Having read all the previous reports about the Golden 5 Resort I was very apprehensive about staying at the Almas Palace – however I have to report that a group of us had a thoroughly enjoyable time there. I wouldn’t describe it as a 5 star luxury hotel and agree with previous posts maybe it is only a 3 / 4 star (English scale) but that’s what you get for the money (we paid £400 for a week) I have to totally agree with the comments made on July 11 2006.

We booked through last minute and used it as a base for 3 days diving / 3/4 days sun bathing / chilling

Ok so a few of us suffered from the occasional dodgy stomach (one was bedridden for a day) but it didn’t prevent us from enjoying the holiday. Just take some Imodium just in case.

Food – ok it may be a bit bland at times – I’ll eat anything so there was always something there for me and my girlfriend can be really fussy – but she likes pasta (so that was ok as there was plenty of that).

We had the all inclusive option and whilst not everything is included like perhaps Caribbean and other all inclusive resorts I went there with the impression that food and drink were included in certain areas and there may be other freebies.

We had drinks served in plastic cups occasionally but mostly we had glasses and one of the bar staff in the reception (Honi) was constantly bringing us drinks and was extremely polite and helpful and always smiling.

We did come across the occasional staff member who was unhelpful – maybe that’s the way some of them are – a bit grumpy and can’t be bothered – mainly the ones in the billiard room in the main resort centre and the beach bar by the Almas Palace – everything seemed more important than serving the queue of people at the bar. And it seemed you couldn’t have more than 1 person serving at any bar – ridiculous but maybe that’s the way it works in a foreign country.

THE NEGATIVIES
The aqua park slides were rarely open – hardly a major issue
The cable car from the front of the resort to the beach worked occasionally but we never bothered using it – it’s a nice enough stroll
One of the restaurants was shut – the Sinai - still others to choose from
Most of the time the beach towels ran out – took our own anyway
Getting sun beds on the beach was hit and miss after 11.00 but usually you got one
Didn’t try round the pool as we were up too late
There were always queues at lunchtime at the beach restaurant – mainly at the pizza oven and bar (hardly a big deal though)
Yes the place is overrun by the Ruskis and they are rude and arrogant but we just ignored them. We didn’t experience any queue jumping, they seemed to ignore the staff or give them a hard time
Lack of ‘free’ evening entertainment – you have to pay for shows albeit a couple of quid and the snooker / pool (which you might expect to be ‘included’)
It was a 20 minute taxi ride to Hurghada town this is a pretty manic place with loads of shops and bazaars which meant a lot of hassle but this could be the same as other holidays

THE +++++'s
They try really hard at most things
We got cold beer most of the time in glasses
The food is ok
The dancing fountain (have to comment on it) – the show lasts ½ hour and even though I am a bloke – I thought it was quite good – it’s different
Your snooker / pool may well improve (£4 per hour in the main resort area)
Our rooms were cleaned daily / fresh towels and the cleaners even went the extra mile by adding some nice touches flowers or animals shaped from towels – they try hard and appreciate it when you acknowledge them (because the Russians don’t)
We had excellent service from the bar (Honi pronounced Honey) and restaurant (Muhammed).

TIPS / INFO
Hurghada airport has plenty of shops selling the same stuff as inside the hotel and its cheaper – we didn’t try outside the resort – where you do get hassled (like any other country)
Be polite to the chefs, waiters, bar staff and you might be pleasantly surprised – thank you’s pleases and hello’s got smiles from the staff who were only too willing to help.
Even the staff said they hated the Russians and it was refreshing to have English people there as clearly we are a lot politer and have time for the staff
Don’t expect 5 star luxury and everything to be all inclusive and you might be pleasantly surprised – read up on what is included before you go like 1hr of golf / billiards per room per week (which we didn’t even use)
Remember you are in a foreign country where they do things differently and not as efficiently as you might expect – but this could be the same for Greece Turkey …..
We tipped our restaurant waiter about £1 each most nights and he would always look for us, save a table for us, carry our food and drinks, nothing was too much trouble.
Ok so maybe they are working you for tips but so what a couple of quid here and there will bring better service, smiles and politeness, which was more than what the Ruski’s got.
It is about a 15 min walk from the resort gates to the beach – not really a problem
I saw a previous post about wobbly tables – so what if there are a few, its hardly going to ruin a holiday
We were a group of 6 so had no problems having a good time, there were only a handful of other Brits there
Showering – yes the water was sometimes hot sometimes lukewarm – same as Greece really?
We had one power cut that I know of during the day– no big deal though – just go and sun bathe for a few hours!
Anyone with a nervous disposition shouldn’t take taxis - it’s suicidal!
Hurghada itself is a massive building site stretching for miles
Mini bar was stocked with 12 bottles of water and 4 litres of soft drinks at beginning of the week this is your weekly supply
Most staff do speak English
We were not robbed of our wrist bands on the last day
The beach does have reps on it selling branded drinks, shows, horse camel rides etc we had a chat with them they seemed polite enough and WOULD take NO for an answer
It would appear that a lot of the comments posted on two websites I looked at beforehand [--] and www.tripadviser.com have been acted upon as we found very little to really gripe about.
Its not going to win an award for holiday resort of the year but could win a award for good value for money and I would define ‘all inclusive’ as full board with drinks included and the occasional other extra

Golden 5 City resort. wouldn't reccomend or book Bed and Breakfast and eat out - be prepared to walk, it takes 10-15 min to get to main hotel gates !

Positives - Great facilities for 3-16+ year old. Upmarket Butlins camp (if you like that) with lots of small and large water slides, giant inflatables, kids clubs, several shallow pools etc. Beach ok, Sea a little choppy at times compared to other parts of the coast e.g Makadi bay etc. Room, good standard, clean and great English movies on Satalitte, staff generally pleasant but many struggled to communicate in basic English language skills...

Negatives - Food generally poor quality and presentation, but lots of choice. I tried 5 restaurants on the complex - pretty much the same comment applies. Head Chef thought it was amusing when I mentioned squirty bottom every day (Join the club!). Bear in mind I was born and lived in Africa during early years therefore, it's rare for me to have such problems and didn't during travels to other parts of Eqypt (Cairo, Luxor etc), Gambia, Kenya, Libya, Tunisia, Zimbabwa, Morroco, Far East etc etc. It didn't inspire confidence when a waiter told me I should see the kitchen (I did - oh ---) and he didn't eat there either !
The Golden5 complex caters predominatley for Russians and Staff speak good Russian but very poor English therefore, gettng basic issues resolved takes effort. Ocassionaly Golden 5 complex either looses power or water supply for about 2-3 hours - Try staying in your room for a few hours when you can't flush the toilet at night or shower before you go out. Amusing to hear staff were concerned about not being able to wash for prayers ! Lift never worked at Almas Palace and there didn't seem any urgency in fixing it either. I didn't have any of the above problems during my stay at the Meridian Makkadi Bay (25/8/06) despite it not being an outstanding 5 star hotel, it was significantly better.

Taxi driver and several locals reccomended - Oberoi, Makadi Palace and Sheraton Hotels.

Although a nice location and nice beach i would seriously advise not to come here! As a family of eight, 3 of which were children and one is in a wheelchair, we certainly did not get our moneys worth! the welcome reception was freindly and rooms kept nicely air conditioned but took about three hours to check us in. Our rooms were clean but shower always leaked bath had holes in, the beds were very uncomfortable, the electrics were faulty and the cleaners had a tendancy to just barge into your room without knocking. and be careful if you have any young girls around them, and there not to generous with the mini bar in your rooms, just two small bottles of water in each! the catering was the worst we have ever had, all eight of us came down with food poisining for the whole two weeks! Sure you expect to have a bit of an upset stomach for the first few days in any foriegn country you go to but not for the whole 2 weeks. Even the hotel staff admitted they dont eat the food in the hotel as its not good and gives them an upset stomach! And thats telling you something! The entertainments a joke there isnt any unless you pay for it, even though we went all enclusive. All drinks were served warm and its a limited choice of what you can have the rest you have to pay for! when we arrived we were told by our rep we were the only english there as the place was over run by russians and were made to feel very isolated by this as the russins were made top priority, due to the fact we were told by staff they had contracts with russia for certain reasons!! and they get there holidays as cheap as £120 for two weeks all enclusive! and had there own russian corner in the resturant. In no way are we prejudis but the russian guests were the most rudist greedy and arrogant people we have ever met! And to top it all off, The youngest girl in our family [15 years old] was attacked whislt on the beach by an older russian woman in her late 40s!! And no action was taken by the hotel staff due to the fact she was russian, and when we said we would involve the police if nothing was done they seemed very worried and tried to convice us otherwise, therefore said they would remove her from hotel but they never did. this became an ongoing problem as they never did do anything about it. so we called our rep and demanded to be moved hotels for the last week! The hotel staff did not take this to well and on the day of our move took our rooms and all enclusive bands off us stright away and were left waiting in the lobby for 7 hours with no food or drink allowed. And the reception tried to draw us up a bill of items we had never had or heard of which alot of the guests had problems with! All in All the only thing we got out of this holiday experience was a decent tan so it really was a holiday from hell!!

I have recently got back from this place and from the reviews posted i expected a faulty towers with attitude! I must say that if you have recently booked and are nervous then don't be. 5* may be a little unlikely but then this was egyptian 5* not UK. There were workers everywhere the whole time we were there cleaning or gardening etc and it was nice to see a bit of effort being made. These guys really responded to a smile or a "thankyou" as it was obvious their efforts went largely unnoticed.

We booked through [-------------]and the price was very reasonable......for under £400 per head in July then it can't be bad. We arrived (late due to plane problems) and checked in and were shown to a large air conditioned room. It was clean and although the bath had a slight propensity to leak during showers but generally it was nice. The fellow hotel guests were ok, a little rude and impatient but as mostly they were foreigners they didn't understand the actual words said (very liberating) but they got the idea if you were annoyed at their pushing in. There were 16 English (the footy was on so I can be precise) and it was nice to occasionally speak to them but all in all the lack of English people screaming and bellowing was quite refreshing and far removed from those beaches of benidorm.

The pool and beach area was nice and the slides fun and the only downside was the inavailability of sunloungers. They were generally "taken" (had a t-shirt or the like on them by 7am) so our solution was simple: go there and tie some clothes on to our chosen spot before we went to bed! Failing that a little bit of cash into a pool man's hands works wonders.

Getting drinks was no problem either. We had a number of small denomination dollar bills which we distributed fairly freely to ensure a speedy and good service which ran to table service and a happy face everytime we appeared.

The food was pretty basic and it wasn't the most exciting menu in the world it was ok. What do you expect???? The ritz it ain't! We did get the squits though even though we were incredibly careful so I reccomend a pack or two of "stoppers" to ensure that you can still get through the days.

If you get sick of the food in the hotel then pop down to the Hard rock cafe for a nice bite to eat and a little good service but its better to get a cab from the main hotel lobby than try your luck on the street as the car was much cleaner and newer and the haggling was less frustrating. expect to pay no more than £2 each way.

the local shopkeepers were annoying though and I reccomend avoiding shopping if possible as there aren't any real bargains and it is all tat.

In short my advice is book your sunbeds early and spread a little money about to ensure that you get good service and because you can. You can afford it especially considering the small amount you are paying for this holiday.