This hotel is fantastic, in a brilliant location. Although the decor is a little dated everywhere is spotless. The staff can't do enough for you and speak very good english. We have just returned from here after spending new year here - they pulled out all the stops and made new year great! well done to all!
Only minor thing was that because we were the only english there my husband had to get a taxi to another hotel to get a paper - but when mentioned this to the reception they apologised and said they would address this.
Staff AND guests were happy and friendly to chat to us in some what broken english.
Food can be a little bland but I didn't get an upset stomach which I always have when go abroad which is a good reflection on the cleanliness and quality of the food.
The only BIG critsism we have was with outside the hotel-the marina is just as expensive at home and wanted £2.20 for a bottle of beer that was all in at hote and nothing special!
Plus BEWARE of some taxi drivers - unfortunately 1 night we were fooled into receiving a 50 note that we thought was egyption pound but was their smallest currency! although when told other taxi drivers they were disgusted and apologised for the culprit.
All in all a fabulous new year spent at a fabulous hotel.

We have just returned from the Arabella and overall we had a really great time. But the hotel in general is very tired and needs some work. There are some very good and efficient staff and also there are many that aren't. The main restaurant which we went to for breakfast and lunch has lovely views over the sea, but the problems here could be many staff standing around and not being attentive to the drinks table service in which we had a couple of issues but we dealt with these. The restaurant itself again is tired and needs a thorough clean especially around the bar dispense area which stank. The food however was very good. I do not understand the negativity regarding food (salads, pizzas, fries, meats, vegetables) it is all inclusive food.

There is plenty to do here, snorkelling excellent, giant chess, free pool 4 tables to play on. Snooker Table and internet these were payable. There is also the animation team who work hard day and night.

The main bar near the lobby area is by far excellent. It feels like a pub. We are always dubious about table service as you can sit for ages waiting for a drink but we were proved very wrong. The staff here were polite, remembered what you drank and very efficient. Super.

We chose to eat in the Italian restaurant beside the billiards room for our eveining meal. The service here was excellent also and the pizzas were to die for.

It does state in the info pack that no reservation of sunbeds is allowed but this happens big style. Never seen so many towels out. Not that this affected us as we are early birds so always got our spot.

The air conditioning was rather noisy and would have been an issue if it was in the height of summer, but we had no need to use it. The room itself was clean and tidy and very regular bed changes. The shower was like being in a straight jacket, just a tray with curtain round it which the other half nearly fell out of and no shelving to put shampoo etc on. But the water pressure was good and water was very hot.

Overall a very pleasant stay. Note you get what you pay for.

The good: nice staff, great weather, nice reef so lots of fish.
The bad: the food, the food, the food and the food. Did I mention the food?
Also your airco unit is behind the bed and it makes a lot of noise. But because of that you can't make the noise the fridge makes. If you decide to turn of your airco unit. Make sure you unplug the fridge as well.
In Mexico or Asia this resort would have 2 stars max..

We've stayed in Arabella Azur in August 2010. We had a standard room for 3 persons. 2 adults and 1 teenager (12 yrs). The people at the hotel are doing all they can to make your holiday the best holiday ever. The room is not new anymore, but has anything you want incl. a hairdryer in the bathroom. Sometimes the airco breaks down and then it gets very warm in your room. But if you wait a little while, they fix it. Outside there's always a wind blowing which is lovely since in August it's very warm there. It's an all inclusive resort, which means you can eat / drink anything you like. They serve various meals and i guarantee there's plenty of your liking! Just choose n pick! At the big pool (where they do aquagym) you find Wesam (towelboy). He's most lovely, brings you everything you need. We heard an Egyptian song which we liked. Next day he brought us a CD with this song on it. Especially made for us. The singer is Mohammed Hammaki. He gave our daughter Arabic lessons. It's great to learn a few words which you can use while talking with the personnel. This is a lovely resort, it's more like an Arabic village. At the beach there is a small reef, where you can see the most colorfull fishies :-) We've even seen a stingray. When you decide to take a boat trip, take the one which they offer at the beach of the hotel Arabella. We've had a supertrip!!!!
A small minus: the people from the spa offering their services. Just continue saying NO when you don't want to use the spa (as it's not included in the all inclusive!)
We still talk about our holiday in Egypt a year later! We will be back one day, that's for sure! all our love to the people who work at Arabella Azur, especially Wesam!