First review in a long time as a single traveller, and my 20th visit to Egypt (So I have seen good and bad over the years) this one is certainly not by all means the best, but all things considered, it's what you're willing to accept as acceptable, but on the other hand, if you consider it is taking hotels a long time to recoup COVID losses, however, the question is "to what extent do you cut cost?".
Location - The hotel is situated a 25-minute drive from the airport and a 15-minute walk from the hotel to the beach. However, there is a free shuttle bus each morning, which returns for lunch. Your all-inclusive wristband will get you free sunbeds at the beach.
Reception - check-in is quick, depending on group size, and the porters are prompt, the exchange rate is pretty good from a sterling perspective (at the time of writing exchange rate is £1 =2) so £1 or equivalent is enough of a gratuity.
Room - I was staying in room 212, (my comments only relate to this room, as I cannot comment on the rest of the hotel However, having spoken to a few guests, it seems a familiar picture throughout) it has a balcony facing the road and it is only two doors down from the hotel Spa, which I have to say are excellent for the price you pay (head, back and foot massage £20)
All rooms have air-con, basic furniture, beds, chairs, a table, dressing table, wardrobe, fridge etc, but I needed to ask for a safe, recommended for peace of mind, especially as I found that the cleaners do not lock the sliding windows onto the balcony! The furniture comes across as rustic, but the bathroom is another matter. The paint peeling off the ceiling, the toilet seat won't stay up, shower rail hanging on by a thread. It was not ideal, but it did for my needs, especially as the room is only a base.
On the surface, the rooms are cleaned daily, and the cleaners do a good job, however, if you look at the detail, light switches and wall lights and floors, trailing TV wires, and curtains off rail tracks, you may think otherwise. If you're looking for luxury, this isn't it, but a room to sleep and shower, is acceptable, with clean sheets and towels, and remember the mosquito protection, it is advisable to have some or buy some spray from the attached supermarket, it's excellent stuff. The shop also sells oils that the local airborne pests hate and seem to work well.
Restaurant- All-inclusive, 3 meals a day, Breakfast 07:00-09:00, Lunch 13:00-15:00 and dinner 19:00 - 21:00. The menu is very basic, in my opinion, and even though there are labels, these do not contain any allergen information. Maybe I've been spoilt at other hotels in Egypt, even with the same star rating, but coffee and tea are not done by machine but in coffee pots. There is one juice and water, but there is no bar in the restaurant. You need to ask a waiter to go get soft and alcoholic drinks from the bar (lunch & dinner). The waiters, however, are very attentive and will get anything for you (I had to ask each morning for a simple thing like butter for rolls or toast, as it wasn't available on the counter.) Overall, I wasn't a fan and even got an Egyptian belly for a couple of days, which happened twice, and I stayed clear of beef and fish, the normal culprits. However, it's the hotel staff that make Viva Sharm the place it is (aside from a few that looked consistently miserable) always eager to please.
Pool/Animation team - The pool area was quiet in the mornings (November), with a majority choosing to go to the beach, so there was no need to rush for the sunbeds, and the pool was kept clean by the towel attendants (you have a towel card in exchange for a towel) and the sunshades can be raised if requested. My biggest bug, if you excuse the pun, is the number of flies and mosquitos around the pool area, it did get to be a real issue for me, but the real lack of flycatchers was abundantly clear as they were non-existent. Other hotels I've stayed in have been fumigated daily and have fly traps around the pool area (simple, cheap and effective) The pool with a bar (opens at 10:00 - sundown) that offers some drinks (No Beer or Wine?! at any bar in the hotel), but soft drinks, spirits, and coffee and tea.
The animation team was just one man, Mamood, who was the life and soul of the hotel. He spoke to everyone daily and tried his hardest to get me in the pool (it was too cold for me) or join him for pool aerobics, volleyball, darts, etc. He was also the DJ, very entertaining with his pool dances (one criticism, maybe a bit too loud), and he even led the evening events, which were judged by how many people were in the hotel. During my week, we had no entertainment brought in due to a lack of residents. So discos and drinks seemed the way to go. However, a good option was to jump in a taxi to absorb the nightlife somewhere locally.
Bazaar/shop - attached to the hotel entrance area is a small convenience store where you can buy drinks, snacks, creams, etc, and a bazaar for swimming stuff/gifts and oils, etc The owner is very helpful and will not rip you off. if you need medication, then if you walk right out of the hotel, about 5 minutes down the road is a pharmacist. I needed some tablets that I had on a prescription that I forgot to pack, and they had them available over the counter. There is also a Pizzeria 100 yards down from the hotel, and at the top of the road to the left is a bigger supermarket and a dive centre.
WiFi - this can only be accessed in the reception area. It seemed most people's port of call after food. user:viva pass:123456.
The hotel was a multicultural unit with English, Russian, German, and Egyptian holidaymakers.
Overall - The hotel gardens and paths are kept clean and tidy, and well maintained with the exterior looking clean and fresh, but if you look past the hotel's inner tiredness you are not too bothered about the food variety, or being directly on a beach, then this is the ideal venue, especially as you can get anywhere (Naama bay, Soho Sq. Etc) by taxi, which is in good supply outside the hotel.
Excursions can be booked by coral excursions that visit the hotel, or there is an excursion booking place 150 yards down the road on the left, but look on Trip Advisor before you arrive, it will give you the best and worst and consider the exchange rate for the real cost and what you get on the trip, and for taxis consider what is a fair price and stick to it.
This trip needed total relaxation for me with little distraction, especially as I was still recovering from an illness (Shingles), so I was more than happy to laze around the pool all day, reading, sleeping and listening to podcasts.
On a side note, COVID is still out there, UK cases have increased, and I didn't see any preventative measures like the cleaning of things we all touch around the hotel. Chair arm handles table tops, sunbed toppers, and the pool floor area were NOT washed down regularly. Not even the sunbed tables had been cleaned for the entire week I was in residence. Maybe the pool attendants could do more around the pool other than be on their phones or blow whistles just for the sake of it. It's only a suggestion, but the little things matter.
So, out of all my experiences, would I come back here? Probably not. The team, for the most part, are great, attentive, and happy. But when I eat the same thing every day, due to personal tolerances I still get a dodgy stomach. (TWICE), you would question the hygiene standards (are they using bottled water to wash everything?), and to have no entertainment, then people are forced to go look for it. We also had holidaymakers book out early and move to nearby hotels, and even in one case a couple only lasted one night and then moved to another hotel, which speaks volumes about the basic needs of people's expectations. (I suppose it could question what holidaymakers consider would be an acceptable standard, and what is the minimum 'all-inclusive' expectation? I do believe in these times of the global cost of living issues, and Egyptians devalued £, you need to give holidaymakers a reason to stay in the hotel, entertain them, have a definite day/evening entertainment agenda, have an information pack in the rooms, all easy stuff, but the management team needs to work Smarter, not harder, and it doesn't need to cost the earth either.
Footnote... After speaking to one of the team members in the hotel, the change needed seems to have been recognised, and as a manager myself, getting the foundation done with basic, hygiene, maintenance, security and cleaning, can only be a good thing, and balancing perception and cost is no easy feat, but if it's seen, it can only be positive.
