Shams Hotel | Dahab, Egypt
Shams Hotel
Shams Hotel is one of the more higher priced places to stay in Dahab, Egypt. Most backpackers will steer clear of this hotel, but if you have the money I highly recommend you stay at Shams.
Liz and I had spent a lot of our time dining here during our last trip to Dahab. This time around we were fortunate enough to be able to stay here for 5 nights. Due to a serious lack of tourism in the country we were able to spend time in two separate rooms on the property during our stay so I’m going to review both the hotel room and the bungalow that we stayed in.
Hotel Room #10
We arrived bright and early to Dahab this time around. We had just jumped off an exhausting overnight bus from Cairo so the first thing we wanted to do was fall into bed and catch up on some sleep. This is the first room that we checked into during our stay. It was extremely clean and well kept. The pillow cases were bright white and the same with the sheets. That’s usually the first thing I look for when I enter a room. It’s usually a tell tale sign that the place is clean.
Room #10 - Bright and Beautiful Rooms
Each morning our rooms were cleaned, our towels were replaced with all sorts of those cruise-like towel designs. One day it was hearts with flower petals as shown above, and other days were towel swans with bottle caps on top of their heads that looked like hats. Random? Yes. Thoughtful? Absolutely!
Shams Hotel Room and Bathroom
The room was equipped with an en-suite bathroom, double bed, air conditioning, and a small closet for storing your clothes. Please note that Shams is one of only a few hotels that provide hot and fresh water showers. Most places on the boardwalk will provide you with sea water showers which work fine for the first day or two, but do you really want to be washing your hair and body in sea water for a week?
Our room had a nice little front porch on it with two chairs but we never actually used it. Sometimes we would come out of our room to find one of the lazy dogs sleeping in the shade on our porch. When it comes to patios and porches, you have to check out the ones that are attached to the bungalows below!
Bungalow #B1
After three days we moved over to one of the brand new bungalows next door to our hotel room. We were mesmerized by the porch patio that it had out front. We thought “Wow, we could sit out front and eat our breakfast here every morning!” and that’s exactly what we did.
Our Patio!
The bungalows are built from fresh new wood and they’re fully equipped with everything that the hotel rooms have and more. Inside you’ll find beautifully tiled floors, freezing cold air conditioning, clothing organizer, two end tables, a television with very few English channels, and a large bathroom with stand up shower enclosure.
Inside the Bungalow
Inside the Bungalow
The only real difference when it comes to sleeping is that the bungalow has two twin beds that we easily pushed together to make one big bed. Other than that, the beds are just as comfortable as the one in the hotel rooms.
Liz enjoyed the hotel room more as she felt that the bungalows allowed too much noise in at night. I, myself, preferred the fresh new wooden bungalows because it reminded me of my days in Thailand on an island somewhere. I would personally take a bungalow over a hotel room any day.
Location
Shams Hotel is located right on the edge of the Red Sea next to Beduoin Divers and just a short walk from Penguin Village. Shams is located on the opposite side of the boardwalk from the bazaars and the higher end restaurants. This is a good thing because you’re far enough away from all of the noise yet a short 10 minute walk from all the shopping and eating you could ever want.
Problems/Issues
I only experienced two small issues while staying at Shams…
- Although I’ve dined at Shams numerous times in the past I must say the cats roaming around the restaurant got to be a little annoying by the end of the stay. These cats are constantly begging for your food and they actually have spray bottles on hand to keep the cats away from you while you’re trying to enjoy your meal. I preferred other restaurants on the boardwalk that were cat-free. This is the only complaint I have about the restaurant itself, other than that the staff is incredibly helpful, and the food is delicious.
- The free Wi-Fi was down during our entire stay which made it tough for me to work online. I spoke to Ashraf about this and this is just a temporary issue that is being resolved as I speak. It is probably back up and running now, but I just want to be honest and up front that this was one of the downfalls of our stay. When I wanted to get some work done online I would have to head down to another restaurant down the boardwalk to get internet access. It would have been so nice to have internet access in my room.
Amenities:
Airport Transfers from Sharm el Sheikh, Lounge/Common Area, Coffee Shop, Bus/Mini Bus Services (inquire), Laundry, Safari/Excursions Available, Diving/Snorkeling Programs, 1-Day/Multiple-Day Trips, Breakfast included with Rooms, on-site Restaurant with excellent food, friendly and helpful staff, and FREE Wi-Fi.
Rooms/Rates:
- Single Room w/ AC and En-suite Bathroom : 30 EUR — $43 USD/night
- Double Room w/ AC and En-suite Bathroom : 45 EUR — $64 USD/night
- Triple Room w/ AC and En-suite Bathroom : 60 EUR — $86 USD/night
- Breakfast INCLUDED with all rooms.
Contact Information:
- Contacts: Mohammed or Ashraf
- Telephone : +20 1 270 81393
- Email: office@shams-hotel.com
- Website: Shams Hotel
- Facebook: Shams Hotel on Facebook
