Pickalbatros Royal Grand Sharm

To be fair the rooms are clean and spacious and lovely grounds. We booked a more expensive room with a sea view. Although we had a lovely sea view, it also overlooked the main pool where very loud music was played from 10am til around 11pm depending on the evenings entertainment. There was no chance of a quiet read, the music was in every area. It was quieter late afternoon for a couple of hours until some guests sussed out the volume control was and wound it up despite other guests complaining. The vibe is very much Club 18-30 ( younger actually!) Although all inclusive, the drinks menu had only 6 ‘cocktails’ and they don’t go beyond those and they aren’t available at all bars. I asked for an espresso martini and he nearly fainted.. it didn’t happen. All cocktails were in large glasses, fruit juice with a mixer of some sort, not a cocktail shaker or a martini glass in sight! Food wasn’t 5* standard at all. One buffet hardly changed each evening and the previous evenings items not used were reheated/reinvented the next night. I’m all for not wasting food but rating it 5* seems far stretched. There is one restaurant that you can only book once in a week’s stay, it’s listed as a la carte which sounds like a nice treat having a menu rather than a buffet but in fact when you book at reception in the morning ( you may have to wait a couple of nights for a reservation) you are presented with a choice of three mains which you have to decide there and then. Starter is whatever they give you and dessert is a buffet of little cakes. There is no faulting the staff, all sweet and friendly. Be prepared to over tip because they deserve it. Not all the guests treat them with respect which is a shame. Sorry if I sound like a whiny hard to please traveller, I’m really not, this is the first time I have been so harsh. Pickalbatros have several resorts in the area and I suspect they were given 5* rating as a group. Some others might be better.

The hotel is awesome, the crew is unbelievable - always smiling and willing to help. Very good and various food. Rooms might need some refreshing as well as the pool. Guys at the reception desk super helpful and our favourie waiter Nader Qasem - AMAZING! Animation team very nice and cheerful, again, our favorite Alina - WONDERFUL!