Serenity Alpha Beach 5*

Firstly, by any means, DO NOT GO to this place. This is not a 5*-hotel. You will be really disappointed..

And here is why I say this:

We (young couple) visited this place for 12 days in July-August '14. Although they name themselves a 5*-hotel (given by the Ministry of Culture of Egypt), they barely get 2-3* compared to US, European or Asian hotels.

Reception

For the info, in this place, where there are more than 1000 guests, there are only 2 receptionists working there, hence the lines all the time.

The first impression was at the check-in, where, after standing in the line for 10 minutes to access the receptionist, he (name: Hany) barely looking, smiling or paying attention on me stated: "Passport!" and gave me a paper, saying: "Fill-in!"

The next impression was when I asked them for help registering in the restaurant. The same guy (Hany) replied "YOU ARE LATE". after asking why he was so aggressive, he replied that he is not.

One more issue was on the day of departure: I called the reception 45 minutes prior to departure to send me the bell boy (My room was on the 3rd floor with no elevator). Then, after 30 minutes I called them one more time, where they answered something in Arabic and hang-up. Finally, no bell boy came...

The final and the worst experience was on the check-out: After paying for the extras, I asked the receptionist (name: Mahmoud) whether there was anything else needed from my side. I did it 3 times, but I was paid no attention or got answered, after what I left the reception. After two minutes I get shouted upon "HEY GEORGIA (my nationality), COME HERE". I got very angry, got back to them (Hany, Mahmoud) and explained that they don't have any idea what a service is. Their shouting answer together with waving fingers: "TALK WITH ME WITH RESPECT! I WORK HERE." After saying that I want to talk to the Manager, Mahmoud pointed on Hany, lying he is the manager. There was nothing else to be said to them, because they are just so rude and ultimately unprofessional and unable to communicate with guests! I left.

Rooms

Although we were located in the best block of rooms with a sea-view, the room was really bad. Air-conditioning was hardly working. There was a shortage of electricity every day (differing from 5 seconds up to an hour). The blankets were torn and dirty. The towels had spots on them too.

Room service

They would knock on the door (not paying attention on the sign "Do not disturb") all the time, talking to you with bad English, asking strange questions. Once, after their knocking on the door and me replying it was occupied, he said he just wanted to look in the toilet and that it would take just 2 minutes. Until I replied several times "No" he didn't go out. The next day when we get back to the room, there was some chemical poured all over the toilet, having a horrible smell in the whole room. It turned out that the hotel communication had problems and the water from our toilet was pouring in the room one floor down. Again the reception called and woke us up, shouting that we have to go to another room straight ahead... They let us wait for the bell boy for an hour to take the luggage to the room...

Food & Beverages

The food – AWFUL! There was nothing that I can say I liked. You get the same food for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. The Restaurants (named Italian, Andalusian, Mexican, etc.) also serve the same bad food as in the main diner. If you are hungry/thirsty you might die in the line waiting for food/beverages. The beverages are totally unhealthy, namely: Non-alcoholic drinks (Pineapple, Orange, Apple juice, Cola, Sprite) are made of water + powder. Alcoholic drinks are so awful, you can barely drink them. Beer seems to be ok, but after drinking 7 little glasses, I got a terrible headache for the whole day.

Staff

In general, the staff can be described as TOTALLY UNFRIENDLY AND UNPROFESSIONAL. As you might know, no females work in Egypt (or in this place for sure). Apart from reception and room service staff, there are others working as waiters in the diner. They wear lousy green shirts which look very dirty and have sexist views on the guests. The same can be said regarding the beach/pool staff, though they seem to be formally “friendly”. Also, one day I got my towel stolen from the pool. After communicating with the staff, they said they will help and to come the next day, but no help at all... A general change in the management and staff might help!

Points Policy

I assume the management knows about the horrible service they have, that’s why they write a letter to you on the departure day saying that for each positive rating on the web-sites (TripAdvisor.com, HolidayCheck.com, TopHotels.ru) guests get 10$/each. That's why I think most of the positive feedback is a lie.

Other

Lines everywhere

No sandy beach, just corals

Huge Russian community (90%), talking to you in Russian all the time

Noisy community

WiFi expensive

Free WiFi in the lobby, unable to connect though

Pool towels dirty

Worth going on excursion to Luxor and Safari. Not worth going to the islands (Utopia, Paradise, etc.)