Protels Crystal Beach Resort — Hotel in Red Sea

The hotel was nothing like the pictures or description on the website. We were supposed to have jacuzzi & wifi in our room - non existent.

Pros: ● Nice view from the room - but at extra cost of over £200. Cons: ● Room - outdated, old furniture, needs a decent deep clean and a lick of paint. Aircon - very noisy, full of mould, dirty. Technician came to fix it, swapped some components, but it wasn't enough, the aircon remained noisy and only worked at fast speed, blowing like crazy. TV - only few channels, mostly Italian, 1 Polish and 1 English but only works when it feels like it. 3 out of 5 wall lights did not work. Safe - does not work ● Bathroom - dirty toilet. Horrible shower, inconsistent water pressure resulting in hot & cold water coming in turns. Shower curtain - manky, and installed in a way that whole of the bathroom gets wet when taking a shower. Very small towels ● Restaurant - again, very dirty. Staff nowhere near the "Egyptian" standards. In 2 weeks there, have not seen anyone smiling or serving drinks, it's all self-service. Food - very poor choice, chicken & potatoes always overcooked. Sockets & ceiling lights all hanging off, with wires showing. Seabreeze restaurant, that is supposed to be a main restaurant near the beach was closed all the time so we had to walk to a different one, across the whole resort. ● Reception - polite staff but hotel is advertised as English speaking, well that's not the case here, had to use google translate to communicate. ● Beach, pool & facilities - a long stretch of the beach, with jetty access for a swim along the reef. The reef is nothing to shout about. Sea is closed most of the time due to winds. Sunloungers have seen better days. Table tennis table, I mean come on, it's been eaten away by the camels... Massive chunks of table missing. The rackets - terrible, broken, worn out, half handle missing, the ball - with a hole in it. Pool - nothing like photos, looked dirty with algea • On-Site Dive Club - do not use. Avoid at all costs. Disgusting treatment, they do not know how to talk or treat a customer. Very rude and agressive. And it's not a real dive club. They have no idea what they are doing. They're just after your money. Overall a really terrible experience that really put us off coming to Marsa Alam ever again. We will stick to Sharm-el-Sheikh in the future, where you are treated...

Terrible Experience from Start to Finish – Don’t Waste Your Time or Money

Our stay at Protels Crystal Beach, Marsa Alam was a complete disappointment from the very moment we arrived.

After almost a 6-hour drive from Luxor, we arrived exhausted and expected at least a warm welcome. Instead, no one offered to help with our luggage, and the reception staff were completely disorganized, rude, and unprofessional. They took forever to give us our room keys, didn’t explain anything about the hotel facilities, meal times, or activities, and acted as if guests were a burden.

Things only got worse from there. The staff barely understand basic English and show zero interest in helping. Their attitude is arrogant and careless, and they clearly lack any training in hospitality.

The food was disgusting — both my wife and I got sick after eating at the buffet. Even the salads smelled spoiled, like they were kept out for days. The eggs at breakfast were full of eggshells, and when I politely pointed it out to the chef while he was cracking eggs for omelets, he just ignored me completely. It’s clear that hygiene and food safety are not priorities at this hotel.

The diving center, which was one of the main reasons we chose this resort, turned out to be a total scam. They overcharge for terrible trips with old, unsafe equipment and no proper food or service. The staff there are equally careless and unprofessional.

The pools are dirty, full of hair and floating plastic cups. There are not enough sunbeds at either the beach or the pool, and people fight over spots every morning. The chef at the beach restaurant was extremely rude and treated guests differently based on nationality — it felt outright discriminatory.

The rooms are old and not cleaned properly. Towels are not replaced daily, the air conditioning barely works, and everything feels neglected.

Overall, this place is chaotic, dirty, and mismanaged. The photos online are misleading — nothing matches reality. If you care about good service, hygiene, or even basic comfort, avoid Protels Crystal Beach. Marsa Alam has far better options; this hotel should not even be rated...

From the very beginning, our stay at this hotel turned out to be a complete mess. We arrived around 11 p.m., and according to the information, check-in starts at 2 p.m., so I was convinced our room should be ready and waiting for us. The receptionist informed us. Nine hours after check-in, the room hadn't been ready. After a few minutes of waiting, the situation took an even more absurd turn. Due to a lack of available rooms, they had to pair us with another couple – complete strangers. When I protested, I was told, "You can sleep in the lobby if you like." After an hour of arguing and explaining that we had paid for something else, a room miraculously appeared. However, we were informed that the room we had been given was not our standard and that we would have to return to reception the next day to change it. The next day, the receptionist waved us off and said we had to stay where we were. The next day, at 1 p.m., another receptionist knocked on our door and said, " Leave now." Without any prior notice, without a moment to prepare, we were told to leave immediately. After another round of packing, we were moved to the "correct" room—perhaps ignoring the fact that the air conditioning was broken and dirty.|To even have a chance at a sunbed, we had to get up at 7 a.m., as all the seats were reserved with towels at dawn.|The food also didn't live up to expectations. The dishes were monotonous and lukewarm. Many guests complain of stomach problems. Unfortunately, we didn't escape them either.|The hotel staff seemed to be working as a punishment. Upon check-out, they started accusing us of being a day late to the hotel and therefore not entitled to a meal. We tried to explain that we had arrived on schedule. They even started checking the security footage to "prove" us wrong. I felt like an intruder, not a guest who had paid for the full stay.|Would I recommend this hotel? Absolutely not. It's a place I wouldn't want to return to,...