Rixos Sharm El Sheikh

Nice place cosy value for money the staff are great can’t do enough for you the strongest point in the hotel thanks for all team members starting from the reception team Specially Mr.Mohamed Moustafa The front office manager for his kindness and hospitality, restaurant and bar staff the food was good and there was a lot of choices

Two-week stay at Rixos Sharm – our second visit.

We’ve just spent two weeks at Rixos Sharm, having previously stayed here once before, as well as at Rixos Seagate and Rixos in Hurghada. Overall, we had a wonderful holiday and would happily return. There is a lot to love about this hotel, although there are a few areas where we feel improvements could be made.

The positives:

The staff are undoubtedly the best thing about this hotel. From the waiters in the restaurants, to the lifeguards, security team and all the staff working behind the scenes, everyone was incredibly friendly, polite and welcoming. They genuinely go out of their way to make you feel at home, and we really appreciated the level of service and attention to detail throughout our stay.

The grounds are beautiful. They are peaceful, spacious and extremely well maintained. A huge amount of work clearly goes on behind the scenes to keep everything looking so immaculate, and the gardeners in particular deserve a lot of credit. We really enjoyed being able to wander around the grounds and soak up the serene atmosphere.

The food is good, with plenty of choice in the buffet and a good selection of à la carte restaurants. We managed to try most of them during our two weeks. The à la carte restaurants are a particularly nice change from the buffet, offering a more relaxed and exclusive experience where you don’t feel quite as rushed.

We also took part in a lot of the sports and activities, which were generally very good fun. A particular thank you for the daily yoga sessions, which were varied, challenging and a lovely way to start the morning. We really enjoyed these.

Our room was consistently cleaned on time and we always had everything we needed. We had no issues at all in this regard.

The drinks have definitely improved since our last visit. The staff will do their best to make you whatever you ask for, although obviously Egypt isn’t somewhere you come expecting world-class cocktails! The selection can still feel a little limited at times, but it was certainly better than on our previous visit. We particularly liked the addition of the coffee shop, which was a welcome improvement.

We also really enjoyed the live musicians. This added a lovely atmosphere and, if anything, we’d suggest increasing the amount of live music throughout the resort. It would be great to see live musicians playing in more of the bars and restaurants during the evenings.

Areas for improvement:

Mosquitoes are a big problem. This is probably the biggest negative of our stay. There were mosquitoes everywhere, and although we could see the hotel staff making efforts to control them, there were several days when the problem was particularly bad. We saw some guests with an astonishing number of bites, so bring plenty of mosquito protection. This really is essential.

The buggy buses can also be frustrating. We actually preferred walking around the resort, as virtually everything is within a 5–10 minute walk, but the buggies are constantly travelling up and down the paths and sometimes at quite a speed. They have priority over pedestrians, meaning you regularly have to move out of the way. We also found it slightly bizarre to see people getting onto a buggy only to get off again 50 metres further along! A little more walking wouldn’t hurt anyone, particularly at an adults-only resort.

The trip sellers around the pool were probably the biggest annoyance during the first few days. We completely understand that excursions are part of the holiday business and we appreciated being given information about what was available. However, being approached repeatedly by different people, all trying to sell essentially the same trips, became intrusive and really spoilt the first few days. We think the hotel would benefit from having one designated excursion outlet where guests can go for information and bookings, rather than being approached constantly around the pool.

The evening entertainment could also be improved. Personally, I’m not a huge fan of the shows and they can feel a little repetitive. The DJs also tend to be very loud, with not a huge amount of variety in the music. We did really enjoy the upgraded beach bar, but towards the end of a two-week stay we were finding ourselves running out of things to do in the evenings. More varied, lower-key entertainment and additional live music would make a big difference.

Finally, we did feel that the general behaviour of some guests has declined compared with our previous visits. The majority of guests here are Russian. There were a number of guests who were incredibly rude to staff and seemed to treat them as though they were servants, which was uncomfortable to witness. We also saw people throwing rubbish and cigarette butts around the pool area, and on two occasions found chewing gum stuck to the side of the pool or on pool furniture. Regardless of where guests are from, this sort of behaviour is simply unacceptable in an exclusive adults-only resort. The staff work incredibly hard to maintain such beautiful surroundings, and guests should show them and the environment the same level of respect.

Despite the points above, we had a fantastic two weeks and would still recommend Rixos Sharm. The beautiful grounds, excellent staff, good food, activities and overall atmosphere make it a very enjoyable place to stay. The staff in particular deserve enormous credit and are a huge part of what makes the resort special.

With some improvements to the mosquito problem, excursion sales approach and evening entertainment — alongside maintaining standards of guest behaviour- we think this hotel could be even better.

We’d happily come back for a third visit