Rixos Sharm El Sheikh Adults Only 18+ — Hotel in South Sinai

My partner and I booked a week’s all-inclusive holiday at the Rixos (adults only) Hotel in Sham El Sheik, arriving 28th August 2025. Overall, we were very disappointed in our holiday and will not go back. It’s a pity as there were some excellent aspects to the hotel. Specifically the staff, who were exceptional, both in terms of professionalism and in their friendliness and charm.

The negatives were many and varied. These are just the main ones: • Noise / entertainment: As we don’t like to listen to loud dance music all day, we avoided the pool areas and went to the beach for some peace. That was crudely interrupted at 5pm each day daily (4pm once a week for the early ‘foam party’) when the Sunset Lounge bar started it’s DJ set with very loud and crass commercial techno beats that blasted the whole beach area, giving us no choice but to leave. • The evening entertainment until midnight was also so loud you couldn’t escape it anywhere in the hotel grounds, including in your hotel room. Admittedly, the hotel does make an effort to entertain the guests with live shows, but the quality of the talent goes from impressive (acrobats) to very poor (DJs). • Lack of areas to sit in the evening and enjoy a quiet drink before or after your meal. • If you drink alcohol then be aware the branded bottles do not contain authentic the spirits. All spirits have a smell (and imagined taste) of acetone // nail polish remover. Jack Daniels was not bourbon but a very nasty whisky that wasn’t drinkable. This was the same for all spirits without exception. • 24 hour bar in reception area was carnage. We witnessed fights, men forcing themselves on women and general mess, not fitting of a quality hotel. • Very inconsistent quality of food. The Mangal BBQ and Turkish-inspired Lalazar were good. The Palm buffet was also generally of a good quality. However, the Taj Mahal, Gusto and the Asian Restaurant all had very poor food lacking in flavour, to the point of not being edible in the case of 2 dishes which had to be sent back in the Asian Restaurant. • Lighting in indoor public spaces, including restaurants was incredibly bright, like being in a supermarket rather than a restaurant. • When we checked out there was no ‘how was your stay’ or any questions asked. We left feeling pretty discarded. • As we didn’t fly until 1130pm, we left our cases with the concierge after check-out at midday. On collecting our cases at 9pm were shocked to be pointed to a room that was full of luggage and people helping themselves. Not staffed, no system in place and you could take any case or cases.

Rixos was very showy on the surface with no quality underneath. ’Fur coat and no knickers’ sums it up. We are stunned at how many people give it 5/5. We're not difficult guests - our comments are on basic things that should be better.

As mentioned, the staff were exceptional and they deserve recognition:

• Diaa – manager of Sunset Lounge Bar, who went out his way to make us very professional cocktails that disguised the flavour of the spirits, so we could have drinks we could enjoy. He was wonderful. Without him we probably wouldn’t have had a drink during the holiday. • Ibraim Saber - one of the managers of the Palm Restaurant and Magal Restaurant. He took special care and had an amazing attention to detail. • Suleiman and Salah ad-Dīn – just 2 of the amazing drivers around the resort. These men stood out by going the extra mile to remember people, speak to them in their own language and bring humour and happiness to every journey. • Ahmed – security guard in reception and bar area. Ahmed was one of 3 wonderful security guards who had a great balance dealing with difficult guests and situations, providing a feeling of security without intimidation. • Tarik and Rada – just 2 of the sales people we spoke to regularly, and enjoyed their humour and fun (Tarik) and their cultural insights (Reda). All sales people were respectful and took time to get to know us. • To all beach attendants, bar staff, restaurant staff, housekeeping, drivers and security...

Our first time at Rixos — and overall, we really enjoyed the hotel. It’s one of the best places we’ve ever stayed, maybe even the very best.

What we especially liked: • The main restaurant and the food were fantastic. Huge variety. Almost every meal included red fish served in at least three different ways. There was always meat, beef, chicken, lamb, and shrimp available — practically every single time we ate. • The service was excellent. The waiters were great — attentive, helpful, polite, always smiling, and very friendly, without being intrusive. • À la carte restaurants: We tried the Italian, Asian, Brazilian, and seafood ones. • The Italian and Asian restaurants didn’t impress us too much. • But the Brazilian restaurant was just amazing. Fresh meat right off the grill — about 5–6 types, plus a bit of seafood. The focus is clearly on the meat, and honestly, it was some of the best we’ve ever had. • Also, the Salt restaurant on the promenade served excellent seafood and red fish. Everything was very tasty.

We’d also like to give a special shoutout to our waiter Basem Heny — an amazing guy who took great care of us. Always cheerful, friendly, and in a good mood, he made our dining experience even better. We really appreciated that he remembered us, came over to check in, and paid us special attention. He truly stood out — we loved it!

The hotel grounds are large and well-maintained. There are around 6–7 pools, including two large main pools and several more private ones where usually no more than 5 people sunbathe at a time. Very relaxing and peaceful.

Entertainment was on point. While we were there, Enrique Iglesias performed — that was a huge surprise and a real “wow” moment. There was also a great party with DJ Tujamo. It’s clear the hotel puts real effort into bringing in top-level artists. Even when there are no celebrities, the evening shows are great — high quality, professionally staged, and fun to watch. Nothing amateurish — just solid entertainment.

Other nice touches: • A cozy Mövenpick ice cream café — unlimited access, 6–8 flavors, plus toppings. They even serve ice cream at breakfast. • A dedicated Specialty Coffee café — real, quality coffee made by a barista using a proper espresso machine, not just standard machine-brewed stuff.

The rooms were fine, but not quite at the same level as the rest of the hotel. Not bad — no disasters — but a little worn-out. For example, the bathroom door looked about 20 years old and had clearly been repainted several times. Definitely showing its age.

Now to the cons — reception and room service. • We arrived around 11:00 am, but check-in wasn’t until 1:30 pm. Probably due to the busy holiday period and full bookings, but still — sitting in the lobby for over two hours wasn’t pleasant. About 10 other guests were also waiting and looked just as tired. • Another issue: we missed lunch and wanted to order room service. • I scanned a QR code from a brochure and ended up in the wrong concierge chat — it was for Rixos Seagate. • They redirected me to the correct one at Rixos Sharm El-Sheikh, gave me a different number. • I wrote to that number — they told me to call another one. • I called — got redirected again. • Eventually, they said someone would message me on WhatsApp… and no one ever did. • All I wanted was a room service menu. After talking to multiple people, I still didn’t get what I needed. It left the impression that room service isn’t really set up to solve problems effectively.

Despite all this, the hotel is fantastic. We’d definitely love to come back. In fact, we’re now thinking of trying out other Rixos hotels too. Overall, we’re very happy — it was a...

But nothing is ever perfect! We arrived very late at night but were quickly checked in and upgraded! Room in quiet block 3 was huge and lovely so clean! Our housekeeper greeted us the next morning and asked when the best time to clean was. Kept it spotless gave us a cheery greeting every day and catered to our requests (extra sweetener and a couple more beers). First time here so took a couple of days working out what suited us. Everywhere was quite busy and we like a quiet life daytime. Husband prefers pool so we tried the quiet pool first. It was busy but always found space with a bit of help. A little on top of each other at times. Bar service in the morning was good but seemed to stop after lunch and the swim up bar is deep! Then I persuaded him to try the beach and we never looked back! The beach even though busy never felt crowded and it is a few steps away from a pool if the red flag is up. If you want excellent snorkelling off the beach this hotel is not for you. You are only allowed in a small area of reef and it is not as diverse as other places. The red flag was up most mornings we were there. I still managed to see a couple of species new to me though. A huge shout out to one of the men sorting out the towels on the beach I cannot remember his name I am afraid. He rescued us one day when we got to the beach and could not find space magicking up a whole set up in seconds. After that he remembered us and when he saw us walking down went and got everything ready to our preference in the place he considered the best (he was right). Yes I did tip on the first day as he went above and beyond, but he provided excellent service to all happily for a smile and a thank you! The beach bar is excellent mixing good cocktails and great service. The main man who really does the specialty drinks is incredible and looked after us very well (well me as the queen but my husband could get lost lol). Always used premium spirits. We did not really go to other bars. The food is amazing I did not have anything that was not good. The main buffet was brilliant at every meal and the chef in charge of the BBQ there decided to look after us and fed us freshly cooked kebab which was amazing! We went to the Indian where my husband had a long chat with the manager who promised to make him his favourite dish next time we visited. Also the Brazilian Asian Mangal Italian and Turkish. We liked the Turkish the most! Asian were happy to spice up my noodles. Booking was easy either via the app or guest services. We did not see a great deal of the entertainment as it is not really our thing. What we saw was good fun. Neither of us like club type music but there was a lady DJ who was incredible to watch her passion for the music radiated off her sunset parties at the beach bar were elevated when she played. The property is beautiful and well kept maintenance and ground crews must work so hard!! Are the room showing a little wear? Yes but nothing major or affecting use. If I was being picky there are not enough loos for the quiet pool as I only found a single! We go to Sharm pretty much every year and the hotel we used to go to no longer suited so I was considering the Seagate we went across there for half a day and I am glad I did not choose that one totally different feel. The service was not as good either. In short we were in heaven on earth for two weeks are spoiled for any other hotel for life and we will be back next year! Thank you to all the management and staff that made our holiday...