Panorama Portsaid Hotel

You can walk to the beach in about seven minutes, and some rooms look out over the sea. The downside was the staff chatting loudly right by my door in the morning and waking me up. Breakfast was provided, but it really wasn’t worth it and could have been better.

The building feels old and badly in need of renovation for a three-star hotel, and there was no heating, so I froze at night. Breakfast was poor, and the dining room wasn’t clean. My check-in was worse. It was late and I was exhausted, but receptionist Ahmed gave me dirty looks and said it was hard to rent a room to a single woman. I felt he was trying to scam me: I booked online for $30, while he had asked me for $45. I finally got a room by making the online booking myself instead of getting help from him. I tried to talk to manager Khalid the next morning, but he wasn’t on site, so I couldn’t discuss what had happened.

I was on the first floor, and outside noise made it hard to sleep. The service, though, was really nice. The rooms could use maintenance.

Being right in the city center made it easy to get around, and the price for one person was fair for that location. Check-in and checkout went smoothly, the bathroom was clean and looked after, and housekeeping were friendly and helpful. The room was missing basics like slippers and a safe. The mattress wasn’t very comfortable, and the air conditioning didn’t work properly. Breakfast was fresh and decent, just not anything special. No other major complaints. I’d give it 7/10.