Despite the fact its' grandeur may have faded, I like the Grand. It has a lovely beach (sand a bit coarse) and you can walk into the water. Like many of the hotels in Hurghada though it does not have a house reef which means you have to take a boat to snorkle - available daily from beach through hotel or companies such as Mytravel tend to do a day trip (highly recommended!). If you had a good house reef in Sharm your husband may be disappointed so if its important to him its probably best to check with the hotel about snorkelling opportunites.

hi as i said we stayed in sharm twice before but where we stayed was not near a beach at all !! what is a house reef ? maybe we should just stick with sharm then and stay in a hotel on the beach there can you recommend any please that i can laze on and walk into the water and hubby can snorkle at lol many thanks jill

A 'house reef' is a coral reef next to a hotel, or at least that is my understanding of it. For example there is a good one next to Hilton Sharks Bay or Renaissance Golden View in Sharm. The reef attracts many fish so is great for snorkelling.

I was told that when Hurghada was first developed (for example in the area near the Grand) much of the reef was destroyed to create beaches so it is not so great for people to snorkle. I think some of the hotels have some coral though which is why I suggested contacting the hotels direct.

hi caro many thanks for your answer ive heard other good reviews about sharks bay flip i dont know what to do now ha just fancied a change from sharm and hurgada really looks nice but if i pick one with no snorkling id never hear the end of it !! its a shame they ruined the reef when developing hurgada . have you seen the sunrise resort there ?

Have you thought about El Gouna... 20 minutes from Hurghada airport... upmarket resort, set on blue lagoons, hassle free resort, choice of beaches - magic!!!!