Steigenberger Alcazar

We stayed at the Steigenberger Alcaraz for one week, and honestly, that was too short. We had a wonderful holiday. The hotel is spotless everywhere you go, and the staff are consistently extremely friendly.

The food in the main restaurant is very good. We especially enjoyed the outdoor seating in the mornings and evenings — inside was a bit too noisy for us, so the terrace was perfect. For lunch, we always went to the Sanafir restaurant, and we’d like to give a special thank‑you to Amir & Ziayd for their outstanding service.

The pool activities were another highlight. Darts and water polo were great fun — thanks to the animation team for keeping the energy high.

One small suggestion (not a criticism): besides the fixed cabanas, adding some flexible beach parasols would make it easier for guests to create shade where they prefer.

We will certainly come back.

Excellent location in Egypt with a short transfer. A few shops around the area for you to visit and lots of other hotels nearby. The hotel is sprawling with a nice beach with gravel not golden sand but it is well maintained. I would recommend Beach shoes due to the gravel and coral as you walk out into the Bay. Snorkelling is great in the bay with a wide variety of fish to see. The rooms are large. Our balcony was small but our friends was huge. White bedding that has seen better days but generally clean. The room is a little tired. We were on the second floor with no lifts available so take this into consideration if you have accessibility problems. There are accessible rooms on the ground floor. Late checkouts are an issue especially if the hotel is busy. The shower facilities that are offered were not very clean and there was no free access to the spa once you check out. We had to hire another room for 80Euros until 6pm on departure day but this wasn't guaranteed until just before checkout. Service at the hotel was excellent. All staff were friendly, worked quickly and were thoughtful, filling drinks even without requesting. Whilst we did tip during our stay, it did not feel expected and staff were always very grateful. Food at the resort is varied. The buffet on offer can be quite hectic at meal times and the quality isn't quite the same as other 5 star resorts. Restaurants at the hotel are similar.

The positives: The aesthetic of the hotel is lovely, from the reception to the well maintained gardens surrounding the pool and beach areas. The gardeners work extremely hard to maintain this. The waiting staff outside on the terrace are friendly and efficient. Staff at the beach were friendly and helpful, always happy to assist with finding a lounger and providing mattresses. Plenty of pool and beach sun loungers. Snorkeling off the jetty (although this was not possible most days due to weather which was disappointing but out of the hotel's control). The gym was ok. Tennis courts available.

The negatives: No bottled water provided. Given the concerns with water safety in the country I don't feel it is appropriate to be denied unopened bottled water. There are unsealed reused glass bottles provided in the room, as well as glasses poured from large tanks in the canteens and bars, however I am unsure how safe this is. The cleaner also did not replace the bottles in our room on most of the days during our stay. This meant we had to go out of our way several times and leave the hotel to purchase bottles of water to brush our teeth with.
I am currently on day 7 of a very bad stomach illness and diarrhoea which affected the last 3 days of my holiday and 4 days at home (with no sign of improving), this has put me off ever visiting Egypt again nevermind the hotel.

We were not provided beach towels at any point and each day we requested these at the beach we were advised by staff that house keeping should provide these daily. However the staff at the beach did provide them when we asked.

The lack of towels and water in the room, along with an empty shower gel not being replaced after a room clean, made us feel that the cleaners want you to go and ask them for things directly which may result in giving them a tip, rather than things being sorted during the daily clean. This is just a personal feeling based on interactions with house keeping staff.

Hair on bidet was there for the full week.

Inconsistency with a la carte restaurant. We went to the Lebanese restaurant twice, with both resulting in entirely different experiences. First time was lovely, food was really good, service was good, there was belly dancing and music, bread was offered more than once. (8pm seating). On the second time service was very slow and the wrong drinks were provided, then when the correct drinks were brought the mojitos were not made correctly and were basically undrinkable, no bread was offered, the singer stopped near the start of the meal and then it was silent for the rest of the meal. (9pm seating). Bear the seating times in mind when planning your a la carte visits.

Overall the atmosphere in the hotel in the evenings is non existent. The outside areas are incredibly dark and there is little to no music anywhere inside or outside on the terrace bar. This made the evenings very boring and felt we wanted to go to bed earlier than usual.

Service at the main bar was terrible and was usually staffed by the same one bartender on most days. There were several times we stood waiting to be served for so long that we ended up just walking away.

Access to the sea at the beach is very disappointing, the water only comes up to your ankle for 100s of metres, the only option for a swim is by snorkeling off the edge of the jetty, so don't expect to be able to spend much time in the sea while down at the beach. (Never been anywhere else along the red sea so not sure if this is just the way it is along the coastline, but disappointing for someone who loves to spend time in water at the beach).

On the final day we wanted to use the spa with our free voucher however we're told this was not usable on the day of check out. We then went to reception and asked if they had a shower room to use and were advised not, but that we could shower down by the beach. We have seen that other guests have used the spa and shower rooms at checkout so this appears to be inconsistent.