Palm Royale Resort

What are my impressions of our stay at Palm Royale, which we have just returned from? An absolutely wonderful experience! My husband and I returned to Egypt after 11 years, and our second visit exceeded our expectations in many ways.

We were impressed from the moment we arrived. The enormous lobby feels like a palace, both in terms of its size and décor, and you will constantly find yourself looking up and admiring all the paintings and decorative details. Upon request, we were able to get our room a few hours earlier than the official check-in time, which we really appreciated after several hours of flying and the airport transfer. A member of staff kindly showed us all the way to our room, and our luggage arrived shortly afterwards.

The room was spacious and cosy. Although the furnishings are somewhat dated, everything was still in good condition. The bed and pillows were very comfortable, and we slept wonderfully. The only minor issues were a rather stiff shower tap and a sink that drained a little slowly, but neither of these affected our stay in any meaningful way. The water pressure in the shower was perfectly fine. We hardly used the large balcony with its lovely side view. I would have appreciated a small drying rack for our swimsuits. It was quite windy in Soma Bay during the first few days of our stay, so we were worried that swimsuits left to dry on the chairs might blow away. Housekeeping was carried out regularly every day without any problems, including replenishing the minibar and replacing the towels. The only thing I noticed upon arrival was that the floor felt as though it was covered with a very fine layer of sand, so perhaps it could have been mopped a little more thoroughly. The room was very well soundproofed and had effective blackout curtains. They were a little difficult to open and close, so they need to be handled carefully. We hardly used the TV. Setting up the safe was very straightforward – we often struggle with hotel safes, so it was nice that everything worked perfectly on the first try this time. The Wi-Fi requires a password, which you receive together with your room cards upon arrival, and it worked reliably throughout our stay in the room, around the hotel, by the pool and even all the way down to the beach.

I really appreciated that despite its size, the resort has plenty of shortcuts and passageways that make it easy to move between the buildings, beach and swimming pools. The pools are large and deep enough for proper swimming, and if you want to escape the sun for a while, there is even an artificial cave where you can comfortably relax in the water – or perhaps play a game of table tennis.

We used the most often the swim-up bar. Service there could occasionally be a little slow, and sometimes we had to wait for supplies to be replenished, so this is one area where there is still some room for improvement. During our stay in early August, we had no trouble finding sun loungers by the pool. Those by the sea filled up more quickly, but it was still perfectly possible to find a free spot.

Access to the sea is excellent, with no coral reefs or rocks – just fine sand, so there is no need for water shoes. The sea was clean and beautifully turquoise-blue. Occasionally there were small pieces of seaweed floating around, but nothing bothersome. On the final day of our stay, the tide went out quite far, but swimming in the bay was still perfectly possible. At the edge of the bay, the low tide revealed a lovely shallow area with white sand, which is great for taking photos. You can easily walk there by foot, so there is no need to pay for an excursion just to visit a similar-looking place.

Luxor can be reached from the hotel in approximately four hours. If you want to go shopping, you can take a taxi to nearby Safaga, which takes around 10–15 minutes. There is also a small shopping arcade inside the hotel, although prices are understandably higher and the selection is more limited. The hotel is approximately 45 minutes from the airport.

We were happy with the food included in the all-inclusive package. There are four à la carte restaurants at the hotel which need to be booked in advance. We did not use this option, as there was always plenty to choose from at the extensive buffet in the main Stella Café restaurant.

My favourite part of the day was the themed evening buffet, which is prepared outdoors and can also be enjoyed outside with a beautiful view of the resort gardens. A different cuisine was served every evening – Egyptian, Oriental, Spanish, seafood and even European. This meant that my husband could taste a schnitzel for dinner 3,000 kilometres away from home!

From time to time, we had lunch at Azur Bar, halfway between the beach and the hotel. There is a fairly good selection of food there, although almost every dish comes with French fries. I particularly enjoyed the self-service soft-serve ice cream machine – the ice cream tasted almost like Italian gelato. We did not have a single digestive problem during our entire stay.

Overall, my husband and I were extremely happy with our choice. Although Palm Royale is not the newest or most modern resort and there are a few minor details that could be improved, we thoroughly enjoyed every moment of our holiday. It is a fantastic choice for people who do not like sterile resorts with little or no greenery – there is an abundance of lush vegetation here, and it really adds to the overall atmosphere and experience.

My husband and I are already thinking about when we could come back. One week was definitely not enough!

This was our third stay at Palm Royale Soma Bay, so we have a good basis for comparison with our previous visits. We have always enjoyed this hotel and were therefore happy to return, but this time we noticed several changes that we feel are worth mentioning.

On the positive side, it is great to see that the hotel continues to invest in renovations. The area around the swimming pool and the pool itself have clearly been improved and look fresh and well maintained. The beach remains beautiful and is still one of the hotel's greatest assets.

We would also like to give special praise to the Animation Team. They are friendly, energetic and genuinely make an effort to involve guests and create a pleasant atmosphere throughout the day. We were particularly impressed with the evening entertainment programme, which has improved tremendously compared with our previous stays. This is definitely a big positive change and something the hotel should be proud of.

The Aquatic Centre team also deserves special praise. They are enthusiastic, friendly and genuinely make an effort to provide guests with a good variety of activities.

However, there are also some aspects that have unfortunately gone backwards.

The biggest difference we noticed was the food selection. While the quality of the food remains very good, the choice and variety are clearly more limited than during our previous stays. As returning guests, this was particularly noticeable to us. The selection used to be much more diverse, with greater variety from day to day, whereas this time the offer felt more repetitive and limited.

To be clear, the quality of the food has not declined – it is still tasty and well prepared. Our criticism is specifically about the reduced selection and lack of variety, which becomes especially noticeable during a longer stay.

We were also disappointed by the condition of the Beach Bar, which looks considerably more worn and in need of renovation compared with the rest of the hotel. While significant effort has clearly been made to improve the pool area, the Beach Bar appears to have been overlooked and would definitely benefit from refurbishment.

Another issue is the reduction in staff, not only in the restaurant but also at the pool and beach bars. It is quite rare to see a waiter walking along the beach, so if you want to order a drink, you often have to make your way to the bar yourself and also spend a lot of time waiting for your turn. For a resort of this category, we feel that beach service should be much more readily available.

Again, we want to emphasize that this is not a criticism of the staff themselves. The employees we encountered were friendly and doing their best. The problem seems to be that there are simply not enough of them to provide the level of service guests would reasonably expect.

Overall, we still enjoyed our holiday and there are many things we love about Palm Royale Soma Bay – the beautiful beach, good-quality food, improved evening entertainment, great Animation Team and excellent Aquatic Centre team. However, as returning guests for the third time, we cannot ignore the differences we noticed compared with our previous stays.

We sincerely hope that the management will take these comments seriously. The hotel has a fantastic location and a lot of potential, but maintaining the quality of the guest experience requires not only investment in renovations, but also sufficient staff, good service and a food selection that lives up to the standard we remember from our earlier visits.

We still love Palm Royale Soma Bay, but this time we definitely noticed a step backwards in some important areas – alongside some very welcome improvements.