Reviews of Tropitel Dahab Oasis Hotel, Dahab, Egypt

We were extremely disappointed...

Overall Rating:

1/10

Board Basis:

Bed & Breakfast

Date of Holiday:

Aug 2008

Tour Operator:

Longwood

Submitted By:

Mr S Abeledo

Comments:

We were extremely disappointed in what was purported to be a 4* hotel. this was our 4th trip to Egypt and we are experienced travellers. However when we arrived we found our room to have: a leaking toilet; taps that were hanging off the sink; twin concrete beds which were concreted to the floor and a very small balcony - which could not be used because of smoke from the kitchen chimney blowing down off the roof. The swimming pool had loosely placed and broken paving slabs all around the perimeter which were used to cover a filtration channel of approximately 30cm depth. We witnessed two people fall down this channel when getting into the pool. The beach itself is used for camel treks and was full of rubbish and camel dung all along its length. The prevailing winds brought the fresh smell of camel urine to the noses of beach users and my son could not play near the water's edge because of broken glass around the beach umbrellas and camel dung in the sand. Hotel staff were most unhelpful and unsmiling.



The hotel is advertised as having a kids club. This was not the case.



After asking to be moved room several times and told that no other rooms were available, we decided to move to another hotel. As soon as the manager of the Tropitel realised he was losing business he was all over us like a cheap suit. He offered us another room (miraculously one had been vacated) and even offered the lad who ran the gym (imagine how impressed he would be at that!) as a babysitter to our 5 year old son.



On the plus side, the house reef is stunning and the puddings are good in the main restaurant. Shame about the rest really. AVOID THIS HOTEL AT ALL COSTS.

Me and my girlfriend stayed at...

Overall Rating:

6/10

Board Basis:

All Inclusive

Date of Holiday:

Apr 2008

Tour Operator:

Booked Independently

Submitted By:

Mr Jdt Trofimczuk

Comments:

Me and my girlfriend stayed at this hotel for a one week all-inclusive break. We got a good price for the holiday as we booked directly with the hotel and flight via Thomsonfly. On arrival at Sharm el sheik airport we proceeded to find our pre booked taxi transfer which proved to be a little un-organised and we were kept waiting for 20 minutes with others who booked the shuttle bus. We recommend just flagging a taxi upon arrival rather then pre booking as its just the same service if not better. Once we finally got our private taxi we proceeded to Dahab. The journey took us 1hr 30min as our driver got lost on numerous occasions; we also had to pass numerous check points which was scary as the officials weren’t even dressed in uniform but casual jeans and shirt. They asked our driver for our passports a couple of times and it almost felt like we were in Iraq.



On arrival at the hotel we were directed to reception and were impressed with the speedy service with checking in. Straight away the staff were friendly and approachable and the porter boy carried our cases to our room. We asked for a pool/sea view on with our original booking but we received a ground level room on the back of the hotel, we couldn’t evaluate the view till morning as it was dark when we arrived. As soon as we did see the view we weren’t impressed, we did have a sea view but we could also see the building works next to our hotel, also the security of the doors was very bad as the lock was hanging off. However when we asked to change our room the reception staff were very proactive and we were moved to a balcony pool/sea view. This room was quite impressive, spacious and clean. The rooms were cleaned daily by the friendly cleaner and the mini bar was checked and restocked daily.



The facilities at the hotel were minimal and in my opinion lacking choice. As all inclusive guests we were entitled to drinks at 2 of the 3 bars on offer (hotel bar, pool bar). The beach bar wasn’t free, but this bar probably had the best food options (burger and chips, snacks). We did find that the hotel bar had a good choice of cocktails and it was handy that our room wasn’t far from this bar as we could take our drinks to our balcony in the evenings. The pool bar was a speedy service but we weren’t impressed with the drinks given in small plastic cups. None of the bars had any vodka as the Polish drank it all before our arrival; this limited our options with drinks/cocktails which we thought the hotel could have restocked. The entertainment at this hotel was non existent. It got very boring in the evenings but our saviour was a free shuttle bus into nearby Dahab (if you didn’t fancy watching paint dry). The only entertainment on offer was a belly dancing night at the beach bar which seems to be offered once for fortnight; we had to pay £20 each for this, although it was an enjoyable evening. The pool tables/internet/table tennis all had to be paid for.



The food at this hotel was very repetitive, chicken and beef, then beef and chicken. My favourites were omelettes for breakfast, pizza & pasta for lunch, dinner didn’t enjoy much. The food theme nights (BBQ, oriental) didn’t happen in my opinion and was misleading. The restaurant staff were responsive to take your drink requests but the drinks usually arrived just before you finished your meal. By the 3-4 day of our stay we got stomach cramps and severe diarrhoea, this spoilt our holiday. We believe we got this from the hotel food and water. Questionable if the cooks used clean water to wash salad / cook pasta.



In my final conclusion the hotel itself was nice and peaceful and would suit those that want to relax and go to bed early (certainly not for those seeking the slightest bit of entertainment). I would recommend those who come to Tropitel oasis to eat in nearby Dahab as the food is cheap and more tasteful, if you do go Dahab try the fish restaurant ‘El Fanar’. Excursions to try are Quad bikes at sunset and Blue Hole. What made this holiday were the friendly staff (particularly the towel boy ‘malik’) and the people I travelled with.



I would certainly be going Sharm El Sheik next time I go Egypt, by saving the money on transfers I would go somewhere more livelily and has more options also somewhere close to a shop that sells Imodium.

If you want a no frills low cost...

Overall Rating:

4/10

Board Basis:

All Inclusive

Date of Holiday:

Sep 2007

Tour Operator:

Priceright

Submitted By:

Mr Ian Johnstone

Comments:

If you want a no frills low cost holiday this is the 1 for you. We paid only £450 each for 2 weeks AI.



The hotel sits on it’s own beach but it’s is so windy we never used it (we are usually beach bums) shame as we like to snorkel every day but due to wind and heavy sea we just could not.



This hotel has not yet got it right with AI they discriminate between guests paying for food and drink and guests on AI. We were classed as second class citizens when it came to drink measures and service. The waiters always served the paying guests first and we had to wait quite a long time for drinks in the restaurant. First time I have ever had beer served by the small wine glass, needless to say none AI got beer glasses. Food was very simple and very repetitive so we ate out at lot.



We tipped the waiter most days and the service improved, I was very annoyed to have an envelope placed on our breakfast table on the last day asking for tip money for the staff.



The rooms are good quality but again if you are AI there seems to be no balcony rooms available when you book in. We spoke to George on reception and after some cajoling he found us a very nice room with a balcony. Use George he is very helpful.



We went to the beach bar on our fist night only to be told we would have to pay as it was not included in AI (very strange).



All in all I must say you get what you pay for and at £450 it was worth the money, I would have been less than happy if I had paid the usual £600 to £700 for this hotel.