this complex needs pulling down.old @ dirty if you can rough it maybe ok,if you ant a decent holiday stay away. ther is nothing 5* about it.all inclusive means no drinks in reception you had to pay. drinks on beach long wait @ warm. stay away.

We stayed under RCI exchange programme in December 2008 for a week.

Very huge compound having many facilities and its own beach. Wonderful red sea.

Rooms were huge and could be joined from inside. We had partial kitchen. Rooms were air conditioned.

Hotel lobby is beautiful.

Under RCI exchange it is advisable to stay at this place.

we arrived in the dark late afternoon on 8th of feb 11 , we were told the Hotel Sapphire Suites had been closed so they put us in the Paradise part of the Golden five , we enter the Hotel and thought WOW , we were taken to our room on the 4th floor,The room was ok but a bit dull we had a balcony overlooking pool , we unpacked and went for our tea ,The food was ok but a bit cold , we had a couple of drinks and went to sleep , next morning we had our welcome meeting, we soon relised there was only sixteen people in the hotel because all the Russian guests had been flown back home by there goverment, so only sixteen british left, the hotel has 5 resteraunts but 4 of them were closed due not guests and only one girl doing animation Sahsa who did her best to entertain us , there would have lots to do but everything was canceled , all local shops were closed but we did find some shops open in the Senso centre which was about 20 mins walk , In the only Resteraunt we could use there was Pigeons flying around and walking under your table while we were eating ,next day we went to see our rep who had been called in by another couple complaining about Pigeons and there room after this we had our meals in another room up on the third floor while they tried to get rid of pigeons, the food was much better with more choice and it was hot , so during the day all we had to do was sunbathe, they were doing there best and made us feel welcome, On thursday evening we were having our tea and just saying its not that bad really my partner went over to get some cake as we had all holiday to her horror she saw several cockroaches running about on the table so we didnt have any cake again ,but i had cake every day ,luckily we were leaving next day so we didn say anything but put it on leaving forms , i would just like to add that since we got back i have been ill with stomach pain and diarrhoea , This Hotel needs a lot of work inside outside the pools and gardens are very well looked after shame about the interior of the hotel.

Myself and my partner fancied a cheap pre-Christmas break in the sun. Having booked flights separately the Sapphire Suites at Golden 5 City looked like a reasonable all inclusive option.

Just a bit of background, the Golden 5 City complex is absolutely vast, there are, despite the name, actually seven hotels which form the complex (Sapphire, Topaz, Paradise, Club Golden 5, Al Mas Palace, Diamond and the Emerald. You can use the bars, clubs and restaurants of all the hotels as well as the beach bars and restaurants and the Aqua Park and associated pool. Pool/Beach towels are provided.

The Sapphire and Topaz form there own separate little hotel complex across the road from the main Golden 5 Complex. As stated the complex is so large that it’s a good 15 minute walk through it to the Beach, luckily a shuttle bus is provided at ½ hour intervals.

Checked in at the Sapphire Suites with no problem and received the all inclusive wrist bands. Was shown to our room (note no lifts but the building is only three stories). As the name suggests, all the rooms are suites with a separate living room and bedroom and large bathroom. The rooms are very clean (Cleaner Ali was excellent) but are a little dated. The bedroom has ample wardrobe space, balcony and two double beds and individually controlled air conditioning. The lounge had a further TV, two sofas, table further storage and further individually controlled air conditioning.

The Sapphire and Topaz complex appear to be the most modern, the other 5 hotels while clean and reasonably maintained are defiantly showing their age. You can imagine that 15 years ago they would have been quite splendid.

There is a large private beach with lots of sub loungers. There are plenty of sun loungers around the Topaz pool.

During our stay we dinned in the Sapphire, Topaz, Diamond and Paradise Restaurants. The Sapphire and Topaz are by far the best, the Diamond is okay and the Paradise, while having live entertainment, should be avoided at all costs. There is an entertainment programme at the complex, although it is geared towards the Russian nationalities.

The hotel is 95% Russians with the other 5% being largely non British. I would say that this ratio of guests goes for Hurghada as a whole. We had no problems with the other nationalities and it was nice to get a way from the booze Brit culture.

The alcohol served was reasonable (if local), and readily available. The latest we stayed out in the actual hotel was at the Paradise billiard bar which was still serving gone 1.30am. There are two or three ‘night clubs’ on the complex, however they serve premium only drinks which you must pay for.

We paid $5 for the beach party one night at the hotel, I suggest you save your money. Off complex I would recommend the Little Buda Club in Hurghada, very classy is expensive. There’s also a Ministry of Sound at the Marina. Just down the road from the hotel there is also a further club, the Havana Club (you will see the spot light in the sky) and a couple of bars.

There are lots of shops around touting for your business. I would suggest a visit to the fixed price Cleopatra or Cairo Bazaars near the hotel so you know the price of things. I wouldnt buy the cigs on offer in these shops or shops on the complex, I believe they are fakes. Get a taxi to the near by Senzo Shopping Centre which has a large supermarket with real cigs for 9 egyption pounds a packet.

Cheap hotel, worth its money, but by no means a Riu.