Crowne Plaza is a good standard hotel we booked with Portland(Thomson). Has its own dive school (we are not divers, but lots of people used it) there is shore diving from the jetty. You need to go into Namma for entertainment. Its about 10 mins in a cab.

Of the hotels you mention, my understanding is that apart from The Four Seasons, which is really expensive, the Hyatt is the next best hotel in Sharm, someone at work went, and she said it was Lush. (Brilliant Thai restaurant apparently!)

Sonesta Beach is nice, but more 4***... but it is walking distance to Naama (20 mins), so no taxis required.

Have you looked at the Joliville Movenpick or the Conrad?

Just starting to research for 2009 (I know its early but it always takes so long to do the research). Could someone reccommend a not too large 4/5* hotel, no more than 300 rooms, with snorkeling direct from the beach and with other nice hotels near by for eating in the evenings (as an alternative). Would like nice freeform style pool and nice grounds. Hope this is not too much to ask for. I was looking at the Baron Palms but I understand you can only get to the beach via a small shopping centre (if I am wrong can someone put me right).

Many thanks in advance

Trish

Hi for location I recommend the hotels on the prom in Naama bay - these are not all inclusive though. They are right on the beach and each hotel has its own section of beach. Some parts of the sea are accessible from the beach making it safe for children and non swimmers. There are also jettys that lead out to deeper water. The prom is pedestrianised, very safe and clean and you can have a lovely walk along here without being pestered by the taxi drivers. There are lots of restaurants and bars along the prom and it leads into Naama where you will find loads of shops, bars and restaurants. We like the Marriott and it takes about 15 mins to stroll along the prom into Naama. Try looking at Sofitel, Novatel, Hilton Fayrouz or Jolie Ville Casino. Most of the all inclusives are out of the way and you will need a cab to get to Naama bay, Old Market etc and there is not alot outside these hotels. All / Incl in Egypt can be pretty hit and miss and I personally think it is better to go b n b ( unless you get a really good all incl deal so doesnt matter if yiu eat out every night but NB the cost of the taxis on top ). There are so many cheap restaurants. We found Sharks bay too isolated. Nabq is up and coming and there are a couple of shopping centres. Old Market gets quite lively at night but personally we prefer Naama as it is alot cleaner and no traffic.
Hope this helps.

You basically have 2 choices Trish . you stay in the main town (naama bay) where you will find mainly b+b /half board , although the sonesta beach club is A/I or maybe the ras um sid area which is close to Old sharm . some hotels are maybe within walking distance also not sure how pleasant the walk would be as basically its just dust outside of the hotels and Naama bay. There are a few A/Is there ,one that springs to mind would be the Fanara club. snorkeling I believe is very good in that area
map here http://sharm-el-sheikh.ovh.org/mapa_lewa_engl.html

or the 2nd choice is to choose one of the vastly growing A/Is along the coast i.e sharks bay area/Narq and you would probably pay the same for one of these as a bed and breakfast/half board in Naama bay but the downside is there is hardly anything outside of these hotels except maybe a parade of shops although as nana says i believe there is a shopping centre in the Narq bay area.
map here . map here http://sharm-el-sheikh.ovh.org/mapa_prawa_engl.html. There is a parade of shops between the conrad and Baron resort but from what I remember it is a row of about 6/7 shops next to the beach, its certainly not a shopping centre as we would think of one . Pippi is the one to ask as she regularly stays at the conrad and on the plus side again the snorkelling i believe would be good as it would in the sharks bay area . dont know much about the Narq area in terms of snorkelling .

hope that helps
lyn

Hi Nabq is good for snorkelling but the reef goes out for a long way but you can access the water. There 2 new shopping malls called La Strada and Al Khan and another called Jasmine Centre where you will find an English bar called St Georges. Hard Rock will be in Nabq too. This area keeps a nice cool breeze which is welcome in the hotter months. Ras Um El Sid is on a cliff and the water can be a bit rough here. In Hadaba you will find Alf Lela W'Lela, the new waterpark and Il Mercato shopping centre.

Thanks for the detailed replies. I have also been looking at the Hilton Fountains and quite like that. Where is that in relation to the main part of town? Has anyone stayed there. The reviews seen quite good.

Many thanks again.

Trish

Hi if it is Hilton Waterfalls then it is on the cliff at Ras Um El Sid. Hilton Sharm Dreams on the mountainside of Peace Road opposite Hilton Fayrouz - think you can use all the facilities of Fayrouz so excellent location as well. For a map google go red sea.

If it is the Hilton Waterfalls that you are interested in this is in a good area, called Ras um Sid. The reef is excellent.

You are not actually in Namma Bay (McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Hard Rock Cafe, Neon Palm Trees etc so it's a bit Brits Abroad.), but you are only about 10 mins away in a cab the fare for which is about LE30. This means you have the best of both worlds really, you have the peace of not being in NB itself, which is more or less shut/dead during the day anyway, but with the convenience of a short cab ride in the evening if you wish to eat away from your hotel in one of the many restaurants, or just fancy a change of scenery.

You can also get to El Fanar, Il Mercato shopping center and Fantazia really easily and Old Sharm in about 5 mins.

It depends on what you want really though, the 2, 5* B&B hotels at Ras um Sid, The Hilton Waterfalls and the Rennaisance Golden View Beach resort seem to be less expensive than the 5 star hotels in Namma Bay and both get good reports. If you want AI in that location, there is also the Iberotel Club Fanara, as Lyn has explained, but you would need to check the reviews.
Most AI's seem to be 4*'s.

Hope you get something sorted.

Doe.

Thanks for the detailed information re loction etc. I did mean waterfalls not fountains (doh). I like the idea of being quiet during the day and the fact the reff is good as we realy love to snorkell. Is there a reason why the Waterfalls is cheaper than the hotels in Namma Bay or is it just a location thing?

Thanks

Trish

This is just my view, but I think it is simply a location thing, the Ras um el Sid end a bit cheaper than Namma Bay hotels. I suppose because people have to pay for a cab in and out to NB if they fancy a change of scenery at night.

Although in fairness if you stay at either the Hilton Waterfalls or the Rennaisance Golden View Beach you can walk to Fantasia in about ten mins along the main road (really annoys the taxis they will keep trying to offer you lifts. ). We did this as we fancied stretching our legs a couple of evenings, but had eaten in our hotel and couldn't be bothered to fag into Namma Bay.

Doe

Thank you again. I am really keen on thh e Waterfalls now. One more thing I would like to ask, is the standard of the restaurants in the hotels within walking distance to the waterfalls good? We are not ones to be getting taxi's every night but like to walk to nice restaurants. I now just have to convince my husband that this is where we will be going. He still has reservations about the hasstle you receive when out and about. When we went too Bali a few years agao, we couldn't walk past a restaurant without being hassled and he is not keen to repeat this. Also he thinks that the Egyptian people are disrespectful to women. I didn't thnk that was the case but any positive things I can say to him would be really appreciated.

Trish