This is by far the nicest and most beautiful hotel I have ever stayed at. My husband and I stayed here for just 2 nights in September 09. We were on a small tour and this is where the tour company- egypt uncovered- booked us. We had a delux room right that went straight out to the beach. Our room was immaculate, stylish, and had a private back patio with an outdoor shower! I took extra showers just so I could shower under the stars! The beds were comfy, the room service was very reasonably priced, and the breakfast buffet in the morning was beautiful, delicious, and had the most choices of any hotel breakfast buffet that I have ever seen. There was also nice beach area with a bar and a nice outdoor area up at the hotel overlooking the Red Sea with a few large pools and seatin aras as well. The staff was friendly. This hotel is absolutely gorgeous as is the sparkling Red Sea which it overlooks. I would love to go back to Dahab and just spend a week relaxing and staying at this hotel. If you will be visiting this part of Egypt make sure to treat yourself to this hotel!

We went to Dahab to escape the scene of Sharm. We were not expecting a 5 star hotel. The Meridien is perfectly fine for what it is. We were in Dahab to scuba dive and we did not want to stay in a crappy diving/backpacker hotel. The Meridien has nice, clean, large rooms looking out at the red sea. The swimming pools are okay, the chairs are uncomfortable, the staff is nice, the views are excellent, the location is okay ($5 to get into town), the food is fine (eating in town is better) and the price is okay. If you are looking for a 5 star experience you may want to look in the Las Vegas of Egypt (Sharm). I prefer Dahab.

This is truly a 5* hotel in all aspects but one. The buffet food is no better than average and the meat and fish dishes in particular do not use the highest quality products. At times the food can be a bit bland and unappetising. The lunches that we had at the a la carte rest Vie , were on the other hand, very tasty. This suggests they have not quite mastered the art of buffet food. Each evening meal had a theme and they are trying to please asking frequently for feedback, but this was a disappointing aspect of an otherwise first class hotel. The service , rooms and location are excellent and the beach & pool facilities are very good. The cleaners are all men but they do an excellent job. Disappointingly many peope failed to provide small tips for the hotel staff which is their choice , but we found it rather distasteful that most people did not make the effort to give a small tip to people to whom it meant a great deal. We would go back.

We came from 3 nights at Sharm and much preferred Dahab - yes it is much quieter but we weren't after nightcluns so were happy to visit town at night and return to the hotel for a beer or two and then bed. The hotel was very stylish and you didnt have to fight to get a sunbed (as we did in Sharm) - it just felt classier than Sharm hotels.

Breakfast was good.

Snorkelling was poor on the reef - its quite expensive 5 GBP per day to hire a snorkel.

Windsurfing seemed to better at other hotels such as the Hilton - this would be due to the spit of sand that protects the bay for these other hotels whereas the Meridien is outside this area.

Reception staff were very helpful.

Room was very colourful - the sofa in the room was a bit stained and we did have a problem with flies in the room.

We ate at the beach restuarant twice and it was okay - not brilliant but okay.

Happy hour in the bars was well worth attending as all drinks are half price for an hour.

We went from here to St Catherines Monestary via taxi - 1 1/2 hrs there and 1 hr at the monestary (its enough as its only small) and 1 1/2 hrs back and costing about 50USD

We left here and went to Jordan overland - no one knew how to do this so if you are interested......
This is what we did.

1 - We left the hotel at 9:15 am in a taxi to TABA border - cost 55USD

2 - Arrive TABA border 11:00am - Paid 2 EGP per person to the police as a Police/Customs Tax - they give you a paper stamp in return which you attach to a customs card they provide. Leave Egypt on foot.

3 - Walk 100 metres to the Israel border

4 - At the Israel border see passport control and if asked tell them you are passing through to Jordan - they had no interest in any countries we'd previously visited. Pass through baggage security checks etc. If you ask I believe they will not stamp your passport but stamp a piece of paper - if you are worried about not being able to visit Jordan later (we didnt care).

5 - At the Israel border taxis are waiting and will take you for about 45 shekels (or about 15USD if you dont have local currency - though driver will give change in shekels if you dont have exact USD). Ask the taxi to take you to the Jordan border (known as the Yitzak Rabin Crossing - or the Araba border - just above the city of Eilat). It takes about 10 - 15 mins only.

6 - At the Israel end of this next border pay about 95 shekels each as a departure tax - you can pay in EGP (approx 305EGP for the two of us) or US or sterling GBP or Euros.

7 - Walk 100 metres to the Jordan border. Go to the first window and get your passport stamped - there is no charge for a 2 week visa - it costs for longer. Note - you cant take any food/water into Jordan including no water. There is a money exchange at this border point that will exchange any money you want into Jordanian Dinar.

8 - Taxis are waiting for you at the border and cost 7JD per taxi to take you into the centre of Aqaba. If you want a place to head for/landmark ask for Ali Baba's restuarant - its directly in the centre and near everything and is also a good point to grab a coffee/lunch.

9 - The time was now 12:40pm meaning it took us 3 hrs 25 mins and cost approx 130 USD for 2 of us versus hours on waiting and travelling for a ferry that may or maynot leave on time and would cost about 220 USD.