Desert Rose Resort

We’ve just returned from our first stay at Desert Rose Resort after an amazing 14-night holiday, and we wanted to leave a little review as we’ve had such a lovely time. Check-in & Room 🏨 Check-in was really smooth, with welcome drinks waiting for us on arrival, and the lobby is absolutely beautiful. We stayed in Block 4000, which we thought was in a great location for getting around the resort. Our room was lovely and spacious, and a big thank you to our housekeeper Sayed, who looked after us so well throughout our stay. A special mention also to Alaa from security, who was always so friendly, polite and welcoming. The Pools & Pool Bar 🍹 We spent most of our days around the 1st pool by the Tropicana Bar. We were a group of 8 and never struggled to get sunbeds, which was great. The bar staff were brilliant, especially Mina and Anton (Mini Bellingham 😂), who were always friendly, happy and welcoming. They really added to our holiday and always made us feel looked after. The lifeguard with the white glasses was also always so friendly, and the men at the towel station were great too, especially when helping Grandma with a chair. Little touches like this really make a difference. Fancy Flamingo 🦩🍸 We absolutely loved the Fancy Flamingo Bar. The atmosphere, music and entertainment were fantastic, and the service was always brilliant. Hamad Ibrahim deserves a special mention. He was fantastic every evening, always had a smile on his face and nothing was ever too much trouble. We spent most of our evenings here and really enjoyed the atmosphere. Ultra All Inclusive ⭐ We upgraded to Ultra AI and, for us, it was definitely worth it. The laundry service was incredible and such a great bonus. Having the fridge restocked with soft drinks, crisps and snacks each day was also lovely. The à la carte restaurants were excellent, and we managed to eat at a different one every night during our 14-day stay. Le Bistro was our favourite – the food was delicious and the service was excellent. We also had breakfast at Del Mar every morning, which was another highlight and definitely helped make the upgrade worthwhile for us. Entertainment 💃 The entertainment team and dancers were fantastic. The shows are genuinely really good and definitely worth watching. The dancers are all incredibly talented. A special mention to Charlie, who took the time to speak to us after one of the shows about her career. She was really lovely, and it was so nice to have a chat with her. Bella Vista 🌅🍹 We also enjoyed heading to Bella Vista for a cocktail around lunchtime. The staff were all really friendly, and of course the views are amazing! Snack Bar 🍕 The snack bar was another favourite for lunch. The food was really nice every day, although it can be quite a walk from the 1st pool and it was often very busy. We think an additional snack bar closer to that side of the resort would be a great addition, especially during busy periods. Golf Cart Service 🛺 We made use of the golf cart service most days as one member of our family has limited mobility. It was always really reliable and made getting around the resort so much easier. Just ring 0 and they’ll take you wherever you need to go, which was incredibly helpful for us. Overall ❤️ Overall, we’ve had a brilliant first stay at Desert Rose and we definitely won’t be making it our last! The grounds are amazing, everything is so clean and there is always something going on. There really is something for everyone, and the staff are what make the resort so special. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed our 14 nights and are already looking forward to rebooking. It will also be great to come back in the future and see all of the renovations once they’re underway and completed. A huge thank you to everyone at Desert Rose Resort for making our first stay such a memorable one. We’ll definitely be back – see you again! ☀️🌴❤️

So on arriving at the hotel it is absolutely stunning, clean, attention to detail is beautiful and is very aesthetically pleasing with very calming & relaxing decor. The staff were all very friendly & polite. I am a slightly fussy eater but the food is very good and a lot of variety. We also used the inclusive à la carte restaurants and the food was unreal!! My biggest gripe was that there are two main areas that children under 12 are not allowed. Usually when I have been to hotels that are adult only areas in them it is not smack bang in the middle. The pool that we had seen photographs of with the cabanas & loungers in the pool is for over 12 only and it is right in the middle of the resort which I didn’t think was fair atall. The hotel boast about this pool all over social media but never mention it is adult only. Secondly we are not drinkers and the rest can be very boring at night. There is a show in at 9 for approx 45 minutes and then the main bar again is for over 12 only, it’s absolutely stunning and it’s the main feature of evening entertainment but kids can’t go in which I don’t really understand so after 9:45 unless you want to sit in a bar that makes you feel as though you are a second class citizen whilst you hear the music and the atmosphere coming from the main bar then I wouldn’t recommend this hotel if you have children under 12. I don’t feel it was well advertised that a lot of the areas are for over 12 only and we paid a lot of money for the holiday only to be secluded from areas for having children with us, children who paid full price might j add

On arrival, check in was very slow, we were unsure what took so long but we arrived at 10pm and didnt get to our rooms until gone midnight and there was no food anywhere! If check in hadn't taken so long we might have been able to get something at the buffet. We did manage to get some drinks at Harry’s pub. Our rooms received were incorrect to what we had booked/discussed via email and had confirmed before arrival to save hassle with kids at a late hour. (We needed a room for 4 & the other for 2x people not 3 & 3 due to children needing to be with parents) This already put a rubbish start to the holiday as we had to go back and fourth to reception to sort out beds and receive a suitable mattress. We woke up the next morning and could not get any wifi at all in the room. It is very limited around the entire hotel. Definitely worth getting a local Sim, especially if you are travelling for work purposes. The a la carte restaurants were lovely! our favourite being le bistro. We upgraded to Ultra and ate here multiple times as we found the buffet awful, no pizzas at dinner time and a lot of ‘slop’ really. We are not picky eaters and found it quite hard, with a lot of food we wouldn’t feed to our dog. We have been to egypt many times before, but on this occasion when eating salad a few of us had bad vomiting/ diarrhoea, and so avoided salad for the rest of our stay thinking it may have been contaminated from the tap water. Upgrading to Ultra was also a bonus for us for the amazing smoothies & breakfasts daily at Del mar as well as the unlimited restaurants for lunch/ dinner. The buffet is awful like sitting in a school diner, it was also full on several occasions, the staff could not cope with demand. However they are currently building a new one to suit the resort’s upgraded theme elsewhere, which was our main negative and this will be a far better experience once completed. Do not be fooled with the Ultra, it states you receive fresh juices which we did not find anywhere other than melon juice in the del mar. And the ‘premium’ spirits are still not the english spirits we are used to, these are a extra charge still, instead they are better local spirit which still aren’t great, the cocktails were too strong or too sweet. Children are also required to upgrade which seems pointless when they are only taking advantage of the restaurants along with the adults already paying, they're not using any of the free shisha, spa facilities or alcohol and our child hates juice etc and only consumes water which was a bit pointless having to pay for him. The laundry service offered with Ultra was amazing! Definitely worth upgrading just for this, clothes come back fresh, ironed and folded. You can pay for items individually but it would work out more beneficial to upgrade to Ultra all inclusive so you can wash as much as needed. The highlight of our stay was the lovely staff, everyone was super helpful, especially, Omar (flex), Amy & Yousef part of the entertainment team. They had a great laugh with us daily and really made our whole holiday! Great assets to Desert rose 🫶🏼 With there being six of us, we found we had to get to the adult pool just before 8am when it opened to get a sun lounger, as they are all gone by 7am at the other pools, leaving you with just the beach if you were to get up later. Lastly, checking out was abismal, we wanted to pay for late check out as we werent flying home until 11pm and they couldnt give us the option as the hotel was full. We then asked reception multiple times throughout the day for a shower room to wash and get dressed in, we were told to come back at 4pm and ask again and they didnt have this available either. We were then told to wash outside in our swimwear. So you could not even have a proper shower and as a woman with hair that becomes tangled if i let it air-dry, i was not able to blowdry my hair or get ready anywhere private, which was extremely frustrating. With the amount of money we had paid for the holiday and the extra’s of Ultra inclusive costing us another near enough £1000 on top, we left feeling annoyed. If you cannot allow someone their room for the day if they have a late flight, and especially if they are happy to pay for late check out- then the bare minimum should be giving them somewhere to wash and get ready in private, not leaving them basically homeless/ to wash outside for the day.

The food is absolutely delicious with amazing variety. The people are very friendly especially Mr ahmed front office manager. The lifeguards on the pools are alert at all times and very friendly with the kids. The hotel is beautiful and worth visiting!

The hotel was the best. It’s very aesthetically pleasing and very clean. It has so many different places to try. Several pools and bars. The food is exceptional as well. The rooms are very good too. Definitely worth every penny. The staff were amazing. The front office manager was very welcoming and helpful. The life guards there are also great especially Ahmed yasser.