"Al Kasr was a major disappointment.
I have stayed at a number of 5 start hotels, as well as in Egypt (previously Sharm El Sheikh) so feel I have a good gauge of a good hotel.
From the very start there were red flags. All hotels I have stayed in up until now have offered welcoming drinks (even just a basic juice would be fine) and provided a tour of the hotel facilities so we know where the pool and dining is. This is the first hotel where check in was “here’s your key, on you go”. Again, if I paid the price of a 3 star hotel I’d be fine with this, but you pay a premium price and get mediocre service.
Then, the layout of the resort seems odd. We were located in block 1000, which is far from any facilities. The dining and pools (as far as we could identify) were on the complete other side of the resort. If it was centrally located, all rooms could have equidistant access. When they told us we had been upgraded to a sea-view free of charge, I thought this was great. It was a rude awakening when I went to the balcony and looked out and saw we were getting a sea view from the back of the hotel, overlooking the entire hotel premises. At that point it seems disingenuous to promote it as a ‘sea-view’.
Moving onto the room. I had high hopes as it’s supposed to be a ‘new’ hotel. The rooms looked like they’ve been in use for 20 years. Grouting lifting between the tiles, the bathroom sink tap ‘unbolted’ and moving as you use it. The balcony had nails sticking out which you could easil"