My family and I stayed for 1 week in two rooms overlooking the pool/beach. There is a lot to like about this hotel - the rooms were excellent and newly renovated; the water park was the stuff of dreams for my 10/12 year olds; there is plenty to do inside (tennis, pool table, table tennis, plus the obvious water stuff) and outside the hotel (we enjoyed desert sand buggies and coral reef snorkelling); spa, which once you get past the sales desk was great / cheap; and controversially the food, which I know a lot of people were unhappy with but if you avoid the ropey looking European stuff and stick to falafel, tagine, tahini, kofta, pita, chicken, baklava etc then you can eat pretty well. These positives were partly offset by many of the staff, particularly the waiting staff in the main restaurant who were difficult to attract and the looked thoroughly miserable, adding to the depressing atmosphere in this space. The beach was also disappointing - not the hotel’s fault but you have to walk for around 1 km to find sea deep enough to swim in, which was a shame as the beach itself was lovely. So all in all if you are looking for a value oriented family holiday, have water obsessed kids and are willing to compromise on a few things then go for it.
