Amwaj Oyoun Resort & Casino 5*

We stayed at The Amwaj as a couple from the 2nd to the 11th of June and can highly recommend the hotel. The location is fantastic; with a sandy (albeit coarse) beach, dramatic mountain back drop and outstanding house reef. The hotel was at low capacity during our 11 day stay and was very quiet, relaxed and well run. I cannot speak for busier periods.

The check in took quite a long time (about 40 mins despite only one other couple attempting check in at the same time). Although, we had made a last minute reservation and arrived at 4am. The gentleman apologised and explained that they stop checking the online requests at 5pm, so bear this in mind if making a short notice booking.

Our room (a superior suite) was spacious, spotlessly clean and tastefully decorated. Shower was rainforest style with good water pressure and huge cubicle. The bed was incredibly large and very comfortable, with a statement white leather headboard. Furniture was marble topped and in excellent condition. The air conditioner was fantastically efficient and a safe, hairdryer and kettle are all provided. During our stay we were given two plates of fresh fruit and pastries (brought right to our room) and had bottles of water and tea/coffee/sugar refilled daily. The housekeeping staff are some of the most professional and proficient I have ever come across, please tip them if you can, you never know what little surprises might be left in your room if you do!

The grounds of the hotel are kept immaculate by the hard working gardeners (tip them too!), they literally never stop and deserve as much praise as all the other wonderful staff at the property. There are large cacti, flowering trees, lawned areas and plenty of date palms to admire, as well as beautiful native Hoope birds, coastal falcons and hooded crows flying overhead.

On the beach are a gang of friendly dogs and a couple of gorgeous camels. Make sure to grab some extra fruit at breakfast, the handlers will let you feed the camels if you ask nicely. They are very sweet and gentle. Especially if you have apples or dates! There are plenty of sturdy timber sunbeds on the beach with pads, parasols and small drinks tables. Also a collection of pretty wooden cabanas which are available to rent, although I'm unsure of the price. The beach restaurant is fun for lunch and they normally have pasta, kofte or shawarma on offer with salad. It has a limited capacity though, so if the hotel is busy I imagine it's a struggle to get a table here.

You WILL be approached in the hotel grounds or on the beach by the shop owners and tour reps. They are all really decent people who are just desperately trying to make a bit of money since the pandemic decimated the last of the already dwindling tourist numbers in the country. Don't be pressured into buying anything you don't want, you will get a smile and a thumbs up even if you don't purchase or book with these guys. Be very careful if offered the Bedouin dinner ATV excursion by anyone. We were sold a snake show and dinner package with the quad biking and it was not worth the time or money. Three hours waiting around in the desert at a large complex (not the traditional tent camp I imagined) for a tiny meal and no snakes. That rep sure kept his head down for the remainder of our stay, we couldn't find him anywhere! I also don't recommended the salon on site at all. The lady Aya who did my treatment and the sales lady Sherey are both great people who work extremely hard and are good at what they do, but the building where everything takes place is not a very nice environment. The owner of the hotel should update and upgrade the salon with a paint job and some new furniture and equipment. There aren't even manicure benches, you have to rest your hands and feet on the lady's lap! Also the loud chatting from the men in the foyer wasn't creating a great ambiance. Definitely didn't feel like the luxurious experience I'd hoped for when I booked.

The pool area is set out well, with a few bridges leading to pergolas with sunbeds and plenty of other sunbeds around the outskirts of the pool. It is maintained really well and people seemed to be enjoying it, we don't swim in pools so I don't know how warm/cold it was. There is a bar in the pool area and we spent a lot of time here because of the two guys that run it. They are awesome blokes who are brilliant barmen. We don't drink alcohol so they made us endless fruit cocktails with crushed ice, smashed oranges, pineapple juice and raspberry syrup. So much better than the cheap cola or cordial you get offered at some all inclusives if you don't drink. If you visit The Amwaj then these are your guys. There is often fresh fruit and sweets offered at this bar too, as well as the afternoon snacks.

Meals at the hotel were nothing to complain about. There are a wide variety of foods on offer including a huge selection of bread, salad, omelette and pasta stations, Arabic dishes, Asian dishes, vegetable bakes, meat, fish and poultry. The dessert selection is limited (as in most Egyptian all inclusives) to fruit, sponge cakes and pastries. Can highly recommend the BBQ by the pool, we actually booked this three times it was so good. If you have a big appetite then it's for you. The other restaurant is an Italian, which is opposite the main dining room. But who wants pizza and pasta when you could be having heaps of traditional barbecue poolside!? You can book your BBQ or special restaurant meals with Doaa, the hotel manager, who will be around the restaurant at lunchtimes. Like I said, we were here for 11 days and were allocated special meals three times with no charge. Doaa is a credit to the hotel, if ever she saw us she always made an effort to come over and see how we were finding everything. A true professional and considerate lady who made us feel very welcome.

I cannot conclude without praising the hotels stretch of reef. It might take fifteen minutes to walk from your room, across the beach and up the pier to the reef shelf but it is well worth it! The corals are in pretty good shape and there's a lot of colour to be seen. Fortunately it was pretty much plastic free and the marine life seemed to be thriving. Go earlier in the day for best visibility. We saw clams, lion fish, box fish, parrot fish, puffer fish, rays, eels, giant humphead wrasse, starfish, angel fish, sea cucumbers, trigger fish, butterfly fish, huge trevelly, needle fish etc. All this is easily discovered with a snorkel, no need to scuba!

Shout out to the lovely gentlemen that run the jewellery shop next to the main entrance of the hotel, they kindly chatted with us for hours and made us traditional coffee. We all exchanged photos, laughter and stories. I bought some jewellery that I will treasure forever and feel like we made two new friends too. Pay them a visit if you are interesting in silver smiting or precious stones.

Secondary shout out to Abdul in the shisha bar! Try his mint lemonade and treat yourself to a long night lounging in the beautiful ethnic tent he has. The UV lights and Arabic music create such a rich, exotic atmosphere and he stays open very late!

Sending thanks, respect and admiration to all of the professional staff and friendly reps at the Amwaj. We will be back to see you all again 😊