We went to Desert Rose hotel in Hurghada in late April and stayed there for 7 nights. We had an all inclusive booking and we’re going to tell you all about it!
The hotel is one of the largest resorts we have been to in Hurghada, Egypt. The size is close to Titanic Palace and I guess maybe even a little bit bigger. From the reception to the sea, you had to walk some.
If you’re into shopping, we’ll let you know it took us around 12 minutes to reach Senzo Mall by foot. You just cross the street and keep walking until you see the mall. If you’re packed on your way back, we paid 3 EUR for a taxi to bring us to the hotel. Here’s a list of things you can do in Hurghada if you have time.
The greenery is amazing as the whole resort is like a big park. The building rooms are placed on the left and right of the resort, and in the middle are three sensational pools (one Olympic).
If you’re looking for a family friendly hotel, then Desert Rose hotel Hurghada should be on your list. There were so many youngsters there, ranging from only a few months old, to your average teenager. Even grandparents were sunbathing and having drinks at the bar.
It’s advertised as also having an aquapark, but if you’re thinking of booking specially for that, then you might want to skip this hotel entirely. The so called aquapark has just a few sliders, it works from 10.00 am until 12:00 and then starts again in the afternoon for another 2 hours. It’s very small, just like the one at Amarina Hotel in Hurghada.
The aquapark is accessible from basically outside of the hotel, on the left side, and it never gets crowded (3-7 people, kids included). You don’t have lounge chairs or anything.
Besides the aquapark, another thing we kind of disliked was the entertainment. The amphitheater was closed and all the entertainment was moved to the Winter Garden. I’ll detail that in the Animation section.
But, before thinking this resort is not that great, we have to admit we enjoyed our time there! Read below our review of Desert Rose hotel Hurghada, and think twice before saying no to this place.
Hotel Room at Desert Rose Hotel Hurghada
I’ll start off saying we booked the cheapest room available with our tour operator. When we got to the hotel, we tipped someone at the Check in. As we read before our visit that the building we were going to stay in had some low cost rooms, we added 50 EUR per room to our expenses – and it was worth it!
The rooms were magnificent. They were very clean, had a fresh beach vibe and they were spacious. I have no idea how other rooms are like in building 1000, but we were so pleased with ours.
The bed was large, we had plenty of room and the fridge had free cool drinks. The wardrobe was not that big, but you could fit plenty in there. We had room for all the stuff we had and there was still some more left.
The bathroom was quite spacious and clean. This was the first time we had the toilet seat kind of separated from the rest of the room. Another thing I liked was the fact that there was a handheld bidet, placed right next to the toilet seat.
There were no shampoos or shower gels or other toiletry. The gels were in a dispenser placed on the shower wall and close to the sink.
The balcony wasn’t spacious, but it could fit two chairs and a coffee table. It was not private at all, as there were no walls between us and the neighbors. Luckily, we never synced with our morning coffee.
Restaurant and Food Review
The food at Desert Rose hotel in Hurghada is not that diverse, but they always found a way to twist it and please everyone.
In our video of the hotel, you can see what there was for breakfast and lunch. While breakfast was all the same, lunch and especially dinner always had a twist.
So, this is kind of how it goes: what you eat for dinner, you will also eat for lunch the next day, but served in another way. I’m not saying this is bad, as all food tasted delicious, I’m just trying to let you know that while there aren’t that many ingredients, they are carefully selected to cover a wide range of culinary dishes.
Dinner was always great: you sometimes had sea food (great shrimps!), grilled beef, grilled vegetables, duck and many more. The outside barbecue was always roasting something new each dinner time.
Fruits and desert were plentiful. Fruits were ripe and delicious, and the deserts were ok. I had not ventured into the sweet side of things, but from the full plates that came and went empty, I could tell they were almost perfect.
We only got to have dinner at the seafood restaurant – a paid menu. It was $30 USD per menu which included three servings: one of shrimp soup, a shrimp cocktail and a full plate of seafood. We ate it all, it was delicious! The atmosphere was great,a s they had two lovely ladies playing the cello, live, on the beach.
Private Beach
The private beach is long and can fit everyone in that resort. Although it’s a fairly long walk from the reception to the beach, it’s well worth it.
The water is clear, and there’s a golf dug and shark nets to keep tourists safe and the level just great for swimming. There are water sports you can do, like windsurfing. And if you don’t know how that’s done, they also provide you with lessons and an instructor. We saw many people giving it a try while we were there and they were thrilled about it!
The sunbeds are great, cozy and as all the resorts in Hurghada, you get free and clean towels at the Tower center, each time you provide your towel card.
There’s a bar at the beach and although it’s quite far, you’ll have the staff at your disposal to bring you anything you need.
The beach doesn’t look crowded, as the sunbeds are positioned in such a way that everything feels breathable. You have a bit of privacy, but if your tanning neighbors are a bit loud, you will most certainly hear them.
Besides the beach, you have three large pools you can swim in, one of them being an Olympic pool, with access only 18 years old and above. Kids can safely play and swim in the other two, with one of them having a slider especially for them to enjoy!
Animation Team
The animation team is almost inexistent. We only made eye contact with one of the staff, late in the evening, when we were having some drinks at the bar. He came to invite us to karaoke at the Winter Garden. We didn’t go, and not because we didn’t want to, but because it was later in the evening when we were already sleeping.
There’s barely any animation there, but you’ll find ways to be entertained. Or maybe it was because we were not there during the summer season and there were less staff members – could be. We only know that the Havana Club in open air is not the best and the animation, compared to other resorts, was kind of soft. And that the DJ that was at the open air bar was probably at his second show in his career.
Again, we went to this resort in late April, so they might have been understaffed, but we did alright without any shows.
We took a massage at the Pearl salon. Two lovely ladies from Kenya just ripped us apart. They looked soft and gentle, but when they grabbed you by the legs or arms or whatever, you could feel their strength! I limped for a few days and still have some problems on one of my legs, as it hurts in the morning ever since. The pain has went down since, but it’s still a sweet reminder of that massage. It was like a great beating!
All in all, there’s stuff to do at Desert Rose hotel in Hurghada, even if you’re having a hard time locating the animation team.
Staff at Desert Rose Hotel
The hotel staff is great! They are very welcoming and friendly. And before you start saying that all staff are like that in the resorts, I can surely tell you we’ve met plenty that aren’t.
The staff at Desert Rose hotel is helpful, or at least the ones we’ve met there. From bartenders to waiters, to people cleaning your room, they have that friendly look and you never get the feeling you are bothering them. Of course, if you’re the kind of person that likes to talk to the manager about petty things you dislike, I can’t guarantee they will be that nice.
I’d like to give a special thank you to the man that served us at the Seafood restaurant, on the beach. We later found out he worked that evening just because we had booked a table from him (he was selling it on the beach). You are the nicest man out there, thank you!
If you’re curious about the whole resort there, you’ll find below a video of the whole resort – room, pools, restaurant, beach and surroundings. Have a wonderful time if you decide to go there, as we surely enjoyed ourselves!
