First-class luxury for less
BEN HATTON finds the new kid on the Somabay block offers a budget alternative, as soon as we can holiday in Egypt again
THE idea of a hotel within a hotel is tried and tested. One part of the hotel is typically sectioned off, with higher levels of service and exclusive facilities – like some cruise lines, you pay more for the first class treatment.
The Lodge by Cascades is a little different. Here, the luxury element came first, and the hotel within a hotel is the budget offering.
It’s the newest addition to Egypt’s Somabay, a high-investment multi-hotel resort all within its own and expansive peninsula on the Red Sea.
Linked to the five-star The Cascades Golf Resort, Spa & Thalasso, the newly opened The Lodge offers a tantalising prospect – luxury on a budget.
Now, 2020 may well go down in history as the worst possible time to open a new hotel. But, despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the new outlet is a sign of a resurgent tourism industry in Egypt.
Visitor numbers are still not back to their 2010 peak after a turbulent decade, but with a climate offering to extend the summer into spring and autumn, European holidaymakers returned quickly – and in large numbers – offering hope for similar resilience once the pandemic passes.
When it reopens its doors, The Lodge will be fighting for attention in a crowded field, even within its own resort – it’s one of five hotels within Somabay, itself one of many resorts on the fast-expanding Red Sea Riviera. Competition is said to breed innovation, and perhaps that explains the experimental budget extension.
The Lodge’s own offering is simple – 88 rooms, encircling a swimming pool, with buffet meals and a no-frills dining room. The hotel aims to inject an energetic and youthful ambiance to pull in a younger crowd – think rainbow bean bags and club classics pumping dawn ‘til dusk. It’s also pet-friendly, although details are yet to be finalised.
But its main draw is the partial access to its more luxurious host, and the wider Somabay resort.
The Cascades Golf Resort, Spa & Thalasso does what it says on the tin – its main attractions are a golf course and spa – and both are available to guests of
The Lodge.
The Somabay peninsula and surroundings are sparse, giving The Cascades an oasis feel. From the hotel’s many balconies, or the deckchairs lining its vast pool area, guests can enjoy the arid desert landscape, punctuated by the green of the golf course and the blue of the sea. The Cascades is elegant but without pretension, lending to a sense of quiet relaxation and over-55s are well represented.
An abundance of space makes for a well-provisioned spa, with both outdoor and indoor pools. Treatments cost extra, but the spa is free to use.
The flagship thalassotherapy is administered in a labyrinth of salt waterways that flow, foam, and spray around a centrepiece of high columns.
The treatment is, at times, far removed from the spa’s otherwise gentle atmosphere. A surprise battering from the salt water cannon is enough to make you wonder if you’ll do just about anything under the guise of an experience.
Of all the hotels in Somabay, The Cascades and The Lodge are the only ones without direct beach access.
They do have designated area of shoreline, however, which is accessible via a timetabled minibus and well catered for with food, drinks and sunbeds.
The sand is soft where it meets the water, but otherwise is hard and dusty, closer to gravel than sand.
Also available by minibus are snorkelling, diving, and an array of watersports. The windswept peninsula is said to be especially appealing for kite surfers, and the same wind is said to add to the thrill of the 18-hole golf course, with regulars saying it makes no two rounds the same.
With sun, sand and sea, The Lodge needs offer little else than a comfortable room and bed, three hearty meals day, and a pool. This it does, and more.
Like I said, there’s a younger vibe to the new kid on the block and this may be the deciding factor in making a holiday choice.
But, and there is a but, converting a five-star hotel into a semidetached is not without its downsides.
A double room at The Lodge starts at £90 per night. The equivalent at The Cascades is £97.
Whether or not The Lodge is for you comes down to how much that difference matters to you. The Lodge offers guarantees and facilities of a hotel beyond its budget, but its attachment to The Cascades does bump up the price – and for not a great deal more, every aspect of your stay could be upscaled by choosing its sister property.
Under normal circumstances the facilities and prices of the next hotel wouldn’t matter – out of sight out of mind – but with one hotel deliberately overlapping the other, it’s hard to avoid comparisons.