We have visited Sham about 10 times. The cleaniness of the rooms was execellent. The food was good and all the staff were excellent. The pools and sun terraces were also very good. The down side to this hotel was the uninclusive- all inclusive. You are unable to drink in the lobby bar unless you pay which is the only bar inside so if the evenings are chilly tough!. There were only two all inclusive bar available to drink at in the evenings, the pool bar and (The Cassablanca which was dark and dingy and cold and the bar staff were particularly unhelpful). We found there was no where nice to sit and relax and have a drink who wants to sit on plastic chairs and tables in the evenings. The other thing was you could only have wine with lunch and evening meals. The rest of the time your drinks were serve in broken plastic beakers. The entertainment area was a large tent with lots of dirty and broken white plastic chairs. I certainly would not recommend this Hotel and will not go back there again,we have stayed at much nicer hotels.

Battiefrance007

Stayed here for the first week in February. For us it ticked all the boxes for a really relaxing week. We stayed in the rooms 2825/6 beside the Cactus pool (heated). This was arranged via the hotel before we went. The rooms were really spacious and yes maybe a bit dated decor wise but they were very clean, massive beds and had fabulous views over the Sinai Mountains. This area was close to Le Dome restaurant as well. As mentioned in other reviews, it is a large resort and if you want to be nearer the beach and promenade then I would ask for rooms 100 - 800. We were all inclusive and the food was mass catering done very very well. There was always plenty of choice - salad, mezze dishes, chicken, beef, pasta, kebabs, vegetarian options, and puddings and some fabulous bread. Le Dome and The Citadel are both buffet style restaurants with the Citadel being the busier in the evening as there is entertainment there and so alot of families use this. The staff throughout the hotel were all very friendly and helpful from the luggage porters to the gardeners. At the Cactus pool they were very helpful and friendly and did a fabulous job. There were always plenty of loungers for everyone and not the mad morning dash that you find at other hotels. We walked into Naama Bay along the promenade a couple of times. I couldn't tell you how long it took us as on holiday there is no rush and there is lots to look at. Yes you do get 'pestered' to go into bars, restaurants etc. but none of us found it too bad as they are only doing a job and you can have a good bit of banter or just say no thanks and walk away. There are loads of shops and at night the town is really lively with shisha cafes and The Hard Rock Cafe does a very pleasant Margarita! We took a boat trip with Anthias who are on resort. It's boat trips are a mixture of people scuba diving and snorkellling. It was a beautiful day but cold wind, but it was winter and the lunch provided on the boat was delicious as well. We used the other facilities in the resort - tennis courts and barbers and all were really good.
We travelled in a group of four and not one of us went down with tummy troubles. We did take pro biotic before we went and took anti bac gel with us but this is also provided on the way into the dining rooms. We ate plenty of salads and stuck to the bottled water, didn't have the air con on and used the anti bac gel after handling money. Maybe we were just lucky but there are plenty of pharmacies near by and there is also a clinic on the resort.
I don't quite understand star ratings as they seem to vary so much from country to country, but I would thoroughly recommend this resort to anyone who is looking for complete rest and relaxation in the sunshine.

We had no complaints about this hotel, staff were fantastic, food was good and the whole place was kept spotless. We had a lovely room right next to the Cactus bar and pool 2902, very big rooms which were cleaned perfectly everyday. Our only slight gripe would be the lack of music/atmosphere in the bars/restaurants in an evening. We ended up walking into Naama Bay each night which tool around 20 mins along the beach promenade.

We were closest to the Dome restaurant but found the Citadel had slightly more to choose from.

We visited in the first week in February and the weather was gorgeous through the day but was VERY cold on a night,,luckily I had travelled in my UGG boots which i wore every night with my jeans!!

All in all would definitely recommend it.

It was our first trip to Egypt - not last! The weather was great, we stayed 10 nights in September 2011 and it was hot hot hot! We booked all inclusive and I would highly recommend it, you have to remember it’s Egypt so I would think twice before stepping into any random restaurant. I will breakdown my review so you can find information of your interest more easily.

Room
Great, huge family room, for the couple a bit too big but can’t complaint. The air con was very poorly, the longer it was on the slower it worked effectively giving warm air not cold! We couldn’t move as the hotel was up to the capacity but fortunately we had great chilled restaurant on the doorstep, pool not far away and a bar where we could get cold drinks/water throughout the day. Downside was the bathroom, we could see the black mould in the corners, the hairdryer was broken and fixed with a piece of tape (!). The toilet seat was broken but it was fixed as soon as we reported it.

Resort
Great big resort, couple of pools – one loud with the music on and one quiet where you can relax. Both nice and clean, fresh towels whenever you needed them. We didn’t have any problems with the sun beds but that depends what time you are prepared to get up and go by the pool. The beach wasn’t great, not to my liking so we didn’t spend much time there, good beach bar though. Food was lovely, great choice and what’s the most important we didn’t get sick and ate pretty much everything within the resort. Be prepared for walking as the resort is fairly big.

Location/Transport
Ideal location if you don’t want to be too far away from main attractions i.e. town centre. I would recommend taxis – good service, quick, not too expensive. Please ask at the reception how much should you pay for the trip to a certain place, you will have a good idea if the taxi driver want to rip you off. Don’t be afraid to haggle, eventually they will do it for the price you want to. Usually we've paid approx £4 one way for the trip to town centre around £7/8 for the old market. Always agree the price first and have the exact money ready.

Excursions
We booked the holiday through Thompson and were only prepared to book excursions through them. Please be aware of people coming up to you an offering excursion, they say they are part of Sonesta/Hotel but they are not! We have booked 2 – 1. coach trip to Cairo and 2. meeting Bedouins with the camel ride, both were brilliant, fully organised, you had what you’ve paid for and more. I have to say coach trip to Cairo was very tiring but worth it, especially if you are on the budget. We have also booked the entry ticket to Hard Rock Café at night - night out with unlimited drinks and this was awful, you had very limited choice of drinks and the staff/ bar tenders were horrible, no customer service whatsoever! Very rude! We’ve been in few Hard Rock Cafes around the world but this one was a joke!

Overall experience
Great, relaxing time in never-ending sunshine, great location, friendly staff, wonderful fresh food – plenty of choice, will defiantly go back, if we will go back to Sharm it would probably be Sonesta Beach.

Useful tips
Be aware of the sun, it is absolutely lovely but put on high factor sun cream at all times otherwise you will burn or get a heat rash like myself. Also drink plenty of water, I mean 2-3 litres a day is a must otherwise you will get slightly dehydrated like myself. Drink only bottled water as you cannot drink tap water, do not eat in random places and wash your hands all the time but I’m sure you know that already if you considering going to Egypt. One final tip – haggle! If you will go to Sharm’s town centre or old market be prepared, you will be pestered (big time!), there is no window shopping, if you look at something for more than 30 seconds be prepared to buy it but haggle the price right down, never pay the first price as it is simply not worth it and overpriced. Remember nothing is for free even if they will tell you so - you will still have to pay for it! Opposite the resort there is a 24/7 groceries shop, Mc Donald’s, Starbucks and pharmacy. Have a great time!