Middle East - Anthony Ham [159]
Sleeping
As a rule, hotels rates in Dahab do not include breakfast.
Budget
Seven Heaven ( 364 0080; www.7heavenhotel.com; Masbat; huts without bathroom E£10, concrete cabins without bathroom E£15, r without bathroom E£50, with air-con E£60; ) This bustling long-time favourite is as popular for its wide-ranging budget digs as it is for its hectic, assembly-line dive centre. Rooms vary from rustic but clean thatch huts to more robust and good-value concrete air-con rooms. This place is particularly popular with Japanese and Korean travellers.
Bish Bishi Village ( 364 0727; www.bishbishi.com; Mashraba; dm E£15, r E£60, with air con E£180, without bathroom E£30; ) Though it’s not on the beach, the popular and well-run Bish Bishi remains a magnet for the rucksack-toting crowd. There are loads of different room configurations, catering to everyone from serious shoestringers to more moneyed flashpackers. The shady, secluded chill areas and communal fire pits are great spots to meet like-minded folk. We’ve had mixed reports about the staff – one reader complained that they can be ‘aggressive in their sales techniques’.
Camp Sabry Palace ( 364 0444; Masbat; r E£30-60) Smack-bang in the middle Dahab’s pedestrian highway, but far enough back to be an oasis of hush, this wonderful place has a soft spot in our hearts. The few uncomplicated rooms here are kept faultlessly tidy, with gleaming shared bathrooms and two rooms sporting en suites. Run by an affable young Egyptian woman and set around a tranquil courtyard, this is a welcome refuge from Dahab’s brouhaha.
Penguin Village ( 364 1047; www.penguindivers.com; Mashraba; r E£30, with air-con E£80, with view E£150; ) This old standby is a backpacker Venus fly-trap – somehow nearly everyone just ends up here. Not too surprising really; it has a sweet beach location, a dive centre, a wide selection of bargain-basement rooms as well as several upmarket rooms, and a lively beachside restaurant. Even though the service borders on brusque and cleanliness standards occasionally slip, it’s still one of the better and more social options around. Booking ahead might secure you a room.
Marine Garden ( 010 105 2491; Masbat; r E£35 per person) If you’re sick of people telling you how much better Dahab used to be, check out Marine Garden, one of the few die-hard camps of yesteryear left. Just north of the lighthouse, it offers the sort of bare-bones, concrete rooms that used to be de rigueur along this bay, and is fronted by a typically basic, cushioned chill-out space. It’s run by laid-back, friendly management who’s happy to spend the quiet evenings shooting the breeze with guests.
Bedouin Lodge ( 364 0317; www.bedouin-lodge-dahab.com; Mashraba; s/d E£50/70; ) This place stands out from the crowd due to it’s neat, Bedouin-styled flop-space right on the water. The rooms are pretty standard fare, though the hotel does manage to sneak some neat arches and arabesque design into the equation. Air-con costs E£10 extra. If your wallet can hack it, their deluxe rooms with balconies and sea views are the ones to go for (from E£140).
Midrange & Top End
Sunsplash Divers ( 364 0932; www.sunsplash-divers.com; Mashraba; cabanas without bathroom E£60, cabins E£120; ) Further south and away from all the hullabaloo, this cosy pad has several types of simple but lovingly decorated rooms to choose from. Some rooms are painted in bright colours, while others are covered in natural materials; all are set around a small lawn. The owners will make you feel more like you’re visiting extended family than staying at a hotel.
Nirvana ( 012 424 6762; www.nirvanadivers.com; Assalah; s/d €10/15, with air-con €15/24, with air-con & view €17/27; ) Near the lighthouse and behind the Indian restaurant of the same name, Nirvana does justice to its moniker. In a small, two-storey, all-wood building, Nirvana has just a handful of ridiculously clean rooms, two with breathtaking bay vistas. Upstairs, there’s a be-hammocked 2nd-floor patio