Casa Mare Resort - ex, Royal Tulip Beach Resort

Dinner was the weak point for us, since the choices were limited and nearly the same dishes came out each day. Breakfast, on the other hand, was very good and enjoyable. The resort was clean throughout, which helped make our stay comfortable. It was a pleasant visit overall, and more dinner variety would make it even better.

I know from working in hospitality that replying to a guest is the bare minimum. Silence just doesn't feel professional, and this has been very disappointing. Back in November 2017, I stayed at Casa Mare Resort and helped management during an overbooking problem by giving up my room under a clear agreement. It directly helped the hotel. More recently, I contacted the resort several times over more than two weeks and didn't receive even a brief acknowledgment. Whether they can still honor an agreement after all these years is one question. Ignoring a former regular guest completely is another. This isn't how returning guests should be treated.

We travel a lot and know what to expect at Egyptian resorts, but this felt like a fake “5-star” hotel trying to get every extra euro from guests. The cleaners were polite and did their jobs, which was about the only thing that worked. I wouldn't go back. Save your money, nerves and health, and avoid Casa Mare. The bed bugs were the worst part. After a few nights we woke with red, itchy bites in a chain pattern. Reception said it was mosquitoes and wouldn't look into it. They moved us only after we insisted, and a few other couples reportedly had the same problem. The next day, new tourists were put in our old room. Completely unacceptable. Drinks were undrinkable for us. The wine smelled and tasted like paint thinner, cocktails used cheap local spirits, and even the soft drinks tasted off. We had stomach problems after beer, which stopped as soon as we quit drinking it. Stick to bottled water, don't play with your health. Food was a disaster: cheap ingredients, heavily reused, and the same taste day after day. They cut sponge cakes and puff pastries into different shapes to suggest variety, but they were all soaked in syrup. The fruit and salads were cut in a way that looked poor and pathetic. Ground beef appeared daily in different forms, called kofta, meatballs or burgers. The advertised tuna and barracuda stand offered small mackerel when we asked. They kept promising tuna in five minutes for over an hour, but there wasn't any. Total disrespect. At the grill, the trays were empty, cooks stood around chatting, and only oily vegetables were available. The “Indian kebab” was beef goulash. Cow is sacred in India, which says a lot about how little they knew or cared about the food. We arrived around 2:00 AM and were taken to a restaurant, where the only meal was cold chicken nuggets and fries. We waited almost three hours, with several complaints, before getting a room at 5:00 in the morning. The first room smelled strongly of paint and had twin beds plus a baby bed, despite us being a young couple without kids. After we asked to change rooms, we got a double bed, but the ground-floor “garden view” was literally a wall two meters away. From the start, it felt like management only cared if you paid extra. They kept pushing VIP access for €75 per person, supposedly for bottled water, Wi-Fi and basic treatment, things we consider standard at every 4-star hotel in Egypt. Without it, we felt treated like second-class guests. This place should be three stars at best.

We were very satisfied overall. The staff were friendly, snorkeling by the pier was great, and there was a wide food selection. The beach restaurant also had good lunch options, and the entertainment team kept us engaged with good evening shows. The hotel is a bit far from shops and other places, and the salespeople at the onsite shop and spa could sometimes be overwhelming.