JAZ Aquamarine

So this was my 4th stay in Egypt but first stay at this hotel. I have stayed at other Jaz hotels and other 5 stars in Egypt, and this was the most average one in my opinion. Pools were clean, lifeguards were helpful. Pool waiters appreciated a tip and worked hard bringing drinks around and collecting glasses. Plenty of sunbeds even though the cushioned ones do go fairly early. The room could do with an update but was fine, and the cleaner was friendly and did a good job. He tried with the towel art ect and always greeted you with a smile. Although is the only 5 star in Egypt I’ve known to charge for the mini bar! The food at the buffet was actually quite decent with always something to find, did come quite repetitive though was assuring to see them carry out temperature checks ect and the food was actually hotter than most buffet food you come across. Zero interaction with any waiting on staff for the whole 10 days breakfast/lunch or dinner, it’s all very much self service - find a table get your own drinks ect which does seem quite impersonal. Tried out two of the Al a cartes which again were average but was nice to be waited on atleast. The negatives…in our opinion - the water. Unfortunately one out of two of us came down with the dreaded sickness & diarrhoea on day 3. With the only difference being the one who got ill was drinking the ‘filtered’ glass bottle waters from the room fridge and from the big containers at the bar and eating fruits & salads. Pharmacy were helpful and gave medication and probiotics which did help, though was still ill for 4 days which seriously dampened our stay. After avoiding unpeeled fruits, salad and the water, and instead buying bottled water only from the shop, with medication this cleared up. The entertainment team, they do try and get you involved with activities and the water polo was a hit with us. They can be quite pushy though, on one of the days one of us was unwell, they literally stood over us over the loungers forcing us to write a google review we did not want to write and this was high pressured - wouldn’t leave until we did, forced reviews say a lot. The excursion sales / spa sellers who come around are relentless! We counted over 30 times a day we were asked. They seriously need a system to stop the repeated approaches. Have stayed at other hotels where this works well with a ‘red flag’ system to stop them being allowed to approach which this hotel could really benefit from. Overall, average stay and unfortunately we wouldn’t return as there is much better in the area for what you pay for.

Jaz Aquamarine was fantastic value for money! The food was good and the service was great. Would definitely recommend using the al carte restaurants! The spa was fantastic. We used the dive centre attached to the resort and they looked after us so well! Would highly recommend this hotel.

The hotel is advertised as five-star, but it certainly does not meet that standard. At best, it is an average four-star hotel. The pools and communal areas are attractive and generally well maintained, but the rooms are dated, particularly the bathrooms. They are in need of modernisation, and the unpleasant non-slip bath mats should be replaced. One of the most frustrating aspects of our stay was the constant harassment around the pool from people selling spa treatments, tours and photography services. They approached us repeatedly throughout the day, rather than just once. We came here to relax, not to be pestered. I have never experienced this at another hotel, and it significantly affected our enjoyment of the holiday. The Wi-Fi was good in the rooms but very unreliable around the pools. Most of the restaurants were average, with the exception of the steakhouse. Although there is an additional charge, both the food and service were good. However, we believe food from the poolside bar - specifically a meatball sub - gave us food poisoning, which ruined half of our holiday. The hotel urgently needs to review its food-safety procedures. The service in the burger bar was appalling. We had to ask for menus ourselves and repeatedly request drinks. It took nearly an hour simply to order and receive our food. There were only five occupied tables and seemingly one member of staff per table, so it is difficult to understand how the service could have been so poor. The restaurant booking system showed very little availability, yet half the tables were empty each evening. Sofra was probably the best of the a la carte restaurants: the food was acceptable and the service was good. The main restaurant lacked variety throughout the week. Most good five-star hotels offer themed evenings to keep the menu interesting, but that was not the case here. Even the omelette station was disappointing, as the cooks seemed to struggle to whisk the eggs properly. The process for replacing pool towels was also unreliable. Guests are told to leave used towels out to be exchanged, but when I did this, no replacements arrived. I called reception, but the member of staff was abrupt, and the towels still never appeared. I eventually had to resolve the issue myself. We arranged and paid for a late checkout until 6 p.m., but later received a call asking when we were leaving because there was no record of it. We therefore had to arrange it again. Reception told us to call when we wanted our luggage collected, yet the porter arrived without warning at 5:30 p.m., with the cleaner standing outside waiting to enter. Despite paying to keep the room until 6 p.m., we were effectively forced out at 5:35 p.m. We were relieved that our suitcases reached reception safely, given how fast the golf carts were being driven. One of our bags was actually thrown from the cart on the way. Overall, the attractive pool areas are not enough to justify the hotel's five-star rating. The dated rooms, persistent sales approaches, inconsistent service, food-safety concerns and poor organisation made the stay disappointing.

Best Service and food in the Burger Bay Restaurant.

Would not return Returned after 10 nights at this hotel. The hotel grounds and buildings are lovely, pools are nice. The food and drinks were not good and we didn’t rate the Al la carte restaurants we visited. Asian, Egyptian and Italian. Italian was the worst. Me and my family got stomach cramps and diarrhoea after day 4/5, we have been to Egypt 4 times now and got the same illness after are first time in sharm due to the water but had not been I’ll the others times. I noticed that the beef in the beef curry was undercooked and that night I feel Ill first reported it to guest relations. We do not drink the water even filtered we stick to bottled, I didn’t know they the hotel did not offer bottled water or I wouldn’t of booked it was an inconvenience to leave the hotel to obtain enough water for our 10 night stay. We don’t usually venture far and stay in resorts when we go on holiday. The rest of my family fell ill a day or 2 later but they didn’t eat the beef curry lik me. The sickness came and went the rest of the holiday after visiting the chemist for tablets. We stopped eating at the hotel the last couple of days and ate out. The drinks at self service are flat no fizz at all. Most of the staff were nice, didn’t appreciate being hit on by staff at the snacks bar near the beach when I went on my own without him, so he started to go instead. The staff were all lovely to my baby, have to mention a bell boy didn’t get his name that helped us move and was tryin to be super quiet while the baby was sleeping. Felt awkward when the cleaner asked me to leave a review and asked me what I would say but bar that he was a nice cleaner to talk to and completed requests when needed and went out of his way to help. Need more waiters to bring drinks as when u ask for it it’s quicker to get it urself as they must be so busy with only the one pool bar on the quiet side. The pools are cold, I asked reception to ask the manager to turn the heat on for the baby pool but was basically dismissed as it wasn’t November, my baby was shivering after a few minutes we stuck mainly to the big pool as the water was gettin heated by the sun but had to wait till midday when it warmed up a bit more, the baby pool is shaded so presuming that’s why it seemed colder, we spoke to another couple who also asked to turn heating on the baby pool and was refused. The gardeners work all day until late, the gardens are lovely but be aware you will hear landmowers through out the day if ur trying to relax on the sun loungers. The rooms were okay bit of wear and tear but clean. We asked for a ground floor when checkin in and was told it was and when arrived at room was on top floor, I worried about the bars with my baby on balcony and they accommodated us the next day with a ground floor which was a much better room. They provided crib which was speedly provided but didn’t know they had baby baths until I was up at lost on found the day before we left. It would of been good to know as it is difficult and slippy to wash a baby in shower. We used the hotel taxi which was 5 pounds to senzo mall. Spinney is good at senzo cheap but Egyptian only or Visa card only, there is some shops left and right when u go out gates but u will be hassled, left is more level ground than right. Providing a bag of food for plane was a nice touch. Overall it looks a lovely hotel but the food and drinks was a let down and we didn’t enjoy the food, plus we got Sick so we would not return.