Firstly I must say that my husband and I had a fabulous holiday and a very relaxing break in Sharm. The Grand Sharm is a clean, smart hotel in a lovely quiet location right on the reef. Being out of season it was very quiet - about half full, which suited us as we were looking for a chill out on our own (without our young daughter). To be honest she would have been bored as there were so few children staying at the hotel and no activities for kids at all apart from the heated pool. We stayed on a B&B basis - and when we managed to make it for breakfast were impressed by the quality and selection. Everything from danish pastries to omlettes freshly prepared, cereals, yoghurts and beleive it or not a salad bar! We did not eat from the buffet, but lunched by the pool daily. Good quality food and for two of us to have a burger or spag bol and a soft drink was less than a tenner which was great value. The waiters from here and the beach bar serve drinks by the pool and beach and were very freindly. We ate at La Seppia a couple of times - the fish night they do is good value and superb quality and did the Bedouin night on the beach - well worth it. Below Decks was a fun and interesting experience!!! It is a bar/night club and excellent people watching... Terrible music mostly but if you take your i pod down the DJ can play any track off it!! One thing to watch is the barmen in this and the main bar! If you pay in cash it goes straight in their pockets if the manager isn't around!! I dread to think what the hotel is losing in this way.

Unfortunately there were very few English people staying in the hotel which made it hard to have much social interaction. Most of the guests seemed to be Italian and German, with some Russian, Eastern European and Arab guests also. Being low season however we didn't have the typical bun fight for sunbeds as there were plenty by both pools and on the beach.

There are two pools - one quite small but heated to 'hot tub' temperature, the nicer of the two was not heated and was freezing!

The reef off the hotel 'beach' is one of the best I have seen and comparable to the Maldives. There is a floating pontoon where you enter the water just off the reef shelf. It is very deep here and only suitable for good swimmers. Saw some amazing fish and the sea was very warm. You cannot walk directly into the sea as the reef comes right up to the hotel. It is not a traditional beach, more like terraces overlooking the sea - but a lovely place to sunbathe and hear the sea gently rolling in.

We went Quad biking which we arranged via Said at Camel Dive on the beach. It was a blast - although having had a bit of an upset tummy the bumpyness did make me feel rather sick! But the guides looked after me and it was a great afternoon. Amazing scenery in the desert!! A really worthwhile trip for £20.00 each. Be warned the DVD they sell you will not play on a DVD player only via your PC DVD drive - which was a little dissapointing but the camera man did go to any lengths to get the good shots etc while standing in the back of a flat bed truck doing 30 miles an hour through the desert! A brave man!

So far so good... now as I have said we had a lovely time, but I have to be honest - we would not visit Egypt again! It is impossible to just have a relaxing wander ANYWHERE! As soon as you leave the hotel the Bedouin taxi drivers are calling out to you. In Narma Bay it was just a relentless stream of harrassment. Your husband will be brainwashed into thinking he is the luckiest man on the planet to have you because he will hear it so often. I have taken to calling my husband 'lucky man' its his new nickname!! And do expect to be asked if you have a sister and an offer of camels to be made for you. This is not an infrequent occurance, it is constant! We would have felt even more uncomfortable if our daughter had been with us. I have lived in Africa and travelled extensively but this is the most intrusive harrassment I have ever experienced and can imagine someone of a nervous disposition would be incredibly intimidated by the whole experience. Stay clear of the Lebanese restaurant in Narma Bay - we got food poisoning! The Hard Rock is good value and of a quality you would expect and Valentinos was excellent food - but empty much before 10:00. The Old Market is worth a visit but much the same experience as Narma in an older more authentic setting - an hour is plenty.

Jewellery is very good value - just be careful of the quality in some shops. My husband bought me a couple of early vanentines gifts in the hotel jewellery shop and they are stunning - god knows what they would have cost here!!

We tended to use the hotel taxis which were good drivers and polite. We would give a time for them to come back for us which worked well. They all drive like nutters, and the road system is chaotic to say the least!!

We worried about the weather before we went - but as it turned out we needn't have it was perfect sunbathing weather - about 75 most days. It does cool pretty quickly after around 4:30 and you do need a light jacket or jumper in the evenings but no more than that.

Best bits of advice we got from previous trip adviser reviews were: to book a taxi back th the airport... We got there 20 minutes before all the coaches arrived and had cleared the rigorous security, passport control, done our duty free shopping and found a nice table to pass the time with a beer (only available in duty free not at the cafes) when the chaos began. It is 110 egyptian pounds well spent. Also carry some of that hand sanitiser stuff - the money is hideously dirty...

Just returned from a week in Sharm & I must admit I was a bit dubious about Egypt before travelling but chose it because we knew we would be guaranteed sunshine in January. All in all we had a fantastic week, the hotel was one of the best we have ever stayed in and all the staff couldn't do enough to please you. Our room was large and spotlessly clean with a terrace looking out onto the heated swimmimg pool (the only pool you could use at this time of year!!). The weather was perfect with sun from 9:00 until 4:00 but once the sun goes down it is quite chilly & you do need to take warmer clothes for evenings. We were B&B and were well impressed with breakfast - so much choice, we also ate at La Seppia (a la carte restaurant) a couple of times and the food was excellent. The Bedouin night at the hotel is definitely worth booking it cost £20 for 3 courses including a bottle of wine between two and an exotic belly dancer. We booked one trip which was the quad bikes in the dessert and it really was worth every penny with a visit toi a Bedouin camp and finishing off with the sunset in the dessert. We visited Naama Bay and Sharm Old Town, both worth a visit but be prepared for hassle if you go shopping, you are dragged into shops & pressurised to buy!!
The small touches at the hotel made it special - a spray of rose water when you are getting too hot, your sunglasses cleaned every day and the strawberries dipped in chocolate handed out to guests while sunbathing. All the staff we met were excellent & we didn't feel they were just looking for a tip - look out for Mohamed who books the trips, very handsome and always had time to chat, Osama in the restauarant who was always very helpful and Ama behind the bar, very entertaining!!! I had a pedicure on the beach which was very good value and a massage in the health centre which was a little too intimate for my liking!!! All in all a fantastic holiday, I would reccommend this hotel to anyone and will definitely be returning, the sooner the better :o)

Stayed at hotel for 7 days bed & breakfast. Chosen because of positive reviews but mainly because Camel Dive centre is onsite. (Dive centre staff are VERY professional - can't recommend them enough).

The only disappointments at the hotel were with a few members of staff - a porter who appeared to have his own agenda concerning my luggage. And one of the many security guards who constantly patrol the grounds suggested I give him money. No chance of corruption there then?

The good points - I can honestly say that for me, this was the best value for money hotel I've stayed at anywhere in the world.

The staff were exceptional (apart from those above). From receptionists to cleaners, waiters to bar staff - they all couldn't do enough for me. And unlike the rest of Sharm, I never felt that at the end of the day, they were only being helpful because they wanted a tip. I was genuinely impressed.

The food - Stayed on B/B basis and had a the lunch buffet twice.
Breakfast - Exceptional. Apart from the usual breakfast affair, Iberotel additionally offered a large health section. At least five varieties of yoghurt (fresh berries mixed through the strawberry yoghurt) , multitude of cereals, fresh fruit - melon, apple, orange, grapefruit, prunes, dates, sharon fruit, pomegranate seeds... unbelievable! I could have stayed at this hotel for a year and never had the same breakfast twice. The quality of the pasta dishes at the lunch buffet was as good as I've ever tasted - including Italy. And best of all, the view. The attached photo is one I took - not from some glossy brochure. this is my breakfast table each morning. (Early morning starts due to diving).

The room - fantastic. Overlooked the heated swimming pool. Masses of storage space, comfortable beds and spotless - what more do you want in a hotel room? Even the bathroom was large with a powerful shower and clean towels everywhere you looked. (they also provided bathroom scales + hairdryer). A safe + plenty of hangers were provided in the wardrobe. All of this cost me £19 a night! I think that represents outstanding value.

T.V. only has a few English channels. I mention this only because nights can become a little boring if you don't go into town. The lack of nightlife appears to be on par for the area.

It should also be noted that the all hotel grounds were very well maintained and constantly being cleaned with plenty of staff available. There was a free towel service - you could change your towel as many times as you wanted, plenty of sun loungers and from what I could see, all the pools were kept 100% tip top condition. (Only the smaller heated pool can comfortably be used in the winter months).

The hotel mainly consisted of Russian and German tourists. Now the majority of Russians are no different from the Brits- ignorant when it comes to speaking other languages and tend to keep themselves to themselves, so don't expect too much in the way of conversation.

My best tips: Take Euros or English pounds. Even Egyptians wouldn't accept some dominations of their own money;

If you value your own life, NEVER take a white and blue taxi - use the hotel limo, which by the way turns out to be a 1O year old Mazda. You'll pay around the same, but at least their driver has at least one of his hands on the steering wheel at all times and the brakes work. Like the rest of the taxi's in Sharm, you'll need to bargain for a reasonable fare. Always agree a price before you get into the taxi, and stick to that price.

And finally if you want to chat up a Russian, take a phrase book.

My husband and I spent the week of New Year in the Iberotel Grand Sharm. It was our second time in Egypt; last year we spent 2 weeks (3 nights in Cairo, 4 nights Nile cruise and one week in the hotel Movenpick in El Gouna) That time, we both enjoyed the holiday enormously and found Egyptian people really welcoming and friendly, both agreed it was the best holiday ever. So we decided to go back to Egypt for a week of much needed rest and relax, this time for time and flight convenience we had to go to Sharm and the Iberotel Grand Sharm.

Common areas: Reception is ok, the choice for restaurant is a buffet restaurant and an “A la Carte”, a bar and a disco. In general these areas were fine although, in my opinion, it wouldn't do any harm to modernise a bit the decoration, it looked a bit worn out, also i was expecting more from a 5 star, comparing it with the Movenpick in El Gouna...well there's no comparison!

Bedroom: We were told that our bedroom was supposed to be one of the best ones (!?) the interior again, in my opinion, it needed some refurbish work done, specially (and urgently!) the bathroom, it looked old and unclean, regarding toiletries there were only shampoo, shower gel and soap (usually 5* offer more than that) also some pieces of furniture really needed to be replaced (i.e: the lamps’ shades were cracked and falling apart!)

Pools: There's a nice and reasonable size pool outside, however the water was freezing cold and never used it, and i guess for that reason we didn't experience the problems finding pool chairs, as other tripavisors did. There's another pool, smaller and heated, but it was too busy and there was no chance to get a chair there so we only went for a short swim once.

Beach: Surprise, surprise, there's NO beach! the hotel is by the sea but surrounded by coral, and apart from being protected area, you couldn't really walk on it, so if you want to swim in the sea you can reach it by walking on some kind of piers, a path-way made by plastic cubes that goes some 10-15 metres into the sea, at the end of these piers there's a couple of stairs (like in a pool) to go into the water. As the space is quite limited, it was always crowded,...i cannot imagine how they manage in summer! I was quite disappointed by this, remembering how nice it was the beach at the Movenpick in El Gouna, I was really looking forward to relaxing on a sandy beach this time also, and well, that wasn’t possible!

Staff: In general the staff in reception and restaurant were ok, although i always had the impression that they were just looking for a tip, when they talk to you, they don't look at your eyes but at your hands! expecting a note to materialize from your pockets or your bag. We didn’t experience this when we were in Cairo, on the Nile cruise or in El Gouna last year.

Food: We were in half board so we had dinner every night in the buffet restaurant which was a bit repetitive, but the food was ok. There was a generous choice of salads, pasta (which you choose the ingredients and they prepare it for u) chicken and fish (every night but cooked differently) and plenty of sweet pastries and cakes for dessert, also one night they had a BBQ.
Look for Mohamed Al H...(can't remember the rest) a small guy, he was very nice and very proffesional.

And finally but most important!

THE BAR!
Please be aware when you order a drink, what and how you order it and more important, what they charge you!
We had several problems with the staff working in the bar and the disco. I don't drink beer so i first ordered a martini rosso, i was given a glass with the bottom barely covered with liquid (half a shot, if!) when i asked if that was all i was getting for 33 Epounds (4.4 euro) a very short, chubby waiter (be careful with this guy) coldly replayed; yes that's all! and walked away, i was more surprised by his unfriendly manners that for the mean amount of drink i was getting.

Next time i tried to order a cocktail called Cuba libre (rum, lemon and coke) i pointed it on the menu and asked if it was possible to have it with diet coke instead of coke, the same unfriendly guy said, "no problem" however when we paid he didn't give us any change, when we asked why, he said that by changing the coke to diet coke, it wasn't a cocktail any more, blah, blah,...in any case we were due 3 pounds change that he decided to keep.

These 2 incidents really put me off going to the bar anymore so we tried the disco...and unfortunately the same happened there! I tried to avoid more problems by pointing the drink and its price on the menu when i ordered it, this time they overcharged us 10 pounds! when asked why, they said they have used Bacardi rum instead of local rum, blah, blah........but why??? at this point i was quite annoyed with the whole drink thing and complained so he rectified and charged us the menu price (which, at the end of the day, that what’s all we wanted!) he was friendlier than the staff at the bar.

The last night of our stay, I tried my luck again by ordering the same in the bar but to a different waiter, I specified i wanted to pay what the menu stated and nothing more, this guy although surprised because i didn't want bacardi rum (which by his info, it would have cost me even more than the day before!?) at least he was friendly and even ofered us a free drink to compensate for the bad experiences, we declined, i guess by then we were both fed up with the whole issue.

It was no really a money issue, (we are talking about 1-2 euro difference) but what really annoyed me was the fact that every time we ordered a drink we had to explain exactly what we wanted and still be overcharged -every-single-time- and so we had to complain, they would tell us some silly excuse, self-tipped theirselves, etcetc…..it was just annoying, frustrating and simply not nice when all we want is to have a relaxing holiday, and to have a drink after dinner and be charged what it says in the menu, nothing more nothing less.

Still, our experience last year was so good that we might go back to Egypt,… but definitely not to a Iberotel.