Sunrise El Palacio Resort

Flew out the week before Christmas and thoroughly enjoyed every minute. Entertainment team had plenty of activities lined up all day and this was while the hotel staff were also building/errecting all the christmas/new year decorations. All staff are very friendly but I wouldn't leave your partner on their own for too long. The waiter's believe they have oodles of charm to their disposal. The room was spotless everyday and so was ther rest of the hotel. People have commented that there was not enough choice on the food. I totally disagree. If choosing between 10-15 different main courses is not enough, this isn't the place for you. I have already booked to go back this year and can not wait.

The hotel on arrival was beautiful, we arrived during late evening so the hotel just was a mass of shining lights which were seen from the main road.... It took roughly 15-20 minutes to check in as there were a lot of guests to deal with, a handful of which were english, the rest being german or russian. Throghout the complex were marble flooring and brass. Everywhere IMMACULATELY CLEAN. All cleaned by men, only one female was to be seen in the resort, she was serving drop scones at breakfast. The food was the only real downside to the holiday asbreakfast consisted of ham rolls, omlettes or pancakes. To an englishman or woman this isnt really appetizing to say the least, i had pancakes all week as it was the only thing remotely english, every night was a different theme night, although most foods were the same, if you want chips and burgers at lunch time, go to the lagoon tent, theres load for the taking, and the fish bar was lovely and the service was second to none. As the hotel mainly has german or russian guests the entertainment was generally catered for them, which i found rather annoying because you had no clue what they were saying or what the song lyrics were...... but i assumed it was all good as the foreigners seemed to enjoy it ... In egypt tipping is a way of lif and you will be hounded for this wherever you go, on the excursions to luxor we went to , i found the hounding quite stressful and i got a little fretful as it got quite bad, but if you are strong and say no sternly they do seem to leave you alone. But watch out for the porters in the airport, they hide your cases so they can help you and get a tip for it, and wont give you your bags til you do hand over the cash... The waiters are fantastic, if you tip them during the beginning of your stay they will help you no end.. and you will rarely have to que for a drink they will have one ready for you..... the rooms were wonderfully clean....... and they made sure your room was just so for you everyday, take a plug with you as in egypt showers are the usual thing, even though they had a bath in the room.... just no plug, we had to use a trainer sock to plug it up :o) also a universal plug socket plug is a must if you need to use camcorders or electrical goods as the plug sockets there are very weird. for a 5 minute conversation to england you were looking at anything from £6-£10 dpending on times of day...... excursionwise definately do the sight seeing, the jeeps were not worth it as you dont spend much time out there, and the bedwin visit was disgustingly unhygenic as they live very poorly but at the end of the day it was a ecursion to see the way of life and it certainly was an experience, mahmaya island was a fantastic place and well worth the money..... you go via yacht across the water, and are given snorkelling gear, you have an hour to snorkel and see NEMO then you are taken to the south side of the island to the deeper water to see the reefs which was awesome...... then you go back and have lunch and this meal was fantastic.... then the rest of the afternoon was yours to do as you please.... absolutely beautiful.. an enjoyable holiday which is well recommended, just watch out for the jellyfish in the lagoon , although they do not sting etc theres loads........... OVERALL this holiday was nice, and the friendliness and cleanliness was second to none...

excellent holiday excellent staff couldnt have had a better rep excellent plenty to eat vey clean hotel corals and fish well worth it especially if you go snorkelling and an added bonus to see dolphins playing in the sea would recommend this the only downside not many british in this hotel entertainment ok but a lot of dancing six of us went ages from 41 down to 21 we all had a good time good resturant in the old town we found even the rep uses it down by macdonalds spinx t bone steak huge for abouy 5.50

I stayed at this hotel from the 15th april 2005 with my husband and 11 yr old son. although there were very few british people there it was not a problem for us. we never had a problem getting a table in the bar or restrauant, because we tipped the waiter on the 1st night and from then on we never had a empty glass or waited for a table. the sunlounger was the same just tip the guys and never have a problem with a bed they just put one where ever you want and what ever time you arrive on the beach every day Entertainment well that was a bit boring they try hard but there are only so many times you can watch the same people dancing. The beach was Okay lots of jelly fish but harmless and only on a couple of days. overall we had a lovely holiday TRIPS we went to luxor overnight and stayed in a hotel right on the Nile it was very good. The Temples were very good The night show was very long and boring 9 out of 10 Sinbad submarine was very good 20 mins on a boat and 45 mins 9 out of 10 Night trip to dessert to see stars IF YOU HAVE A BAD BACK DONT GO travel in a jeep at 70+ miles per hour over rocks in the dark was a ride from hell but if you dont mind the ride it was a very nice night but we did not see stars due to clouds 7 out of 10 dont let the bad reviews put you off

We have spent a week in Sunrise Palacio and our impression is unfortunately not positive. Builging 4 is very noisy due to the construction and the evening entertainment. If possible choose building 5 or 6 (10 USD extra "baksis" only). Variety of meal was very very poor. Always the same kind of foods (roasted beef or poultry, chicken and fish) in the restaurant and snack bar (hot dog, nudless and chips). You get your drink in plasitc glas in the Snack and Beach Bar. The beach is a joke and (I think) very dangerous for children. After few steps 2,5 and 4 meter deep.

Myself, my two boys aged 11 and 13 and my wife booked this hotel as a last minute thing, for late February 2005, for what we hoped would be a 5star all inclusive sunny break, it didn't turn out like that! The rooms were fine if a little far away from the bars and restaurants. Firstly the wind nearly blew you off your feet and sent sun loungers flying into the lagoon, the balcony doors blew open in the middle of the night, when questioned, the staff said its the windy season! The restaurant was awfull, it was too busy, too smokey and the food was terrible. The main problem was within 36 hours of arrival I fell ill with food poisoning, this laid knocked me out for 3days and made feel drained for about 7days. We spoke to the very few brits we found and they were dropping like flys with same problem, infact some were put on drips. My wife even had to comfort a fellow guest she found crying because she was so worried about her sick husband, and this was while I was confined to our room sick as well! The majority of the guests were loud, chain smoking, beer and vodka swilling russians, who thought all their christmas's had come at once, but treated the local staff like dirt. It was trully the worst holiday we have ever had. The rest of my family fell victim to the dreaded stomach troubles that was so apparent at this resort. We actually suffered from upset stomachs for virtually the the whole holiday, it made us scared to eat in the dreaded restaurant. The bars were useless as well, when you could attract a bar tender, the drinks were dreadfull, and I mean dreadfull. The first choice rep was useless, if I could have found the strength, I would have liked to have rallied the suffering brits up together and taken the place to court for compensation. As I said never ever again!

My husband and I visited the Sunrise in March 2005 - the day we arrived was very windy, and we were told by our rep that this was very unusual and it would blow over in a day or so - well, after 7 days the wind never let up. We couldn't sleep at night as the balcony door kept rattling and when we spoke to the locals, we were told that this was normal for the area! The hotel itself is fine. The rooms are adequate and if you really do want a hairdryer (as mentioned previously) you only have to ask the hotel. The staff are brilliant and the rooms and cleanliness of the rooms are good too. The restaurant is very inadequate for the size of the hotel. We only went All Inclusive because it was a last minute holiday and reasonably cheap, but the food is not very good, the drinks are not very good, the wine is awful and the service (changing tables, etc) is very, very slow. I don't mean to be rude about our European neighbours, but the resort is full of Germans and Russians, who are very rude, start drinking from 9.00 am in the morning, take lots of food and leave it on their plates and are very loud around the beach and pool areas and treat the Egyptians like slaves. If you are English - stay away, or go somewhere else! The sun shines every day, which is a bonus and the locals are fabulous, but all in all, we were very disappointed with the experience. We went to Taba in Egypt last September, which is wonderful and are going back this September, but will never go back to Hurghada. Sorry!

This is an enourmous hotel. Sadly they have 1 main buffet restaurnat for 1500 people, which seats at most 300 - 400 people, ques in the restaurant breakfast lunch and dinner are huge. I found eating in this hotel a complete nightmare if you normally go All inclusive you would think the quality of the food here very 2*. The restaurant is so busy the staff can't even keep the cloths on the table changed and clean, and with one person trying to bbq for 1500 portion control is the order of the day. The cleanliness of the main restaurant is poor and puts you off eating anyway. The Italian and Fish restaurants are much better but they only have limted availabilty 1 visit per stay. The rooms are well appointed but no hairdryer in situ. The 2 day trip to luxor is fantastic the sites are amazing in the valley of the Kings and staying at the hotel Movenpick in Luxor is a luxury after the sunrise. Did the star gazing trip didn't really enjoy this 1 hour jeep safari in the desert boring bumpy etc, stars were good. The eygptians are very friendly and staff very helpful, but do take plenty of dosh for tips. Ladies ask for a woman if you go for a massage as the men are to friendly and you get a grope for your money, which I found very unpleasent. I loved eygpt but not this hotel maybe look at 5* if poss. This hotel I rate as 2-3*.

Just came back from a week at Sunrise Palacio Hotel. It is a very large loud hotel. Ear plugs are definetly needed if you want to sleep at nights. I would never have gone there had I known it really is a hotel for families with children. It is ideal for kids as the beach is very well protected. For adult couples....well forget it! This is the worst hotel you can be at for a vacation. Children running everywhere, screaming, yelling and doing all the things children do outside and inside the hotel and parents too tired to control them. Of course all the chocolate and sugar doesnt help either to calm the kids down. Having never been on an all inclusive I was in for a shock. The lines were long and with people always pushing in we never seemed to get any closer. There was a lot of food though but you had to have patience. By the end of the week we ate only fruit as it was too stressful to fight the hoards. I also was shocked at the waste. People would get plates and plates of food and then leave most of it there! We had to wait for a few extra hours for our room to be ready , they were not cleaning but painting and did not put the wet paint signs up in the cupboard. Fortunetly they use cheap paint and we could get most of it out with water. The beach was packed and reminded me of seals sunning themselves. We again tried to distance ourselves but it seems no space is too small for families of 3 or more. The highlight of the trip was the snorkling. Don't rent a boat though. We went to the aqua center and snorkelled just off that beach. There was coral and gorgeous fish and peace. Both the downtown and the new city are similar in what they sell and the price that it can be bought. But dont worry if you miss something, the airport has a bazaar and sells the same stuff....some of it can be had for less money! I would not go to this 3 star hotel again as I felt as if I was in a childrens camp for the whole week.

Spent a week at the Sunrise in March. I think one point which isn't emphasised enough in previous reviews is the size of this hotel which really spoilt our enjoyment of the holiday. If you're hoping for a bit of peace and quiet and don't want to sunbathe right next to someone else, I wouldn't recommend going here. Having said that, the hotel has many plus points, particularly if you have a young family. I would say it is a typical package holiday hotel. To start with the positives: The service is excellent. You won't go long waiting for a drink or a towel on the beach. They are constantly cleaning the hotel and this makes for an immaculate place to stay. The rooms are cleaned to a superb standard and the staff are incredibly friendly (although try asking for a beer at 23.55 and they suddenly become rather less accommodating). You won't go hungry - the food wasn't great but there was always something available, even if it was just chips or pancakes. The all inclusive bar is open until midnight (although see above) but bottled water is available 24 hours. Cocktails are included in the all inclusive package and they rotate these daily so there is always a good choice of what to drink. The negatives: It's a busy hotel - getting a sunbed in a decent position is difficult unless you get up very early and put your towels down. The food is average - I think their boast of 15 different menus a night is exaggerated. As mentioned in previous reviews, the food is very much targeted for the mainland Europeans (majority German) with lots of pastries and such for breakfast and, shock horror, no bacon! I don't expect a full English abroad but seeing as the Europeans were so well catered for, I don't see why the English could not be. Having said that, I do see why, as only 10% of guests are British (around 150 out of 1500) they probably don't see the need. The entertainment is poor - one night consisted of the 'performers' miming to songs from West End shows. It was like a school play. Another night, 5 girls were invited up on stage and their task was to kiss as many men in the audience as they could in 1 minute. Talk about how to clear a tent! It was a bit Club 18-30 although many of the German guests seemed to like it. Also on the entertainment, one night it was entirely in German so not much entertainment for the English and Americans. We taxi'd into the new and old towns (hotel arranged taxis which arrived in minutes). The new town is quite good with a few places to shop, eat and drink although the old town isn't really worth a visit as it just contains all of the same type of shops and the shop owners harassed us even more there.