraf / Mahmoud 

It was a really good massage, focused exactly where I requested in a lovely setting.

If I have chance I definitely comeback.

Good resort

Went away for Christmas & new year with friends, 13 of us, in different rooms & with varying child ages etc. So hopefully a balanced review...

Id love to be able to tell you this is a 5 star review on a 4 star hotel, as the building, facilities and staff are super. The gardens and general maintenance of the site is superb. The rooms are spacious and the beds great (and im fussy about beds!) the bathrooms are really good too with powerful hot showers. 

There are lots of pools, not all heated so the heated ones get fuller, while the other remain completely empty - but I get it, would cost a fortune to heat the amount of water on this hotel site!

The Water park is strangely sited at the front of the hotel by the road, away from the main pools area. It is small but some of the slides are fast and fun. It is also free and the water is heated, nice touch. Smaller kids loved it. They have a wave surf machine on the beach & that was fun. Paddle tennis & tennis courts on beach too. Beach volleyball courts made for a good father & son match one afternoon too. They also had tuk tuk four seater bikes which could ridden up and down the beach in front of the hotel… great for the smaller children. Yoga & water aerobics etc each day to. So activity wise they catered fairly well 

Spa is ok, but prices are very high. One of the young girls had their hair braided and they wanted 140 euros!! negotiated and they said lowest would be 80 euros. Ended up paying 47... still pretty high we thought.

The site is right on the beach, and has a nice beach restaurant ( prob the best to eat in the hotel ) however the sand is sharp & shelly, not soft sand. the tide also stays out, so you have to walk to the end of the pier (5 min walk 0ut)  if you want ot get in and swim

Overall so far i'd say a fair review of a four star hotel... Now for the bad stuff & unfortunately the bad points are key points for us as a group & individually, so much so that we would most likely never book again.

The food is just OK, in one of the restaurants. I say one as Culina & Tagine are advertised as two restaurants but are effectively one, as they are joined together & offer the same food. They offer mainly traditional middle eastern foods & the food is fair but it's pretty much the same every night & as it's the only one worth eating at, it gets very repetitive!  We ate breakfast there most days too & same goes, not bad but repetitive & only choice. Soprano we ate at once & it was terrible, also felt like a school canteen. Concerto is one of the restaurants you have to book into, but I dont know why as it basically just brings plated food in from the other restaurants, but colder and without you choosing what you want to pick from the buffet, again not good. We went into tagine afterwards to top up. Capitano is poolside for lunch & serves basic salad, chips, hotdogs. chicken nuggets - same pretty much every day. All pretty bland and low quality. I wouldn't touch the chicken nuggets or hotdogs & I usually love both in the UK (much to my wife's dismay ) so my standards there are fair low!  there is a beach restaurants that does grilled chicken, pasta, salad & pizza, to be fair the grilled chicken was usually nice as well as the freshly stone baked pizza & we ate lunch here most days, the trouble again is the repetitive menu & limited choice of only eating here for lunch. Finally the golden buddha, the second restaurant you need to book & can only dine at once during your stay. The food here was pretty nice, if a bit salty and could do with being hotter but probably our second best meal there. 

Overall the food could be improved with if the drinks and snacks etc were up to par, but definitely nothing special. 

The main issue here though is those drinks... the lowest quality drinks I have ever experienced at a hotel. Everything is made by the same company, Vodka, Gin, Tequila, Rum etc. The rum actually had the Bacardi logo & mentioned Bacardi on the label but it was made locally.. almost like a counterfeit Bacardi! every single drink tasted the same - BAD!  100% undrinkable. Wine made by the same company & also poor quality but drinkable. After an early night on the first night, we started going out & buying drinks to bring in and consume. We would have happily paid an add on fee to have a premium (or just box standard) drinks package, as we were buying it offsite anyway, so the hotel are making a big mistake cutting corners here. Beer looked like apple juice; it was so flat and bland. I said to my wife it tasted like a bottle of beer that had been left out in the garden for an hour on a hot day & you go back to drink it. Im not saying it was ethanol. but it all tasted like it!!! Even the orange juice was a cheap sweet watered down drink, so it wasn't just the alcohol. 

everyone we spoke to said the same thing & said they wouldnt return due to the extremely poor drinks & bang average food. 

honestly it was such a shame, as the hotel keeps itself spotlessly clean and well maintained, so I cant praise them highly enough for that, but I dont want to be walking in & out the hotel all the time to buy drinks on an all inclusive holiday. we advised the customer experience rep about this & she nodded her head as though she had heard this umpteen times already that day, so the hotel are clearly aware, but just not bothered. We walked up to the Rixos next door & the outside bar had all branded drinks & fresh orange etc.  

wish I could fully recommend the hotel on all its offerings, but I wouldnt advise anyone that drinks to stay here... however if you dont drink, other than water & coffee, and are happy to maybe eat out a couple of nights in your holiday ( to prevent the repetitiveness ) then pretty much everything else here is fine. 

PS - One other thing that just came ot mind. We usually Holiday in Portugal, America & Europe (Greece, Spain etc) and always enjoyed a good mix of cultures, and a plate and friendly atmosphere. That wasnt always the case here, not sure where most of the residents here originated but there was a lot of pushing in & rude behaviour from other guests…. became annoying as the holiday went on & looking at the reviews on here now, im sad to say that id use this as a guide for future bookings I think.

Mixed feelings... drinks totally unpalatable!

Very nice hotel, a lot of entretainment,  food for everybody. Swimming pool with nice temperature at winter. A lot of bars on beach, a lot of swimming pools. Nice and long beach. Rooms are clean with balcon.  Aditional SPA Omega services with nice massage girls Emman, Ahlam and Bossina makes good feeling for any person who will take a massage.

Winter Experience

Stay at this hotel in Jan and it was amazing experience. The property is huge but walkable with many fun activities included. Decent coffee around the hotel nearly 24h which is important for me. Various meals with convenient operating hours. Attentive yet not intrusive hotel team. Prompt check-in and easy check-out with possibility to continue on all-inclusive till transfer. Highly recommended!

Excellent

Pickalbatros Laguna Vista Resort in Sharm El Sheikh is a stunning beachfront escape set against the Red Sea's vibrant coral reefs and golden sands. This five-star resort blends elegance with Egyptian charm, featuring rooms and suites with balconies or terraces, some with pool or sea views. The resort offers a wide variety of dining options, from international buffets to specialty à la carte restaurants, ensuring flavors for every palate. Guests can indulge in amenities such as four outdoor pools, a beach area, a relaxing spa, and a well-equipped fitness centre. For added excitement, activities range from snorkelling and diving to tennis and beach volleyball. With evening entertainment and a family-friendly atmosphere, Pickalbatros Laguna Vista caters to both relaxing and adventurous holidays in the heart of Sharm El Sheikh.

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Pickalbatros Laguna Vista Hotel