Concorde el Salam Hotel Review

Overall Rating

Fantastic weather
Excellent snorkeling
Friendly, helpful staff

Cramped pool area
Boring buffet food
Amateurish evening entertainment

As seasoned travellers we were disappointed with the Concorde el Salam Hotel in Sharm el Sheikh, and the All Inclusive deal.

I would rate this hotel as more of a 3.5*, not the 4.5 or 5* given in the brochures.

We found the rooms to be pretty standard size and the facilities. The bathroom afforded all the usual complimentary toiletries, and although it was cleaned very well every day the grouting between the tiles had discoloured, giving it a shabby appearance. We were in block 5, which was very well situated for the pool, and it was not too far to walk to the beach, restaurants and reception. You do need to be aware that this is a large complex, and some of the room blocks can be miles from the main pool, beach, reception and restaurants.

The pool area was very cramped. The sun beds were actually lined up touching each other with no room in between to access them! If you weren't down at the pool by 7.30am you struggled to get a bed at all. When someone else put their umbrella up you were often in the shade too! There are more beds down on the beach area, but like much of the Red Sea coast, it's not a very nice beach. Towels and mattress are provided. There was only one toilet at the pool, which was pretty ridiculous for the amount of people there. There was no waiter service around the pool and you had to fetch your own drinks, but the guys at the swim-up bar and all the hotel staff were extremely helpful and eager to please you.

On the food and drink side - The drinks (local spirits) were generous measures and mixed with whatever you chose, and they tasted great. They were no different to me than the usual imported stuff. You can not get a decent glass of wine, and the white wine leaves an antiseptic like aftertaste. Urgh!
My husband drank ample supplies of the beer, so it must have been OK.

The food at lunch time was OK. You could have pasta, pizza and salads from the Italian, which has a very nice terrace. Or burgers, tuna roll, hot dogs, fries, calamari at the pool (if you could get a table due to the restricted space).
The evening meals were dire. All buffet style, all the same - soup, salads, some sort of meat in a gravy, potatoes and veg. A good selection to be fair, but never hot enough, and very samey after the first 3 days.

We didn't enjoy the evening entertainment at all. A lot was audience participation - Mr Concorde, where the men did a variety of tasks to win points - all described in 5 different languages - burst the most balloons, sing, kiss the most ladies etc. Belly dancer, local folk dancers, a guy who sang badly to a guitar one night, then equally badly to the piano the next.

We did the snorkeling trip to Ras Mohammed Marine Park at a cost of £35 each - waste of money (booked with the rep). The trip was so rough that 3 of us were seasick, and it wasn't adverse conditions, it's normally like that. I managed one of the 3 snorkeling stops, and I found it disappointing! The snorkeling was better off the reef outside the hotel. I must say this was fantastic! The variety of fish was amazing and they came so close.

The weather of course was faultless.

I wouldn't go back here, and I wouldn't recommend it.

If you want a more up-market holiday, try the Movenpick Hotel in El Gouna. Fly into Hurghada and it's 20 minutes up the coast. The hotel is excellent, and the resort has a small downtown area and Marina. The restaurants all serve great food.