Reef House

Reef House is a small-scale hotel in Marsa Alam City, with 54 rooms and a distinctly practical rhythm. You have air-conditioned rooms, a swimming pool, a garden, a restaurant and a hot tub, so the essentials are close at hand when the day's salt and sun have done their work.

The place suits divers who want a comfortable base rather than a resort built around endless entertainment. Families are welcome, couples can choose a room with a sea view, and solo guests have a dedicated single-room option. The website is available in English and German, which helps when you are planning the stay, although the available information does not identify the languages spoken by the hotel team.

The address is on Kilo 1, north of Marsa Alam City Centre, in Marsa Alam, Egypt. The town centre is around a 20-minute walk away, giving you access to local life without putting you in the middle of it. A restaurant, Momo Asian Restaurant, is about 1.5 miles away and takes roughly five minutes by car.

Marsa Alam International Airport is about 36 miles away, with a road distance of roughly 39 miles and a drive of around 50 minutes. An airport shuttle is available through the hotel. The hotel is not presented as a beachfront property, so choose it for its town-side location and facilities rather than booking on the assumption that the sea is directly outside your door.

The room choice is useful rather than ornamental. Solo divers have a proper Single Room, couples can look at the Superior Double Room or the Junior Suite, and three-person groups have the Triple Room or Family Room. The larger family and triple categories give you more elbow room when three people are travelling with luggage that has spent the day getting wet.

For a quieter couple's stay, the Suite with Sea View is the obvious room to investigate. It comes with a private bathroom and a view that gives the evening a little more purpose than staring at a corridor. Balconies and terraces are also part of the accommodation mix, depending on the room.

Every room has air conditioning, a private bathroom, a refrigerator and an electric kettle. That means cold water and a cup of tea are within reach when you come back tired, while the mosquito net is a sensible detail in this part of the world. A fan, television with satellite channels, telephone and clothes rack cover the less glamorous but still useful business of getting through a week. Room service is available, and breakfast can be brought to your room.

Breakfast is included and is halal. The restaurant leans Italian, with dinner built around Italian specialities, while the wider offering also covers pizza, seafood, steakhouse dishes, local and European cooking, and barbecue-grill fare. In other words, you can keep things familiar after a long day in a wetsuit without being trapped in a menu of identical plates.

Meals cover breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner, with high tea and cocktails also available. There is a coffee house on site, along with a snack bar for the occasions when a full meal is more commitment than you can manage. A minibar, tea and coffee-making facilities and a refrigerator in the room give you a little control over the gaps between meals.

Room service adds a useful option when your legs have voted against going back downstairs. Special-diet menus can be arranged, and children’s meals are available. The hotel also has barbecue facilities and a picnic area, so the food side of the stay is not limited to the main restaurant.

The swimming pool, sun terrace and garden give you the basic post-dive decision: water again, or a lounger. The hot tub is there when floating horizontally is not quite enough, and a fitness centre offers a way to move without turning the afternoon into a military exercise.

For a slower recovery, Planet Spa at Concorde Moreen Beach provides the spa and wellness option. The hotel also has a shared lounge and TV area, while movie nights and walking tours offer something more structured when you and your dive buddy have run out of conversation before dinner.

Bicycle rental, cycling, bike tours and hiking are available for land-based outings. Snorkelling, windsurfing, fishing and horse riding are also available away from the property, while diving is listed as an off-site activity. That distinction matters: Reef House gives you a base for exploring the area, rather than presenting every excursion as something happening at the front door.

Check-in runs from midday to 10pm, and check-out is between 11am and midday. A 24-hour front desk, express and private check-in and check-out, a concierge service, a tour desk and currency exchange keep the practical side reasonably simple. Car hire is available, and private parking is free on site without requiring a reservation.

Wi-Fi is available throughout the hotel, and the property also has a minimarket. Laundry, dry cleaning and ironing services are available, which is handy when salt, dust and travel clothes begin to merge into one packing problem. Grocery deliveries and packed lunches are also possible, while the airport shuttle can be arranged through the hotel.

Children of any age are welcome, but children aged three and over are charged as adults. Cots and extra beds are not available, so check the room layout carefully if you are travelling with children. Upper floors are accessible by stairs only. Pets are not allowed, and there is no age requirement for check-in.