Steigenberger Alcazar

While everybody has their own opinions and experiences, this is my honest review of our stay over the last week. We have now stayed at this hotel twice and, while there is still plenty to like, we will probably not be returning. The hotel itself is lovely and very well maintained. The à la carte restaurants remain one of the highlights, offering a great variety of food. We were able to book these online once we had our room number, which worked well and meant that during our one week stay we only used the buffet twice. The buffet itself could do with some improvement. There is enough choice, but I found myself mainly sticking to the freshly cooked pasta station. The barbecue meat is very nice when freshly cooked, but if it has been sitting for any length of time it quickly becomes lukewarm. The rooms are spacious and attractive, and our cleaner was fantastic throughout the stay, keeping everything spotless and always doing an excellent job. However, the beds are extremely firm. We requested a mattress topper, which did help, but it was much shorter than the mattress so it often felt like you were sleeping on the edge. We also had the fire alarm light flashing throughout the night, which made sleeping more difficult. For those travelling and receiving a Gold Band, it is worth noting that soft drinks in the minibar are no longer complimentary, you need to speak with customer relations and they will allow you the first soft drinks free - Snacks, chocolate and alcohol are chargeable. In addition, the bars will not provide unopened cans directly staff will only pour drinks into glasses so if you want cans for your room/minibar you need to collect them from the beach bar. The biggest issue for us was the sunbed situation, particularly around the middle and adult pools. By day four we were regularly seeing guests reserving beds from 5:45am onwards. If you want a good spot in those areas, you need to be down very early. That said, the situation did improve later in the week as more guests departed and availability became better. The quieter pool near the restaurant generally had beds available throughout the day. The lifeguards deserve huge credit they were excellent throughout and went above and beyond to help guests, including sourcing additional sunbeds where possible. Poolside drink service was also a nice touch, and staff regularly came round without needing to be called over. I did unfortunately witness two guests physically arguing over sunbeds at the adult pool, which says a lot about how competitive the situation can become. Lunch service was another frustration. On two separate occasions we waited over half hour for food and had to chase staff for updates, which suggests the lunchtime ordering process needs improvement. A special mention should also go to the lady in the lobby bar, who was always cheerful, welcoming and incredibly helpful throughout our stay. Our final disappointment was the late checkout/courtesy room process. When I enquired on Wednesday, reception told me to call back Friday at 6pm. When I called back at 7pm, I was then told to call again at 8pm, only to then be informed there was no late checkout available. Surely reception would have known by 7pm whether this was available, so the process felt unnecessarily disorganised. We were then directed to use the beach shower/changing room, which was not ideal for us as non-beach users and not the way we would have wanted to end the holiday. Every hotel which we have stayed WW which has a 5 star rating have had a courtesy room. Overall, this remains a lovely hotel with excellent staff and some fantastic features, but the ongoing issues with sunbeds, dining organisation and departure facilities mean we do not feel it offers the same experience as on our previous visit.

We recently stayed at the Steigenberger Alcazar for 11 nights with our 4-month-old baby. While we managed to enjoy our first holiday as a family, the experience was a bit of a mixed bag, especially when comparing it to other high-end resorts in Sharm El Sheikh. The Room & Service We opted for a swim-up room, which was convenient with a little one, but we were disappointed by the maintenance. There was a noticeable amount of rust in the bathroom, which isn't what you expect at this price point. The service was also hit-or-miss: • The Pool: Waiter service around the pool was generally good. • Evening Vibes: In the evenings, it was a different story. Because we had a baby, we sat further back to avoid the loud music, but this resulted in us being almost entirely ignored by the staff. • Pacing: Dining felt rushed. Our meals were often served within 10 minutes, giving us the feeling that we needed to eat fast and vacate the table rather than enjoy a "chilled" a la carte diner. Food & Drink Oddities The buffet was fine but nothing spectacular. We found the A La Carte restaurants to be much better quality. However, the hotel has some very "weird" policies for a 5-star resort: • The Mini Bar: Even in a premium swim-up room, the mini bar is not included. • The "Can" Rule: You can get canned drinks for free at the beach bar, but if you take that same can from your room's mini bar, you are charged. It felt like unnecessary penny-pinching. Beach & Snorkeling The beach is aesthetically nice, but not very functional for swimmers. The water only reaches your knees, so you have to walk down the jetty for about 10 minutes to reach deep water. Unfortunately, the reef there was mostly dead, likely due to heavy tourism, which was a letdown for snorkeling. On our final day, the hotel suffered a power outage. Management claimed it was a city-wide issue across all of Sharm, but we later found out this wasn't true—it seemed like a way to avoid complaints. This was a major issue for us; with no power, there was no hot water and no way to boil water for our baby’s bottles. We were forced to leave for the airport early just to ensure our child could be fed. We had a nice time because it was our first trip with the baby, but as frequent visitors to Sharm (regularly staying at the Rixos), we found the Steigenberger lacking. At a similar price point, the Rixos offers significantly better service and a more seamless experience. We likely won't be returning for a second time.

The staff make the holiday and they go above and beyond from Khalid at reception and Khalid by the adult swimming pool bar man and Amir the Lifeguard went above and beyond and also Ali who drove the golf buggy was always very happy and also Fares who did the breakfast buffet couldn’t do enough for you and the food was excellent and service and accommodation was excellent. The grounds was so well kept and everything was to a very high standard and fully recommend .

We stayed in April, experiencing excellent customer care. Every member of staff without exception were polite, helpful and focused on making our stay first class.

great stay again this time with family. Special mention to Sabrina Guest Relation always on top of her job. Room boy Essam room 6121 excellent Kalhid at adult's pool bar What a terrific Guy works so Hard and Ali in the lunch time Snack Greek in the evening restaurant works so hard and very friendly