We went there for our Honeymoon ( in 2004 a long time ago) as an alternative choice as we , primary choose to go to Jamaica.
The location is great, quite and safe. Around 30 minutes from Hurgada which is good when you expect to relax. Location is guarded and access limited ( to the hotel and the Beach)
- The room are clean, and AC is working well. Bed could have been more confortable but the attention of the team for the birthday of my wife was great ( Birthday cake + bottle of wine )

- Food was excellent and diversifed everyday

- Location, Pool, sea side is just marvelous.

For windsurfer, board are there for you to ride on.......

Negative point were the price of the water which at that time was around 2 Euros. it make something not negligeable at the end of the trip..when the temperature is up to 40°c everyday.

We stayed for a week at the beginning of January (family with 2 children aged 8 and 5). I really couldn't fault the hotel. We were treated well by the huge team of staff who were friendly and courteous - from the lovely guy who cleaned our room to the waiters and the sports team.
Breakfast proved a hard choice deciding what to have. (The bircher muesli was delicious). There was so much choice. Lunch was at the Copper restaurant (or a sandwich bar on the beach) and it did get a bit samey by the end of the week but nevertheless it was well presented and tasted good. The dinner buffet in the main restaurant varied each night e.g. Arabian, Oriental, Mediterranean etc and was pretty good. There was always a plain option which our children preferred but it was all delicious. We didn't try the Italian restaurant in the end.
The children's club is small but has a lovely covered shallow pool and a shaded sandy play area. There were sun beds within the kids club area and just outside too if parents didn't want to stray too far. Plenty of really comfortable sun beds both around the pool areas and on the beach and thick beach towels are provided daily.
Tennis rackets and balls are available to hire and you can book an hour with the resident tennis 'pro' for 15 euros so as long as you have trainers you can play.
Yes, it is quiet - there are no markets / souks /bars etc unless you get a taxi to the town, but if you do your research, that should come as no surprise. But there are plenty of sporting activities and the reef is amazing. We loved the peace and quiet and the fact that our children could have a reasonable amount of freedom in complete safety. The staff couldn't have been nicer to them.
We are going to book again for next January - perfect weather, complete relaxation, top resort. We wanted for nothing more.

We literally just returned from a fabulous 2 week stay throughout all of Egypt. We had planned on finishing up our vacation with a 3 night stay at the Red Sea. We wanted to unwind, enjoy the beach, amenities, etc. We are Starwood Platinum members and had really enjoyed our stays at other Starwood hotels (Le Meridien, Sheratons or Movenpicks in the other parts of Egypt so we knew what to expect). The hotel and all of Soma Bay is very isolated...several hotels in the middle of BFE (no pun intended). Beautiful location and ideal for honeymooners etc. However, we wanted to relax at the beach but also wanted access to markets, shopping etc. if desired. The hotel lobby is nice as is the pool area and beach area...beautiful...but then to get to your room (junior suite) you have to walk down this dark indoor/outdoor hallway with celling tiles that are missing periodically to your room. The room itself felt very timeshare like. Definitley not the 5 star quality that is reflected in the hotel rating. I could actually live with this....peace and quiet would be nice and I don't have to spend a long time in my room...We accessed WiFi internet from our room, but it was so slow it was worthless....Not a great way to check emails etc. for the business while away on vacation. Wireless in the lobby was a tad quicker, but not as convenient and I can't stand all the cigarette smoke that is allowed in the lobby....The biggest problem was the food....prices and quality. When we went to dinner we were told that the dinner buffet (non holiday nite...) was $52 USD per person....Dinner. This was not accounting breakfast or lunch...We were a family of four and all I could see was $1000 bill on check out for the food alone. i refused to pay $52 for this buffet (although it look liked a nice spread) it was way more than what i was comfortable paying for nightly dinners...There is an Italian food restaurant where you can order a la carte, but we decided just to go back to the room and relax and order room service. This was a horrible mistake. Please bear in mind that we have traveled all over the world, eaten street food, etc. and feel very confident stating that this was absolutely the worst meal any 4 of us have ever had. My daughters pasta was half way cooked...not al dente....borderline uncooked. My soup was like water...no flavor...arrived luke warm. All 4 meals were terrible...believe me...totally gross. The only thing I ate was the bread/rolls. There was a big sign that says not to leave the trays in the hallway and that they will be back to pick them up without fail in 45 min. They never came. I went to run a bath and my bath tub plunger wouldn't stay down so the water wouldn't stay in the tub...I called service express and they said an engineer would be sent up to fix it. No one ever came. I brushed my teeth then used the mouthwash. No seal on the mouthwash...the other had the seal. I was annoyed so I went to bed. My hubby stayed up watching TV. I awakened the next am and the smell of that horrible food permeated my front room..the trays had not been picked up as promised...I realized I needed to leave this hotel... I could stand the decor, but the food quality was not something that I was going to compromise on. I didn't want this to be my last recollection of our amazing trip to Egypt. So I called the front desk and asked to speak with the manager. We were going to change hotels. I was told he would call me back at 830a. He never called. I called my platinum Starwood concierge from the room phone. After being disconnected once I finally reached the concierge and he said he would get me out of the asap. He arranged for a nice room for us at the Sheraton El Gouna. The best decision I could have made... He said the manager would be contacting us. He never did. We finally called back down there and asked to speak with the manager again. He came up to the room (2.5 hours after my first promise). We told him our concerns...food prices for the buffet...he said he would discount it 10 euros per person....food quality was out of his control. I was ready to leave. I felt like we were held hostage...so isolated...ripped off on food prices....terrible food...no response to simple repair requests...I was done. He asked if there was anything anything he could do. We asked him to get us transportation to El Gouna. He said he would. About 20 min later the hotel transportation rep called and said she could have a van there at 3p and was this ok....no, it was 10a...it was not OK. ... and she said it would cost us 80 euros for the transfer. Their website says 20 euros to the airport, and El gonna is on the other side of the airport, so 40 euros max. I told her the manager was going to comp us the ride out of there. She came back and said 50 euros...We agreed and told them to get the driver there asap. We went to the lobby to wait for the driver and to access the internet cause it was worthless in our room and another manager came over and said that they make commissions off of the vans etc. (of course they do, but when they promise us a ride then try to stick it to us with the price that becomes very annoying.) I showed him where on the spg.com website it showed the 20 euro pricing for the transfer and he said he was unaware of this pricing. I told him I realized it should be about 2x that amount, but to be quoted 4 times was absurd. The bottom line is that this is the only Starwood hotel that I have ever checked out of early from. The only Starwood hotel that i felt that the street culture of bartering still was applicable at. I didn't like this at all. I was choosing the western type 5 star hotel to get away from the bartering. I don't mind paying resort pricey if they are worth it and I strongly dislike feeling like i am held hostage and without any other choices because the hotel is so isolated. So buyer beware...don't expect wi fi in your room, you may be lucky to have a manager reply within a timely basis and don't expect a good meal for room service. Now I might add that they initially weren't offering breakfast, but about 3 hours after check in they called and said we were being offered breakfast. Breakfast buffet was very good and plentiful. I can't believe that food came from the same kitchen as our dinner the night before? Also, we were staying there with spg points. It appears as if they have some sort of food/lodging combo deal going on. I think we were the only ones not on this program (not the hotels fault). But the point I was making was if you get a good enough deal on the pricing of the room and have them include meals then you'd be better off...If you want access to other things to do then this isn't the right hotel for you. Honeymooners or people on a very low flow program would love it. I wanted a bit more access to local shopping etc and found the Sheraton El Gouna a very nice option. The hotel was very 5 star feeling...gorgeous rooms/ buffet $30 usd vs. $52 and right on the water too. Sorry wish I could say better things about this hotel...only positive is that it's nice and quiet if that's what you are after...

Sheraton Soma Bay Resort is a nice hotel with good food. We were on halfboard. The lunch was taken on the shore in form of sandwiches. The breakfast buffet does not leave anything left - it was just splendid. You can choose to have your dinner either on the buffet restaurant or on the italian one who serves a set à-la-carte menue. If you choose anything else from the menue you can deduct 16 euro from the bill as a All inclusive or Halfboard guest. You can also use a Dine Around Concept. If you go eating to Kempinski, Robinson, Cascades or Breakers you can deduct 20 euros as a AI or HB guest.
The beach is nice with soft sand and lots of sunbeds. You don´t have to go up early in the morning to get a place on the beach. Towels are available all of the day.
As there are no cities or villages in the close neigbourhood with super markets you will be forced to buy coca, fantas, tonic from your room bar at hotel prices.
Water bottles are free of charge and can be received from any bar or restaurant on the hotel area.
We played the golf course Cascades and experienced a very thrilling and interesting course designed by the old champion Gary Player. The course is worth a visit for the keen golfer.