I Stayed at Novotel Sharm el-Sheikh via Booking and Was Humiliated Over $18 Charges
From January 21 to 27, my family and I—three adults and one child—stayed in two suite rooms at Novotel Sharm el-Sheikh, booked through Booking.com. We had no idea until check-in that the hotel was divided into two separate sections: Palm and Beach, each with different rules. Since we were placed in the Palm section, we had to pay extra to access the Beach side where all the activities were. We accepted that.
On our first day, January 21, my daughters (21 and 8 years old) went to the Beach section’s restaurant for lunch. Because we were Palm guests, staff told us we’d need to pay $3 per person. That would’ve been fine, but we weren’t carrying any cash or cards at the moment—just wearing beach clothes. When the staff member named H**** approached us for payment, we politely offered our room number, but he refused and insisted on immediate payment. We were surrounded by people and humiliated.
Eventually, a guest services representative named I**** came and accepted the room number. She reassured us we could just give our room number from then on. But throughout the week, we kept paying extra for everything at the Beach side—though none of this separation was ever disclosed during booking.
On our final day, January 26, my daughters again wanted to eat at the Beach restaurant. We gave our room number at the entrance, but once again, H**** appeared, refused entry, and demanded cash or card payment. We told him what I**** had said, but he wouldn’t budge. Only after a kind security guard intervened were we allowed to enter. A manager then came over and moved us to a better table, but the embarrassment had already happened.
We traveled to another country for a peaceful holiday, and ended up being humiliated multiple times—over just $9 each, totaling $18. Despite explaining everything to the hotel manager and submitting a written complaint, no one has followed up. The hotel kept pushing the excuse that “Palm and Beach are managed separately,” but none of this was made clear when I booked through Novotel on Booking.com.
And to top it all off, when we were checking out, they had the nerve to pressure us into filling out a customer satisfaction survey. This trip, which we took in good faith through Booking, was ruined by confusing hotel policies and humiliating treatment over a mere ₺. I expect Booking and Novotel to respond and make this right.
