Disappointing for Ritz-Carlton Brand
I stayed at Ritz-Carlton Sharm El Sheikh on January 3-10, 2008.
I booked this hotel based on my previous very positive experience with Ritz-Carlton in Istanbul, Barcelona, South Beach Miami. Unfortunately, I am deeply disappointed with the whole experience at Ritz-Carlton Sharm El Sheikh.
The hotel was built for Renaissance, but changed to Ritz-Carlton 8 years ago. It would be wise to keep it as Renaissance.
Let me share my experience as follows:
-Comfort of the room was disappointing: Furniture was nothing more than a standard 4-star hotel, there was no fine touch, no elegance. What was shown on website or at hotel leaflets did not match with the look of the room. The water was running brown, there was sewage smell in the room, even tough we kept the door closed, and the room was constantly invaded by mosquitoes.
- Cleanliness of the room was poor: Our housekeeper seemed more interested in securing his tip from us than providing a thorough service. The cleaning of the room was always done haphazardly, we always found faults. Best example: I killed a mosquito on the mirror behind the TV set on our fourth night, by the time we checked out three days later, the dead mosquito was still splashed on the mirror!
- Service and quality at main restaurant was poor: We had half-board at the hotel; neither breakfast nor dinner was a pleasant experience. The quality of the food was average, the menu choices were basic. The presentation of the food was unappealing. Yet, the biggest malfunction was at the service. Although there were at least 15 waiters in the restaurant, it still took long time to place a drink order and finally get it on the table. A 15 minute wait time was common for getting tea in the mornings or beverages in the evenings. The staff seemed more interested in registering your room number than actually providing service.
- Recreational facilities were poor: There were two tennis courts at the hotel, with surface resembling an earthquake zone - deep cracks on the surface. Two courts were not separated from each other, so if you send the ball to the next court, you ruin the game of other players! Is it that difficult to put a partition on the court? Also the door of the court was not closing properly, creating a distraction. Same goes for the gym, the machines were old and not well maintained. Most of them were dirty as well, with mud collected on the pedals.
- The stores at the lobby area are worth mentioning. There was a fake handbag store selling fake LV, Gucci and Fendi items which did not quite fit to the image and clientele profile of Ritz Carlton! The convenience store did not have many international daily papers; also the prices of goods were ridiculously expensive.
I have posted a longer review on tripadvisor if you are interested!