Pharaoh Azur Resort - Hurghada — Hotel in Red Sea

The Gym. ||Good variety of machines to cover the various muscle groups. Clean and spacious enough for a good workout. The free weights area covers 2.5 -35 kg. There are Yoga mats on site, however, there is not much space to use them. Machines are good and in decent working condition. There is a working air con and fresh cold water. Access to Weight belts as well as a few Cardio machines. ||.|Some weights machines had 2 pins but 3/4 needed one. No space for yoga mats or stretching out of the way of machines. The music was low volume.||The pool next door is good for a cool down.||Showers at the beach only some were working fully but good proximity for washing after beach.||Food at the beach.||A nice variety of food on offer, the fresh pizza and bbq area is a great option. ||The Boat pier needs some work on the last half; it's bumpy and some holes appearing which can be a bit of a tedious walk, also proves a bit difficult for wheelchair users. Staff were very helpful and happy to help but it could use some further work to bring it up to good condition.||Entertainment||Good daytime staff actively try to get people playing games poolside. Evenings they had a good mix, I found it seemed to depend on the guests, in all honesty there were a lot of Egyptian guests for a few days and it seemed like the best and biggest events were held on these dates, the other days they had the entertainment team doing their best to get people involved but little support or outside resources. There seemed to be a lack of entertainment after a certain time, no fault of the animation team but more the hotel as there is no live music , no dj or activity at the outdoor bar area. ||The Restaurant Indoors.||There is a wide variety of food on offer, the section where the chefs prepare meat was really nice and it was changing daily. The chefs themselves and staff in this restaurant were extremely great, the space was always clean and someone was always on hand to help by bringing drinks etc. They had a lovely outdoor section with fresh bbq options daily, this space is also used in the morning for fresh cooked omelettes daily, this was a wonderful option to have. And a very nice lady cooking there to assist with cooking your choice. Ice cream with hand made cones and waffles.||Nice variety of salads, desserts on offer.||The lunch was the only area that I would say needs improvement, the staff there were great and the chefs made nice options but there is only one small window that you can go to for lunch by the main pool and it would often be busy, the variety of food was also not huge and you would have one option each day and you either take it or leave it. ||Shops on site were nice, handy to get some necessities for the beach etc and a lovely gentleman running a few shops such as perfumes and oils, clothing and gift shop very friendly not over pestering or pressure and great attitude. Other shops seemed to be quite expensive such as the little convenience shop but still nice to have if needed. ||The pool room was good fun, payment is separate to the hotel and the gentleman who owns it also owns several stalls on the hotel site, fresh fruit juices, popcorn in the evenings etc. It is fairly priced. There is a free area for table tennis which is a nice touch although table tennis needs some new equipment. ||Grounds well maintained and nice, evening there is ample lighting. Ramos for buggies and wheelchair there and can access slightly inclined. Staff always there to help.||The main pool needs some work, a few areas around it the vents need o be repaired, the tiles in the pool are also an issue as some seem to be cracked and on a few occasions proved to be sharp in areas. I may add this is the adult pool and so no real danger to children but of course is something that needs attention. The pool area was also deep cleaned in the evenings. |||Rooms are cleaned to a good standard daily.||We had an issue with our water system for the showers, water was dirty when running. We called the receptionist and very quickly a maintenance man arrived. He checked and said there was an issue he needed to fix and advised he would return in an hour. We went for food and upon returning 2 hours later found the water system was fixed and working perfectly.||All plug sockets were working and had good results on the tv though the picture was grainy but who really watches much tv anyway.||The centre fountain is a nice design though it is not being used, you can not enter it and there seems to at one point been pedalows boats which are now broken and not used u would like to see this being fixed and again used.||The pool is clean, a few tiles need attention and the drainage around some areas needs replacing.||The Wi-Fi is only available in the main reception area, the pool bar area and use at the rooms is at extra charge.||Scuba diving was amazing, the staff was very professional and friendly, the food was delicious and scuba diving training was well thought out and they are very knowledgeable. The reefs are wonderful with such vibrant life.||The hula hula beach is nice although the cost on the island due to being registered is pricey, it gets quite busy also and not much there but swimming. Although stunning scenic views and for those liking photo opportunities there is ample with swings, hammocks and seating with signage.|||The staff there are also super friendly and supportive especially with my disabled grandfather.||Overall it was a wonderful stay, it was a relaxing enjoyable space and we felt comfortable and cared for...

Well our experience was definitely good but not a five star hotel. This hotel has a strong 4 star rating. If you go outside for a tour of Hurgada or Cairo you will understand that it's not an easy life they live with so many people and so many consequences of our wordly greed.

Get SIM card for internet, the free internet is in the lobby!!!

Interior: Everything besides the lobby with the funny little fountain is funny ,which set with natural granite tiles, bronze plated fat railings, everything else seems somewhat outdated. The rooms look nit and clean but he wood could be restored and maybe deco-refreshed. it looked like natural wood. They use a lot of natural things. But some restoration needs be. 8/10 Exterior:the hotel is somewhat bland and minimalistic and not interesting. But the main building in the shape of the pyramid with the vitrage-stained glass is definitely nice. The tiles in the swimming pool has warm water which is nice to relax in. Not so good for playing water polo, the tiles are dangerous! And for float-walking a little dangerous in some places. The tiling spacing, done around the pool is also in poor quality. 7/10 needs reconstruction. The buffet or food: Generally speaking you can see effort put in to the preparation and the proper service, but I get a distinct feeling you get what you pay for" and it's a 4/5. So just know to not expect something too special. The food is definitely in plenty supply and fresh and that is important. And the presentation is 4/5. But the taste of the sweets is a 3/5. It's not all only just sweet and not a lot of other interesting taste is there. But the taste quality goes like this through the whole time. Sometimes striking you with some different tastes like crunch, cold, soft and maaaaaybe sour taste which i was missing the most in the desserts they arranged for us. The fish is sometimes good, sometimes so-so. The beef, as they say is the strong side of Egyptian quasine which i find strange and possible, but not at all times. A usual hamburger is not innovation it's a basic solution. The poultices or chicken most of the time was.very much eatable, but nothing special. As a poultice vegetable eater i was not amused. Not a lot of innovation in the groups of taste with the food is done. Standart options. We also get strangely served additional raw spice served for the people. The option of the grill is always in the evening sometimes in the day time. Breakfasts are varies and nice with Egyptian options and standart bed and breakfast options. Also we had some camel options or other venison for the gourmet or the curious ;) The rise is done very so-so, and there is also dish combination of excess of rice and macaronis which is not necessary in any buffet. We went to Kairo and we had well done rise in a restaurant buffet, it was either steamed or well done with curcumin and with care and attention, or was basmati group rice. But even a 3 star hotel should do rice well! The service and the language : A definite 5 in the level of service department. The staff tries to help you in many as possible and if you ask and they are not walking of serving other then you will get what you ask and what is included for you :) if you smile at them most of the time they feel happy and smile to you. Although the cooks most of the time are smiling more then the serving staff. And the cleaning staff is humble and smiling where the language barrier helps somewhat. But you definitely can speak broken Russian, Polish, and German languages to get by with most of the staff. English is still a dark language for most of the hotel staff and Extra attractions and entertainment: As i have maybe mention entertainment is even better when u participate. And if you plan like a normal person for souvenirs and extra services like body, skin, portrait drawings, photography, snorkling, hair care and other you might be surprised at the bargaining abilities and the effort they put in to the procedure. But REMEMBER TO BARTER! it's respectful for the merchants with...

Please do not waste your well earned money on a holiday at this hotel.

Warning … on checkout we were told we had taken a glass from our hotel room and that we had to pay for it.  We knew this was not true as there were 3 glasses in the room when we arrived and 3 when we left as 2 were left packaged and unused and we had used 1 for toothbrushes which was left with the other 2 glasses when we left the room.  I was extremely unhappy about this and requested someone follow me to our room to check, the woman on the front desk looked worried when I said where I was going.  Luckily we went straight back to our room as on arrival we found 2 cleaners in our room, 1 off them was just coming out our room holding a glass and the other one was in a cupboard under the mirror.  One of the cleaners told us that we had taken a 4th glass from our room and showed us the cupboard saying that the glass would have been in there.  I asked why the glass would have been hidden away and not kept with the other 3 glasses but was continuously told that we had taken it. We knew the only way to resolve this was to phone reception and request the hotel manager to attend our room.

On his arrival the 2 cleaners quickly disappeared along with the glass they had been found holding.  We explained to the manager that if we were going to steal something from our room we wouldn’t have chosen a glass that would probably smash in our case on the way home. We explained to the manager that we found the cleaners in our room before we had checked out with a glass that had supposedly been taken with 3 still left in the room. We also suggested that the manager could check our suitcases to look for the glass. On saying this the manager started to look and act very concerned that we had caught them out and advised us to go down to reception and say that the issue was resolved and that no payment was required. On arrival back at reception they were acting very strange and check out was completed very quickly with no apology offered.

Since our return I have spoken to several other people online who advised they were charged for missing items which they knew were in their room before they headed to reception to check out !!

Now to the hotel and grounds themselves.  The rooms are extremely dated, the beds are rock hard, the air conditioning hardly cools the room and the bathroom need a very good clean !

There is no wifi anywhere but the lobby, the hotel charge you to have wifi in your room.

The tiles around and in the pool are breaking up and are sharp and in placed dangerous. The blue wooden bridges scattered all around the pool area are very slippery even with footwear.

Drinks assortment is the worst I’ve ever known in all my years of visiting all inclusive hotels.  This is made worse and the bar staff can’t even get a gin and tonic correct, I won’t even mention the awful cocktails they attempt to make and expect you to drink because they have served them to you.  One of the bar staff in the lobby bar was so rude, one time I placed my empty glass on the bar which for some reason upset him so much that he slammed a vodka bottle down on the bar whilst glaring at me.

The food was really repetitive, hardly any variation and disappointing. Drinks are so slow being served people were queuing to get them themselves. One waiter walks round asking if you want wine with your meal and then advises you that it is chargeable, we’ve never had this at an all inclusive hotel before.

The main restaurant does not open at lunch so you have to walk to the beach bar which is a 10 minute walk from the pool, the path to the beach is crumbling under your feet and is extremely dangerous to walk on.

The beach eating area is not big enough for all the people staying at the hotel and even when a table becomes free it is not cleared for a while.  Yes there is a snack bar up by the pool which serves burgers, hot dogs and toasties, 1 option each day.  This is great if you like the smell of raw sewage while you wait...