How do hotel restaurants work in Egypt — queues, service, and tipping?

At some hotels there is no lunch service at the resort's own restaurant, so everyone walks to a nearby restaurant (e.g. 'Laylina'), causing crowding there. Others note lunch IS available at the resort but guests are too lazy to walk, so they crowd Laylina instead — walking to the resort's second-line dining hall gets you an almost empty room and a calm lunch.

The system is confusing: guests self-serve food from the buffet, but every drink — including soft drinks (cola, Fanta, Sprite) and wine — is brought exclusively by waitstaff. Waiters rotate between different zones of the hall, so it's unclear who to tip: often one waiter takes your drink order and a different one delivers it. Tip: try to stick to the same table and same waiter, as in other destinations.

Restaurant staff are distinguished by uniform color: white shirts are supervisors overseeing the waiters; blue shirts are rare and their role is unclear; the majority wear green and do everything themselves — seat guests, clear dirty dishes, set tables, and bring orders (though one may take the order and another deliver it). Tip: identify a couple of green-uniformed waiters and approach them specifically for seating and orders.

At peak times, the dining room line can extend outside, with a manager letting guests in only as tables free up. Table cleaning may be superficial — crumbs are brushed off, tables can stay sticky, and you may need to hunt down a waiter for paper napkins and clean forks.

If there are no seats inside, you can take your plate to the outdoor tables and eat there — a practical way to avoid the crowded dining room.

Some waiters clear dishes very noisily, seemingly indifferent to other guests eating nearby.

Breakfast runs from 7 to 10 am. Arriving after 9 means tables are already being cleared for lunch setup — guests feel unwelcome in the final hour.

Chipped or broken crockery is common, and staff can be dismissive towards guests.

The dining hall is too small for the actual number of guests, making it very noisy. Visitors feel the hotel needs at least two more general restaurants.

Beach drink service is very slow due to a shortage of waitstaff.

Waiters often ask you to sit and wait rather than taking your order immediately, which can lead to long waits — not the most convenient system.

Tipping is essential — without it, food quality and wait times suffer noticeably. Staff are clearly tip-motivated.