Steigenberger Coraya Beach — Hotel in Red Sea

The food is terrible. the fish is either raw or slimy and undercooked. We had several experiences of uncooked pasta. Bolognaise had 2 tsps of salt added by the chef so it became inedible. My girlfriend had salad and suffered stomach pains and diarrhoea for 2 days. We quickly became limited to eating chips or chicken as nothing else was cooked properly or safe to eat. On the occasion where they served potato gratin in place of chips, the potatoes were raw.

At breakfast ‘5 minute’ boiled eggs were invariably overcooked or raw. Scrambled eggs were cooked by combining 2 eggs with a teaspoon of salt and 2 tablespoons of oil. The result was inedible.

The cereal is stale. We resorted to the pastries, which are fine so long as you remove any rind that has developed from being sat outside for too long, or yoghurts and fruit.

We sat at tables with dirty tablecloths which were then just draped with another cloth over the top when we mentioned it. We consistently had dirty napkins and, just to keep things truly disgusting, kept finding hairs in our food.

We had 2 rooms during our 2 week stay. On our 2nd day we returned to our first room in the afternoon to find all the doors open, 2 men mopping the floor, a man in the ceiling on a ladder playing with the air conditioning unit and another man holding the ladder. We weren’t happy about this as we’d given no prior consent to have work done in our room, had been given no notification and had belongings in a room that now had all the doors open and several people going in and out.

On the 3rd day we returned to the room to find someone had been in to do plastering work, and on the 4th to do some painting. We noticed that the air conditioning continued to leak throughout the first few days and told the rep what had happened thus far. He promised to discuss this with the hotel and get back to us, but didn’t.

On day 6 my girlfriend noticed a bad smell in the room, a little like gas, and so we went to complain and see if anything could be done about it. We didn’t really want to stay in the room any longer as the air conditioning issues were starting to worry us; we frequently woke up with headaches and sore throats which we can only attribute to the air conditioning system. The guest liaison officer arranged a new room for us and we hoped that this would be the end of the issues. Unfortunately our new room also had a leaking air conditioning system which would periodically dump water on the floor, was consistently humid and also had power sockets that didn’t work which meant the room could only be half-lit at night.

On a side note we were told that some poor couple would be staying for one night in the first room we vacated as they had a coach-load of people arriving and didn’t have any other rooms. When I asked about the safety of the air conditioning the staff member said that it would be checked before they stayed. I have my doubts.

Also, the hotel laundry service shrunk the 4 t-shirts and a dress that we wanted washed.

On our last day the guest liaison officer had decided to offer us a free late check-out upgrade to make up for the fact that we’d had so many issues during our stay. Unfortunately, she neglected to tell us this until we were showered, packed and had handed our keys into reception 5 minutes before the standard check-out time! At that point there really wasn’t much benefit to having a late check out. We couldn’t believe they’d even managed to mess up trying to make amends for the previous issues.

The hotel reception staff even had the cheek to short-change me when I paid for my room bill. I realise that this is almost a part of the Egyptian culture and you have to watch your money when bartering and paying for items in shops, but I don’t expect the reception staff in a 5 star hotel try the same trick!

I can’t recommend this hotel and, in addition to the recent Steigenberger hotel news in Egypt, would actively discourage friends and family from staying there. This hotel definitely needs reclassification as it is most certainly not deserving of...

Nice hotel, small and limited snorkel reef, low hygienic standards

In a nutshell: The Steigenberger Coraya Beach is a nice hotel with excellent service. The snorkel reff did not meet our expectations and we had problems with our stomach so that we wanted to cancel our holidays.

Hotel: The hotel is very nice with beautiful flower arrangements and the rooms and houses are arranged like a small village with nooks and crannies. There is a viewing tower to have a watch over the area and to see wonderful sunsets over the dessert. Next to the hotel is an active construction site (Sep 2017) for another hotel. It was not that loud, but you could see and hear people working there.

Rooms: The rooms are very well staffed with TV and hair dryer. You might need more electric sockets then available, so be prepared. You can get an iron board on request. If you booked AI the laundry will wash and iron your stuff for you within a day - Kudos, for that service. In opposite to some reviews rooms and buildings are nicely renovated and you see people working on the maintenance every day.

Beach: The beach goes around the bay wich is shared with another three hotels. Half of the beach belongs to Coraya Bay hotel. The sand is a little darker containing stones and corals, so you need bathing shoes. Unfortunately not to be recommended for beach lovers. There is a concrete way around the bay that is nice for taking walks in the evening or running in the morning.

Pool: Pools and pool bar are nice. Unfortunately they do not have enough pads for every sun bed. So some guests get one some don't. We could not figure out if we were to late or spent too few tips on the pool boy, but we just had pads once in 10 days. This is not appropriate for a five star hotel.

Reef: The reef has a border line you are not allowed to cross. So you can not snorkel above the reef. Anyway depending on the tide it might be to flat to get over. So you can only watch the reef edge from the side. It is not that big and the bay is shared with four hotels, so it becomes quite busy under water like on a main station. Fish and choral density is not that high. For those who have snorkel experiences it may be disappointing.

Service: The service is excellent. This includes everyone in any position. The staff is talking english or german (and of course arabic). They really care for your well-beeing and are open for small talks. They are always in a positive authentic mood.

Food: The food tasted really great. No matter if in the a la carte restaurant or at the buffet. Unfortunately we became simultaneously sick after four days. so we had problems with our stomach and digestion. Additionally I got fever. We met many other guests that suffered the same, so that noone was sure what to eat for dinner. We only ate and drank at the hotel, brushed our teeth with mineral water and respected "peel it, cook it or forget it".

Doctor: Due to the illness we took a visit at the hotel clinic. Findings was bacterial infection. I got two injections with antibiotics and a 40 minutes therapy with electrolytes. Additionally tablets against diarrhea, nausea and fever and a receipt over 400 €. He did not ask about prior diseases or other medication that might interfere with his drugs. When we talked about canceling hour holidays he did everything to convince us for staying. Additionally the written diagnosis was travelling diarrhea. No mentioning about the infection or measured fever. This seems to be a political decision to prevent legal actions against the hotel. Prices are in €. When paying via credit card, the doctor recalculates the price in Egyptian pounds with a fixed rate of 21 to 1. When entering the sum into to the credit card machine, it will be recalculated to € with the current rate of the bank... and guess what. Its even higher than the price he is...

Stayed here for a few days in December, on our way back home after touring the pyramids, temples and other historical sites. The are a few things to keep in mind (listed below), but in general the hotel is very nice, clean and well maintained, beautifully appointed; professional and friendly staff. Very comfortable beach beds and shades, though the beach itself isn't much due to the coral reef. One of the pools has heated water, two others are cool. It's a shame that smoking is allowed by the pool, we were constantly inhaling smoke from all sides, hence the 4 stars instead of 5. Scuba diving shop onsite, snorkeling is available right off the shore. The main guest population is the German-speaking crowd, with some occasional British, Slavic, and locals. The food was good, wide selection of juices and desserts. Only one sort of beer, but rather many wines. The animation team is young and energetic, the program was ok, but we didn't come for that. I also had an Oriental massage at the local spa which was good. Convenient money exchange ATM at the hotel. Just like everywhere in Egypt, be prepared to tip for everything. Free wifi was a bit slow, but was enough for us; there are faster paid options for a small fee. In general, very nice hotel.

Practical advice: Covid testing available onsite. Stay away from the shops on the territory (we didn't check out the one before the entrance). If you have to buy something, research the price range and ways to recognize authenticity. Find out the price BEFORE anything is weighed or poured for you, and don't be fooled by the friendliness of the seller. Otherwise you will end up with a bunch of 10 x overpriced stuff in your bag before you even understand what's happening. We were shocked to hear that the price of 2 bottles of fragrant oils, one magic heal-it-all ointment, a box of local sweets and spices totalled up to more than 1000 USD. And the Egyptian saffron, very possibly, wasn't even real as it's not grown here in large quantities to supply to each small shop, and it leaked yellow color right upon the contact with water while it supposedly should take a few minutes (that I researched later). We were only able to book half-board from the US, which means that lunch and all the spirited drinks at dinner, or all drinks at other times than breakfast/dinner are extra. Not sure for whatever reasons full all-inclusive option was not available through the direct online booking with the hotel, but it was a bit of a nuisance. Keep that in mind. Hotel told us the full-board would be available upon reaching out to the Guest Relationship Team by email. Many other guests had all-inclusive bracelets, which might have been a deal by their travel agencies (we traveled independently). The hotel is located about 2.5 hrs from Hurghada, where you may have to go, because direct flights from the nearby Marsa Alam to Cairo currently are only every other day. This may change though, depending on the Covid situation. Plan accordingly. While there are a few other hotels next to the Steigenberger, keep in mind that the nearest town with some streets and shops is Port Ghalib about 30 min south. It didn't bother us at all, but for someone needing more social life it could be an issue. I believe the hotel can arrange a...