Dahab Paradise

Rooms

The hotel's U-shaped structure echoes the mountain behind, and faces the Red Sea. Rooms keep you happy. They’re not overly elaborate, but what you get fits the price and during our stay other guests seemed very content. Best of all, the hotel is designed so that every room has a terrace or balcony.

The terraces are quite sociable as they open onto the lawn and you can stroll over to the bar and pick up a beer. So if you want to hide away, go for first-floor rooms as the balconies are more private. Both come with deckchairs and long views that shoot across the Red Sea and end up in the mountains of Saudi Arabia, 21km away.

Rooms all come in the same colour and style. You get warm yellows, wooden beds, air-conditioning and flatscreen TVs. There are high ceilings, small fridges, terracotta tiles, handcrafted reclaimed furniture, double curtains to keep out the early sun rays.

Beds come wrapped in crisp white linen (singles, doubles, twins and triples are available) and housekeeping will service your room every day. Bathrooms are fine: pretty tiles, big mirrors, and a constant supply of hot water in small shower cubicles.

Features include:

• In-room treatments available
• Minibar
• Mosquito net
• Safe box
• WiFi

Eating

The restaurant and bar comes in Koh Samui-style: no walls, a shady roof. It is built from old telegraph poles (as is the entrance), and smart tables and cushioned chairs are scattered about. It’s the hub of the hotel, a place to linger, so stop for a drink, sit with a book or, chat to staff and guests.

A buffet breakfast is served from 7am-10am and mixes western food with Egyptian dishes. You’ll get bread rolls and jam, fruit salad and yoghurt, scrambled eggs and cornflakes, plates of cucumber and tomato.

Lunch and dinner share the same menu, mostly western dishes. You can eat anything from a bowl of fries to seafood platters piled high with Red Sea shrimps and calamari. In between you’ll find excellent salads, tasty pizzas, a club sandwich, a cheese burger, grilled chicken, ravioli, and even a steak. So don’t expect to go hungry.

Barbecues are held once a week, sometimes at lunch, sometimes in the evening. If you stay for a week, there’ll also be an Egyptian buffet dinner one night, too: green vegetable soup, oven-baked chicken, rice with noodles and lots of oriental salads.

You’ll probably want to eat in town at some point while you’re here. There are loads of restaurants on the seafront and it can be pretty hit-or-miss working out where to go, so ask the staff who are happy to advise.

Features include:

• Bar
• Breakfast
• Restaurant
• Restaurants nearby
• Room service

Activities

• Diving is the Number One draw in Dahab and dive companies line the main promenade competing for your business. Boat trips can be arranged on request and may be expensive so do then in a group; bear in mind most diving in Dahab is from the shore. The hotel works in conjunction with one of the schools, which has an office here, but if you book elsewhere they’ll come to pick you up, so feel free to shop around. If you want to take a PADI, it’ll take 3-4 days with 5 dives included
  
  
• Snorkelling - nearly as popular as diving and it costs a lot less. If you want to take a dip, hire equipment at attractive prices from the hotel, then disappear into the sea for the afternoon. Calm conditions are best if you're snorkelling locally, the hotel can recommend alternative places if it is windy
  
  
• Windsurfing is good in the ‘Laguna’ (a sandy beach with shallow waters) which has several local operators for kite- and windsurfing tuition and equipment hire. Dahab Paradise can arrange a taxi for you
  
  
• Mount Sinai and St Catherine’s Monastery are both popular excursions. According to Egyptian law, everyone should have a local guide when going into the desert or mountains (Mt. Sinai, Ras Abu Galom etc). If you want to see the sunrise from Mount Sinai, buses leave at 10pm. It’s a 2-hour drive up to the monastery, then a 4-hour night climb to the summit by torch- or moonlight
  
  
• The desert for trekking, camel safaris and 4WD trips. You can even camp overnight in tents on the beach at Ras Abu Galom, riding in on camels
  
  
• Day trips to Petra in Jordan are possible, an ancient city cut from red stone. It’s a long day, involving buses and ferries, and is a little pricey; better to plan a night or 2 there
  
  
• Chill in town. Collapse on cushions in one of the seaside cafés - you'll find plenty of people to socialise with, and swop or plan excursions together if you want
  
  
• A massage can be arranged in your room; if you're bent on getting your yoga fix, there are drop in-classes at 2 different hotels in the Eelgarden area (5 minutes by car, 20 minutes walk), as well as private classes in the on-site Bedouin tent (on request)

Activities on site or nearby include:

• Boat trips
• Hiking
• Historical sites
• Nightlife
• Scuba diving
• Scuba diving courses
• Snorkelling
• Swimming
• Yoga

Kids

Children are welcome, and will enjoy the sociable garden and pool area (although they must be supervised in this area).

Best for:

Children (4-12 years)

Family friendly accommodation:

Families may prefer to take one of the triple rooms (either 1 double and 1 single bed, or 3 single beds). The triple, double and twin rooms all have space for 1 baby cot. While there are no interconnecting rooms, Dahab Paradise can ensure families are booked into adjacent rooms, and with easy access through the entrance door and balcony door, this works wells. Most families prefer to stay on the ground floor.

Cots Available

For more family-friendly places, see our Kids Collection

Location

Dahab Paradise is in the small town of Dahab, 100km north of Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. The hotel is on the coast 2km north of town.

By Air:
Fly into Sharm El Sheikh. Click on the links below for a list of airlines serving this airport.

From the Airport
It is about an hour's drive to Dahab from Sharm El Sheikh. The hotel can arrange a transfer from the airport, hotels in Sharm or from Taba Airport, Taba Border, Nuweiba port and Cairo International Airport - and anywhere between.

By Car:
Some guests arrive by car, and there are parking spaces at the entrance/back of the hotel (free of charge) - see our car rental recommendations.

Detailed directions will be sent when you book through i-escape.com.

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