Xperience St. George Homestay 

Stayed for 13 days in early August 2026. Standard room. I really liked the hotel, although I wouldn’t call myself a particularly experienced hotel guest. All the drawbacks are non-critical. Honestly, you’d have to look for them with a magnifying glass. I’ll start with them so I can finish with the positives: – In the gym, almost none of the strength machines work. – Some “genius” decided to put the table tennis table outside. In Egyptian heat you can play maybe one game. There isn’t even an awning over it. It’s also metal, folding, and slightly warped. – In the restaurant, salads and other starters don’t really appeal to someone used to Russian cuisine. And for almost the entire holiday, my girlfriend’s and my digestive systems were – how should I put it – in a tense state, as if the food was being digested with great difficulty. I can’t blame the quality of the food. It’s probably just unfamiliar. Besides, you also need to build up immunity to a buffet so you don’t pile a bit of everything onto your plate. For reference, we ate only at the hotel restaurant and had drinks at the bars on the hotel beaches. – Coffee/cocoa in the coffee machines and boiling water in the water boiler for tea in the restaurant are available only at breakfast. At lunch and dinner they don’t work. In my opinion, this is very strange, since there is a large selection of desserts (most of which, by the way, are rather mediocre to my taste) – so what are you supposed to eat them with? Soda or juice? There are, admittedly, two workarounds: go to the lobby and get tea there, or load up on desserts and go to the lobby to eat them there. Clearly both options are, to put it mildly, inconvenient. When we asked why it’s done this way, they explained: “so guests don’t linger in the dining room drinking tea...” )) – I have probably never eaten a worse ice cream than the one they serve at lunch. I even saw someone lick it, immediately throw the ice cream out of the waffle cone, and start munching on the cone itself )). – Fruit was nothing fancy: melon slices, grapes, dates. Once there was mango, once figs, watermelon. Though it would be a sin to complain given the hotel’s price. – This is not a minus but just a feature – the restaurant staff are a bit too eager to clear food from the table. A few times I just steped away to get more juice, come back, and the table had already been cleared. I don’t know how to signal that I wasn’t finished yet... I see, if you put your plates near the edge of the table, they can be cleared, but if you do not... Of course, I understand them – the hotel was overpacked – lots of people – sometimes it was hard to find a place to sit, so they tried to clear everything quickly. By the way, a special “respect” to the clever ones who leave something like their purse on a table and go stand in line, and then go get more food... While you’re walking around, I could already have eaten half my meal at that table...)). The funny thing is they may put the purse on a chair where it can’t be seen. You’ve already sat down and started eating, and they come up like “we had this table – our purse is on the chair over there.” Well go ahead – sit on that chair with the purse – I don’t mind! )). No, we were reserving the whole table that way )). Jeez... )). But there in no sense to make a scene over such nonsense – so I am standing and going to find another spot...)). The queue phenomenon was also beyond me (this is not a dig at the hotel, just thinking out loud). Why do you line up along the hot food counter, people? Do you want to put literally every dish on your plate? )) Just go to the one you want and take it... – The TV in the room is small and very basic. I brought my own TV box to sometimes watch a movie or play music through it. But I couldn’t reach the HDMI port on the TV (if it even has one...) – the TV on its bracket sits very tight against the wall. – A standard drawback of most hotels I’ve stayed at – they give you a bar of soap but no soap dish. And this poor bar of soap has to soak in its own juices. – The floor in the room was rarely washed. However, I put this down to the overall situation with the hotel being full – probably the cleaner was in a hurry... Now for what I liked. + Very responsive hotel staff. Almost every housekeeper tries to greet you in your language. Not to mention the rest of the staff. There are many British and Italian guests at the hotel. Russian are at most 5–10%. Nevertheless, almost all the right people understand the necessary words in Russian. In general, the staff motivation seems to be well organized – I never once saw any of them being lazy – they seem to look for work to do. I already mentioned the full house – by some combination of factors, there was a big influx of tourists to Egyptian resorts at that time. At this hotel, occupancy exceeded 95%. That’s why there were queues for hot food in the restaurant and difficulties finding a free table. But! The hotel held up well – in the restaurant, the staff clearing dishes and serving drinks were almost running and quickly handled their tasks. Food that was running out was also quickly replenished. I looked with sympathy at the staff member who was grilling kebabs in the outdoor heat. How he didn’t get heatstroke, I don’t know...)) + Large choice of dishes in the restaurant. The variety was about three times greater than I had imagined. Freshly grilled chicken or fish kebab (on a mesh) seemed to be available at every lunch and dinner. Although, apparently for speed, the mesh was placed as close to the coals as possible, so the chicken pieces got smudged with charcoal – which is obviously not great... But that’s a minor thing... The fish was tasty. Once there were shrimp. + Two pool areas: the “loud” one – where the “amazing animation team” (as DJ sad) entertains guests after breakfast and lunch – and a quiet one. There is a bar with free juices and soda next to each. By the way, I only found out towards the end that you can ask to add syrup to your drink (for example, Sprite). There are plenty of sun loungers. But with the hotel full, by morning most spots had already been reserved with towels. Lifeguards at the pools are friendly and sociable. The pools themselves are quite nice. When we walked past them on the first day, they seemed very shallow. But no – an illusion! They’re up to an adult’s neck. + Two coffee machines (free): in the lobby and at the quiet pool bar. Plus two in the restaurant (but only at breakfast). + The juices at the bars taste are quite good... Although honestly, they were my main suspect responsible for the tense state of my digestion. For that reason, towards the end I tried to drink Sprite only instead. + There are different evening shows every day of the week (at 9:30 PM). Each week, with small changes, most of them repeat – magic tricks, an acrobat/juggler, belly dance, something like a dervish dance, etc. + The animation team tries in every way to stir up and entertain guests. I read in reviews that the animation and shows are supposedly quite mediocre... Those must have been written by very picky people. To me, it’s all fine! The animators are involved almost all day – morning exercise, water volleyball, aqua aerobics, after lunch pool football and other active entertainment. + Two private beaches: a coral one and a sandy one. Both are good. But I liked the coral one more. The lifeguards there are great – they keep watch. When I snorkeled at the coral beach for the first time, there were waves (yellow flag). I got a bit of water in my snorkel, and being inexperienced, I took it out of my mouth to pour the water out (when I should have just gently inhaled and forcefully exhaled to clear it). Because of the waves, water kept getting into the snorkel again, and I had to head back with my head above water, which turned out not so easy in the waves, even though the pier was literally 10 meters away. At some point I even got a little scared. But – and this is why I’m writing all this – the lifeguard noticed my trouble from the very first seconds, stood at the edge of the pier, and watched me closely, ready to help. He gestured something like “come on, swim.” And when I got out on the ladder, he also signaled something like “don’t worry, breathe deeply.” The sandy beach is in a bay near Old Market. For my girlfriend, one drawback was that you can’t see the open sea – only the bay. And there are no waves, except maybe after boats. Too bad – I love waves in the sea (when I’m safe near the shore )) ). A bus goes to both beaches; you need to sign up in advance – there and back. Food is provided at the beaches – at the sandy one, some snacks, and at the coral one, a full lunch with a mini version of the hotel restaurant: soup, several hot dishes, appetizers, desserts, juices, soda. At the coral beach bar, milkshakes and fresh juices are at a very reasonable price – $2 – and are quite tasty. + Decent hotel location. On one hand, it’s not in the middle of the hustle and bustle. On the other, you can get to many places cheaply by taxi. And to the IL Merkato street/area or the old town, if you want, you can even walk. + Every evening there is a bus (there and back) – again, you need to sign up – to one of these places: Old Market, the SOHO area, or Naama Bay. It’s well worth walking around each of these areas at least once. + Good, cozy room – everything you need is there. I wouldn’t say anything is “worn out” – everything is in good condition. It’s convenient that there are plenty of places to throw your stuff – on the sofa, chairs, etc. There is an outlet that doesn’t turn off when you leave the room. Large double bed with a good mattress. Quiet air conditioner. Although during the day it struggles a bit, and towards morning, on the contrary, you can get a bit chilly from it. Decent bathroom fixtures. Hairdryer. Fridge – handy for cooling water to take with you on outings. By the way, a couple of 1.5 L bottles of water regularly appeared in the room. Drying rack on the balcony. + The grounds are nice. For walking around, they’re a bit small, although I find it hard to name a time when I specifically wanted to just stroll around the grounds... + ATM on the hotel grounds and a couple of small shops, where prices are surprisingly reasonable. + Large lobby area with soft sofas and chairs. After dinner, many guests were drawn there to sit and chat. The animators also came there and chatted with guests, and also invited people to dance club nights for $25 )). + WiFi worked satisfactorily for me, but for my girlfriend, for some reason, nothing would load often. + My girlfriend was very positive about the massage at the hotel’s SPA salon. Though it’s not exactly a cheap service... + Ah, and how can I not mention the charming Regina, who introduced herself as a “hotel representative”. She is in the lobby at a separate table by the exit to the “loud” pool from about 10:00 to 17:00. You can approach her with any questions related to the hotel. Well, maybe not only the hotel – you can just ask for advice on something else )). Also, she is in contact with a local tour company, can recommend an excursion, and will help you book it – prices are quite reasonable. To sum up, a very pleasant hotel. Especially since the price isn’t that high. Would I stay here again if I go to Sharm again? Very likely! I sincerely thank the hotel owners and staff for the excellent time at Xperience St. George Homestay!