Reef Oasis Blue Bay Resort

2 readers found this review helpful

We had a lovely holiday there at the end of August, the weather was perfect - hot but perfect - and the accommodation superb but the Fish Restaurant was great. Ayman and his staff really put themselves out to make our holiday one to remember and were so friendly. We spent some time at the leisure pool which was very entertaining and the food and chef there were also first class. All in all a very good holiday and we will return there again.

4 readers found this review helpful

We chose this hotel based on an excellent past experience in its brother Reef Oasis Beach hotel during 2007 where we enjoyed our time so much and moreover we also expected to have a better quality of everything as we have heard that it is better than the elder beach hotel specially it has a premium rate
Our trip was from 3rd -7th of June 2010, the first trouble we faced was that the hotel name and location was not known to anyone in Sharm El Sheikh and there has been no sign to guide car drivers for the location however all neighbour hotel has signs at the beginning of the drive way to let people know where the hotel is.
Once arrived to the hotel we checked in easily to a well furnished clean and spacious
room and with some negatives like the TV was small and old fashioned compared to other hotels in Egypt who most of them have big LCDs, second the mini bar was not working efficiently and its door did not close, Third the Air condition was not powerful enough to cool the room during the hot day times
The hotel architecture is simple and not luxurious but I like simple designs
The location of the rooms deserve the word very bad as most of them are on gardens not looking at any swimming pools and no rooms have a sea view
The location of the hotel is far from Neama bay and you have to take the shuttle bus then a taxi to get out of the hotel
Coming to food and drinks you can find whatever you are looking for but you have to spend some effort to travel between food and drinks outlets according to a challenging schedule put by the hotel management and coming to the quality and as I am Egyptian and familiar with what is good and what is bad in this country I would judge the quality of food to equal a 3 to 4 stars hotel with very low to average quality of everything (Juice, Bread, cheese, oil, Chips, meat, fish, fruits .....etc ). Surprisingly when we planned to get the dinner in the fisherman's restaurant, we found that all the fish included for the all inclusive package are the lowest quality of frozen fish in the Egyptian markets which we normally do not eat which proved to me that the management is very conscious to saving
The desserts are their biggest problem; Most of the hotels serve better qualities
If you are Egyptian accompanying your family, watch out as the staff is exchanging a very bad language at the hotel depending on the fact that few guests can understand Arabic
At the end I would say that we enjoyed our trip because we are in sharm however disappointed from the hotel management and policies

115 readers found this review helpful

I have just arrived back from the Reef Oasis Blue Bay hotel having spent seven days in the sun. To set the trip in context, it was me and my girlfriend, in our late twenties, looking for a week of five star complete relaxation, all inclusive, we don't have kids. Lets start with the PROS: Spacious clean and tidy room with lovely view over the pool and attentive service from the room keeper. Lovely resort that was clean and not overly busy, although we are in off peak season. Weather was around 25-30 daytime and 16-20 night time with bright sunny days. Selection of food was excellent and service with a smile. Look out for Ahmed in the Bay View as his section of the dining area is by far the most popular and he never fails to entertain and exceeds expectations in every area of service. I would also hasten to add that the ''mummy tummy'' that adorns some of the reviews didn't present itself in any way shape or form during the break. I have a fairly sensitive stomach and was completely fine for the duration of our break. My advice would be not to eat any apples or fruits with a skin, not only should you not drink the water, but also do not brush your teeth in it or let it in your mouth at all if possible. Other than this pretty much everything else goes. The night time lighting of the resort is spectacular and every nook and cranny holds another interesting feature which makes an evening stroll a delight. The beach is long with fine sand and wonderful views over the Red Sea and the sunset near the infinity pool is breath taking. The adults only pool is quiet and a sanctuary of peace and tranquility. Now the CONS: The tip culture was a bit of an irritation as I dont mind tipping the room keeper, pool attendants, waiters and anyone who provides a genuine add value service. The problem is that a lot of staff look longingly at your hands in anticipation of a tip for everything from pouring a drink to opening a door or you looking in their direction. The locals prefer dollars and over the course of the week we worked our way through around sixty dollars and fifty Egyptian pounds. Not grudged but less emphasis on tips from the staff would be appreciated. Cross selling was mildly irritating with staff from the spa, submarine cruises, newspaper sales making a near daily appearance touting for business. My end game was to wear shades and fain sleep. Seemed to work but they should be confined to their respective areas and not allowed to roam the resort. Finally and purely as an observation point, the night time entertainment was not great. If you are after a quiet relaxing day by the pool or on the beach followed by a chilled evening meal and an early night, then you are in luck. If you want anything else then you need to venture into Nama Bay the nearest source of bars, clubs and a Hard Rock cafe. This would perhaps relate more to other people, for us the lack of night time entertainment wasn't a deal breaker. I hope this has served to give you some comfort that a trip to Reef Oasis Blue Bay would delight and amaze, it certainly did for us.
Stephen Brown

34 readers found this review helpful

Pros = Beach, food, location, friendly staff
Cons = evening entertainment.
If you are going to sharm then look no further and book into the Reef Oasis blue bay resort and spa, the hotel is stunning, rooms very large and spotless, the many resturants provided excellent food and plenty of choice (as a chef i am normally very critical but couldnt fault the food)the private beach was excellent, towels provided, there are 4-5 pools with one that was for adults only. The only downside was the evening entertainment was more geared to kids, my wife and i met another family, had it not been for this i think we would have struggled to find any suitable entertainment in the evenings.

13 readers found this review helpful

very good hotel we had a good time we will go back one day but whiv the kids the drinks are good the rooms very clean if you are going u will have a grat time so have fun cos i no we did thanks for looking at this p.s have a grat time ther

15 readers found this review helpful

Four of us went to this hotel in April this year and it was fantastic, the rooms were very big and immaculate.
We had a great view over the gardens near the relax pool which we used every day, the endless cold drinks and soft music was lovely.
There were plenty of places to eat and the food was really good, loads to choose from, we ate in the Italian Restaurant one night and that was very nice, well worth booking.
We did the quad biking/camel riding/dinner at bedouin camp trip and would definately recommend this, it was a great afternoon/evening out.
I would recommend this hotel if you want a relaxing break, we spent most evenings in the outside bar overlooking the bay, then the disco started at about 11pm and went on to 2am.
All in all a really good relaxing holiday..... give it a try!

15 readers found this review helpful

Both my partner and myself were a bit apprehensive of going to Egypt until some friends of ours went and recommended this hotel and it really lived up to all they had told us.
Everything was wonderful. From the room, the staff, the pools, the cleanliness, etc.
Just a five and a half hour flight in march and the weather is so good.
The staff are on the go all the time and can't do enough for you. Sameh at the slide pool and Faddy and Haney in the sports bar became great friends throughout the holiday. What a pleasure to have such lovely people around. They made our holiday. (Don't forget to tip if you are happy with the service).
There was a great choice of food from all of the resturants, making it a different choice every night. This is so good when in a complex. It can be a bit boring when eating in the same place every day. There was also a great choice of places to have a drink in the evening.
We did a couple of the trips while away. The V.I.P boat trip and the Quad bikes and camel ride. Both were so different but well worth doing.
We both can't wait to go back again next year.

11 readers found this review helpful

We have just returned from the Reef Oasis Blue Bay Hotel. The Hotel setting and the Hotel itself is fantastic. Very clean, tidy and we were very lucky with the location of our room. We upgraded to a Junior Suite which gave us lovely treats for example breakfast in the fish restuarant which was quiet and offered a much superior service, 20 minute massage included in the upgrade. 2 bags of laundry and early and late check in/out which is a god send. The weather was fab. The main thing I feel let the whole holiday down was the food in the main restuarant, bland, luke warm and all much of a muchness !!! The only god send is that you can book the Al Dente italian restuarant (2 days booking in advance is required) and if you can get in more than once it is worth going. The food is of a higher standard and the service is excellant. You dont have to spend anything. There are four courses and choices for all inclusive and extras if you want to pay more but I stuck with the all inclusive choices and they were fine. Watch you dont order drinks off the menu as these are chargeable. Just ask for a drink from the all inclusive option. The house wines are just fine. Its a shame that they dont allow this restuarant to get full. We renamed it the alf empty (rather the the al dente !!!) People are desperate for decent food and the hotel are reluctant to allow you to have it. The service in the main restuarant was at times chaotic. avoid going for dinner at 8pm as everyone else does and the restuarant just cannot cope. The waiters are falling over each other trying to clear tables and get drinks and it becomes a real shambles. The beach restuarant is okay again the same things served everyday and the service is very intermittant. I found some staff rude and unless you tipped excessivley they actually went out of their way to be downright awkward. They certainly have a problem with women asking for drinks/food etc. Overall a great holiday but I do wish someone would get a grip of the staff and get them to realise they are working in a 4/5 star hotel and should treat their guests as such. We had a daily walk through reception just to see if we coud see any smiles on the staff faces. Once or twice we thought we saw a smile but then realised that it was in fact wind!!!

32 readers found this review helpful

I visited Sharm El sheikh, Reef Oasis Blue Bay Resort on Boxing Day - 2nd January with my Mum and Dad. We were a little bit anxious about coming to egypt, but as soon as we arrived to the hotel we were absolutely amazed! We arrived at about 9:45pm and as soon as we stepped out of the bus, we were completely overwhelmed!!!
The Reception was beautiful and the staff were very welcoming. We got a driver who took us to our room, 2146. As soon as we entered we were jumping with joy. It completely gave us an insight to what we were about to see on this holiday. Our room was cleaned everyday by a guy called ' Fhatti' and he made swans out of towels, and laid flower petils on the bed and made us feel extrememly special! He is the main main to clean your room! The first proper day that we had was just the best. When you look at a postcard and think to yourself, ' Its probably not like that',.. Well Reef Oasis Blue Bay turned that thought around.There is a bar that we called the beach bar because it serves your typical hot dogs, burgers, chicken, french fries, salads etc.They also do a mixture of drinks, coca cola, sprite, diet coca cola, and some fruit juices which are yummy, but if your a typical mum or dad who loves their latte's or cappacuinno's or even a hot chocolate, they do that for you aswell! And if your worried about eating salads, there is no need for you to worry when you visit Reef Oasis Blue Bay because my mum and dad ate the salads everyday, and throughout the whole holiday none of us had dodgey tummies. There is a blue bus that takes you to the beach, it comes every 8 mins, and drops you off anywhere! We made some really great friends on this holiday, some english, some italian and some of the staff that worked there. If heading to the beach is not your thing, well there are 3 swimming pools! One of which is the heated pool which I choose to go in, as the cold pool is absolutely freezing!!! However,I would definately recommend to do the 'all inclusive' deal just because you dont have to worry about bringing much money with you. We made the mistake of bringing £600 which was an extreme amount of egyptian money!! But we managed to spend it all! There is a tiny market on the resort, about 3 jewellery shops, 1 shop that does designer bags( obviously not real) But they look like the real thing and lots more other shops to go in. On the resort there are about 8 restaurants, but I highly recommend the 'le petite' because there is such a different range of food! For breakfast I definately recommend the pancakes or the english breakfasts,.. they were just out of this world,.. and for dinner time well they do a different range for different nationalities, for example,from shepherds pie, spaghetti bolegnese, chicken korma etc...( The best waiter there that we became friends with is 'Ihab', he is a lovely guy!)If you're looking for an exciting evening where you can party, have fun, get merry then i recommend the caribbean bar,( they also serve some food)Also, i recommend you book to do the quadbiking with Thomson, It is fabulous, they take you into the sinai desert and you get to go to a beduwin camp and they do food for you and you can also have ago at sheisha! A week was good but when we go again we would love to go for 2 weeks so that we can relax more but do more activities aswell!If you are looking for that relaxation, then head for the spa! We went to the spa twice in the week, we went in the Hydro-Pool which costs 15Euros, but is definately worth it! You can use the sauna, steam room and showers for free as its part of the all inclusive deal with Thomson! If there is anything you need Thomson will surely give it to you. They are there in the mornings and evenings for you to go and ask them about anything! We found no faults with this holiday it was perfect in everyway, when you visit this hotel, any other hotel will not match up! But the bad thing about this hotel is that its such a Great hotel that if you visited any other Hotel, You will expect high things from it!
So If your looking for a beautiful holiday for relaxation and a bit of excitement, the Reef Oasis Blue Bay resort is the holiday for you! I highly recommend it,.. And believe me when i tell you, if you dont go to this resort atleast once in your life, you will surely miss out on the things you truley dream of for a holiday!
5* Hotel,.. for definate!
Jasmin, 16, Berkshire, England

14 readers found this review helpful

Having holidayed at xmas/ new year for a number of years in Cyprus and Lanzarote, Egypt was a first for us this year, and we were a little apprehensive before we departed. Apprehension totally groundless, this is a first class hotel, fabulous facilities, and a staff who quite simply could not do enough for you
Staying all inclusive was great, no need to turn up for breakfast, as you could always eat later at any of the poolside bars, local drinks available on request, or offered without request if poolside waiter was given modest tip. If I have any complaint about the food it is this, it was well presented, great food, but not served hot at times. On our last day we went for lunch and the food looked brill. I chose some roast potatoes and they were absolutely stone cold, not luke warm, stone cold. Not a major issue at this time of year, but quite probably a source of mummy tummy in summer months. This gripe apart the only other gripe I had was in the cost of imported alcohol. I was happy drinking the local beer but my son did not like beer. The local spirits are on a par with moonshine, so he contemplated a Jack Daniels and Coke. Jack Daniels was priced at 8 Euros (8 quid at current exchange rates) and bearing in mind that you are all inclusive this makes the extra over price for Jack as ridiculously high. Something to consider.
For those who have not been to Sharm before, please note the following. The hotel was fabulous but going for a walk at night was a no no. All hotels are protected by armed guards, there are frequent road blocks, and everywhere you go outwith your hotel you will be confronted with armed police or military personnel. The holiday is basically hotel based, unless you go on the organised trips. These are great, and we snorkelled, quad biked, flew to Luxor, and dined with the Bedouins in the dessert.
Nammba Bay is the nearest town/village but be prepared to be harassed by people trying to sell you anything under the sun, and they can be persistant. Fellow guests went there by the courtesy bus, which dropped them off and took them back 3 hours later, in their words they would have been delighted to have returned after 20 minutes.
All in all a fabulous hotel, great beach location, fantastic staff, and a holiday to remember. The current crisis in Gaza apart, which may spread and escalate, we intend returning in April. There can be no higher accolade. We would however not consider anywhere in Egypt in the summer months. Even in December the temperature was 29 centigrade.
Book and enjoy.