What common hotel room issues (AC smell, bathroom flooding, unexpected upgrades) should I expect in Sharm el Sheikh?

Room condition in the older wing can vary greatly: reports mention black mold and loose or failing bathroom fittings, as well as a dirty main room. After several visits to reception, guests were moved to the newer wing; if possible, paying extra for a newer room category may avoid spending holiday time resolving such issues.

Even a first-line room was reported to have maintenance issues: the terrace-door lock did not work, the bathroom door and lower section of the wardrobe were damaged, and some floor tiles were cracked.

Some rooms have extremely compact shower cubicles, with reports that the door can be difficult to close. It is worth confirming the bathroom layout before booking, as shower configurations differ between rooms.

Some rooms have plumbing problems: the sink may drain poorly and the pipe connection underneath may leak, leaving a puddle on the floor. Broken bathroom hooks were also reported.

A small clothes-drying rack may be kept in the wardrobe; it can be moved onto the balcony for better drying.

If the bathroom door will not close, report it to reception: in one case it was fixed the same day while the guests were at the beach.

Detail on the bathroom drying line: near the shower there's a metal peg at shoulder height — pull the cord from it and hook it onto a matching peg on the opposite wall. If intact, it holds a swimsuit, a tunic, a pair of socks and a pair of underwear.

Booking a standard double room can sometimes result in a free upgrade to a large family two-room suite, likely due to available room categories. Downside: the shower has no cabin, so water spreads across the whole bathroom floor because drainage is slow.

Guests staying in different buildings of the same resort noticed a bad smell when turning on the AC in the evening — this wasn't isolated to one room but occurred across multiple buildings.

The hotel bathroom had a drying line, but due to high humidity clothes wouldn't dry properly — had to finish drying them on chairs on the room's terrace instead.