С претензией на люкс, 1001 нюанс. Честный обзор Al Kasr Sahl Hasheesh — Transcript

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1. 0:00Welcome everyone to the Avocado Canal, and we're approaching the Al Kasr Hotel in the Sahl Hasheesh area.
2. 0:06It opened last year and belongs to the renowned Egyptian chain Red Sea Hotels.
3. 0:10Hotels in this group typically
4. 0:12include the word "Grand" in their names (e.g., Grand Hotel, Grand Palace, Grand Resort, etc.).
5. 0:17Looking ahead, I'll say we spent 3 nights and 4 days at the hotel and had mixed feelings.
6. 0:28On the hotel's website, Al Kasr is billed as a world-class 5-star hotel,
7. 0:33operating on an Ultra All-Inclusive basis with premium service and accommodation.
8. 0:38But whether the experience is truly as good as it seems and whether the quality of your stay matches
9. 0:42the high price is up to you to decide. We'll simply show you the real deal.
10. 0:46The three-story main building with columns, verandas,
11. 0:50illuminated geysers, luxurious chandeliers, and a multi-level grounds with pools,
12. 0:55gazebos, and dancing colored fountains is truly impressive.
13. 0:58There's no doubt this was a grand project, and considerable resources were invested in its implementation.
14. 1:26Let's start with the room inventory. We were checked into building 7000 on the second floor,
15. 1:31and they repeatedly emphasized that we were being upgraded free of charge from Garden View to Sea View,
16. 1:37even asking us to sign a document confirming the upgrade.
17. 1:41All Junior Suites, regardless of view, are approximately 50-55 square meters.
18. 1:48All rooms have one king-size bed and one fold-out sofa.
19. 1:52There's a partition between them. Extra beds
20. 1:55are theoretically possible, but to add one, you'd have to move the main bed to the side.
21. 2:00The headboard stays in place, as it's attached to the wall, not the bed.
22. 2:07There's a capsule coffee maker and a kettle. The coffee is delicious.
23. 2:13The minibar is stocked with beer and soda, and they're refilled.
24. 2:19The bottled water, however, isn't the best; we don't buy it for home use,
25. 2:24and it's usually found in budget hotels.
26. 2:28Instead of closets, there's a walk-in closet, but it only contains a safe and beach towels.
27. 2:32I've mentioned the inconvenience of
28. 2:36not having towel pickup centers on site several times in other reviews, so I won't repeat myself.
29. 2:40The only other things a luxury hotel might have in its cloakroom are robes, slippers, and
30. 2:45an iron and ironing board, but there's nothing of the sort here.
31. 2:48Incidentally, we asked for robes at the front desk, and they promised to bring them, but never did.
32. 2:54The sofa folds out to its maximum length: it's comfortable enough for short children to lie crosswise
33. 2:58or for two people to lie lengthwise, but the maximum width is about the same as a 1.5-bed.
34. 3:04The bed linen isn't premium quality, which seems to be a common problem with Red Sea hotels,
35. 3:08and we've stayed in four of them.
36. 3:15The room has plenty of mirrors, including full-length ones.
37. 3:26Shower gel, shampoo, conditioner, and body lotion are provided in dispensers.
38. 3:32There are no premium toiletries, only a shower cap
39. 3:36and cotton pads with cotton swabs.
40. 3:40The shower stall has no door, with all the ensuing consequences
41. 3:44, literally, meaning puddles outside are guaranteed.
42. 3:54The bathroom door is sliding and doesn't close tightly.
43. 3:58The "Do Not Disturb" and "Clean Up" signs are just ordinary paper ones
44. 4:02that fly off at the slightest breeze, and they're misspelled, too.
45. 4:06The door chain, designed to prevent unauthorized entry,
46. 4:11is attached to the decorative trim. Someone knocked on the door this morning, and in the dark,
47. 4:15my friend, not noticing the locked chain, easily opened the door.
48. 4:18Naturally, the chain and trim flew off...
49. 4:22And here's our view from the balcony—according to the reception staff—it's sea view
50. 4:26. To be fair, the sea is indeed visible in the distance.
51. 4:35Moving on to a more positive topic: the food. I'll show you the main restaurant later,
52. 4:40but first, dinner at the Asian à la carte restaurant with a la carte service.
53. 4:44Live music, original, stylish tableware, and excellent sashimi, rolls, and hot dishes.
54. 4:50Service is very fast, at least for us, perhaps because we
55. 4:54arrived a little later than scheduled, when most of the guests had already finished dinner.
56. 5:03Behind a glass wall off the dining room, there's an open kitchen where you can watch the cooking.
57. 5:08Those who prefer beer to all other alcoholic beverages can definitely choose this hotel,
58. 5:13but I can't say the same about the wine; I'll explain more when we inspect the bars.
59. 5:17It's great that several à la carte restaurants are open during lunchtime, and although the information sheets list
60. 5:22them as snack restaurants, their menus are quite varied and the dishes are filling.
61. 5:28This is the 2026 dining concept with a full list of restaurants and bars—you can
62. 5:32pause and explore if you're interested.
63. 5:35For example, here's what they serve at the Mare Bar & Lounge on the beach:
64. 5:38check out the excellent selection of salads, appetizers, and hot dishes.
65. 5:42The meat is especially delicious here; kudos to the chefs.
66. 5:53Two pastry shops are also open throughout the day: one in the main building,
67. 5:57serving not only desserts but also sandwiches with sausage and fish.
68. 6:03The other, in an outdoor gazebo, serves donuts.
69. 6:16Both have ice cream, including pistachio and blueberry.
70. 6:26Let's head to the main restaurant, which is located in a separate building in the middle of the pool.
71. 6:31Breakfast is standard for Egypt: yogurt, croissants, rolls, pancakes, waffles, cookies, omelets,
72. 6:36sausages, bean ful, and cheese and cold meats.
73. 6:40You might be surprised by the inclusion of red fish and honeycomb,
74. 6:44but this is no longer uncommon in newer, especially more expensive, hotels,
75. 6:47and we've visited more than ten of them in the last year.
76. 6:51Champagne is advertised as being available during breakfast,
77. 6:54and at the cheaper Jaz Elite Asteria, for example, there are several varieties available and freely available at the bar;
78. 6:59you just go and pour yourself...
79. 7:01But here at Al Kasr, you can only order it from the waiters.
80. 7:15I'm going to get another comment about being picky,
81. 7:19but guys, these carts in a luxury hotel are just an eyesore, especially since the restaurant
82. 7:23is quite compact. You can just take the plates to a back room and then rattle and shake off
83. 7:28the leftovers. Come on...
84. 7:32Lunch is also typical for a normal hotel; nothing special,
85. 7:36but no one will go hungry. My daughter said the waffles were absolutely delicious and
86. 7:40was happy that they serve them at both breakfast and lunch.
87. 7:49And dinner was a sea of ​​red fish, shrimp, mussels, avocado salad,
88. 7:55asparagus, capers, and stuffed artichokes. Speaking of champagne, it should be available during dinner in the main
89. 8:01restaurant; ask the waiters.
90. 8:04There's a variety of grilled meats...
91. 8:10Fish, both fried and baked...
92. 8:14Fruit: apples, grapes, plums, peaches, apricots, bananas, and melon.
93. 8:19There were tons of pineapples for garnish and not a single sliced ​​one.
94. 8:24There wasn't a single watermelon in four days, even though it was the season.
95. 8:29A huge selection of desserts... Anyway, look at the delicious pictures, and
96. 8:32I'll throw in another fly in the ointment. It's June and already quite hot;
97. 8:37the restaurant is very stuffy. In this weather, the air conditioners inside should be on
98. 8:42and fans should be on the verandas.
99. 8:46The guest rooms have central air conditioning and it works well,
100. 8:49but there was an incident: the power went out, and consequently, the air conditioners.
101. 8:53I don't know exactly what time it happened.
102. 8:55We woke up around 9-10 a.m. from the heat, and there was no power until 2 p.m.
103. 9:01Not only are the air conditioners down, but the elevators don't work without power,
104. 9:05and for some reason, the staircases in the residential buildings are behind doors marked "Staff Only" or "Do Not Enter."
105. 9:11Being decent people, we didn't look behind doors with such signs and had to
106. 9:15go out through the main building. Later, we accidentally discovered that these were actually stairwells.
107. 9:22It's a strange idea to hide them; usually, on the contrary, such exits are marked as
108. 9:25emergency exits, for example, in case of fire...
109. 9:33These are the doors behind the stairs...
110. 9:38Okay, I've talked about food, but one more thing - drinks.
111. 9:42There are many bars on the premises, three along the beach, several more among the pools,
112. 9:46and in the main building: one next to the reception (open 24 hours)
113. 9:51and one on the floor below (open until midnight) - we'll start with that one, only it serves premium spirits
114. 9:58in glass (albeit Egyptian), namely:
115. 10:38At the 24-hour bar upstairs, if you insistently ask for
116. 10:42premium, they'll get it, it's a little hidden, but if you order silently, they'll pour rum, vodka,
117. 10:47whiskey, etc. of the Bolanachi brand from plastic bottles - it's one of the most affordable
118. 10:52in Egypt and is the same brand they pour in low- and mid-priced hotels.
119. 10:57The other bars on the premises and on the beach also serve Bolanachi plastic bottles.
120. 11:02Good news for beer lovers: all bars have canned beer, with Heineken and Stella to choose from…
121. 11:08Even on the beach, you can take a can—a great way to avoid
122. 11:11the plastic cups that are washed haphazardly by hand in the sink.
123. 11:18Champagne is not available anywhere except in the main restaurant for breakfast and dinner.
124. 11:22Wine is packaged; some bars pour openly from the bag,
125. 11:26while others first transfer the bags into bottles.
126. 11:29Ask them to open a new bottle in front of you and you'll be sure there aren't any!
127. 11:32That's Ultra All-Inclusive for you!
128. 11:34Soft drinks include packaged juices, including tomato juice,
129. 11:37some fresh juices, and sodas in cans and bottles individually.
130. 11:42Coffee is available from vending machines and can be brewed in a porta-potty.
131. 11:45Bottled water is the same as in the room minibars.
132. 11:56Outside the all-inclusive package, there's a Starbucks coffee shop available for an extra charge, featuring Movenpick ice cream and cakes.
133. 12:11The gym is large, air-conditioned, well-equipped, and divided into two sections:
134. 12:17one with exercise equipment and the other with a dance and gymnastics class.
135. 12:24It's evening now, but during the day, the treadmills and
136. 12:26exercise bikes offer stunning panoramic views of the beach and sea.
137. 13:05The coastline is unified throughout Sahl Hasheesh, with the
138. 13:08beaches of the various hotels not fenced off from each other. The resort is located in a bay, where there are almost no waves.
139. 13:14Notice there's not a single yacht nearby. A dedicated path
140. 13:19for electric cars and cyclists runs along the coast.
141. 13:24The beach umbrellas are fantastic, huge, and made of straw,
142. 13:28but not all are installed yet; some are bareheaded.
143. 13:32The entry into the sea is gentle, with slight ebb and flow,
144. 13:35but it's not far to the swimming depths.
145. 13:39If you have aqua shoes, great; if not, no problem; you don't need special footwear.
146. 13:45The cleanest sandy entrance is approximately in the center of the beach, at the level of the Mare Bar & Lounge.
147. 13:56I read reviews about a gorgeous reef, but I couldn't find it.
148. 14:00There are small areas with coral and fish, fenced off with ropes and marked with buoys above the water.
149. 14:56Near the beach are souvenir shops and a kids' club with several swings and a slide for toddlers.
150. 15:01No children were seen there, only one entertainer on duty...
151. 15:43To the right of the main entrance to the hotel, there is an ATM, including one with a currency exchange function for Egyptian pounds...
152. 15:50Renting a 4-seater golf cart costs about $15 per hour.
153. 15:55During this time, we managed to leisurely drive the entire area from Jaz Elite Asteria to Pyramisa Beach,
154. 16:01stopping at the arched bridge, which is one of the calling cards of the Sahl Hasheesh resort.
155. 16:05Near the bridge is an artificial architectural
156. 16:10complex stylized as ancient underwater ruins and schools of fed fish around the ruins.
157. 16:19Here is a full list of hotels you can see while driving along the coast:
158. 16:23Pyramisa Beach; Serenity Sky Arc; KaiSol Romance; Old Palace; Baron Palace; Premier Le Reve;
159. 16:29Tropitel; Gravity and Jaz Elite Asteria. By the way, those who watched our review of the
160. 16:33Jaz Elite Asteria hotel and asked about the pier - its construction is complete, here it is...
161. 16:47If you need pharmacies, Spinneys and Bestway supermarkets or a Sakara liquor store (where they
162. 16:52also sell bottled wine and champagne) - all this is within walking distance from the hotel, next to
163. 16:57the main attraction of the area - the arched complex of colored fountains Arrival Piazza...
164. 17:09The fountains in the Al Kasr hotel itself are cooler than in the square, they are not only colored but also singing.
165. 17:15A few more nuances! The advantages of the hotel:
166. 17:181) green territory, unlike many new recently opened resorts
167. 17:202) bracelets are not cut off after check-out and beach towels are allowed to be used until the evening
168. 17:263) we were given a free extended check-out time until 13:00.
169. 17:30Cons:
170. 17:321) Construction work is not yet complete; for example, renovations are ongoing in building 6000,
171. 17:36which may be the reason for the occasional power outages.
172. 17:392) There are no printed information sheets—upon check-in, you're given a QR code that opens a whole list
173. 17:44of files with a hotel map and infrastructure schedules, which is very inconvenient.
174. 17:52I look forward to your comments—did you like the hotel? Are we being overly picky given
175. 17:58the high price, or do you think you can find a better option for the same price?
176. 18:03If you have any questions, please let me know! For reservations, please contact us via Telegram and WhatsApp;
177. 18:07the contact information is in the channel description.
178. 18:10And see you soon for more reviews!