Marsa Alam (Egypt) > Reviews > Brayka Bay Reef Resort

Author's product rating:   

Value for Money	Good
Shopping	Poor
Nightlife	Poor
Ease of getting around	Average
Family Friendly	Average

Advantages:	Fantastic for diving/snorkling
Disadvantages:	Very few other attractions

Recommend to potential buyers:

no

Full review

We've just come back from 1 week at Brayka Bay Reef Resort (Marsa Alum).

Superb hotel - Barring no outdoor swimming pool for at least 1 month (ongoing repairs I believe).

Superb if your into diving/snorkling - if no interest go elsewhere there is very little else to do.

Marsa Alum town consists of one main street with a few souvenier shops - beware shop owners trying to charge excessive amounts for items to purchase - barter with them or walk away.

That also goes for the hotel complex - one persistant guy trying to sell you massage treatment who wont take no for an answer. There have been many complaints about him & I really don't see him holding down the job for much longer.

Try to book as a package deal it will save a few headaches.

We didn't & therefore had to pay an entry visa $15 each & arrange our own transfers.

Be aware also that there were no taxis outside the airport so we had to blag a lift with a tour bus & pay €30 for the journey to the hotel. It's near impossible to arrange transfers from the UK so if you are in this situation I suggest contacting the hotel & arrange for a taxi to meet you.

Note also the hotel has no facility to obtain cash. For this you need to arrange a taxi & head to another hotel with a cash machine. Again give yourself plenty of time - taxis are scarce & it took us 1 hour before we managed to do this.

This & the pool are the only real downsides.

99% of the staff are great.

The hotel caters for mainly Italian guests, very few English at this stage - why is it the English are the only nationality that can stay till the end of the nightly disco?