SHARM HOLIDAY RESORT

There’s no way this is a 4-star hotel. The rooms are extremely dated and the beds are very hard and uncomfortable. The food in the so-called restaurant was awful. I’ve stayed in a 4-star hotel in Egypt before, and this definitely wasn’t one. I gave it two stars, which is generous, thanks to the bar and pool staff.

I was supposed to have a pool view room but got one at the back instead. I got bitten all over my legs and feet in the bedroom. The floors around the pool weren’t cleaned properly, and drinks came in little party cups. Bring your own drink and plenty of spending money if you plan to eat out every day. The rooms are old-fashioned. The shower leaked, and I couldn’t get the temperature right, it was either too cold or too hot.

At least the weather was great. This is a budget complex, definitely not a 4-star hotel. Drinks came in tiny plastic cups, or paper cups if you were lucky. The food was shocking. Every day there was a special, usually hotdogs or burgers. On Christmas Day they went all out and served fried onions. The water stopped in the rooms that day too. There were cracked tiles all around the pool, and although it was heated, the heaters seemed to be switched off at lunchtime. The animation team, if there was one, just walked around. Rooms were very basic, and if you need the internet, you’ll only get a signal at reception. There were rats in the pool toilet. We told the manager and were given oranges, as if to say sorry but please don’t say anything. Tariq the lifeguard went above and beyond for holidaymakers, but seemed to get in trouble for it. The managers just barked orders while he worked hard. Locals’ bars call the resort -1 star.

The food and drinks were so bad that I spent more eating out at McDonald's, Pizza Hut and KFC. All-inclusive drinks were rubbish too. Everything came in plastic, or coffee cups when they ran out of plastic ones, and you had to pay extra for a can of lager. My room was dirty, and the patio door stayed broken after I reported it three times during my 14-day stay. I eventually gave up. It felt like staff only looked after you if you gave them money, even with things like saving sunbeds. By the third day, I wanted to go home. Sharm el sheikh city centre felt horrendous, dirty and scruffy. At the banks, armed guards stood behind you when you withdrew cash from an ATM, which made me really uncomfortable. UK citizens, don't go.