The Grand Palace Hotel — Hotel in Red Sea

Pool pool tiles need to be looked at- quite a few are chipped with sharp edges (can cut you)

Food and drinks the hotel has a main buffet style restaurant and 4-5 other restaurants. Breakfast is decent (heavily based on eggs if you’re a fan of eggs). You have other options like falafel, salads, pancakes, waffles, selection of breads and pastries, porridge. Note, the salads are the same everyday and the selection is not great. Breakfast finishes at 10am but they start clearing 15-20 minutes before. I was still eating and the waiter tried to take my plate. I found this very rude. We tried the indochinese restaurant and Indian restaurant for dinner. The indochinese was very good the first time (the menu is limited and the same every day. It must be booked a day in advance via reception). When we went the second time round, I ended up getting a really bad upset stomach (to the extent I was puking all night). The Indian restaurant on the other hand was poor. Batched cooked and salty. However, they did have other items on the menu at an extra charge. Some items were tasty (especially tandoori prawns). The main buffet style restaurant was okay - nothing special. For a 5* I was expecting a wider selection. One thing to note is that dinner finishes at 9pm in all restaurants (inclusive option). Not ideal if you have done a full day excursion with no dinner option. As a general tip, if it doesn’t taste right or if it is warm when it’s supposed to be cold (like salad and dairy) or if it is cold when it is supposed to be served hot, don’t eat it. Hotel management should consider in investing in more cold units so salads and dairy can stay cold. Otherwise more people will start complaining. Alcoholic drinks are severely watered down and of cheap quality. It might be worth taking a few bottles from duty free to enhance the experience. Also, the cocktails are not what you think they are. Standard ones like pina colada are okay but do not be surprised if the rest taste different. In my opinion the best cocktail was sex on the beach. Order a separate shot of vodka and top it up, otherwise it tastes like a tooty fruity juice. The slope outside the main restaurant taking you to the pools and rooms is quite slippery. You can even slip in flip flops. The beach club is a good option for lunch (grilled sandwiches, pizzas, pastas, salads) There is a hidden dessert place near the beach club (Blue cafe). The menu looks appealing but what you get is different to what the menu states. I ordered a crepe with a warm date filling and vanilla ice cream. I got a plain crepe with chocolate sauce drizzled on top and vanilla ice cream. However, the crepe itself was nice.

Rooms As mentioned above, we were able to get upgrades at reasonable prices (junior suite with pool access at an extra €30 euros per night from a junior suite garden view). Rooms are fairly clean. The shower was nice and spacious but due to the angling, the water did not fully drain. We were left with a massive puddle of water which did not evaporate Housekeeping kept forgetting to give us hand towels. Also, the towels are off-white in colour and stained. This is something you have to live through.

General WiFi is free in the reception area. Other areas are an extra charge. Note, the amount is per device, not per user as stated at reception Entertainment is an extra charge The massage parlour at the hotel is very good. It is recommended to do at least one at the start of your holiday and one at the end. Prices can be negotiated (at present). You can select the pressure. If you like it soft, medium or hard you must tell them. Since it opened a few days ago, you do have workers in the surrounding areas so bear that in mind. Also, the partition walls have holes at the bottom (feature walls). It lets in more sound than standard walls. The floor could be more clean, but I suppose that should change once all the work is finished. The gym is located at their sister hotel (200m down the road). This is not really ideal in the...

I recently stayed at the Grand Palace Hotel in Egypt, and it was an incredible experience from start to finish (except of the taxi transfer organized by the hotel)!

Firstly, the pool area is absolutely stunning—it’s like a little paradise with beautiful landscapes and plenty of space to relax and unwind. The entire ambiance of the hotel is just breathtaking; you can feel the attention to detail everywhere, from the decor to the well-kept gardens. The rooms are large, spacious, and impeccably clean.

What truly sets this hotel apart, though, is the amazing staff. Every single person, from the waiters to the kitchen staff and housekeeping, is incredibly friendly and always greets you with a smile. It’s clear that they genuinely enjoy their work, and it really adds to the warm and welcoming atmosphere. A small tip is always appreciated, and it’s nice to see how much effort everyone puts into making your stay special. I would especially like to thank both Ahmeds from Grand Palace!

The food here is also top-notch. The buffet restaurant offers a wide variety of delicious dishes, and if you’re in the mood for something different, there are five à la carte restaurants to choose from. I highly recommend trying the Asian restaurant; the flavors and presentation were simply outstanding. It’s definitely a must-visit if you’re staying here.

Despite the size of the hotel, it never feels overcrowded. The layout is very spacious, so even when it’s busy, you still have plenty of room to enjoy the facilities without feeling cramped. The beach is equally lovely, with clear blue waters and a perfect spot to relax and take in the sun.

The hotel itself is lovely and has many good qualities, but I have to warn you about one thing: Do not use the taxi service provided by the hotel! We got completely ripped off and scammed.

The fixed price from the airport to the hotel is 20 euros – for a trip that only takes about five minutes. The price is absolutely outrageous. Normally, you could take an Uber, which would cost around two euros. The only issue is that you can’t always be sure how reliable Uber is in this area. That’s why I highly recommend booking a ride through Booking.com instead. I did this for the return trip, and it was a great experience: I paid eight euros and had a brand-new bus all to myself. Compared to the transfer we had through the hotel, it was a world of difference. The hotel taxi was old, we had to squeeze in tightly, and there was hardly any space.

The worst part came when we arrived at the hotel. The driver was extremely rude and even begged us for more money. He claimed he had waited for us for two and a half hours because our flight was delayed – even though we had provided the flight number. Instead of being flexible and arriving a bit later, he blamed us and practically tried to squeeze more money out of us. He was very pushy, bothering my mother, my aunt, and my cousin, and became really unpleasant. I’ve rarely experienced such rudeness.

My conclusion: Avoid the hotel taxi service at all costs! There are much better and cheaper alternatives out there. I highly recommend booking a transfer through Booking.com. The driver was super nice, punctual, and reliable. If you’re feeling lucky, you could try using Uber, but my tip remains Booking.com. This way, you’ll save yourself a lot of hassle and avoid starting your holiday on a sour note.

Overall, I had a fantastic time at the Grand Palace Hotel. The beautiful setting, great food, and outstanding service made for an unforgettable stay. Thank you to the entire team for making this trip so special—I can’t wait to come back!

Overall rating is 4 out of 5 stars because of the...

Nothing Grand about the Grand Palace -NOT the hotel to spend NYEve What a disappointing end to 2023 and even worse start to 2024 Spent over $1,000 for 1 night all inclusive for 8 persons. Repeatedly messaged the hotel prior to arrival asking for plan for any gala buffet/entertainment to which we did not receive a reply. Every other hotel on the site does state clearly if your rate does or doesn’t include

Checked in advised $73pp for set dinner (choice of 3 menus) and entertainment - asked if we could just eat at the buffet and then enjoy the entertainment and was advised $30pp! So we reluctantly negotiated $40pp for the event - what a big mistake that was!

1/ seated in wrong area for the menu agreed which proved a challenge and confusion for staff - where we should have been had far more superior seating for comfort and atmosphere 2/ food extremely disappointing to the point my husband left and went to the buffet therefore eating on his own, another friend didn’t eat anything. The manager was aware we weren’t happy and pushed for him to have a steak which thankfully was cooked to perfection. In the meanwhile my husband loving the selection and quality in the buffet. No one had every course available but the only item we all enjoyed was the asparagus soup 3/ quality of wine is disgusting - thank the Lord we brought our own 4/ entertainment was shocking, the usual belly dancer, whirling dervish and as for the ‘live singer’ - not 2 words I would have used to describe him. In between all this the music playlist left a lot to be desired to the point the staff even offered guests to plug their phones into the laptop if they had better. My husband would would have gladly done this had it been iPhone compatible. The only outstanding act was a spanish dance synchronised drummer band, they were mesmerising and a complete waste of their talent to perform at 1am to about 15 pax at this point. 5/ had advised service until 2am but at 1:30 refused drinks, lights went on, management and staff hurriedly removing tables making it quite clear we should be retiring

Now don’t get me wrong we had some laughs and a great night with friends but paying $400 basically for 8 bowls of soup has left a sour taste in the mouth No one should have paid for what was delivered. The Grand Hotel next door looked more like the place to be.

Having spent NYEve in many hotels in Hurghada this was seriously nowhere near on level with Steigenberger Makadi, Desert Rose, Kaisol Romance and even Tropitel, all of which do not charge you extra as an all inclusive guest and deliver an awesome night

So on checkout requested a refund of the $400, not an unreasonable request - 3 hours and 5 managers later told No because we should have complained at the time!

Customer service dismissive and rude! Never will I return or recommend this hotel when they had every opportunity to redeem themselves and be...