Pickalbatros White Beach Resort - Hotel in Hurghada

This hotel in Hurghada, Egypt, was a huge disappointment!

I stayed at three hotels in Hurghada, Egypt, and each had its own problems, ranging from minor to severe dissatisfaction. But the most disappointing was the Pickalbatros White Beach Resort, which is very close to the airport! I booked this one mainly for convenience to catch an early flight, but it turns out that booking further away and choosing a global chain is always better!

Pickalbatros is a chain hotel; I saw many of them in Egypt. After some research, I learned they mainly operate in Egypt and Morocco, so they seem to be a local brand!

① The moment I entered the lobby, something felt off. It was noisy and crowded with Europeans and Americans. During check-in, the front desk wouldn't tell me anything. I had specifically requested a twin room when I booked, and when I saw them about to get their room key, I quickly confirmed my twin request. They then changed my room, which turned out to be a family room with three beds (see picture 6 for details).

② Since this is an all-inclusive hotel, wanting to avoid wasting food, we wanted to have dinner at the restaurant that evening. Because the front desk didn't tell us where the restaurant was, we had to go back and forth to ask. The same thing happened with car booking. We mentioned we needed to book a car to go to the airport the next morning during check-in, but the front desk didn't explain this clearly, so we had to go back to ask again… The food was a buffet and very bad. When we asked the front desk, they didn't say when the food would be cleared. When we arrived, they had just finished serving the food and the restaurant was already clearing it – we almost missed our flight!

③ The room was also terrible! The mini-fridge in the room was very noisy, and the shower water pressure was low. The balcony faced the pool, but interestingly, each room's balcony was separated by glass. If the curtains in the room next to mine weren't drawn, I could see directly into their room from my balcony – absolutely no privacy! See picture 5 for details.

④ This isn't even the worst part. After all, it's a transit hotel, just a place to sleep. Besides, if I hadn't asked them to prepare breakfast for us, the hotel receptionist probably would have pretended not to know…

The main issue is their discrimination against Chinese people!!! The staff at the hotel entrance clearly showed differential treatment! Because I checked in alone while the other person waited on the sofa, the receptionist only gave us a wristband. Then, after we finished eating, we wanted to take some photos at the hotel entrance (there were some Christmas decorations). Here's the kicker! We went out through the same door to take photos and came back – only a few minutes apart – and the staff at the entrance asked us for our wristbands! The large group of Europeans who came in with us didn't need them. What's the logic behind that? I was too tired to argue, just wanted to go back to sleep. There are just too many European dogs in Egypt!

This is a very angry review I wrote in my hotel room! Although I only got 4 hours of sleep before catching my flight ✈️, the hotel's various practices didn't affect my travel mood. I treated it like air. There are always problems when traveling, and discrimination is everywhere. I've encountered it in Italy and Bali, Indonesia, but it didn't stop me from having a good time. I'm just recording what happened to provide some reference for others.

Hotel check-out follow-up: I checked out at 4:30 AM. The hotel insisted I write a review, requiring me to write positive reviews for everything. I couldn't bear to! Then, when leaving, I called a taxi from the hotel entrance for $20 USD. It must be a company partnered with the hotel, which wasn't cheap. There was absolutely no service. The driver was late, and when he arrived, he was nonchalant and slow, not worried at all about catching his flight. We always use the hotel's taxi service. During my ten-plus days in Egypt, I stayed at 8 or 9 hotels, and this one had the worst taxi service, bar none! When I left, the staff at the entrance didn't help me with my luggage. We had two large suitcases, and they just stood there watching. A truly black mark on my record! This hotel was so bad I barely took any photos; I had no mood for it and there wasn't much to photograph anyway! Of all the hotels I stayed at during my trip to Egypt, the Four Seasons in Sharm El Sheikh was the most satisfying in terms of experience, environment, service, facilities, room size, etc. There were no comparable options. The Mina Palace in Cairo was just average, with only so-so service.