Ali Baba Palace -Families and Couples Only-

We were at the AliBaba Palace Hotel in July 2024. The transport to the hotel is decent, a 15-minute bus ride from the airport, although the area itself is basically a desert - it's hard to find your bearings when you're used to European resorts. The surroundings are more daunting than inviting. The hotel grounds are fenced, and the bus passes through a double barrier and checks before reaching the hotel front and doors. Luggage is taken by hotel staff from your hands upon arrival and placed in the lobby one next to another. The reception service is rather brisk. Smiles are rare, no polite greetings, and English is at a level sufficient for conveying information, but don't count on much help with more detailed questions, request. Passports of each guests are scanned and if there is an issue with anyting they become quiet rude. Speak Arabic to each other in front of you, so you feel rather lost. Due to our late arrival after 10:00 PM, we were offered a meal in Bella Italia - one of the 3 lobby restaurants. It was a nice and thoughtful touch. Upon entering the room, hotel staff brought our luggage, emphasizing on tips, of course. The standard room is very basic. The hotel is divided into two parts - before and after renovation. The beds are hard, which suits me fine. The room's air conditioning and fridge are very loud. The first 2 nights were sleepless, being woken up every 2 hours by it's loud operation. Tap water should never be consumed. It's best to use mineral water for brushing teeth, washing face, and hands. Again, a plus for the daily replenishment by housekeepers - 4 new bottles in the room every day, which can even be refilled by oneself during the day from dispensers throughout the hotel. I'd strongly advise to take an antibacterial soap and hand sanitizer with you. Due to staying with two small children aged 5 and 7, we pay a lot of attention to the cleanliness of the places we stay. Unfortunately, we did not experience this at the Alibaba hotel. Glasses in the lobby and hotel bar were rinsed with tap water during peak hours. Drinks were served in old plastic cups that clearly had seen better days. Tables in the restaurant were wiped of crumbs between guests. Cutlery that appeared unused after guests was left for the next ones. The hotel staff carried most things in their hands, and when pouring beer, it was rare for the rim of the glass not to be touched by their fingers. You should expect to get traveler’s diarrhea due to the low level of sanitation. In succession, we saw rooms in the hotel displaying do not disturb signs on their door handles one by another. In our case, fortunately, it was just one person, but 3 days out of 7 were spent in bed. Even though we have stucked to the most basic diet - fries, plain rice, chicken, and beef. All deserts tasted the same. We stayed away from cakes with whipped cream. The animations were rather poor, although in heat above 40 degrees, it is hard to blame them. The hotel is not all-inclusive at all - chips, popcorn, ice cream, canned drinks, and bottled beers are to be paid for. Local alcohols in the all-inclusive drinks are made from local products - they taste bad. On the plus side, the water park is great for children, although it operates in two time slots: 10-13 and 14-17. The sea is also close, but you need to bring special water shoes - the beach is rocky with a lot of boulders, so you can get quite hurt. The resort is safe, although there are many people offering their services - massages, diving, snorkeling. Walking around the sunbeds and nagging. The game room is very expensive. A few minutes of play costs 2 tokens. One token is one dollar. The ice rink is laid OSB boards painted with sliding paint, not ice. At every stage, you can expect the hotel staff to demands tips. We are talking about small amounts, but still, it is tiring when you want to relax. In summary, I rate the stay at the hotel 3 out of 5 stars. You need to be very careful, which is not the point of family vacation.