Palm Royale Resort - Soma Bay

Palm Royale Resort - Soma Bay is a large seaside resort for divers who want the practical side of a Red Sea holiday taken care of: somewhere to eat, several places for a drink, pools, a beach and enough space to spread the day around. The setting is firmly resort-style rather than small and intimate, with 445 rooms across five floors and facilities designed to keep most of your holiday close at hand.

English and Arabic are spoken by the hotel team, so you can deal with the essentials without resorting to underwater hand signals at reception. The atmosphere is broad and busy in its choice of facilities, from a rooftop cocktail bar and an English-style pub to a spa, children’s club and evening entertainment. Couples, families and groups can each find their own corner of the place, although this is not a hideaway built around silence.

The resort sits on the Hurghada side of Egypt’s Red Sea coast, on the Hurghada-Safaga Highway. It is directly beside the sea, with a sandy beach stretching for 1,200 metres. Sun loungers, parasols, showers, changing rooms and a beach bar are set up for days when the only serious decision is whether to move from shade to water.

You can also stay close to the resort for the rest of the day. The grounds include gardens, terraces, pools and several food and drink venues, while excursions by boat and to islands can be arranged. For a change of scenery, the nearby area includes Makadi Bay Water World, Jungle Aqua Park and Senzo Mall, giving you options beyond the beach without turning every evening into a long expedition.

The room range is wide enough to match different kinds of diving trip. Couples can choose between double or twin layouts, while sea-view and beachfront categories put the Red Sea more firmly into the first and last minutes of the day. Family rooms and family suites are available when the holiday includes children, and the junior, executive, panorama-view, presidential and Royale suites offer a more spacious brief for those who want the room itself to be part of the stay.

Air conditioning is available in selected room categories, and some rooms also include a minibar, television, hairdryer, bathrobe, slippers and toiletries. The practical details vary by category, so the room card deserves a proper look before booking rather than a hopeful assumption that every room carries the full kit. Private bathrooms are standard across the listed room types, while the more fully equipped suite categories add features such as a safe, telephone, towels and tea or coffee facilities.

The resort offers room service around the clock, which is useful when a late return, an early departure or simple post-dive inertia wins the argument with the restaurant. Blackout blinds, a desk, Wi-Fi and bottled water are included in the presidential suite, while the room range also includes beachfront options for anyone who would rather wake up with the coast outside than a corridor.

The dining choice is unusually extensive for a resort, with five named restaurants and eight bars. Café Stella handles international breakfast, lunch and dinner through buffets and à la carte choices, adding four themed evenings each week: Oriental, barbecue, Tex-Mex and Mediterranean. Breakfast is available as a buffet or à la carte, and the meal plan can be half-board, full-board or all-inclusive.

Dinner can take you in several directions without leaving the resort. Il Portico serves Italian food in trattoria style, with an antipasti buffet and pizza from a brick oven. Sakura sits by the beach for Asian cooking, while Taverna Barba Kiriako’s brings Greek dishes outdoors and also offers an à la carte lunch. El Tannour covers Lebanese and wider Middle Eastern flavours. That is a useful spread when the buffet has had its turn and you want something with a different accent.

For drinks, Yamas Bar is the rooftop choice, with sea views, cocktails, tapas-style dishes and live DJs. Johnny’s Bar takes the English pub route, while the Atrium Bar, Azur Bar, Captain Nemo’s Bar, Point Break Bar, Pool Bar and Cleopatra Disco cover the lobby, lagoons, beach, pool and late-night end of the evening. Snacks and light meals appear in several of these venues, but continuous snacking and late dinner service are not part of the information here; plan around the published restaurant arrangements rather than assuming the kitchen runs on diver time.

Two pools give you a choice of water away from the sea, including an indoor pool and an outdoor pool; the resort also has an adults-only heated pool. The beach adds the more traditional Red Sea routine, with loungers, parasols and a beach bar, while the pool and beach facilities include towels. If your legs have had enough of fins, the spa offers massages, facials, a hammam, sauna, jacuzzi, mud bath and body wraps.

There is plenty here for a non-diving day without requiring a heroic burst of energy. You can use the fitness room, play tennis, padel, mini-golf, billiards or table tennis, or take to the water by kayak, paddleboard, windsurfing, kitesurfing or snorkelling. Horse riding is also available, as are boat and island excursions. The resort has a kids’ club, children’s play area, children’s pool and babysitting, so families are not left to invent entertainment with a room key and a towel.

Evenings can be quiet or not, depending on your taste. The library and garden offer slower options, while karaoke, live entertainment at Johnny’s Bar and dancing at Cleopatra Disco cover the livelier end. There is also a solarium, barbecue area and picnic space. In short, you can spend the day moving, floating, being rubbed back into shape or doing absolutely none of the above.

The reception is open around the clock, with standard check-in from 14:00 to 22:00 and check-out by 12:00. If you expect to arrive after 20:00, contact the hotel in advance so the arrival can be arranged properly. Early check-in and late check-out are available on request, subject to the hotel’s arrangements.

An airport transfer is available, along with transfer services and a shuttle. Vehicle hire, parking, a concierge, an ATM, currency exchange and luggage-related services make the practical side fairly straightforward. Wi-Fi is available throughout the hotel, and there is a business centre with meeting and conference facilities, including 1,100 square metres of meeting space. Laundry, dry cleaning, ironing, a safe at reception and an on-site infirmary are also available.

The resort accepts cash, Visa, Mastercard and American Express. An accessible lift serves the upper floors, and the restaurant has wheelchair access. Couples sharing a room must present a valid marriage certificate at check-in. Meal arrangements can be affected during Ramadan, so check the board details attached to your booking rather than relying on the resort label alone.

The resort’s environmental programme covers energy and water conservation, waste reduction, local and sustainable sourcing, and protection of marine life. Solar panels contribute to its energy approach, while rainwater collection forms part of its water management.

For a Red Sea stay, the marine-life commitment is the relevant part rather than a decorative slogan: the stated measures connect the running of the resort with the coast outside it. The practical work also includes reducing waste and using local and sustainable sources where possible.