What is the food and restaurant quality like at Egyptian all-inclusive hotels?

At one hotel the main dining venue is essentially a canteen: extremely noisy due to crowds, with headache-inducing noise levels after meals. Queues at peak times (especially dinner) are very long, and guests feel a second restaurant is badly needed given the volume of visitors.

At one hotel, four out of five guests from two families suffered from diarrhoea and vomiting, requiring multiple hospital visits. Other guests at the beach and in the restaurant were also openly discussing stomach problems, suggesting a systemic food-safety issue at this property.

À la carte restaurants at the same hotel served reasonably tasty food, in contrast to the main buffet. However, cocktails across the entire hotel were consistently disappointing — not a single one was enjoyable throughout the stay.

At Moreno hotel, hygiene is a notable issue — plates are not properly washed and bar glasses are only rinsed with water, not cleaned with soap. Crowds and long queues add to the discomfort.

Ice cream quality depends on the hotel's level. Upscale hotels serve Mövenpick ice cream, which is considered excellent. Good ice cream is also widely available to buy in town.

An Italian à la carte restaurant at one hotel was a major letdown: a reservation for 9 people was only honoured for 6, service was extremely slow, and seafood pasta dishes arrived inconsistently (some with shrimp, some with mussels, some with squid). Beef steaks turned out to be two small pieces of boiled meat with grey sauce, and an ordered fish dish never arrived at all.

At the buffet, smoked salmon is often hidden away and new staff don't know where to find it. Watermelon is sometimes cut outside, but you have to go to the main restaurant to get a plate. Crows are a real nuisance at outdoor dining areas, boldly stealing food directly from guests' plates.