Serenity Alpha Beach

Lonely food, beutifull hotel and lovely people! I highly recommend

I suppose I should start with the positives.

One of the hotel’s greatest strengths is the food. The grill station and the pasta station were especially excellent. Every day there was something new, tasty, and well prepared. Nothing was overly salty, which is quite rare for hotel cuisine. The chef truly deserves praise!

I would also like to highlight the food and service in the à la carte restaurants. During our week-long stay, we visited the Moroccan, Oriental, and Italian restaurants. The Italian restaurant was by far our favorite — both the quality of the dishes and the level of service were outstanding. I would especially like to mention Mohamed, the restaurant manager. He truly understands what hospitality means. The service in the Moroccan restaurant was also excellent, and once again another Mohamed was exceptional.

The room size is another major advantage of the hotel. The rooms are spacious, with a convenient wardrobe and plenty of storage space. It was nice that the minibar was stocked upon arrival, and that an iron was provided in the room so there was no need to request one from reception.

Another plus is the animation team. They are not intrusive, yet they genuinely try to keep guests entertained throughout the day. My son spent almost the entire day by the pool, where the team organized activities such as water polo, darts, and other games that were actually engaging and fun.

And, of course, the sea is a special highlight. The house reef is absolutely stunning. We were lucky enough to see both a turtle and a stingray — an unforgettable experience.

The hotel also has a very large, beautiful, and well-maintained territory. The gardeners deserve top marks for their work.

Now to the negatives, and the reason why my rating is only 3.

Everything started with the guest relations department, which seemed completely indifferent to basic email communication rules. Replies could take up to three days, which is simply unacceptable. No greetings, in the 2nd email there is no mention even by name. Such a shame.

What is particularly noticeable is the very different attitude of the staff toward Russian guests compared with German or British guests. Why? We paid the same money and came to enjoy our vacation as well.

The worst attitude came from the bartenders and the reception staff. Even their smiles often felt fake. The cocktails at the bars were terrible. When I asked whether they had a shaker in the lobby bar, the bartender began making my cocktail with a visibly annoyed expression. Meanwhile, an English guest standing next to me was greeted with a huge smile and the words, “Something else, Sir?” The contrast was impossible not to notice, and the hypocrisy was honestly unpleasant.

When I arrived late in the evening after our flight had been delayed by three hours, I simply had no energy to argue about the dirty bed linen, stains near the telephone, and other issues in the room. There were also no slippers or bathrobes.

The next day I went to reception to report all these problems, but the employee did not even try to listen, let alone write anything down. Naturally, I became upset. Eventually, the Front Office Manager was invited. I would like to thank Mr. Ahmed, who seemed to understand what hotel service is supposed to be. He resolved the housekeeping issues and gave us vouchers for the water park as an apology. However, the slippers were never delivered.

The day before check-out, I also requested the luggage down service at reception because we were leaving during the night. Nobody came to collect the luggage, so I had to go back to reception again and ask why nothing had been done.

I also specifically asked that the guide should not call me because I was not traveling with the tour company. Apparently, nobody passed on this information, and the guide called me during the night asking why I had not come to the meeting point.

Another strange incident happened in the restaurant: someone — either guests or waiters — moved my handbag to another table. I still do not understand for what reason.

To sum up: the hotel itself is good, the food is excellent, and the sea is beyond praise. However, the staff desperately need proper service training. Unfortunately, because of the attitude of many employees, I have no desire to return to this hotel despite its many strong points.