Azal Lagoons Resort Abu Simbel — Hotel in Aswan

The photos are accurate- this is a pretty new resort... spacious, very nicely landscaped- one of the prettiest grounds we've stayed at, definitely in Egypt. We could have spent more time enjoying the peaceful grounds and the big gazebos on the lake- could pass for a quality resort in Arizona (instead we made 3 trips to the temple, late afternoon when no one was around, back after sunset for the S&L show, and again in the morning for sunrise). Yet, if you choose to stay the night in Abu Simbel for that reason, you can still arrive/depart mid-day and have plenty of relax time at this place. As others have stated, it seems like the developer of this resort is/was dreaming big for this resort, and those dreams haven't been realized yet. Until things start to break down from lack of use or full realization, it gives you the potential for enjoying a new resort in an otherwise challenging location and feels like you have the place to yourself. Rooms were all very nice, new and roomy. Price per night tripled between when we made our reservation far in advance and when we got there, so the price you get will impact your feeling of value.| Some downsides that were surprising for such a nice resort and could/should be easily fixed.|-Background music plays in speakers all over the resort 24/7. They need to turn that off at night oviously|-Wifi was hit-n-miss on connectivity/internet, but a cell tower is within site if you have a SIM.|-Big clunky metal old school room key/lock instead of a key card.|-Door to the room isn't well fitted in the frame so would rattle constantly, had to jam some napkins into the frame. Poorly done installation on something so simple when all the rest of the room was well done.|-Half a roll of toilet paper with no second roll.|| This resort is away from town all by itself between the airport and the lake, not near anything. The walled compound felt incredibly safe, but there is no way you are walking to town or Abu Simbel or the airport and there is no car unless you arrange it beforehand. We were hoping InDrive would be an option but it seemed like the town is so small that pre-arranged rides are the only game in town. The resort was of course more than willing to arrange a car for anything, and here were their rates:|roundtrip to/from the temple (a 10min drive at most): daytime US$25, US$30 in the evening for the light show. US$20 for a one-way pickup or dropoff at the airport, 7min away. | All of these prices are ridiculous, but when they're the only game in town, they control things. That being said, the front desk was very helpful in arranging these things, and our driver was on time for every pickup at the resort and temple. They arranged for us to go from the afternoon temple to a local restaurant |(Elmodhesh Fish Restaurant- which was pretty good considering there are few options) and then back to the temple for the evening light show (which we enjoyed).| Be careful with the offers of a "sunrise" visit to the temple however... the temple itself does not open until 6am for anyone, and the sunrise in March was 5:30am. Our weather happened to be ideal for sunrise, so we did not mind sitting at the temple cafe and watching the dawn, but you absolutely cannot see the sunrise directly from the temple cafe with the hill in the way and you will NOT be in front of the temple on the other side of the hill as the first rays of sun crest unless sunrise is 6:05am or later. There is an option to get on a boat at the nearby dock which can put you on the lake at 5:30am and get sunrise + view of the temple, but the boat ride costs extra.| While we did not know enough ahead of time to pursue, there are enough travel agencies that arrange transport to/from Aswan via car, that there will be many prearranged drivers in Abu Simbel area- you just can't coordinate with them directly on your own. But you probably could arrange with the travel agency to have one of these personal drivers stay nearby overnight (esp if you have that driver drive you from Aswan one day and back the next day) and drive you around wherever you wanted for a flat 24hr rate (and either drive you back to Aswan the next day or end with dropping you at the ABS airport) for probably the same...

Had the most bizarre and unpleasant hotel stay I have ever had, and I have traveled to nearly 60 countries.|Firstly, the hotel did not even recognize our reservation, which was made directly through their website. LOL. We were greeted somewhat sourly, which was made immediately worse when they did not see our names on the reservation list. Suspicion abounded for some reason, as though we were there to scam the hotel and make up a reservation?! We were questioned repeatedly about which website was used, the URL, etc. Providing the printout of the reservation confirmation and the confirmation number provided little resolution, as their central reservation system (? like this is a big hotel) was down. This was middle of the day, in the middle of the week.|When a room was finally found - there was PLENTY of availability - and a comment provided to the GM that this was a very unpleasant experience for such a high-priced property, things escalated in a negative fashion. The GM was not interested in hearing and listening to the feedback, only arguing. Bizarre. Absolutely unskilled in customer service. Firstly, how about 'apologies for the inconvenience of not finding your reservation, our mistake' ?? Or, 'thank you for your patience while we find you a room.' Or, 'thank you for your business' ? They accepted no responsibility and offered no apologies.|The absolutely cherry on top was when we ordered food to the room and were so lucky to not only experience extortion at its best - get ready when you travel to Egypt - but also sexism by the staff who demanded that a female member of our group 'smile and say thank you.' The extortion refers to them presenting us with a menu in both USD and EGP, and then when food was delivered, telling us that the prices were now different than what we had read just a few minutes before.|Seriously, not making this up. Bizarre and unpleasant. Unfortunately, it is either this option, hostels, or a shabby and over-priced competitor. |My best advice is schedule the Egypt Air day shuttle to Abu Simbel and avoid...

Had the most bizarre and unpleasant hotel stay I have ever had, and I have traveled to nearly 60 countries.|Firstly, the hotel did not even recognize our reservation, which was made directly through their website. LOL. We were greeted somewhat sourly, which was made immediately worse when they did not see our names on the reservation list. Suspicion abounded for some reason, as though we were there to scam the hotel and make up a reservation?! We were questioned repeatedly about which website was used, the URL, etc. Providing the printout of the reservation confirmation and the confirmation number provided little resolution, as their central reservation system (? like this is a big hotel) was down. This was middle of the day, in the middle of the week.|When a room was finally found - there was PLENTY of availability - and a comment provided to the GM that this was a very unpleasant experience for such a high-priced property, things escalated in a negative fashion. The GM was not interested in hearing and listening to the feedback, only arguing. Bizarre. Absolutely unskilled in customer service. Firstly, how about 'apologies for the inconvenience of not finding your reservation, our mistake' ?? Or, 'thank you for your patience while we find you a room.' Or, 'thank you for your business' ? They accepted no responsibility and offered no apologies.|The absolutely cherry on top was when we ordered food to the room and were so lucky to not only experience extortion at its best - get ready when you travel to Egypt - but also sexism by the staff who demanded that a female member of our group 'smile and say thank you.' The extortion refers to them presenting us with a menu in both USD and EGP, and then when food was delivered, telling us that the prices were now different than what we had read just a few minutes before.|Seriously, not making this up. Bizarre and unpleasant. Unfortunately, it is either this option, hostels, or a shabby and over-priced competitor. |My best advice is schedule the Egypt Air day shuttle to Abu Simbel and avoid...