Reviews of Coral Sea Resort Hotel, Sharm El Sheikh

I'd been to the Coral Sea resort last year - this was my 4th trip to Sharm and had been to a different hotel on each occasion. I would recommend all of the hotels where I've stayed, but this was the only hotel where I had not experienced an upset tummy, therefore I booked to go there again with a friend who had not previously been to Egypt. A couple of days before going, we read some of the recent reviews about the hotel, which made us a bit apprehensive about this trip. I should not have worried - we had a fantastic time (despite our plane turning back to LGW and subsequent delay on our outbound journey) we are thoroughly depressed that we had not booked for a fortnight (we would have still been there now).

First Choice and the Cabin Crew were excellent in the way that they handled the disappointment of the initial outbound flight being diverted back to London when we were half way to Egypt, due to technical errors with the plane. At no point were we worried about our safety, and appreciated that it would be better to land back in London where precautions can be taken to guarantee passenger safety. We were provided with overnight accommodation and flew out again the following morning. It was disappointing to lose one day of our holiday, but can only commend the way in which it was handled by First Choice.

From the moment that we reached the hotel, we felt relaxed (which can often take a few days to do). We were given our All Inclusive wrist bands which were a different colour to many of the other guests, and found out a couple of days later that this was because I had been before, and it enables the staff to say "Welcome Back" and other such pleasantries which is lovely and does make you feel very welcomed. It's only one of the small touches that the hotel does, simple but effective.

The Entertainment Staff are fantastic - they had great rapport with all of the guests - there were daily activities round the pool - those who participated had a great time - those who didn't (there was no pressure) were not bothered by too much noise by those who did - the pool and beach area is so big that you can join in or have some quiet relaxation all within the same complex. The evening entertainment consisted of a mix of kid's disco, bingo, game shows, karaoke and themed entertainment shows (The Russian dancers were especially entertaining). I don't have any kids, but still enjoyed the entertainment alongside all of the families who were there. Again, the hotel is large enough that if you would rather have a quiet drink, there is the hotel lobby, terrace and a Bedouin Tent where you can go to relax.

The hotel staff, who are mostly Egyptian men, are extremely courteous, helpful and respectful. There are the odd ones who may give you the impression that they are after a tip, but they are not pushy and this is very rare!!! They enjoy nothing more than trying out their English and trying to banter with the guests - they have a great sense of humour. If you have a smile for them, they will always welcome you. I will say that when you do give a tip, it is gratefully received and most of them certainly deserve it. A very nice bunch of people.

I did not see any evidence of bad stomach upsets or food poisoning while I was there - there were a few people who felt a little wobbly - but that was generally due to over indulgence with the food and drink and not drinking enough water (which was readily available in the restaurant and all over the hotel in water dispensers) to keep them adequately hydrated in the heat.

Other guests all appeared happy and the place promotes a good community feel - great to have chats with all sorts of people from different walks of life and different parts of the UK. We met some very nice people and hope to meet up with them all again for a reunion at the Coral Sea.

I'm not usually in the habit of writing reviews - bit lazy and will let other people do it - but feel very passionate about the levels of customer service in this hotel and wanted to add my comments. A holiday is very much about your location, and experiences within that location but also very much about what you make it - the Coral Sea offers superb potential - down to the holidaymaker to make the most of it!! ENJOY!!

My husband and I have just returned from a 2wk hol in Sharm at the Coral Sea resort.We went to celebrate my 40th Birthday. Before I start my review i would first like to ask all the people who have given their bad reviews for this resort, Are you INSANE. This resort is nothing but fab. The people here are so friendly they really want to please you, The food is great lots of choice lots of variety, themed nights and bbq's on a regular basis. The rooms are very spacious, very comfortable, ok they do need sprucing up, but we didn't live in the room it's only for sleeping in.The pools are great, the beach wow. The snorkling WOW the fish WOW they come up so close to you it's fab. We have totally fell in love with this place and will be going back hopefully in May. Only once was my husband poorly with his belly and that was due to him not drinking enough water, and had heat stroke. Deli Belly rubbish. There is nothing wrong with the food it was all cooked to a very high standard. The chefs there i complimented and tipped every single day as the food was super. Most of the guys there are called Mohammed they are all great, Our housekeeping was Hohamed, he made some great designs on our bed.You will not be dissappointed if you holiday here,if you are then all i can say is you are very hard people to please.

went to this hotel for honeymoon and wow it was all i hoped for . It was a beautiful hotel ,food was great and yes have read people saying it was cold well it did get cold quickly but what do they expect with air con if there was none they would then complain bout that, staff is very very nice and look after you well rooms were spotless if i had to try and find something to complian about it would be that i had not booked long enough, when i went for breakfast on my own cos my husband was in bed ill waiter said he would go and make up a meal for him how nice was that? he didnt have to thay always made sure we had plenty water giving out 2 bottles per person at the tables as it was our honeymoon we got flowers, in our room one day then fruit another day then a plate of home made biscuits next day and we also got a waiter in our room to serve a 3 course meal it was very special and all that was just from the hotel nothing to do with our package holiday. We are very definately going back . there are no words to describe how happy i am we picked that hotel for our honeymoon it was fantastic .

thanks to everyone at the hotel and to the reps there they were brilliant .

We have just returned form Coral Sea Resort. I felt i had to respond when i read some of the negative comments. We had a fabulous time i would go back in the morning. Of course you are going to get sick if you dont look after your self there, you need to be carefull with your food choices, avoid a lot of alcohol and drink gallons of water. We filled our fridges with water every lunch and dinner time. Not an issue to get enough water if you are organised. Bottled water tastes totally fine. I cant say how much i loved my holiday and the staff were just fabulous, so friendly and couldnt do enough to help us, never felf so relaxed in my life. Trips are not expensive at all if you book through the right people tip you need to ask descretly in the hotel and you get very good deals. I cant wait to go back it was heaven!

This was the most amazing holiday ever!We went for a week and were desperate to stay longer, weve now booked to go back twice next year!



The Staff- Were brilliant so helpful and friendly, we loved Ahmed an Mahmoud! They tried their best to make sure we had everything we needed and memorised our drinks so didnt even have to ask!



The Food- This was perfectly fine we didnt get ill at all probably because we made sure we drank enough water which we got hold of easily. There was variation everyday and yes towards the end it did get slightly plain but its just a different style to what we're used to.



The Hotel- This was just fabulous, from the second we got off the coach we loved the hotel, its very clean and its looked after perfectly even all the flowers and grass!

In the night time its all lit up beautifully, this hotel just really made our holiday so special!

So overall this was brilliant, the weather was amazing the whole time which was perfect for us.

We cant wait to go back next year!

Please don't let all the bad reviews on this site put you off visiting this hotel.



Myself and my husband spent our honeymoon here (10 days) and I can honestly say we had a brilliant time. Our room was kept spotlessly clean everyday with shampoo, conditioner etc. being refilled everyday and clean towels and sheets. The air conditioning worked perfectly (believe me I have been in hotels were air con has been appalling or non-existent). The guy who cleaned our room was cheery and friendly everyday.



The food was quite good, a wide variety of hot and cold food with a barbecue on some days although I must say after 10 days it did get a bid bland but this is Egypt after all. My husband and I were ok for the first couple of days but I have to be honest, after about the third day the stomach aches started to kick in and I was ill for 24 hours BUT I think this may have been more to do with not enough water - not entirely sure it was anything to do with the food although I stayed clear of salads just in case. The bottled water itself was readily available and tasted absolutely fine so i'm not sure what some people are going on about. We got through about 6-8 bottles a day and never had a problem getting hold of it.



One gripe I would have about the food is the Italian Restaurant which claims to be fine dining but is in fact not at all, I think most of it came out of a tin and the cheescake I ordered was most definitely not a cheesecake but a very thin piece of sponge!



The waiters in Dine Around and the other restaurants were pleasant and friendly and given that they were going through Ramadan I think they did exceptionally well. The comments about them disrespecting women are utter nonsense. I saw loads of young girls and women sitting around the restaurant in bikinis and really short skirts when the restaurant rules asked people to cover up - again, what do people expect??



The pool and beach areas were kept clean and very pleasant. We spent a lot of time on the beach as it was fairly quiet. The sea life is amazing with some truly stunning fish and if you like snorkelling or diving then this is the place to go although it wasn't our bag.

You do get some hassle on the beach and around the pool from staff trying to sell massages but we just said no - they got the message eventually!



We went on a few trips including the Cairo by land one. We chose to go by land mainly because it was a darn sight cheaper then by air but be warned, it is a VERY long day. 7 hours there and 7 hours back and if you have a dodgy stomach (like I did) it can feel like a bit of a nightmare. However, seeing Cairo and the Pyramids was amazing and worth every second.



I would definitely recommend this hotel to anyone.

Coral sea resort hotel was excellent they could not do enough for you the service was excellent the only thing which that was not good was the entainment at night this was very poor from last year which was excellent

food you could not fault this as there was a so many dishes

pool area was excellent

room service was excellent

over all I will be going back next year to the same hotel

The one thing that you will need to look out for is when your collect your cases when you arrive at the airport and take to the bus to take you to the hotel please be aware that some cases do not arrive at the hotel please check the cases are loaded on to the bus before you get on yourself

Do not listen to all these moaning morons!

My friend and I have just returned from a 10 day holiday at the Coral Sea Resort and it was AMAZING!



Staff:

The staff are all lovely and cannot do enough for you, I agree with one of the comments that the waiters in the resturant swarm around the young girls and can get a little annoying when you're trying to eat your meal but they are all harmless and very sweet. The reception staff are very helpful and if you have any problems they will endeavor to sort it, on my birthday they sent a cake up to my room with a note saying "happy birthday". On the whole everybody were very friendly and helpful and very good with the kids, they all have a great sense of humour and manage to remain cheerful all the time despite working long hours in hot temperatures. The security guys are also very nice and friendly especially Mohammed. My only gripe with the staff is the health spa guys who approach you on the beach or round the pool hassleing you to have an expensive massage, it gets a bit annoying but you learn to avoid them after a while.



Food:

The food was very nice, there was always enough selection to be able to find something you like, none of us got bad bellys and it's true that if you don't drink enough water it will make you ill. When we went to Cairo for the day they provided us with a breakfast box and on return there were snacks left in our room for us.



Entertainment:

Mainly for the kids but still very good and if you have enough to drink then you'll find anything entertaining. I'm still singing the "Mimic man" hahaha.



Hotel:

The hotel was fantastic, very comfortable and air conditioning was a god send. We did go on day trips but to be honest I could go back and just stay on the complex for the whole time! you have two big pools and a beach that is very nice! rooms were left very clean everyday and trust me these people work all hours keeping the place clean and tidy.



Things to do:

The snorkel trip to Ras mohammed is a must! it was so amazing and well worth the money, i think we paid something like £35, honestly it was like finding nemo without the talking fish (I would have paid allot more than £35 to see that). We took the day trip to Cairo by road, it was a long journey (7 hours to be exact) the heat when you get there is intense, well worth going but would deffinitely take a flight next time. Cairo is mental! and the roads are full of cars, camels, donkeys and horses and there is allot of poverty so it's a bit of an eye opener! The Bedouin experience is a must where they take you out to the desert and you get to ride a camel and then go star gazing where you get to see shooting stars etc!

If you leave the compex to go to the shops then be prepared to get hassled, but this is all part and parcel of going to egypt I suppose and people will give you free gifts to get you in the shop then make you feel guilty if you don't buy anything. The way i see it is that this is all part of the experience and would not let this put me off from going back!



On the whole:

The holiday was amazing cannot fault the hotel and cannot fault first choice, they were very helpful and informative. The weather in Egypt is amazing the sea is warm, the people are lovely and all the people who gave low ratings in these reviews are just nit picking, I had a fantastic time and would love to go back!!

well i know ive been back home a few months now but i just had 2 have my say after reading some reviews, myself n my fiance stayed at the coral sea in may, we had the best holiday ever, i was a bit poorly but that was a cold i had before i went n apart from the runs which most people get abroad i couldnt say anything bad bout the hotel ay all, the food was good n the staff went out of their way 2 please ya and AMID THE BAR MAN WAS THE BEST he was lovely n if i could of brought him home with me i would. went snorkeling most days n found it out of this world, we hired the mopeds n had great fun so we hired them 4 times during our stay, went on boat trip 2 the garden reef and it was worth every penny, i am looking 4 a holiday 2 return to egept and will definately go back 2 the coral sea next may.i would recomend this 2 anyone who wants a chilling out 2 weeks in the sun, i have a daughter of 25 n i wouldn,t take her as she likes bars n disco,s so it aint 4 her (magaluff in majorca,s more her thing) just a tip 4 you all, dont change any moey as ya can use english there and as their notes are dirty this is most likely the cause of tummy upsets as how many people do ya see washing their hands after handling money ..NONE.. THINK ABOUT IT!!!!

im shocked to read such bad reviews as we have just got back today and met so many people and no one had a bad word to say. please dont be put of this hotel was amazing the staff were great nothing was to much trouble. me and my partner are in our mid twentys and our son is 4. the staff always had time to play with my son and joke with him.people moan about the food yes it taste different from home but we never had a problem finding something we liked.the beach was amazing. the swimming pools could do with a touch of work but did not affect us. this is the first hotel we said we are going back to next year. i do agree the reps are a waste of space i tried to talk to them about booking trips and just got blank answers. if you go to this hotel and get any problem just go to reception and speak to mohamed the security gye and he will take you to the hotel manager and he will do is best to sort it dont bother with reps.now to the realy bad bit we got on coach to go back to the airport we were told the flight was on time as soon as we got through customs the screen showed 3 hour delay. iforgot to tallk about the more best and cheaper shoping . i mean (A' ONE FOR EVREY ONE) sea equipment. teshirt.galapya high quality and good material. you shoud viset.finaly you will engoy your time

Great Holiday poor hotel, beware!



Just returned from the Coral Sea resort had a great holiday but we would not recommend First Choice or the Coral Sea resort. I feel very strongly that there are so many things that were wrong about this hotel but luckily other things made up for it.



The hotel grounds and beach are excellent along with the pool although very strong chemicals in it. Swimup bar was good for cooling off with a drink when it was hottest. The reef outside the hotel is brilliant, you can walk out for a long distance and only be up to your knees. Loads of fish and coral to see snorkelling. Aquarius dive centre along with their excursions very good. They have wind surfing lessons and water skiing from just up the coast which i'd recommend. Hotel staff very friendly and couldn't do more, mainly whenever you asked for something it was done straight away.



Gripes:



Rooms in poor condition, fixtures fall off wall. Tiles in bathroom dirty with mould. Raw sewage in bath one day although staff were quick to sort out. Light switches broken etc. Fridge warm. Not 4 star and certainly not 5 star as the locals would have you believe. Beds rock hard, had to ask for extra pillows as only one provided. Air con very good and on all the time. Doors opened to outside and had a gap under which let mosquitoes in if you left a light on after dark, had to put one of the bed sheets against the door every night. Cleaning staff expect tips and will drop not too subtle hints if you haven't tipped them within the last few days.



Food in all areas/outlets poor. All food served cold/lukewarm even when just put out, same food everyday. Some food undercooked. Quantity not quality. Ate in the Italian twice, both times the potatoes which were half the plate were barely more than raw. The medium steak was cremated. In the buffet fresh food was just repeatedly dumped on top of old food in the containers without emptying first. Bread very good though. Not many other options for food in the area outside the hotel so no escape! Plates always had a sheen of grease on, never properly clean. Half the tables rocked badly. Serving staff in Dinearound would take plates sometimes while you were still eating the last piece from it whether you were done eating or not. Had to search for spoons, glasses from other empty tables regularly. Staff in Dine around all male, tried to give them the benefit of the doubt but couldn't help but feel that they were all sleazy. Tables with young women were always well attended by hovvering staff. Staff from kitchens made people with birthdays feel appreciated by singing for them in a big group. Best meal of the holiday was on the plane on the way home!!(sad but true!)



All drinks served warm, beer weak, small glasses. Only decent beer I had was in the Italian which had to be paid for, as staff rush you through your meal I only had chance to get one drink before they plonked the bill down on the table before we had even eaten our desert. The deserts were just ones from the buffet.



Sickness. Both myself and my girlfriend suffered badly all holiday from day two onwards. On speaking with other guests virtually everyone else was or had been. Don't bother asking first choice for assistance. At the welcome meeting on the first morning they already had their pre-prepared excuse for it. 'If you get Egyptian belly then it is because you have sat in the sun too long, drunk too much alcohol or not drunk enough water'. This we felt was rubbish as we were very careful from day one. Ended up not eating for three days. They also advise not to bother with your own medicine as this will not work, you have to go see the on-site doctor for 'special' medicine as your only hope (with a hefty charge of course, up to £100 we heard from other guests). We are still suffering now and my girlfriend is off work and on anti-biotics for food poisoning. Beware!



Water

Bottled water which you need for the nights and brushing teeth etc was only handed out twice a day at dinner and evening meals. On our first night we arrived after the evening meal time and needed water to take to our room, we could not get this until dinnertime the next day, no staff at the bars would understand or explain. Not what you need in 35+ heat. We had to walk to the bar every time we needed a drink. Bottled water served in very small bottles, ask for more than 2 each at a time and you got a disapproving look which meant that getting water felt like an issue every day. Water also of dubious quality, some bottles tasted very strongly like chemicals and lids didn't match that of others.



First Choice Entertainment

They all tried hard but it was mainly for the kids, who did love it. Some of it was laughable/some good and enjoyable.



First choice reps at first day welcome meeting telling everyone to give them excellent on the review questionnaire on the plane on the way home - 'we want to go to the Carribean next year and don't want to end up in Croatia again'.



Hassle from hotel spa staff, everyday sometimes twice a day, once even three times the same hassle for expensive massages. They started off friendly so you felt rude to tell them to clear off but if you weren't basically rude they did not shut up, said the same thing over and over again trying to persuade you and didn't listen to you. It got to the point where we pretended to be asleep to avoid them whenever we saw them not that it necessarily stopped them. They kept touching my girlfriends arms, legs and feet as they talked which she found intimidating. If i'd heard the words honey massage once more I wouldn't have been responsible for what happened!! This is not what we needed when relaxing at the pool.



First Choice Excursions

Expensive and the prices given in English pounds despite being in Egypt! You then could pay by credit card but not the price quoted in English, it had to be converted back to Egyptian pounds or US dollars. They then used a very expensive exchange rate in order to rip you off further. It added around £70/£80 to the actual price quoted if you paid in Egyptian which was the only currency we thought we would need in EGYPT(this could have been advised beforehand). First choice rep wouldn't bother to explain why they used such high exchange rates. Breakfast boxes were needed for all day trips as they set off at 4AM, the first choice rep said she would order these for us and didn't meaning that the entire coach with people from other hotels was held up for twenty minutes whilst a breakfast was made up, this happened to 6 other people going on the same trip. Even the hotel manager was angry with the First choice rep.



Can't fault Egypt at all, loved the Red Sea and Cairo, the airport was a lot smoother than we expected and everything was an experience we will remember. I'm sure there are better hotels than this one though! Make sure you see the reefs before you go, even if you are scared of water/fish then go on one of the glass bottom boats like the seascope from old sharm which was well worth it. Cario was brilliant but a trial if you had sickness at the time.



This hotel has not put me off Egypt, I will return again but probably to Naama bay where there is less building work and more surrounding. This hotel was not worth £1600 for two weeks, will probably be writing a complaint to First Choice. I'm sad to write this review but this was an honest account of our experience, I hope that people will think twice about booking here.

im shocked to read such bad reviews as we have just got back today and met so many people and no one had a bad word to say. please dont be put of this hotel was amazing the staff were great nothing was to much trouble. me and my partner are in our mid twentys and our son is 4. the staff always had time to play with my son and joke with him.people moan about the food yes it taste different from home but we never had a problem finding something we liked.the beach was amazing. the swimming pools could do with a touch of work but did not affect us. this is the first hotel we said we are going back to next year. i do agree the reps are a waste of space i tried to talk to them about booking trips and just got blank answers. if you go to this hotel and get any problem just go to reception and speak to mohamed the security gye and he will take you to the hotel manager and he will do is best to sort it dont bother with reps.now to the realy bad bit we got on coach to go back to the airport we were told the flight was on time as soon as we got through customs the screen showed 3 hour delay. we finally got on the plan 2 hours late to be told the aircraft has a fault and had ad for 24 hours the captain said when the plan left majorca 16 hours before there was a problem fuelling the plan and was not fixed so it was going to take a while for it to be filled we sat on the groung for 3 hours on the plan. then we was told if the plan was filled in 10 mins the crew would be out of hours and we would have to wait another 11 hours so they could take there rest lucky were we just done in time.but my problem was why leave the uk with a falty plan. it was worrying as we had a fire engine waiting at the plan why we were on it and they trying to pump fuel in we were told for safty to keep seat belts off. very bad airline

just returned from 2 weeks in the coral sea and really enjoyed myself. there were some people ill in the hotel but i think that was more to do with the heat.

The hotel is spotless they are always cleaning cant fault it the room was lovely very spacious was in room 1214 and was a fab view. Air con in the accom is brill!there is a good selection of food and there is something different every day.

Only bad point about the hotel is the entertainment it didnt suit us but it did suit others there with young children. thought the rep was very rude we wanted to book a excursion and she was just txtin on her phone when we were speaking and thought she was very rude!

The pool is very big and they have to big pools the beach is very quiet and deff recommend snorklin off the jetty was amazing.

Sharm is a very up and comming resort and would deff like to go again.

after i had read many reviews of this hotel,i decided to keep an open mind.First of all the airport is a nightmare,queuing for nearly an hour to get through passport control.Then trying to find the coach is even worse,you have to tip the driver£1.00 or he won't put your cases on the coach!.first impressions of the hotel were lovely and so was our room.food could be alot better especially breakfast.you have to watch the birds on the food in the mermaid restaurant as there everywhere.the pools could do with cleaning as they were dirty,it was safer to swim in the sea!.the entertainment at night is awful,i don't count 2 semi naked women dancing on tables as entertainment!!!!!!!!!!!!!.As for the hotel being all inclusive it's not,you have to wait till 10am to be served in the lounge bar to get a drink.You can only drink at the outside theatre while the entertainments on afterwards you can't.If you want to play pool or snooker you have to pay£4 to play for an hour,which in all hotels we have stayed in have been free!!.As for this hotel being classed as 4 star i would only give it 2 stars.It's not good value for money and if i went to sharm again we would'nt go back to coral sea.

A WARNING. 2 of our party are seriously ill in hospital with salmonalla poisoning after visiting coral sea, the other 8 of us are just getting over serious diarhea. we will be taking legal action against first choice and coral sea because of this, everyone we came across was ill and its a disgrace. the worst holiday we have ever had and if your thinkng of going and are reading these reviews be warned the good ones are probably not genuine and from hotel or first choice staff. why go to a place where its gauranteed you'll get ill.