SUNRISE Crystal Bay Resort — Hotel in Red Sea

My partner and I have just returned from a 10 day stay at this hotel. I booked it as a surprise for his 50th Birthday. I booked a Junior Suite with Sea view direct with TUI and emailed the hotel before hand to request a room on a high floor and as near to the sea as possible and to notify them of my partners birthday. They replied swiftly acknowledging both. ||We arrived late evening, but found check-in to be a relatively smooth and quick process. We were given a complimentary drink and a cold towel which was refreshing after a long journey. Having completed the check-in process we were taken on a golf buggy to our room by a member of staff who pointed out a few things enroute. We were allocated room 352 which was on the top floor and at the end of the block as requested. ||The room had everything we wanted and needed for our 10 night stay. There was a separate living room area to the bedroom which gave us plenty of room. The main bedroom had a large bed which was comfortable. There were only two of us in our party but the sofa bed in the living room area had been made up which I had read on previous reviews would likely to be the case though I'm not quite sure why this is. There was a separate wardrobe area off the living room and a large spacious bathroom. The balcony area was spacious and overlooked the bay which was pleasant. We found that the room was cleaned and replenished daily and often had a knock at the door late in the afternoon enquiring if we needed anything further. After our 2nd day we did utilise the TUI app to request our mini bar be filled daily as it hadn't been. We did find that although we requested this daily and it was acknowledged and refilled there was no consistency as to what items would be left. Although the rooms were adequate for our stay and more than sufficient for what we wanted and needed, I would say they did feel quite dated and in need of renovation compared to other 5* hotels I have stayed in. A modernaisation of these would really bring this hotel up a notch. (There are no USB ports within the rooms, the telephone next to the bed didn't work and was old and discoloured, and the patio door rattled in the wind which were just some of the minor observations noted). ||Each day we utilised the sunbeds at the Oasis beach area which is the adults only section and perfect for us travelling with no children. On arrival you are given towel cards which you can exchange at the huts for fresh towels. We have never experienced a system like this but it worked well and never had any issues. We also collected a red flag from here which stops you being bothered by the sellers who come round regularly. We never had any difficulty getting a sunbed and whether at the Oasis beach or around the bay they appeared plentiful at all times of day! We never used the pool area so cant comment on the situation there. The bartender - Hanna Wasef at the Oasis beach area looked after us well regularly bring us drinks throughout the day. From here we could access the sea from the pontoon. It is worth noting that there are a lot of jellyfish in the bay and we noted some days appeared worse than others. These jellyfish are however harmless but depending on your love for sealife can give you a bit of a fright when your swimming and touching them! My only gripe was that on the last 2 days of our holiday without for-warning the bar at the Oasis beach appeared to be going through a renovation and a temporary one set up nearby. This renovation led to loud noise of hammering and angle grinding which isn't what I wanted on a holiday! ||The food in this hotel was very good and we never experienced a bad meal. We only did breakfast one day at the buffet otherwise we generally only ate lunch and dinner. We opted to use Yades most days for lunch which served some lovely pizzas, burgers and sandwiches. This is situated between the pool and beach area so was an ideal location. My only complaint of this restaurant during the day was that it could do with offering more shaded areas as there was nowhere really to sit to get away from the heat of the sun for a period of time whilst eating. Having booked through TUI we utilised the app regularly to book the al a carte restaurants for our evening meal. We had no issues any night getting into any of these restaurants and tried them all except Felucca (seafood). As previously said the food here was really good and we really enjoyed visiting Manhoor and Dalia. We also enjoyed Mangal, but on the 2 occasions we visited here we did find the service in this restaurant let it down compared to everywhere else on the complex. ||The hotel in itself is quite a large complex and you can defitnley get your steps in moving around, however for us this was perfect as we are two active people. We didn't utilise the gym facilities but did find we could run quite happily and safely around the perimeter paths of this complex. ||The staff here on the whole are really friendly, polite and can't do enough to look after you and are a credit to the hotel. The bartenders at the main bar of an evening were brilliant and got to know our order and replenished our drinks regularly without request. ||Our return flight was late at night and we were not due to be picked up until 8pm and so the night before we requested to keep our room until 6pm. I did this through the TUI app which was quickly acknowledged and granted this costs €40 or $45 usd which was paid on departure. ||Overall we were very happy with our stay and although some small minor complaints or observations we...

What can I say about this hotel other than it is total paradise has everything that you could ever wish for and has become a second home for me and my family. Quite honestly the best two weeks.

The rooms are beautiful and clean and offer a fantastic view no matter where they are located. The hotel grounds themselves are beautifully kept and cleaned throughout the day and night.

Throughout our stay housekeeping went out of their way to ensure we had everything including fresh towels and water even if we did not need our room cleaning.

Getting down to the pool at around 10am we had no problem securing sun loungers around the pool, parasols are provided if you require some shade and the staff including lifeguards are all friendly and lovely to talk to. They ensure the pool area is kept tidy and try their best to make sure the floor surrounding is dry (be careful it can get quite slippy)

The food….. in the main restaurant what can I say there is something for everyone though not much of a breakfast person the rest of my family enjoyed breakfast from waffles and pancakes and cereals even the fussiest of eaters (me) could find something to eat. Lunch for us was spent at Yades which is amazing.

Yades caters for all and they are quite happy to remove certain items from meals if you do not like them or are intolerant. Dining from 12-5 for lunch was also great as it meant the late risers could have lunch later.

The main restaurant again for Dinner was brilliant different themes with plenty to choose from including sushi, spaghetti bolognaise and even chicken nuggets. The restaurant can get quite busy at certain times but the staff are amazing at quickly clearing tables and bringing drinks more or less as soon as you have sat down.

The A La carte restaurants in particular Mangal was beautiful for those who love bbq it is a must we booked here three times during our stay as the food is delicious as is the atmosphere.

The bars: every single member of bar and waiter staff were 100% attentive, friendly and caring. Special mention to Pepsi, Mohammed, Omar and Hassan creating wonderful new mocktails for my 10 year old daughter Bella including as she called it the Pepsi special ❤️❤️

Mohammed round the pool all day ❤️ what a truly amazing guy ❤️ never went without a drink any day and he always brought an extra over before he went on his dinner break.

Ahmed who deals with room service is an incredible guy who provided us with snacks and macaroons.

If you have made it this far into my completely honest review I have one last thing to mention the animation team!!!!!!

The most amazing group of people you could ever wish to have on your holiday they really make the hotel what it is. It’s filled with fun laughter and games. Starting at the pool at 10 with brilliant club dances that they go out of the way to teach you there is something for everyone…. Pool games, aqua fit, aqua gym, aqua fun and water polo. Darts, ping pong, giant jenga and chess, volleyball, Zumba and more. There is no pressure to get involved but it is encouraged especially as it is sooo much fun. They go out of their way to involve you speak to you and learn about you. Foam parties, pool party’s, beach party’s and trips to the Arena Mega show are a must. Amazing shows in the amphitheatre, live singers in the lobby bar, and dances and guest interaction. A massive special mention to Joe, Ivy, Ahmed, Olivia, Lene, Mano, Mo, Katia, saeed and Di ma. We will miss these guys so much my daughter absolutely loved every single one of them they included her in absolutely everything and even let her ‘join’ the animation team. Without every single one of these the holiday wouldn’t have been as special. Emily in guest relations is an absolute superstar too having been previously part of the animation team last year it was lovely to see a friendly face who could deal with any issues (not that we had any) Definitely booking this hotel again as I couldn’t ask for anything more. Felt so safe and secure in the knowledge that wherever me and my family went we were...

I've struggled to write this review as I'm in two minds about the hotel. I think if it had been my first visit to an Egyptian hotel I think I would have given a higher review and been more positive about i the hotel in general, the service and def the sea experience.

Positives. My first impressions were good, the reception was welcoming and the checking in was quick and easy. The man who took us to our rooms was helpful and informative. Our rooms 538 and 539 were nice 538 a double and 539 twins which suited our needs. Everything in the room worked, was clean and easy to use. I wouldn't say the rooms blew you away but wasn't bad. The view was really lovely, you overlooked the pool and Greek and could see a bit of the sea - all rooms seem to overlook the pool and some the sea so no need to upgrade the rooms. Our cleaner, Amuqtadir was so lovely, friendly and helped decorate the rooms for my birthday and my daughters. Visually the pool area, beach and food areas are lovely. So well looked after and pretty. Always plenty of places to sit by the pool, the beach or the dock. Sorry I don't have names but the guy taking orders at the pool was amazing, literally running around all day taking orders and collecting glasses. I like that you can get a red flag and the selling team or entertainment team then leave you alone - should be rolled out to all hotels. The entertainment team were really lovely, friendly and happy and not pushy if you didn't want to join In. Big shout out to Luca who we are really going to miss. Others were great too but didn't take everyone's names I'm afraid. Plenty to do The Indian was amazing, really enjoyed the food. The BBQ on site was great and made a fuss when it was my birthday without us even telling them. Greek for lunch was nice Breakfast in the buffet was lovely

Negatives.

Major one for us was no snorkeling - there really wasn't life in the sea! There was a cute family of puffers at the floating dock and a few Picasso triggers and a few other small fish that lived under the dock but that was about it. We didn't see anything from the other beach or dock. This for us is normally a major part of the holiday and a big part of going to Egypt and felt like a big let down. The shallow end of the beach was very murky and didn't look inviting at all - not sure if it's the man made sand or lack of flow but seemed dirty and had a weird green colour to it.

Food in the buffet hall (apart from breakfast) really didn't cut it. It's the first holiday where I struggled and didn't just want to eat salad (which had a great selection) The food was in small dishes and looked so dried out as it was under heat lamps - the pasta looked horrible The same foods seemed to repeat nightly with just a few items changing. For a the size of the hotel the buffet hall is small and can't imagine it would cope well at peak season - I'm assuming they plan on you going to the other restaurants more? The service for lunch and dinner for drinks was very slow and repeat drinks were not easy.

3 out of 4 of us had tummy issues and heard of many other people complaining - one of the days the loos at the pool were q-ing most of the day. We wasn't sure if it was the food or ice or drinks? One thing we noticed was that pool glasses were collected, quickly rinsed and reused so we started using some plastic pint cups we had brought in case it was this.

Until we had a red flag the amount of people selling services around the pool was a joke, non stop several times a day you had to be rude to make them leave you alone.

I don't think service at the hotel is like others we have stayed in. It's not so much a tip culture here but I do feel this shows in the service. I don't feel the people were as friendly, not saying they wasn't friendly but just something was missing.

We came and enjoyed the holiday but didn't fall in love like the other 6 times we've been to Egypt. Sadly we...