Bella Vista Review
This is our honest experience for 7 days in Bella Vista hotel, in Hurghada. If you’re thinking of booking your stay there, you might want to keep on reading, just to make sure you are making the correct decision.
Is Bella Vista the right choice for you? Yes, if you are looking to explore the surroundings, and you’re not very picky when it comes to your hotel room, or if you are looking for that 5 star experience that other resorts offer. This is a 4 star hotel, after all.
Read below to see our hotel experience!
Great location for exploring
Bella Vista hotel is located on Sheraton road, which makes it perfect if you want to head out in Hurghada and enjoy local eating or just walk around.
When we booked our stay, we knew it would be our best option, from reading other reviews – and we were right!
What made it great was the location, since we wouldn’t be eating a lot at the hotel, as we wanted to try out local restaurants. The pricing was decent, and the location was perfect!
It is located near the Marina. When I mean near, I mean it’s a walkable distance, around 14-18 minutes, depending on your pace. It was also very close to our favorite restaurant El Dar Darak and we were surprised to find a new restaurant, right across the street: Charly’s Hot Stone Steak – which was also great and would recommend!
Tito’s Marina is also close by, so we had some drinks there, too.
Right across the street there’s a non-stop market, where you can buy fruits, drinks (non-alcoholic), snacks and whatnot.
If you’re not a sound sleeper, then I should warn you, that if your room is going to be facing Sheraton street, you’ll be hearing honks all day long, and all night, too! Sheraton is a busy road, and Egyptians are famous for their driving – which is chaotic, if you are wondering.
is this small resort too small?
We initially thought it might be crowded, when we booked our stay, given that, well, it was much smaller than other resorts we’ve been to. But, guess what? We found it surprisingly fitting!
Although the beach was small, we always found sunbeds. And if you couldn’t find any (we had this issue on our first day), one of the staff members would bring you some and problem solved!
On the beach, they have a fantastic bar which you should not miss: Caribbean Bar. They have an Instagram account for it, if you want to check it out: @caribbeanbar
As for dining, we always found a seat at the table when it was time to eat, at the restaurant. Lunch was also served outside (only lunch), but there weren’t that many tables, so we struggled with that. We had to either wait for a table or have lunch inside.
To sum it up, the resort is indeed small. But, that means less walking to do from your room to the beach, restaurant, reception and actually everything! It’s not as crowded as you would expect it to be, and we were there in peak season. There’s room for everyone without being intrusive.
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- Reception area
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- Reception area
Are the rooms ok?
We didn’t expect the rooms to be modern, and they were obviously not. They were decent, and most of all, they were clean.
Our room had a large closet for our belongings which included a safe, a desk (which had the fridge below), a table with chairs and a TV. We also had the bathroom with a bath, which was surprising!
As for the size of it, it was quite big for just 2 people. We could easily move around and did not feel like we needed more.
It was modest, with a small balcony (no chairs or table there) and a rather large bed. To be honest, we expected much less, given the fact that this was the only hotel where we didn’t tip when checking in (it was at 3 a.m. and we were so tired, we forgot).
If you’re not looking for luxury or modern amenities, but rather comfort and clean bedsheets, then you should be ok staying at Bell Vista.
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- Entrance
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- Our room at Bella Vista
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- Dressing
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- View from the balcony
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- Bathtub in the bathroom
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- Bathroom mirror
Did we enjoy eating there?
I believe it would be an overstatement to say we enjoyed eating at Bell Vista, but we never starved, that’s for sure.
First of all, we mostly dined outside the resort. Not because we hated the food there, but this was our main goal: to explore local eateries. The only dinner we actually had there was on our fist night, and it was disappointing, at least for me.
We paid 14 USD per adult (or was it 18?) to partake in a dinner show. The staff promised a feast with sea food and entertaining live performances. It was not at all how you would imagine it.
To start with, dinner was served outside, in front of the small stage. Everything was either under or over cooked, at least for my taste. But, what annoyed me the most, was the entertainment part: if you’re going to have an event outside, please let the other visitors in the hotel look at it, instead of whisking them away. If you’re not okay with others (who didn’t pay) looking at the show, then organize the show indoors. This is all I have to say.
As for breakfast, I only had coffee, but I could tell from others eating there that it was ok. You had basic breakfast food, you can’t go wrong with that!
Lunch was great. I’ll have to admit I enjoyed eating both outside, and inside the restaurant. They served different dishes at lunch, depending where you were seated. Outside was more of a fast food court, while inside you had cooked dishes. Both served tasty and enjoyable food. Would recommend! Don’t expect a wide variety, but a rather “less is more” approach. Again, to emphasize, food was ok and tasted good – besides that dinner, no complaints for breakfast and lunch.
You can see the food variety in the video, at the end.
Is the beach crowded?
While we struggled to find free sunbeds at other resorts, like Desert Rose, we were always surprised when we went to the beach to find unoccupied sunbeds. We have no idea where all the tourists were, but there were always available sunbeds for us (and we were a group of 6).
There are three places where you can soak up the sun: to your right, behind the towel stand, in front – where the main beach is, and an upstairs terrace (on top of the food court).
Low tide problem? Not here! You can swim in the Red Sea all day long, as the water is just perfect.
What you might not notice at first is the Caribbean bar, but you’ll find it delightful! As you settle in your sunbed, on the main beach, you will see it to your left. They serve alcoholic drinks and food. We never ate, but we had drinks there and the scenery is just great!
The beach is clean, with fine sand, and beautifully ornated with palm trees, next to umbrellas. Although you might find it cramped at first, we barely heard any of the neighbors.
Overall, to my excitement, I loved the beach there: small, but relaxing!
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- Boats on the sea seen from Bella Vista beach
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- Sunbeds on the beach
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- Beach Volleyball
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- Bella Vista main beach
final thoughts
Bella Vista hotel in Hurghada was a pleasant surprise for us. We never expected to pay less and get more. It had all we needed: perfect location for going out and exploring, decent accommodation, great beach and friendly staff. What more could you ask from a 4 star hotel in Hurghada?
