On arrival at the hotel we were told to follow the bell boy to our room, this took us a good 15mins, we were put at the very top of the hotel grounds, i can assume that the was the oldest part of the hotel complex. The room was very shabby the TV didn't work, the light shades were torn it was just horrible. we were given another room after my husband had words with reception. We have been to sharm 3 times and this hotel has put us off going back again.

Before I give my review I would like all that read this to know that due to sickness that put rather a big dampener on our holiday we probably didnt enjoy this holiday as much as we could of .

Arrived early evening to a lovely welcome and given keys to rooms 1105 as requested in email 14 days earlier and 1107 . Room 1105 being one of the double double family rooms that we hadnt paid for so very pleased. huge room and huge bed . Bed alone could have slept 4 , dressing room , rather shabby bathroom ,Seating area of 2 sofas and a TV and a further room with bunk beds . room 1107 for our older 2 boys was smaller but still roomy . Rooms and buildings all in an arabic styling which gave great character. Gardens and grounds all very pretty and well maintained with lots of colour .

We had the blue wave pool right outside our rooms . This is the pool to come to if you like a lively pool scene . It is an Italian animation team and I didnt feel that many english were joining in. For excercise junkies there was a huge amount of excercise /Aerobics on offer starting with stretching around 11am , an upbeat water gym before lunch alongside water polo . More soft stretching and water polo in the afternoon and then about 4pm yes another Aeobics session on the grass next to the pool. Needless to say my bottom never left the sunbed.

I believe there were some more games being played on the beach but we never ventured there during the day other than a trip to the bar for a drink on a few occasions . It was a long walk from the blue wave pool and we didnt feel the connection with the sea here that you have further along the coast . We found it a big disappointment compared to the size of the hotel. . It all felt very hemmed in and seperate from the hotel. Being so close to Naama bay with the constant dive boats and diesel fumes the sea and marine life was not the best that sharm has to offer here . I suppose this is the price you pay if you want to be near the action and bright lights of Naama Bay.

Food at the hotel I thought very good . We ate mostly at the smaller Dome restuarant . Food and layout exactly the same as the main Citadel restuarant but nowhere near as busy and we never had to queue once . Plenty of choice available . Choice of eating inside or by candelight outside.

Breakfast - Plenty of different breads , Danish pastries and coissants . Cereals , fresh fruit salad , yoghurts , chesses etc. Pancakes, french toast with omelettes and eggs being cooked to order . There were also some hot dishes . of fried potatoes, scrambled or boiled eggs , tomatoes, beans etc.

Lunch was always good and I thought better than dinner . Again plenty of choice . Usual salad and bread selection + normally a couple of rice dishes 2/3 meat dishes , 1or 2 pasta choices and a selection for vegetarians . All this alongside potato and veg dishes .

dinner . Similar to Lunch .


Service in the Restuarant was always friendly but despite several tips along the way could be a bit hit and miss .
Tea and coffee was available self service in restuarants and bars all day long but at breakfast when many people are grumpy why do we have to wait for a waiter to fill our cups , swiveling on our seats trying to attract attention. This seems to be common place in Egypt . Would it really be that difficult to leave the self service option at hand too.
We also found that after 8pm service again was hit and miss . Quite often most people had eaten and only a few tables for 4 were set up ready . Being a family of 5 and needing a larger table there never seemed to be any of these reset after a certain time . Our dirty plates also piled up of an evening and waiters seemed to have switched off.

Entertainment wasnt great but this is common place in Egypt and you could at least take a stroll into Naama bay if you chose to.

There was a mini disco every evening followed by a show or audience participation offering from the Italian animation team in several languages . We didnt feel this was very inviting unless you wanted to sit on a row of white plastic chairs with no tables.There is a bar area next to the stage but this is walled off and if you wanted to sit here at a table you couldnt see the show.

The only other offering was the same guy on his saxophone every evening outside the citadel restuarant. Unfortunately he bored us to tears every evening so we just went to bed at 10pm deflated .The spinning man did make an appearance one night but just my luck I was ill in bed.

There wasnt really much for older children and teenagers to do. The gym was far too far to walk to over at the sonesta club . We saw only an odd pool table in strange area . Something for the older children to do is desperately needed . A couple of pool tables close to one of the bars or an area to kick a ball around or a bastekball net would be a much needed addition.Maybe we missed something but all we saw were restuarants and pools

All staff were very friendly and a big thank you to Mohamed the towel man at the Blue wave pool for setting up our sunbeds so lovely every morning .

To sum up this is a good quality hotel but we didnt like the location which for many would be ideal for it's close proximity to Naama bay. But for us, waking up to see the beautiful Red sea and being able to see it stretching out before us is an important ingredient to our holiday and we just didnt feel it here.

stayed here from the 15th - 22nd april

the holiday was to celebrate our 20th wedding aniversary , we chose this hotel after reading the good reviews on here .

the flight was ok , as we were staying in naama bay we did not need any visas and we did not get hassled to get them . from stepping foot in the terminal building to standing waiting for our casses took about 3 minutes , (that must be record ).
i had emailed the hotel in advance to ask for room 1105 as recommended by derwenrocker they said they could let me have room 1103 next door as 1105 was taken , and i could have the free upgrade as a gift for my anniversary , so we arrive at the hotel i go to reception to get the keys for 1103 , but they give me the keys for room 136 , i think ok then they must have forgotten ill take a look at it before i say somthing , well i walk in and its massive just like having my own private villa , the best room ive ever stayed in .
we unpack then the door bell rings its 2 lads from reception with the biggest basket of fruit youve ever seen from the manager with his compliments ,
the next day door bell rings again another lad from reception with a chocolate gateau from the manager .

its quite a big hotel and the grounds are kept spotless clean , our room was close to the oasis pool and beach and we always got a sunbed .

ive only given the food 3 points as there was not a lot of choice for people who like plain food like my wife who thought it was a bit to fancy .
as for me i loved it, the english night they served cottage pie and yorkshire puds , there was pasta every night which was lovley , we ate at the citadel every night as it was the nearest one to our room.
the entertainment was the same as every were ive been in egypt rubbish , just the same man playing his saxaphone every night and the twirling man .
the location was perfect , a nice 20 minute stroll into naama bay past all the other hotels .
the staff were brilliant very friendly and helpfull always serving with a smile .
me and tracy dont normaly like the beach but this one is georgeous set among the palm trees realy nice .
this is an amazing hotel the best ive been to in egypt , id go back in a heartbeat .
already thinking of going back in november when its a bit cooler as it was 42 degrees when we were there a little to hot for us .
its a shame we only had a week there .

andy & tracy

Flight was fine, arrival at Sharm el Sheikh was chaos (as usual), although we weren't pressured to go and queue for a visa this time... Found our transfer coach after speaking to three reps, it was a minibus as there were only 15 guests going to 3 hotels. Quite a delay whilst luggage was loaded (the last two couples had there luggage stowed on the roof, I'm guessing somewhat precariously as everyone passing on coaches was pointing openmouthed and the Thomson rep sent the driver back up there twice before we set off...)

Anyway we left the airport just before 7pm. We arrived at the hotel just before 9pm.... the driver and agent took us to the wrong way out of the airport and we ended up at the far end of Nabq Bay (past the Holiday Village for those who know the area) before we did a U-turn with no explaination then detoured down an unlit back road so we didn't pass the airport again.... a couple more U-turns then we reached the first drop-off (the Blue Bay Oasis) then 5-10 minutes after that we were finally dropped off. No apology or explaination... nor could the rep get an answer from the agent.

On arrival our bags were unloaded by the porters and we checked in, following Michelle's advice I had requested room 1105 plus a single room close by. Sadly despite my conviction that I'd booked a double double room plus a single it looks like I actually booked a double family room plus a single - but as I'd requested room 1105 the hotel gave us 1105 and 1103 at no extra charge - excellent service!

The rooms were HUGE, dressing room, bathroom, double bed, lower sitting area and separate room with bunk beds... fantastic. And so cool that we only switched the air con on once during the week, despite the heat being ~30'c every day!

We found the food very good on the whole, ate at the Dome mostly but went to the Casablanca restaurant three times - you need to make a reservation before 12 noon of the day you want to go. Service in the Dome was a bit hit and miss (we weren't offered drinks on at least four occasions) but as the red wine wasn't the best I wasn't too bothered... the white and rose were better but tasted a bit watered down. Service in the Casablanca was much more attentive with your glass being replaced as soon as it approached being empty! The food here is Lebanese/Oriental, the menu is a salad/dips bar, lentil or noodle soup, main courses including fish, spicy meats, and a mixed grill (yummy - kofta, BBQ chicken, veal kebab and grilled lamb chop with oriental rice), plus cakes or fruit to end. Each night in the Dome or the Citadel there is a theme, including BBQ, Italian, English, Tex Mex etc, and there's always a choice of pastas, salads and veg. We noticed that the Citadel was much busier and the only night we wanted to eat there there were no tables so we decided to stick with the Dome, which was quieter.....

There were also 2 payable a la carte restaurants but we didn't use them at all.

There were a number of bars open during the day, mostly by the pools, and three of these stayed open until midnight. Service was good, but the drinks weren't the best (we found the spirits all had a similarly strange taste) - and the waiters, whilst attentive, often brought the wrong drinks! Best to go to the bar yourself... or visit the lobby bar and buy a branded drink. Local spirits and beer are included, but wine is only provided with meals in the restaurants.

Entertainment seemed a bit limited, we didn't go to any but it seemed to be a saxophonist in the Citadel for a couple of hours, a kiddie mini-disco by the Blue Wave Pool at 9pm, followed by a show (often involving audience participation and in 3-4 languages) at 10pm. Luckily it usually finshed before 11...

The pools were great, the heated pools were like baths and the non-heated refreshing whilst we were there... we preferred the cooler pools as they were quieter overall. The snorkelling off the jetty was good for nervous swimmers like me, although there isn't a "drop off" so to see more exciting stuff like sting rays and lion fish you have to swim out past the ropes towards the jetty at the edge of the bay.

The staff were all very friendly and helpful, so we happily tipped as we went along when we had good service. I had no tummy problems this time, hubby and son did, but only for a short time, and not as severely on previous trips. We avoided ice in drinks but otherwise took no particular precautions.

Overall we had a great time and would consider returning again!

The return transfer was speedy (20 mins) but the check-in was the usual shambles - we queued in 3 different check in lines before discovering that we could check in at any Thomson desk (grrrr!!!) - but at least we were only waiting for 15 mins after getting through immigration before boarding our return flight!

My trip report - sonesta beach resort in sharm el sheikh.
24th November - 1st December 2008.

Sometimes i do not always do a report as mostly the hotel hasnt changed, or i feel that i go on about my baby so much that i bore you all senseless :rofl so needless to say i am going to bore you again :D
We had a very good flight from east midlands, everything was on time and baggage not over weight this time. I do not normally sit in ecomony if i can help it being so tall, but had no choice because this holiday was only booked 5 weeks ago and apart from buying exit seats coming back, i had to rough it with the cattle as no exit seats left. Journey was good and watched mamma mia for the 4th time, still fab though.

When we arrived at the airport in sharm, we didnt require visas, so had our passports stamped sinai only. Others that require visas had their plane tickets of the journey taken off them and returned when they got on the coach to enter the resort. When we went in june i had to pay for visa stamps in british sterling, not dollars. This time it had a board up saying dollars only! My theory is, they look what is worth more to them and decide day to day.

Eventually arrived along the peace road to the Sonesta beach resort and casino in sharm, not as written on trip advisor as sonesta beach in Taba. Surely they know Taba is a different place, HT is so much more clued up :offtopic

Anyway the Manager met us and welcomed us back, we got the porter to bring the luggage, he knew we knew where to go to our room as we have the same room number all the time 1105. When we arrived they instructed the TV man to tune out tv into english ones, we never asked him to, buy hey a nice touch. We also had slippers and matching dressing gowns hung up behind the door in the bathroom. We chucked everything in the wardrobe, out of sight out of mind and went to dinner. On my last report i was upset the food was rubbish, i lived on pasta for 2 weeks. But i wrote a contructive letter via the thomson rep to the manager explaining that the food wasnt good enough. Well for those of you going and never been well there has been a massive improvement, we now have a british night, and no its not fish and chips etc but nice veg, chicken, beef roasts, yorkshires etc, stews etc, really nice. We stuffed our faces all week, tried everything and anything, it was really nice. Gone are the spices, in comes the gravy, veg, roast potatoes etc. I actually went to the manager and thanked him for listening to peoples comments.
Before we never got bottled water either, only at breakfast, dinner and tea, but now if you ask, they give you it on the beach and around the pools. If you want alcoholic drinks, the pool nearest reception never measures anything, so if you want vodka, it is nearly full to the top of the glass.

It was unfortunate that on the beach the ice cream you had to pay for. We never went thirsty or hungry in all the time we were there.

There are 6-7 pools on the complex, 2 of which were heated, one was near reception behind the 100 block. I must confess not many people were in them, they must have been freezing, the beach on the other hand was cram packed. We latched onto a lad who saved us a sun bed every day for a small tip. He never asked for money, but we gave him a quid each day. Plenty of water sports, never ventured on them as we had done them before in previous visits.

In June i didnt see too many persons on the beach, but the winter months, everyone is on them. The sea is warm, we went into the sea around 3 times a day. It was a bit ughhhhhh when we first went in, but actually it was nice and refreshing just for a 5 mins swim, longer if you were snorkling.

I will state that you have to get up early to get the full benefit of the sun, we were up by 7am each morning, and on the beach after 8am, and in the sea by 8.45am.

The temperatures in the day were 86f, water temps around 72f.
Night time temps were a lot cooler and chilly some nights, namely 17c (62f). Men mostly wore long trousers and a shirt, ladies wore pedal pushers/long dresses/skirts/trousers and a light cardigen.

We didnt go to the welcome briefing as been to plenty, but we did buy a new trip, and i say with all my heart go on this trip if you are able, its the best trip any of us have ever been on. If you like quad biking, this is the one for you.

Firstly i will say the old quad bike trip that goes to an oasis, then a bar b q and off on quads again has finished 2 weeks ago. In comes the new trip.

You drive to a brand new centre that has just opened last week. All the quads are virtually new. They have seat benches in a beduoin style setting, and a bar and loo. You have a safety briefing, then get videoed, then off you go on the quads complete with scraves and helmets.

You ride for approx 40 mins, have a break and drink.
Leave after 10 mins.
Off on bikes again to the centre where its all going to happen. Leave quads, jump on a camel for 20 mins if you want to, its all included in the price, or you can stay on quads if you wish.

After we venture around the bedouin tents with a stage in the middle, they have proper toilets, well one worked lol.

We were given tea and awaited the show to start, it was fantastic. Because some of you may go, i am not going to spoil what happens. If you do want to know, i will gladly tell you via pm. Suffice to say it is not amateurish, but they may grab you to go on stage as i was. Absolutely hilarious. We ate after the entertainment, and had a fabulous bar-b-q, the men wore plastic gloves so impressed there.

After everything had ended, it was back on the quad for the 20 mins journey back to the coach IN THE DARK ! So much fun. It was well worth the

My partner and I stayed in this hotel in November to chill out for the week and to enjoy snorkelling. We wanted a quiet holiday, and this hotel is at the end of the bay so the location suited us ideally. The fabulous array of colourful fish which could be seen just off the beach were amazing and really made our holiday. While the beach was small and fairly crowded, we always got sunloungers on the beach and towels a bonus. The Cactus pool was a lovely area to relax, with a nice bar. Unfortunately a bit too cold to swim in comfortably in November.

We ate at Le Dome as we felt that the Citadel restaurant was tending more towards Russians/Italians during our stay. The food was average with some 'interesting' dishes, but a large selection was provided with something for everyone. The fresh breads and pastries were particularly good. We had excellent service from very attentive staff all week (possibly helped by constant tipping). The entertainment also seemed geared towards Italians and seemed pretty cheesy. We just got a couple of beers from the bar and enjoyed a shisha on our balcony.

Large very well maintained complex with high standard of cleanliness. Room staff were friendly (although little English spoken). Gardens and grounds constantly looked after by an army of hard working people. Would definately go back due to the location, helpful staff and high standard of cleanliness, but perhaps some room for improvement with the food.

This is not the original hotel we had booked, Thomas Cook had moved us to this hotel as a recommendation in place of the one we paid for and described it as like for like. This is NOT a 5 star hotel as booked, this is not even a 4 star hotel it really boarderlines 3 star. The only thing that is 5 star are the garden areas which are well maintained 24 hours per day and the staff who all work very hard and long hours.

Food/drink

We went on all inclusive basis which was very disapointing the food was very repetitive and catered more for our european friends, pasta rice, pasta rice. They have theme nights each night one of them being british...... the only british thing on the menu that night was lancashire hotpot!!!!!! The drinks are very limited and served out of plastic glasses, never have I ever been to a 4 or 5 star hotel and had to drink from a plastic glass!!!! One night i decided to have a cocktail drink, then another and another and another, with no effect i just put this down to watered down spirts....no......I went to the bar myself and asked for a cocktail and could i have a nice one please only to be asked would i like an alcoholic one?????? i had been drinking fruit juice cocktails all night, if you don't ask for an alcohol cocktail you don't get one. If you want a drink from a glass you can go to Ali Babas cafe on the roof and pay for it although it is very pleasant. They have water dispensers at the bar but always ask for a bottle of water but 99% of the time you will not get them after 10pm.

Cleanliness

The cleanliness of the rooms, where do i start........ yes your room is cleaned every day (well someone comes in) you have fresh towels each day and toilet roll replemished as needed but i would advise anyone to bring some along as you WILL need it. We were in room 711 and was shocked at the standard and cleanliness of the bathroom, there are approx 4 inches from the toilet rim to the wall, to take your place on the throne is very uncomfortable you have to sit on the loo sidewards, the towel rack is above the toilet so if you are tall and male you are guaranteed a black eye we had to tie a towel around the edge just to remind us it was there. We had complained to our rep and the hotel offered us to view another room. Yes the room was very pleasant but it was a 20 minute walk from reception and it was 30 degrees at night and in the 40's in the daytime just too far away for us also there was building work going on outside the room (new tennis courts)just not suitable and there was no other room available so we had to stay put. This caused problems on day 4 as we both got sick along with the rest of the hotel with the dreaded stomach upset apparently everyone gets it, really bad stomach cramps, gut pains and of course diaoreaha. Just go to the pharmacy across the road from the hotel and ask for the yellow capsules the are about

Just back from Sonesta beach. Had a really great holiday. It was very hot but plenty of umbrellas around the pool for shade. There are 3 major problems at this hotel Italians, Russians and the biggest of all the food.
the food was all pasta, rice and vegetables.

We ended up eating out the last 4 nights of a 2 week stay as we couldnt stomach it anymore. Also the Italians think they own the place to the point of taking other peoples toast out of the toaster to put there in and pushing to the front of the queing people.

One Italian even took the handling tongs out of my daughters hand while she was trying to get a croissant! and as for the Russians they are just rude, ignorant and greedy.

Also the thing to watch is the all inclusive options you can only have beer, wine or cocktails that are locally produced no other spirits you can only have crisps from the beach bar and only ice cream from certain pool bars at certain times we sat at the oasis pool and you had to pay for ice cream there.

If you wanted to eat at the bar that is on the beach (it has its own private beach)you had to pay. Also do not book the fish night it is awful.

Hotel clean and our rooom got cleaned every day cannot fault how clean they are, but the food was horrible since we went there we have been bad for 14 days with pains in stomach and diarrhoea, can not beleive how many people were bad there, some of them had to get a doctor in as they where so bad. It had to be food or drink that did this, you could never get a coffee or tea in mornings trying to get a waiter was beyond a joke as they never had tea of coffee machines there at all.

There was no entertainment for adults at all it was only for kids.

There was loads of Italians and Russians there.

There are a few things that aren't all inclusive when you go to the beach you can not eat there you have to go back to hotel to eat, you can get free drinks on beach but nothing else, they have a beach bar but you have to pay to eat there.

The beach its self is all full of rocks,

The drinks are like parrafin never had a good drink all the time we were there.

Some of the staff were nice but some didn't like the English at all.

Overall I wouldn't let any one go to this hotel at its not nice at all we couldn't wait to get back home I've never said that before.

As we all stayed at the Tropicana Garden Palms last year it was brill we didn't want to come home.

i would never go to this hotel ever agian and I wouldn't recommend any one to go there.

I have written several reviews on this web site. I visited with family in June 2008 and returned again in November 2008 (review on HT also). It was extremely hot in the day and we all felt very lethargic. The hotel is of the standard it has always been, we could not fault it, we also enjoyed the interaction with the staff, who, remember us from going at least 1-2 times a year to the same hotel. The big let down was the all inclusive option which i believe was in the first year. It was spicy, too much rice, and not enough veg and potatoes. I wrote a complaint a contructive one at that saying that English people were not being catered for in the food department. I didnt expect fish and chips but less spicy foods. If you read my review for June 2008, it will surprise you how much the food as changed, there is a British night now, but wasnt when we visited in June.
The beach wasnt crowded, but the pools were. We didnt get bottled water on the beach or by the pools, only a container that we fetched our own. In June that changed for the better also.
We went to Luxor, but never would i do this trip in the summer months, most people stayed on the coach with A/C. The temps in Luxor was 60c (149f), we were all drained and my mum collasped. Having been to the same hotel now 6-7 times in the summer unless you have a cast iron stomach will experience diarhoea and severe cramps. I recommend you take out the excess waiver on your private holiday insurance and see the doctor in resort. That way although itinally you pay out, but you get all of it back from the insurance company. You pay the doctor at the end of your holiday at reception. Remeber to keep all your documenation. You could get ripped off at the chemist, they could sell you anything, the doctor is a lot cheaper and will give you the correct medication instead of guessing.People blame the food at the hotel making them ill, this simply isnt true, the food here although back in the summer months didnt appeal to me, it did in November and we never had cramps or anything wrong with us at all.You get ill through dehydration, so if you vomit then drink plenty of sprite and water to rehydrate yourselves. If you are loose, eat bread and dry foods, keep off salads and fruit as it turns to water in the gut. The food at the hotel is tested to a high temperature.

We ventured into Narma bay a few times and relaxed with a shisha pipe which was fun. We noticed foods at the hard rock cafe was very expensive. I would avoid at all costs TGI fridays, revolting meal, freezing cold in there and the toilets were filthy. HRC was expensive for drinks around