Iberotel Dahabeya

We have just returned from Dahabeya hotel, and while I am fresh I will share it with you.As my title say I ll be back-I and hole family was delighted with position of hotel (directly on the sandy beach,surfing centre is just bellow).One special word for the staff- excellent.Everybody, from cleaning staff to receptionist but especially animation team were 1 st class.Food is OK - a lot to choose from.Nobody had stomach problems (we were drinking bottled water and had only few salts).So my only complain would be that they charge wireless Internet (not much but still-15 Egyptian pounds per 1/2 hour)

The hotel is approximately one hours drive by bus from Sharm El Sheik airport, but well worth it. On arrival there's a friendly and very efficient welcome, a cold drink and face cloth are provided and the management are conscious not to over burden anyone with information. Bell Boys get the luggage to your room. There was absolutely no hassle, it really set the week off. The Hotel, it's location, the facilities, the catering and most of all it's staff all get a big thumbs up from us. Our 7 yr old absolutely loved the animation team, they were good fun and their signature dance "Le Chiquita" is worth a go!!! The evening entertainment is over by 10pm-ish and there was little noise after that, ideal for those who like it quiet. We were in two minds as to wether or not to go to Egypt initially, we will go back and go back to this hotel and most likely sooner rather than later. Take plenty of low denomination currency for tipping, Sterling, USD and Euros are all welcome and a couple quid makes a big difference.

We have just returned from a fabulous holiday at the Dahabeya, the food was excellent, the desserts a speciality! As a familiy we had a room had a superking size bed and a sofa which converted into double bed and a twin room. I had previously emailed the hotel and asked if we could have rooms next to each other, they emailed back immediately that it wasn't a problem. If you tip the cleaner you will certainly get a swan on your bed (made out of towels or blankets). As the holiday was a suprise birthday trip for my husband's 50th, we couldn't have chosen a better hotel. The staff brought out a birthday cake, complete with candles and singing staff! The evening had The Animation Team bringing the whole family to their feet for happy birthday! They are abosulutely brilliant - you'll not miss them, Mojo, Momo and Barvy, to name just three! . Although our sons are teeenagers, 18, 16 and 14 they included them in everything. I would sat that this is definately NOT a hotel or location for teenagers after nightlife! But, when they've been sunbathing, swimming, snorkelling, windsurfing and playing beach bowls with the Animation Team and other guests, they will probably be happy just to chill in the nights watching the inhouse entertainment and playing cards. (wouldn't take them for two weeks though, one week is fab.) Watching the families there with little children, I would definately recommend. The Animation Team are brilliant with them, the pools are lovely and the hotel is on the beach. The Sinai mountains are absolutely stunning, the location is stunning! I would also say it's a beautiful spot for couples too. Quiet and with only 123 rooms(of which 40 are Thomsons). The only complaint is that the bar in the lobby was fairly short staffed and I think the hotel could do with having a look at this, but as the weather is becoming warmer I wonder if the outside bar will be open? We didn't tip the staff until we left, as being on all inclusive it's a bit pointless. Beware that the minibar will have chocolates; pop and water, if you use any you will have bill daily. Although the holiday rep said that the hotel would not fill up empty water bottles, they did at the beach bar. So if you go, fill them up and put them in the fridge! The food is very good and according to my boys the icecream is too! The hotel is spotless, they clean all the time! No need to pack beach towels, as you have a towel card on arrival. Your cases will be taken through a security screen at the hotel and the porter will take them to your rooms (so have a tip handy) remember one egyptian pound is 10pence. Holiday rep said that about 50 (equates to £5) tip would be enough for the whole hotel. But I think they get more than that, we tipped the cleaner 100 (£10) and he didn't flinch. We were also told that the Egyptian belly bug, is believed to come from the money, not the food! So beware, make sure you take antibac handwash gel with you. Remember to haggle in the shops.Even the shops located by the entrance to the hotel, I believed that they were hotel shops, therefore when told the price of snorkel set I simply paid it! Don't, remember what they ask you for, go down to half and up a bit from there. He also didn't have any change for me so gave me chewing gum instead! All the British Guests had a cocktail meeting with all the managers, they are really interested on what you have to say. I think they held meetings for guests from other countries esp Germany (there are some Russian guests too) . It was a perfect holiday, we all loved it, We weren't prepared for how cold the evenings were though, so if you're going in Feb make sure you have a fleece and long trousers with you for the nights. We would definately go back to the Dahabeya and recommend it.

We have just returned from a wonderful two weeks stay and would highly recommend the location for the water sport enthusiasts, ie wind surfing, boarding, snorkeling etc, but not diving. I would ideally like to keep it to my self as the hotel and it's staff were excellent. Lovely location and setting, very safe and with very little hassle from beach sellers. The pool was brilliant and very inviting. The staff were very welcoming and it felt like a small family working together. All services from bedrooms to dining were impeccable. The gardens were maintained to a very high level , the animationtion team where very enthusiastic,and I can only say "thank you" for a very relaxing fortnight stay. A most enjoyable stay.

Stayed here half-term holidays October 2007 with our two children aged 10 and 13. Location can't be faulted with amazing scenery and a wonderful beach. The hotel was quiet and extremely clean. Yes there are alot of Russians, but at least you can't understand them! Swimming pool is great. The lagoon area in which the big hotels are situated is some 2km from town. There is a courtesy bus both ways in the evening, and it's no more than Egyptian £10 max in a taxi back, if you want to stay out. (Haggle). Security did argue with people bringing their own water back, just don't make it obvious......Rooms have safes and no problems with room staff. The German dive outfit attached to the hotel are a friendly professional bunch, will hire snorkelling equipment and take you out on their dive trips with them. These use local Bedouin drivers and it is really good fun. Sites like the Golden Blocks have amazing coral with loads and loads of fish. It's safe too. A few other writers have commented on the poor food at this hotel, and we would agree that it was not great. Breakfasts OK, but evening buffets were boring and repetitive. What they did best were their own local dishes. Avoid any uncooked food as I did pick up slight e-coli and we didn't eat anywhere else. Easily fixed. Transfers from airport, well the hotel charges Euros 100 one way. When you arrive late at night it's probably worth paying for this overpriced transfer fee, but don't pay for the return. We booked with a travel agent in town, Embah Safari (www.embah.com) who charged Egyptian £180 for all of us. Friendly honest outfit. Unfortunately the hotel wouldn't let their taxi pull up outside! Also recommend this tour company for any tours to Mt. Sinai, St. Catherines Monastery etc, will save you alot of money. Overall this place is very relaxing and our kids loved it. Food was tolerable for one week and would generally return.

Just returned from Dahab staying at the Dahabeya hotel. This was our first visit to Egypt and we were very pleasantly surprised with the entire holiday. Booked as a late deal, the holiday was all in all inexpensive. 11 nights all inclusive with Thomson ( Will come to them in a while). Having visited other All inclusives around the world we are now very clued up in avoiding large hotels that really cannott cope with the amount of guests. The Dahabeya was a perfect size hotel 144 rooms which made for a pleasant, quiet and intimate hotel. FIRSTLY; The staff. 99.9% of these are absolutly adorable, hard working and efficient. There are a couple however that even though appear pleasant enough arent that great. Either forgetting your order (several times for one particular waiter) or if the barrel runs out, don't change it, just ignore the customer who fancied it in the first place! This, however was a tiny blip in the service that we received. As they do have one of the best waiters I have ever seen. I think his name was Saleigh Mohammed or somethin like that (black shirt, mainly works in cheers bar from 3pm) This man was not only lovely but could serve 10 people in the time it took most of them to acknowledge a customer was standing there. The cleaners, lovely and efficient as were the entertainment staff (even though we are not really interested in that sort of thing). The restaurant manager was really helpful as was his junior. I will say that they all appear absolutly knackered and you just can't help feeling sorry for them. They do work incredibly long hours. SECONDLY; The food, having stayed in many other All Inclusives in different countries, trust me this place is good! No it's not like dinning at The Ivy or having Gordan Ramsey cook for you but it really is fine. Yes by the time I returned I was desperate for various foods, but that natural. Yes, presentation is everything and sometimes we did do without as not to destroy the masterpiece. With the dinning room being very small, there wasn't loads of everything but there was always plenty of fresh salad's, pasta, potatoes, bread, fresh vegetables and loads of choice for desserts. (However. they do seem to like their coconut)! I am the most awkward eater and even I didn't starve. One negative aspect, I would say is that this is a very dodgy "All inclusive" beware! For a start, it has a start and a stop time. Mini bar not included which consists of a couple of cans of soft drink and bottles of water. Yes, the local drinks are absolutly fine, the wine actually quite nice. However, they are obviously told to really push the imports as they can charge you equivalent of £10 for one of these. They actually have one memeber of staff designated to do this in the reataurant at the expense of normal service, subsequently at times you do have to wait 10/ 20 minutes to be served with a drink. THIRDLY; Location. Depends what you are after, for us, great! but if you are used to going to sharm, you will hate it. Yes the hotel do provide a shuttle service into Dahab town but there really isn't a lot to do. I would def recommend the All Inclusive despite it's limitations. DO NOT forget anything before you go in terms of toiletries/ First Aid. Yes there is a "pharmacy" next door but it appears that they only seem to stock Viagra?????? and no, I didn't want it! Girls...remember to buy all of your magazines/ books before you go. There really is nowhere to buy. Not even in the airport (which incidently is hell!). I really think that a shop is really the only thing that is missing from the hotel. That sells something useful and not just post cards and useless ceramic ornaments and "shisha pipes", just try to get those through customs! Unfortunetly it is not easy to get into sharm and will cost you a fortune! For some reason transfers were not included in our holiday and Thomsons would not tell us why nor help us out. This appeared to be a massive rip off by the hotel as our only option was to book through them and this subsequently cost us 140 Euros in total, considering that it cost them less that £4.50 to fill a large tank. However they have you by the curlies!! FOURTHLY; Weather. Don't assume that it will always be warm in the winter months especially out of the sun, so please take a lot of warm clothes. During Jan Feb I would actually take a coat. During our stay it rained many times and if you go up to St Cath's monestry it does occassionally snow. The thomsons rep will NOT tell you this, subsequently there were many up there with vests and shorts!!! ouch!! Do not go on excursions to the desert at night, st cath's monestry, red sea cruise or to Cairo unless you have a coat. You will be too busy trying to fend off hypothermia to give a toss bout stars or fish. Money well spent then! FINALLY; Take a travel Iron!! there isn't one there Take insect repellent, despite being really clean, there are loads of flies and we got bitten. The laundry service is really cheap ( you can get loads of things cleaned for the same price as a can of beer out of your mini bar???) Has very poor disability access If you can, take food with you on excursions, its really not good and I got ill from the red sea cruise Don't book excursions on the say so from the rep, speak to other guests, who have actually been on them, what the rep told us and what others did were comp incompatible. AND we would have frozen Take Euros and withdraw egyptian money when there If you are able bodied, def do the Quad bikes. Def contact the hotel before if you have special requests ie top floor, away from the music etc. its well worth it. To people who have been, was anyone else really intimidated by the managers in the light blue shirts, who seemed to prowl around the complex looking for anything out of place? ready to pounce on one of the unsuspecting members of staff who then got a rollicking. At times I thought that I was going to get into trouble for dropping a crumb at the table. Anyway, story over, great place you should love it!!!

Fantastic setting on the beach. Good sized rooms with usual facilities and everything spotless and in working order. Friendly helpful staff. Varied and plentiful choice of freshly prepared food. Hotel provides fresh beach towels daily, courtesy bus to Dahab town and low key evening entertainment. A varied daily entertainment programme - belly dancing lessons, basic arabic lessons, water polo and boule as well as gentle workouts. Overall one of the nicest hotels we've stayed in and we would thoroughly recommend the Iberotel Dahabeya.

We chose a week holiday at this hotel with our 2 children [4 & 6] and had a fantsactic time. The animation staff, Momo and Misou were great and our children enjoyed all the activities they provided. The rooms were very clean and comfortable, and the grounds and gardens were very well maintained and clean. We didn't really know what to expect but were pleasantly suprised. There was plenty to do on the water with windsurfing, kitesurfing and snorkelling. The kids play area was on the beach within a fenced off area with lawn grass so we could keep an eye on them wherever we were. The food at times was great. I'd say 2 out of the 7 buffets there wasn't a great selection. All inclusive is a much better deal than pay as your go. Great to be able to to order cold drinks whenever you like in the hot sun and not have to pay. We hope to return next year, and would definately recommend the hotel to all our family and friends.

We've (35yrs old couple) stayed a week here and these are some remarks: * overall very relaxing - mostly due to very friendly staff nice beach/snorkeling options * the downsides were - Russians are just annoying travel guests (sorry for the generalization - but they're the only ones you hear screaming early in the morning and during night times). We were lucky in that we only had to experience a big group arriving on our last 2 days). I've learned in the airplane that there are other hotels (like hilton in sharm) where the russian contingent must be even bigger - so it seems you won't be able to avoid this if you want to do a holiday in the region) - Had all-inclusive and had to learn that they charge 3euro per bottle of water (water in cups is free). Learned afterwards that you could refill your used water bottle with "water for cups" for free (well - give the waiter a tip...). Anyway - don't think an all-inclusive should be like this. - Food was ok - sometimes very good - sometimes so-so. For one week it's ok - longer i wouldn't have liked it. After i had to vomit the first day we avoided uncooked things. - You can do trips to the village with a bus (free) - highly recommended (fun and cheap shopping) - The laundry service is excellent (and inexpensive) - It's a windsurfer hotel - therefore most of the guests are sporty (not all the youngest - but still nice mix). You can do snorkeling by just swimming 50m - we were in october - suit is recommended. - Diving with the diving shop at the beach is also highly recommended (i went snorkeling with the divers - very nice) so - overall very relaxing - the hotel could improve some things.

We spent 8 night at the hotel. We had the "Sea view room" and the view really was fantastic. The staff was very friendly. The food good for a "buffet". But one night we had a "barbacue" at the beach and it was very bad, the food and the service (very slow). Overall great holidays. I also recommend to change the dinner for the lunch (if you have half-bourd) and go to the village. There are a lot of restaurants (some with alcohol) and some pubs.