Badawia Hotel Reviews

I was one of a party of 10, ranging in age from 23 � 86. We stayed All Inclusive.

The hotel is, as other reviews state, clean and tidy. The rooms are basic, but remembering its 3star status, they meet expectations. The pool is refreshingly cool, and has a pool-side bar � where we spent several hours each day! However, the pool tiles need replacing; I cut my foot, as did several other people as they got out of the pool. Infact, my foot, 6 days later, is still infected.

Breakfast � Not bad, pancakes, omelette, pastries, fruit cordial and tea / coffee. The Coffee is so bad at breakfast, I couldn�t face eating. I had to wait until 10am to get a decent cup of Nescafe from the pool bar. Lunch � think back to what was served at Breakfast. Then look at what is being served for lunch. The breakfast pancake leftovers are made into cannelloni etc. Dinner � think back to lunch. The carrot and courgette salad is now a Ratatouille. You get the picture!

We gave up on the all inclusive food on the 3rd day. Perhaps we should have given up on the first day! 6 of the 10 people got really ill. It may not have been the food, but for the first few days we spent all our time at the hotel relaxing. One person lost 2 �½ stone, mother-in-law lost 1 stone, partner lost �½ stone and a friend lost 8 pounds. They were very ill! Had my Great Aunt got the tummy bug I donâ��t think she would have survived!

Food which you order and pay for is basic but quite good, we enjoyed the sandwiches and pizza. However, just phone KFC, McDonalds, Burger King, Pizza Hut and for 80p sterling they deliver to your room or poolside. Atleast you know the food wont make you ill.

All inclusive drinks - Great selection, generally served cold. You can�t order a bottle of beer, or a bottle of water but so what! A bottle would only go warm (drinks are served by the glass).

Room service - The hotel will tell you room service is 24 hours, but it isn�t! We often came back to the hotel around midnight, and were unable to even get a coffee.

Turn right out of the hotel, right again towards what looks like a dead end. Just 3 or 4 mins from the hotel entrance is a Shopping Mall with KFC, Pizza Hut, Costa Coffee etc etc. A godsend for our party, as 6 out of the 10 had to stay within 50 yards of a toilet. They had Tatu playing in concert one evening too�

had 2 weeks here it seemed forever had dinner twice the food was awfull the second time we got chicken and i thought there was a bit of hose pipe in my dish turns out it was chicken knecks revolting.the flys were every were and when they sprayed the grounds bars and all we had to put towels at the bottom of the doors or it chocked you the spray was ddt which was baned years ago. there was abus to the private beach which was good,they sold news papers at the beach which were second hand i thought this to be a great joke. never ever again

have just returned from one of my best ever holidays at this hotel. please try it the staff are brilliant, the rooms clean and airy with air con and fridge,pool spotless and huge with bar right in middle, diet mixers are available just ask , food awful but is still worth all in option as due to heat you will drink lots and works out cheaper to have it on tap. only downside is toilet rolls not plentiful so stockpile lol, beach dire tho worth a visit as coral brill, dnt want to bang on , but have travelled all over in top hotels and was really worried after reading reviews . was pleasantly surprised this hotel was very cheap and well worth it, word of warning if can avoid do not fly with monarch, leg room ok but width wise was ridiculous for a 5 hour flight and it was non stop sell sell sell , awful avoid, oh just one more thing when eating out in egypt they all add 12% sevice charge tho not publised, weather wall 2 wall sunshine from 6am till 7pm fabulous enjoy.l

Booked 5 days before flying and got a great all inclusive deal at this hotel.

Please do NOT be put off by some of the comments made previously.

Arrived late at night and got a taxi to the hotel (was cheaper than the £30 each that tour op wanted for transfer).

Ok, so the hotel:

Rooms: Are small but ideal for a cheap week away. Twin beds, shower room, wardrobe, dressing table, fridge, telly. Not sure there's anything else you could need

Food: Buffet style for all meals and typically Egyptian. The omelettes were made fresh to order and lovely, other than that, some random items which you should try anyway as it's their food, remember you're not the UK any more

Drinks: Pool bar was great for soft drinks, bottled water and beer during the day, then the other bar by the pool in the evening which included spirits (they do not serve diet drinks of any kind at this hotel)

Pool and pool area: Clean, plenty of sunbeds and sunshades, poolboy really looked after me (it's worth tipping, he then put towels out for me everyday in my favorite spot and had the sunshade up ready!). The pool was cold, but bliss and clean.

Staff: Never met such a bunch of friendly people before. They were lovely, really looked after us and eventually I didn't even have to get off my sunbed for a coffee or bottle of water during the day! Perfect

Hotel in general: Small, quiet, clean, perfect for a relaxing week's getaway if you just want to lie by the pool and do nothing (which I did on this occasion). There is a little shop in reception (cigarettes are 70p, LandM, rough equivalent to Lambert and Butler I suppose). Internet access in reception if you need it. You can get taxis outside to Na'ama Bay anytime just be sure to agree the price first (never pay more than 20LE to Na'ama, about £2.00)

We went into Na'ama Bay in the evenings a few times, it's wonderfully busy, be sure to try a shisha bar (water pipes), they're lovely and well chilled out. There's some great little cafes or bigger bars and clubs if you want some nightlife. Went to Hard Rock one evening and had a brilliant night, apparently the food in there's excellent and really cheap too. The Camel Bar is a divers bar, anyone welcome and it's got a great atmosphere. There is a Tandori Restaurant downstairs which was absolutely fabulous (better than any Indian I've had at home). This is well worth a visit and really cheap too compared to the UK.

Top tips: Right, now here's where I get a little annoyed. Please please remember you are in an Arabic country, where the religion is such that they are not used to seeing women wearing next to nothing, therefore expect to be gawped at by both men and women if you do. Have a bit of respect for their culture and cover up, if you don't then don't moan when they stare at you.

Secondly, a lot of people instantly blame the food when they're ill. More often than not, it's a huge amount of alcohol, mixed with blazing sunshine and not enough water, this WILL make you ill, NOT the food half the time. Take Immodium with you. I would like to point out, that in the week I was there, not once was I ill, but then I was sure to drink plenty (of both alcohol and water!) and stay in the shade during the hottest times of day, or at least cool off in the pool.

Finally: You WILL get hassled by the locals for things (for some reason I didn't!), but a lot of people complained about it. I found that having the courtesy to learn a couple of Arabic words such as please and thank you went a very long way. Shukran is thank you, La shukran is no thank you, use it and be firm with it and they walk away.

This was my first trip to Egypt and I have to say I absolutely loved it. I'd definitely go back, I'd definitely stay at this hotel again and if you get to grips with some of the local customs and language, your stay will be all the more better for it.

Thanks for listening, have a great holiday

I really hated every minute of my stay at this hotel and from the first day there I was trying to get my mum to get me and my boyfriend a flight back home.

I came back from there on Sunday and it was alright but I would not go again. The service in the hotel is absolutely appalling and the food! I only ate a couple of time as all it was is rice and different horrible juice style things and a little bit of meat. Breakfast is mashed potato too?!?!?

The rooms are really clean though and the pool etc is nice. It's in the middle of no mans land too and not in walking distance of anything including the beach although there is a free bus.

I think what made it bad for me is I got a tummy bug (as did nearly everyone there- some even needing injections from the doctor) so it spoilt it all. Don't book any trips in advance either as you probably will be ill, we lost 150 pounds a piece doing this.

Don't pay more than 20 Egyptian Pounds to the taxi men at front to go Naama Bay either - they will say 60 but just say 20 and walk off and they shout you back. Don't take revealing clothes either for nights out (my mistake) as I did one night and they really perv on you and the women stare at you.

If you want a good drink go to the off licence and stock your fridge up because you get a piddly bit of beer and its warm too and it takes ages - they don't do diet mixers either - talk to the captain and tip him and he will look after you.

The Italian bar at the front is great for bacon sandwiches and you can get COLD drinks (even the water is warm there because they don turn there fridges on?!?)

It really is the worst place I have ever been to but each to their own, you might try it and love it but I was so disappointed
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The only good thing was meeting some nice people.