Porto Sharm

When you get here, don’t call the lobby. The gate guard is your receptionist, and he only speaks Arabic. If you don’t have an electronic pass card to open the apartment entrance, you can’t get in or out. They say you have to pay 200 EGP to get one. They also say they have a beach, but entrance costs 50 EGP and the shuttle is 100 EGP. The house was filthy. The beds and furniture weren’t fit to sleep on or sit on, and even second-hand furniture would be better. Forget about hygiene here, I can’t explain it, look at the pictures. Bring a tent if you stay, you might be happier camping. You’ll spend your holiday killing mosquitoes, avoiding black flies and listening to the wind through the windows. Good luck to you all.

I booked through Booking at a discounted rate a month and a half in advance. When we arrived, they demanded more than twice what I had already paid, claiming they could charge extra because our passports weren’t Egyptian, even though the reservation was confirmed. Booking told us not to pay anything more and said it was likely a scam. We had to find somewhere else to stay. Terrible. Scammers/10. Avoid this place at all costs.

It’s not bad for a couple of nights, maybe just somewhere to sleep if you have other places to spend the day.

For travellers on a budget, Porto sharm can work well if you have a car or can call a taxi, since you can stay there and get around all of Sharm. It has a kids’ aqua park, an adults’ aqua park, plenty of pools, an enormous Indian style mosque, a supermarket, a cafe and a couple of restaurants. The snorkeling beach is amazing, but you can only reach it by car or Porto shuttle bus, it’s too far to walk. The beach and corals in front of the large palace to the left are worth the effort. Service is pretty slow, and room service people turn off their mobile number for days.