Oriental Rivoli Hotel & SPA

The Oriental Rivoli hotel has a charm to it that makes it a decently enjoyable stay. The rooms themselves are nice, nothing special. They're not modern but I assume they have a traditional look to them. The AC unit is hit or miss, sometimes it'll work, other times maybe not. The toilet functions well but specifically, my bidet was off centred and sprayed elsewhere. There is a lot of storage space perfect for storing clothes, shoes, bags or luggage. One thing that was quite annoying was the TV that was provided, it is ancient and it may or may not work. Some of the rooms do have modern flat screens but the odds of getting one of those rooms are up in the air. The service is good, receptionists are great and meet your needs, sometimes. Some things aren't explained clearly upon first entering the hotel. I will explain them here so newer customers don't have to go through what I did: • WiFi is a randomised code given through a piece of paper and is limited to 10GB of 5mbps per week, you may top up but this seems like a real inconvenience in the case it runs out. This was not given to us upon arrival but we had to ask after the fact as we thought WiFi didn't require sign-up. • There is a free shuttle bus that goes to Kalimera Beach from the hotel. They do tell you this, HOWEVER, they do not say that you require a ticket for the beach which is handed to you at the hotel reception, we had to learn this the hard way after already arriving at the beach without said ticket. There is also another beach which is about a 7 minute walk from the hotel called Gaffy Beach. This beach also requires a ticket but it is much more relaxed. These are the problems we ran into that weren't explained to us. The food service is subpar. We elected to get the full-board which provided Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. You may opt for half-board which gives Breakfast and Dinner. The food range, while not limited, does not have any flavour whatsoever. You have to add your own seasoning and sometimes even that is not enough. Outside the buffet area is a station where you can craft your own foods based on the day. There were 2 days in which we enjoyed these foods, those were the days they served us steak and shawarma wraps. The other days were either pasta (do not request this it is awful) or some other bland food. The only other good thing about the food service was the breakfast where you could create your own omelette or order an egg to your liking. The location of the hotel was excellent. There were multiple shopping markets nearby as well as restaurants, tourist information services, excursion places and numerous pharmacies if needed. Right next door, in the same complex was Bassem Market which is open 24/7 so at whatever time you need, you may stroll down to the store and purchase any assortment of things. There is also a McDonalds attached to the entrance although it is deserted with no signs of life. A pro tip: Exchange your money at any excursion store front for the black mark rate. The current legal rate is 39EGP for £1 whilst the black market rate ranges from 45 - 60EGP for £1. All in all, Oriental Rivoli Hotel is a good hotel for the price you pay though, you shouldn't hold your breath for the food.