This was our seventh trip to Sharm with our twin boys, but our first to this hotel. With some trepidation (having seen mixed reviews here) we booked. It was just over £1000 for 9 days half-board on a promo rate through Travel Republic.
Prestige is one of six hotels making up the Coral Bay resort, but they are not separated from each other in any obvious way, except that Prestige has its own small beach and two pools, together with the Plaisir restaurant. As a Prestige guest, you can use any of the pools and beaches on the site. If you book half-board, you can eat at any restaurant, and for dinner that means a full three-course meal, even (very good) fillet steak if you wish.
Beverages are extra, but you receive a 30% discount on these. To get that discount, though, you have to sign for the drinks, not pay cash or by card. It's odd, but they are simply not geared up to cash or card payments here. You will be given a receipt to check against your extras bill - ours was spot-on... and surprisingly cheap, too. We spent well under £300 on lunches and (all our) drinks across 9 days. I reckon that's cheap for 4 people.
An earlier review mentions restaurant closures. We asked about this. Some were closed early this year, due to very low numbers of tourists as a result of the political situation in Cairo, but the resort was 100% open while we were there.
We were given a free upgrade to a sea-view room, without asking. We expected our two 5 year olds to be sharing a sofa bed, but they had provided an extra child-size single as well as the sofa bed - and still the room didn't feel cramped. Free safe, free wi-fi in the reception area. Wi-fi available in room for a charge. Mini bar, with reasonable prices. Spacious bathroom - not luxury, perhaps, but good enough and functional.
What the positive reviewers have said about Plaisir Restaurant is true. A little too formal for us for dinner, but perfect for breakfast. Impeccable service and good quality food. For dinner, we used mainly the steak restaurant and the pizza restaurant. We tried the Wadi buffet one evening - a disappointment. This was our seventh trip to Sharm with the boys, and for the first time, none of us had any "digestion issues" whatsoever. We were diligent about hand-washing before meals, but we can be certain the food itself (including salads) was untainted. For lunch, we ate mainly at the beach restaurants, and found the best one of the lot on our last day (Ali Baba's.) Wish we'd gone earlier!
As a Prestige customer, you have access to the Club Car service - they are golf buggies, basically - which will take you to anywhere in the resort and collect you again on request. You don't need the Taf Taf bus service that you'll find in some reviews. (Makes me wonder if some people have mistakenly reviewed one of the other hotels within the Coral Bay resort on this section of TA.) You also have free access to the Elisir spa, but be aware that they don't allow access to children under 14.
Pools and beaches all excellent. The resort is showing its age, but maintenance is generally good, and the friendly staff adore kids. All in all, fabulous value and no problems at all. Do the sums for yourself - the room is free, in effect, because the meals alone are worth £100 per day!
It really is an undiscovered jewel - perhaps because it is Italian-owned (Domina Group), it seems under-marketed in the UK. Most of the other guests are Italian and Russian (no comment) so if you like conversation over a beer in the evening, take your own friends and/or family with you! We met only one couple who spoke English in all the time we were there.
Room Tip: Best beach bar/restaurant is Ali Baba's!
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This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC