Sea Star Beau Rivage Hotel

Sea Star Beau Rivage is a large seafront resort in Hurghada, with 293 rooms, an all-inclusive option and enough on site to keep the day moving without having to organise every hour. You have pools, a private sandy beach, several places to eat and drink, a spa, sports facilities and evening entertainment all within the same property. It is the sort of hotel that suits divers who want their accommodation to handle the practical business while they concentrate on the sea.

English and Arabic are spoken by the hotel staff, so you can deal with the useful things directly, from arranging a transfer to asking about dinner. Families are well catered for with a kids’ club, a children’s pool and a play area, while couples have quieter corners in the lounge, the restaurants and the beach area. The resort was built in 2001 and renovated in 2012, giving it a substantial, established feel rather than the polished-minimalist look of a recently opened boutique hotel.

You are in the El Helal area of El Dahar, Hurghada, on Egypt’s Red Sea coast. The hotel sits directly on the seafront, with a private sandy beach, loungers and parasols, plus access to coral reef areas. That makes the sea part of the daily layout rather than something requiring a taxi and a negotiation before breakfast.

Hurghada city centre is around five minutes away, while Hurghada International Airport is around fifteen minutes from the hotel. The town’s New Marina, Hurghada Grand Aquarium and Senzo Mall are among the nearby places to explore, and the hotel can also arrange excursions ranging from desert safaris to trips towards Luxor and Cairo. You can therefore keep the holiday almost entirely on site, or use the resort as a base for seeing more of the Red Sea coast and inland Egypt.

The room choice is mainly about how much space and separation you want, and whether the view matters. Standard double rooms are the sensible choice for a couple travelling light, with double-bed and twin-bed versions available. If waking up to the Red Sea matters more than saving a few steps to the buffet, the standard sea-view rooms put that detail at the centre of the booking. Deluxe rooms keep the same basic two-person format, while the junior, executive and royal suites are the options to consider when you want a more generous room category rather than simply a place to sleep.

Private bathrooms are available across the room categories, and the general room facilities include a shower or bath, television, minibar, slippers and toiletries. Air conditioning, a safe, a hairdryer and a television appear in selected categories, so check the facilities attached to the room you choose rather than assuming every room has the same kit. Connecting rooms and family rooms are available, which is useful when children or different sleeping hours are part of the plan.

Room service runs around the clock, a useful fallback when you return tired, sun-warmed and not especially interested in dressing for dinner. The hotel also has a 24-hour coffee shop, but the room itself remains the place to recover properly: shut the door, turn on the air conditioning where available and let the Red Sea day end without further logistics.

The main Buffet Restaurant handles breakfast, lunch and dinner with an international buffet in an air-conditioned indoor setting. Breakfast runs from 07:00 to 10:00, lunch from 12:30 to 14:30 and dinner from 18:30 to 21:30, giving you a proper morning window before heading out and a clear dinner service rather than an eternal vague promise of food. Smart casual dress applies.

For dinner, the International & Seafood Restaurant focuses on international dishes and Red Sea catch in a more intimate setting, while the Italian Restaurant provides a separate Italian option. Both evening restaurants run from 19:00 to 22:30; the dress code ranges from smart casual to formal at the seafood restaurant and remains smart casual at the Italian restaurant. Vegetarian dishes are available.

There are five named drinking spots, with rather different jobs. The Pool Bar serves cocktails, mocktails, soft drinks and light snacks beside the main pool. The Coffee Shop is open around the clock for coffee, tea, pastries and light bites, while the Rendezvous Lounge is suited to a meeting, a nightcap or a quieter drink. The Pub brings a livelier evening atmosphere, and Subway Disco takes over for late-night dancing. Meal plans range from breakfast included to half board, full board and all-inclusive, while 24-hour room service gives you another option when the timetable has got the better of you.

Three outdoor pools give the day a choice of pace. The main swimming pool is large and open daily, the heated pool is available throughout the year, and the children’s pool has shallow water and features for younger guests. Beach towels are available, and the private sandy beach comes with loungers and parasols, so a recovery afternoon can be as active as moving from pool to shade and back again.

For a more deliberate reset, the wellness facilities include a spa, massages, a sauna and a hammam. There is also a gym and fitness equipment for anyone who prefers a little movement before dinner rather than another horizontal hour. Tennis, squash, mini-golf, billiards, table tennis, darts and windsurfing add more ways to occupy the limbs without turning the holiday into a training camp.

The hotel’s excursion programme reaches well beyond the resort. You can book a desert safari, a submarine tour, a snorkelling boat trip, a Luxor day trip or a Cairo day trip, with cultural excursions also available. Back at the hotel, the kids’ club, play area and children’s pool give families their own rhythm, while karaoke, evening entertainment and the disco keep the night from ending with the last coffee.

Reception operates around the clock. Check-in starts at 13:00 and check-out is by 12:00, with early check-in and late check-out available on request. Airport transfers and shuttle services are available to arrange with the hotel, and the journey from Hurghada International Airport takes around fifteen minutes. Wi-Fi is available throughout the hotel, and there is a lift, accessible facilities, an ATM, currency exchange, luggage storage and a safe service.

The hotel accepts cash, Visa and Mastercard. Rooms and public areas use 220-volt electricity with type C and type F sockets, so bring an adaptor if your plugs differ. Laundry, ironing and dry-cleaning services are available, with some of these services carrying an additional charge. An on-site medical room is also available.

There are two points worth putting in the travel folder rather than discovering them at reception. Couples checking into the same room must present a valid marriage certificate; this requirement also applies specifically to Arab and Egyptian couples under Egyptian law. Meal arrangements may be limited during Ramadan. Visa requirements vary by nationality, so check the entry rules that apply to you before travelling.

The hotel holds Green Star Hotel certification. Its environmental work covers reducing energy and water consumption, limiting food waste, improving waste separation and recycling, using more sustainable landscaping and raising environmental awareness. In practical terms, the approach follows the unglamorous but useful route: less waste, more careful use of resources and better handling of what leaves the property.