Sea Star Beau Rivage Hotel — Hotel in Red Sea

If you’re British and reading this review, you’ve probably seen a holiday via Travelodeal! With a Nile cruise tacked on. If you’ve already booked honestly, BIG MISTAKE! Lower your expectations to a 2 star hotel and you’ll be fine. If you haven’t it’ll be a shock. This hotel is on the outskirts of the city being the first or last hotel in the city and located in a very run down area. Communal areas: The upper terrace is a nice place to sit out, shaded for the majority of the day, the area around the small pool (which is heated) is also nice, the grounds are lovely and well kept, the main bar by the side of reception has the feel of a run down social club, the entertainment area on the lower ground floor doesn’t give a much better vibe. The hotel has a community of cats who are always looking for a cuddle and a bite to eat and are a lot friendlier than the crows, flies are a very big problem, this hotel does not spray like other hotels so they’ll be buzzing around you constantly. Entertainment: During our stay the entertainment team were having a great time playing their choice of music and did very little to entertain guests. Buffet: The food is truly awful, saving grace is breakfast where they have an omelette and pancake station, I’ve holidayed in Egypt before and the food has never been this bad, apart from the soup which is piping hot all other food that is supposed to be served hot is luke warm. You can book the specialty restaurants, Italian or fish, edible but not hot. (No charge) a lot of people we spoke with had upset tummies so pack Imodium Rooms: Rooms are dated, sleeping area was fine just had old furniture, bathroom had many cracked tiles, black mould to sealant and grout. Avoid rooms on fifth floor as water pressure is very low and our air con did not work. Room has a safe, TV, hairdryer in bathroom and some cheap toiletries. You can bribe reception for a better room. If you have booked or looking to book through Travelodeal, they’ll upsell you a sea view room. 90% of rooms do not have a direct sea view you have to hang out of the balcony and this is the case for all of them. Staff: younger staff are friendly and helpful and I’d like to give a special mention to Sam from the main bar, such a lovely lad and very helpful, the older staff are miserable and lazy even if you palm them a tip, the older bell boy will hang around and scowl if you don’t tip him, younger staff when tipped are loyal. Our rep Seaid was excellent, knowledgeable and helpful. WiFi: is an extra charge, $10 a week, our rep sold SIM cards with 20gig data for £15 which is much better value, he also gave a better currency rate than the hotel machine. We contacted a restaurant at the Mariner (Che guevara) and they organised a taxi for us, who collected us and returned us to the hotel for a small charge and there you will get amazing food and not that expensive either. This hotel needs a bloody good shake up, if it wasn’t for the people we met it would truly have been the worst holiday I have ever been on. Oh and when you check out they’ll cut your all...

NOT 5 star ! What a horrible hotel. Fistly, didn’t know WiFi was included so have to pay per hour/ day/ week to use and still don’t get signal in room or near beach. The staff were rude and unwilling, often appearing hassled when asked for a drink. The food was disgusting! Big buffet full of nothing- only edible things in morning was omelette, falafel or melon, but we changed to another hotel on our own expense as was not willing to stay there 11 nights and when you compare, all buffet food is oily, bland and falafels like rocks you could probably break a tooth with. Coffee was instant coffee with extra charge for machine made. Lunches were sloppy pizza served with leftovers from 2 days before. The koftas even had jelly on it from reheating and we knew it was from the bbq 2 nights before: On one occasion, the soggy pizza was served with a sausage that honestly could only be described as dog food. I stopped eating lunch. Beers were warm, served in tiny cups or even paper coffee cups when they ran out. Due to size and no service we requests two each at a time which seemed a huge problem for them. We were charged water from our minibar which is ridiculous as a 5 star hotel they advertise as. We ended up booking another hotel as the only good thing about this place was the kitesurf school which was the reason for our trip. Once we contacted our agent loveholidays on the first day stating our dissatisfaction, they refused our cancellation and we then used the room at sea star as storage for our kites and slept at another resort that was advertised as 4 star but a million times better than this one. The same music blasted all day, entertainers dances were actually embarrassing to watch. The football pitch was a gravel area around the side of hotel spray painted with lines and only seen being used by staff during their break.lt was surrounded with litter and junk discarded from hotel. The restaurant was so hot with no aircon and we were not allowed to eat outside. Therefore we had to seek out the dark seating areas at the back to avoid sunlight that made it unbareably hot to eat. We spend another 400 pounds on another hotel for 5/11 nights that were unable to cancel on this booking. I will never go vac to sea star. This hotel is NOT 5 star, I’d give it 2 max. The only reason we stayed 4 nights is because the kite school was awesome- Mohammed, Atif and other kite guys were the reason we stayed and came back on windy days as they were 5 stars. I’ll come back to Egypt but the selling of this hotel is completely untrue and I don’t know who they paid to get the 5...

If you're like me before going to any hotel, you will firstly look at all the bad reviews as it's easy for hotels or restaurants to ask friends or family to paint a good picture! Please don't make that mistake with the Sea Star. I did, and it nearly put me off coming. I can honestly say this hotel is amazing, and I've stayed in more than most. I will start by saying this is the cheapest 5* hotel in Hurghada, so if you're coming expecting the same 5* you would pay triple the money for, then that is on you. Yes, you have to pay extra for WiFi, but it's nothing, and it gives you perfect coverage from the beach to the reception. It's around £10 per device per week. Coffee is only free at breakfast, but after one of those coffees, you will have enough kick to get you through the day. Premium alcohol is extra, but unless you're going to a Sandals Resort, that's pretty much the same throughout Egypt. Please do not let those little things ruin your holiday. What you will find here are spacious, clean, and tidy rooms. Staff that become friends. An animation team always putting on activities and shows and a hotel that will go out of its way to ensure you are comfortable and feel welcome. The restaurant always has something tasty to eat, fresh fruit daily, and a dangerous cake selection that is irresistible, even for a savory guy like me. Every evening has a kids disco followed by a live show from karaoke to one of the best light shows I've experienced. There is a water sports centre on the beach, a resident camel called Oscar that really appreciates any leftover fruit you may have. There is no pressure to tip the workers in the hotel but if you do here and there they will take extra care of you I always tip whether I'm in London, Egypt or Thailand as I am aware the wages are low and if the service is good then why not show your appreciation. There is an onsite Doctor, hairdresser, disco, lounge bar, and pub with pool tables, boules for the French, mini golf, dart board Daily games of volleyball organised by the animation team and much more. I have travelled with my partner and one year old daughter Annie. It isn't very often a hotel makes you feel this welcome so we have already booked to come back at the end of February to see all our new friends thank you Sea Star for making Annie's first holiday so special, see you again soon. Daniel, Hannah &...