Sharm el Sheikh is a lovely place, but if you are after sight seeing then you will have the opportunity to venture a field to places like Aswan, Cairo and Luxor to name but a few, but on an hour or so on a plane.

Sharm has different areas according to your taste, some quiet, some with a bit of entertainment. Wherever you are, If you choose a hotel that isn't in Naama Bay which is the central; hub of bars, clubs, restaurants, nice prom walks etc, you will need to haggle for a good price in a taxi, or make use of perhaps a free bus service if the hotel offers one.

By the sounds of the hotel you like which looks really nice, this must be new as i couldn't find any reviews, but also not in Naama Bay where as i say the hustle and bustle is.

Some other people i am sure will be able to help you shortly, i only know Naama Bay well.

Michelle x

The sensatori is due to open in February 2011 but we are looking at other hotels too as this one is expensive and so far we can only book it with a thomsons night flight which isn't what we really want when its going to cost just under £2000.

I do think we would prefer Naama Bay to be honest. I didn't realise sharm was so big. We did try to look at the Iberotel lido (sp) but it is full on Thomsons, also the Hilton Sharm Dreams which is also full. We are flying from Scotland. One hotel we have found is the Jaz Mirabel Beach which looks nice? also the Hilton faryouz looks good but I am not sure if the tour ops do that one? With is going to Egypt the first time I think we would prefer to go with a tour op.

So much to think about!

We like the hilton at sharks bay . It's friendly . a good standard , nice food, plenty of english & well established .

The New thomson Sensatori is what used to be the conrad , then changed to coral sea imperial . I wouldnt go by those reviews (but it will give you an idea of position ) as whilst good i'm fairly certain this will be a comletely new hotel. It is in a fabulous spot though and the beach is one of the best if not the best sharm has to offer , 20 minutes from NB in a taxi or hotel courtesy coach but some people like NB and others hate it .

I've always found sharm one of the easiest places to DIY if you can get a good deal & I now only book a package if it is cheaper . All the hotels are no more than 20 minutes from the airport and most hotels will arrange to collect you anyway if you dont want to jump in a taxi. But I understand if it's your first visit you may not feel as confident to do so.

lyn

went to gazala gardens naama bay last May AI its a lovely hotel and in an ideal location you can use all the facilites o the gazala beach across the road wouldn't hesitate to go back we went with red sea holidays

Hi greenshoes - have you tried Thomas Cook? Very decent flight times from Glasgow going out early in the morning and arriving back in the evening.

Hi,
You could try booking your holiday as seperate bits, ie, the flight and hotel seperately, although make sure you read up on what you're covered for insurance wise as I believe it's different from buying a package.

Three of us are going to the Sultan Gardens next month and I had a bit of difficulty finding a tour operator who sold it as a package, so I booked our flights directly with Thomsons and our hotel via Fleetway Travel. The downside of the Thomsons flight is 5kg hand luggage only, instead of the 10kg you get if you book as a package but I just bought a much lighter bag for my hand luggage!

I've read on another forum that people have booked the Sultan Gardens directly, it's likely you could do that with any hotel you choose, might be worth an email?

Regards
Lady64

Thanks everyone for your help. We will def be going with Thomas Cook as they have super flights from Glasgow. Avoiding Thomsons and their night flights.

The Sonesta beach resort is one of our favourites at the moment still.

Hiya

Regarding your other option, the Jaz Mirabel Beach, this is up at the Nabq Bay end of Sharm. I have stayed at the Red Sea Holiday Village (RSHV is very family orientated so good if you have kids, but not so great if you dont) which is three or four hotels away from the Jaz Mirabel Beach.

This is quite a nice end of Sharm as well, all the beachfront hotels have their own part of the beach directly in front of their hotels, with their own colour towels/sunbeds etc The beaches here are flat and not terraces cut into the side of the rock face like you get in some other places.

Its about 18 months since I have been but there are two malls in Nabq now one that they refer to as the English Mall and one the Egyptian so there are places to walk to of an evening after you have eaten if you fancy a change of scenery. There are a few bars and restaurants as well, but nothing on the scale of Namma Bay.

Most hotels at Nabq have shuttles into Namma Bay or you can just hail a cab from the main Peace Road, which runs across between the beachside hotels and their sister hotels that are on opposite side of Peace Road. It takes about 25 mins to Namma Bay depending on how quick the cab driver is.

Its quite difficult to explain how Sharm is laid out as from North to South it runs along about 40 kilometers of coast line, from Old Sharm (Hadabda), through Namma Bay up to Nabq Bay with a few other bays like Sharks Bay in between. Also certain sections of the coast you can only enter the sea from jettys out into deep water as you cannot tread on the coral as it kills it so it's illegal, thought I would mention that as I am not sure if its important for you to be able to enter the sea from the beach.

Hope this helps. Doe.