Domina Coral Bay Aquamarine Hotel & Resort

The location is still the best, but restaurant and bar prices have gone up over the last few years. Two coffees and a croissant cost €8, and dinner at the Coral restaurant buffet is €30. Padel court prices are even higher than in Europe.

Everything else was good, and the customer service was excellent. Special thanks to Dalia in the guest relations department. The food could use more variety and improvement, and the rooms need renovation and maintenance.

The pool was clean, a decent size, and had plenty of sunbeds available in October. The entrance and reception area are attractive and clean, with comfortable sofas. Rooms were cleaned to a high standard, but they’re very dated and don’t have enough sockets for charging devices. The location was okay, about a 10-minute drive to Naama bay. There’s a McDonald’s outside the hotel, though walking there takes about 20 minutes because the hotel entrance is so large. There isn’t much else within walking distance. Food was a real letdown, with almost no variety. The pasta wasn’t cooked properly, the chef just heated it in hot water with your chosen ingredients and sauce, then served it. There is a full vegan section, which might suit vegans, but the food otherwise wasn’t ideal. The La Carte restaurants cost extra on top of all inclusive. It’s decent value at the current online price of about £50 per night for a basic room. Still, the reception service was very slow, possibly because of understaffing or staff working slowly. The reception bar isn’t included in the all inclusive zone, which seems a shame when guests like to sit there with family or friends and WiFi works best in reception. If you want a place mainly to sleep and freshen up between activities, it could suit you. I’d rate it three stars.

The sea view upgrade made the trip for us, and it was free. Karam at reception was great, and later Mohamed helped us extend our stay in the same room so we didn’t have to move. The view was magical and the place was amazing. Our check-in started badly, though. Some foreign women on the left side of the reception hall, who I later learned might have been real estate staff, handled us disrespectfully and nearly threw the check-in bracelets at us. The Egyptian reception staff turned things around, welcomed us with a smile, and apologized even though it wasn’t their fault. The rooms have been renovated but still don’t feel five-star, and the food was just okay. The view and the service from the Egyptian staff earned Coral five stars from me.