"We are currently staying at Cleopatra Luxury Resort Sharm El Sheikh and, while it comes very close to a five-star experience, I would personally rate it as a strong four-star hotel.
I’d like to start with the positives, because there are many. The staff in the bars, restaurants, and housekeeping are absolutely exceptional, friendly, attentive, and always willing to go above and beyond. Special mentions go to the lifeguard at the activity pool, the poolside waiter, Ahmed in the restaurant, and Salah in the buffet restaurant. They truly make the stay feel welcoming and relaxed.
The hotel itself is very clean and well maintained, with beautiful pools and a stunning beach. The jetty is a real highlight, offering the chance to swim among incredible marine life. If your goal is to relax in a lovely setting, this hotel delivers.
However, there are some areas where it falls short of five-star expectations.
Food is the biggest drawback. Breakfast is good and varied, and lunch is decent, particularly at the beach restaurant, although the menu becomes repetitive after a few days. At lunch times in the buffet restaurant there is a lack of simple options - something as basic as sandwich fillings or ham/cheese to go with a salad, isn’t available, so you have to commit to a full meal.
Dinner, however, is disappointing: limited variety, repetitive options, and poor quality meat and fish. The themed nights don’t reflect the food offered (for example, an “Oriental night” without any recognisable Asian cuisine).
Entertainment is also below par for a hotel of this standard. Aside from an average singer, most of the programme consists of karaoke and basic shows, which doesn’t align with what you’d expect from a luxury resort.
Room allocation and maintenance were another issue. Although we were told we’d been upgraded, the room setup didn’t suit our needs. We are travelling with elderly parents, one with mobility issues, and we had requested a ground-floor room with appropriate facilities and a twin configuration for them. Unfortunately, the accessible bathroom was allocated to the wrong room, our double, meaning we had the accessible bathroom and they did not. They offered to change the bed configuration in the double room to two twins but it was late when we arrived and our dad wanted to get to bed. It would also have meant that me and my husband would be in separate beds during our stay. It really should have been configured correctly on arrival, especially as I had emailed ahead with our needs.
There were also several maintenance and safety concerns:
• Interconnecting doors that did not lock, raising security concerns
• Noise from the connecting doors vibrating with the air conditioning
• A broken terrace door lock
• Exposed wiring from the ceiling
• A broken toilet flush (took 2 hours to fix)
• A safe in our parents’ room that took five days to repair
Reception staff were disappointing, often unhelpful and at times rude, which contrasts sharply with the excellent service elsewhere in the hotel.
Another frustration is the constant interruption from vendors around the pool and beach selling excursions, spa services, and other extras. While understandable, the frequency becomes overwhelming. Even using the red flag system (to signal no interest), some vendors still approach you.
A particularly disappointing aspect has been the handling of our late checkout request. We asked to extend our room for just a few hours (until 4pm) on our departure day due to our father’s mobility issues, as he is not comfortable showering and changing in public facilities due to the indignity that sometimes arises when needing help to shower and dress. Despite explaining this, we were quoted what can only be described as an excessive fee for a very short extension. For a hotel positioning itself as five-star, this felt lacking in both flexibility and compassion. This is a relatively small request that would make a significant difference to his comfort and dignity, and it is disappointing that no consideration has been given so far. As we are still currently staying at the hotel, we sincerely hope the management team will reconsider this and demonstrate a more guest-focused approach.
As a travel agent, I regularly recommend hotels to clients, and my recommendations are always based on genuine guest experience. While there are many positive aspects to this hotel, the inconsistencies in service, food quality, and overall guest handling inevitably influence how confidently I could recommend it.
Overall, this is a hotel with fantastic staff, a beautiful location, and great facilities, but it is let down by food quality, entertainment, and aspects of management and maintenance. I would recommend it for a relaxing beach holiday, as long as you are not too concerned about food variety or evening entertainment.
With a few key improvements, this hotel could easily reach a true five-star standard."
