Ali Baba Hotel

If you like your diving base with a little local character and plenty happening beyond the front door, Ali Baba Hotel puts you right in the flow of Dahab. The hotel stands in the heart of the tourist promenade, directly on the seafront, with traditional Arabic architecture running through the design rather than being left to a single decorative arch in reception.

Handcrafted woodwork, furnishings and decorations give the interiors a recognisable sense of place. You can sit with the Gulf of Aqaba close by, head out along the promenade when you fancy a change of scene, and return to an air-conditioned room with a balcony. It is a practical choice for divers who want the town around them, not a self-contained resort where the evening ends at the same buffet table.

You are in Dahab, Egypt, on El Massbat Beach in the centre of Dahab Bay. The hotel is on the seafront and faces the Gulf of Aqaba, while Dahab Beach is about 350 metres away. That gives you the useful combination of water views and a promenade address, with no need to turn every meal or coffee into a transport operation.

The immediate area is well supplied for evenings when you want to eat elsewhere. Aladdin Restaurant is about 300 feet away, Blue House Thai Restaurant about 150 feet away, and the Ali Baba Restaurant is right beside the hotel. Cidaction Restaurant is roughly 0.1 mile away, while Tea Garden Cafe is about 0.5 miles away on foot. The location suits you if you want to wander out after diving rather than organise your evening around a taxi.

The rooms and suites are set up with the useful basics for a diving holiday: air conditioning, free Wi-Fi, television, a refrigerator, a water heater and a balcony with a side sea view. The refrigerator matters more than it sounds when you return hot, thirsty and slightly past the point where patience is a virtue. Daily housekeeping is also available.

For two people who want the room to play a proper part in the stay, the Front Sea View Suite is the obvious choice, with the strongest sea-facing position. The Standard Suite is the more sensible direction when you need extra room to spread out or are travelling as a family. Standard rooms use a mix of single beds and a sofa bed, while the family room combines a king-size bed, a single bed and a sofa bed; check the room card carefully if sleeping arrangements matter more than decorative detail.

A private bathroom, shower, towels and hairdryer are part of the room facilities where provided by the selected category. Upper floors are reached by stairs only, so a lower room is worth requesting if knees, luggage or post-dive legs make stairs less amusing than they once were. The air conditioning gives you a way to cool down properly, and the balcony gives you somewhere to sit with the television switched off—which is still a perfectly respectable evening activity.

The on-site restaurant serves both international and local dishes, with panoramic sea views as part of the setting. That makes it a useful landing point when you come back hungry and do not want to walk farther than the dining table. The restaurant is on the property, so you can keep the evening simple without giving up the view.

A coffee house is also available on site, along with a minibar in the accommodation. Kids' meals and fruit can be arranged, and room service is available. Breakfast and the board arrangement are not defined here, so you will want to check the basis of your booking rather than assume that a morning meal is included. There is also an outdoor dining area, giving you the choice between a proper restaurant table and a more open-air meal.

When you are not diving, eating or sitting in the coffee house, the hotel gives you several ways to turn a spare day into something more than a slow shuffle between bed and balcony. The tour desk can arrange trips to the Blue Hole, Abu Galum, Blue Lagoon, Three Pools, Wadi Gnai, Jebel Tuwailat, Ras Shaitan and the Colored Canyon. Those options cover sea, desert and canyon scenery without pretending that every excursion is the same sort of afternoon.

Camel and horse riding, beach buggies, bicycles, hiking, walking tours and bike tours are also available. Windsurfing, fishing, snorkelling and cycling take you beyond the property, while bicycle rental is available at the hotel. For a quieter interlude, you have a sun terrace, terrace furniture, outdoor dining and a public bath. There is no need to fill every non-diving hour; a chair, a view and a working refrigerator remain legitimate planning choices.

Fish and Friends, the hotel's own dive centre, affiliated with PADI. The dive centre is close enough to make the morning logistics pleasantly dull: you can finish breakfast, collect what you need and be at the departure point without arranging a transfer across town.

Nitrox is available, and night diving is part of the programme, giving you useful options when you want to make more of the day or change the rhythm of a familiar dive holiday.

The hotel also arranges diving trips, while the nearby centre handles the operational details. The centre's own page is the place to check current schedules and the full range of diving.

Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport is about 57 miles away, with a drive of roughly 1 hour 11 minutes. An airport shuttle is available and can be arranged with the hotel; a local shuttle service is also offered. If you are driving, free public parking is available on site without reservation.

Check-in runs from 14:00 to midnight, and you need to tell the hotel when you expect to arrive. Check-out is from 10:30 to 11:00. A 24-hour reception, express check-in and check-out, luggage storage, an on-site cash machine, currency exchange and a tour desk make the practical side of arrival and departure fairly straightforward.

Children of any age are welcome, although children aged eight and over are charged as adults. Cots and extra beds are not available, so the room's existing sleeping arrangement matters for family bookings. Pets are not allowed. The hotel also has a minimarket, daily housekeeping, laundry and dry-cleaning services, with a safety deposit box available.