Just got back from a 7 night stay at this hotel with my wife and the fun and games started pretty much when we left the airport.
We were looked after by Wings Tours which arranged 'one' transfer to the hotel from the airport. The guy driving us didn't know where the hotel was so it took ages to get there.
After waiting a good 30 minutes to checkin, we were shown to our room. It was basic and me personally I thought it was ok. My wife didn't like it because the was one spot light in the bathroom, that meant when you went to the toilet or tried to have a shave or whatever, most of the bathroom was in shadow so not great for a so called 5 star hotel. We also had some kind of loud generater noise going off every 2 minutes 'all' night, so one sleepless night later we asked to change the room. We got our room changed and this one was better with some fantastic views of a desert and mountain vista. A good bonus.
Room was the same, but no generator noise this time.
To the service, which was generally speaking was very good. The staff were friendly and were very helpful most of the time. We did have a guy who cleaned our room who was very pushy and we got the impression he wanted lots of tips. Had to throw him out of the room in the end, he got the message after that.
All inclusive meant 3 restaurants where the food was not great. Had bad guts for most of the holiday as a result. But that could be me and not the food. One restaurant on the complex asks you to book, even though its free and you have to book 24hrs in advance. After going to the restaurant the next day we had to wait for a table even though we booked, because as the manager later told us, 'we have no seats because of people who come who book, and don't book'. So why I ask should we bother booking. Which was received with an attitude of 'we don't care'.
So, mediocre food, questionable quality of the rooms for the price, I would not go back there and would not recommend it either. When staff tell you to wait 5 minutes there, it translates into you waiting 15-45 minutes generally.
Don't go there, there are better places nearby for the same money, with better entertainment and better food.
Good points, not many, the OONAS dive centre on the complex was a very good school if you want to go diving and you get 20% for staying at Sonesta. The private beach is small and crowded.

A very spread out large resort situated directly on the beach front. We stayed here as part of a two centre trip during march 2008.

There are approx 7 swimming pools at this hotel and when we visited unless you got up at the crack of dawn (8pm) you where unable to get a sunbed in the shade. If you don't rise with the sun I'd suggest giving the pool man a little sweetner to reserve you a bed each day. the water in pools is also cold at this time of year.

This was an all inclusive resort and the food was a little repeatative. We decided to take lunch on site then have an evening meal out in the town itself as this offered more choice. The hotel did offer theme nights but they didn't really have a theme!

The room that we where allocated was extremely large and well cleaned. The bed was a little on the hard side but the actual room encompassed not only a king size double but a single in a separate area. A sitting room inclusive of tv and fridge. A bathroom including bath and shower. A dressing room with in wardrobe safe deposit box.

The beach becomes crowded in the morning but clears towards the afternoon along with the fish.

There is a water sports outlet on the beach but DO NOT BOOK any day trips with them. We booked a day trip to the Ras Mahammed National Park and after a three hour wait at the harbour to board the boat was informed along with another couple that had booked through the same hut on the beach that the trip could not go a head as the boat was broken. Funny that after a very packed harbour of more than 300 tourists going off on boat trips that 4 from the same hotel who booked through the same operator where the only people not getting onto a boat?

The hotel does not change money and advise that there is a bank that will do this for you which is located in the hotel shopping arcade but again beware this bank can not cash up travellers cheques only cash. If you need to change travellers cheques you will need to go to the Thomas Cook financial services bank over the road from the hotel about a 5min walk next to McDonalds. Go out of front of the hotel cross the two roads and walk towards Sharm centre and you'll see it on the left.

All in all the hotel was clean but spreadout. Would recommend.

We stayed here late February , early March. I have stayed in all-inclusive resorts in the Caribbean but this was my first time in Egypt. We had a great time.

The hotel is very big, but beautifully designed and laid out so you feel almost like you`re walking through a village rather than a hotel complex. BUT make sure you stay at the beach hotel...not the sister hotel over the main road which is nice...but a crazy alternative to the one on the beach.

First, the not so good.

The beach is very small...but all hotels on this strip of the bay have small beaches. It`s a small bay so c`est la vie. HOWEVER, the beach is at the end of the bay which means that you can snorkel right onto the reef at the tip of the bay whereas everyone else would have to take a boat or swim further. The beach is also full of Russians in speedos which I found hilarious especially as they are not all necessarily as buff as a speedo demands. Likewise for some of the more mature ladies who are inclined to be stout. This is an international hotel which gives it a nice feel so observing different nationalities is half the fun.

The food is ok but I definitely wouldn`t go all-inclusive. We didn`t and I`m glad we didn`t!!! There are lots of great restaurants along the `promenade` so why stay in the resort all week? There isn`t as much fresh fruit as we thought, however, the room service food is actually very good and we ordered it often for lunch...it`s also not that expensive. The only advantage to all-inc would be not having to pay for below-average drinks at the bar.

And now the great.

Great snorkelling off the reef...really excellent.

Friendly staff (but no women staff...obviously I guess...but a bit weird at first. Please tip generously, these guys work hard.

Great location. Naama Bay is great and even though it`s very touristy it`s got a wonderful middle eastern feel. The mountains and desert behind it are extraordinary.

Great rooms. Big rooms, especially compared to the Caribbean, and laid out in low density blocks. Our family room was like a suite. (I read a lot a criticisms of the rooms...maybe we were lucky but if you get a bad room, at least now you know there are good ones so you can always ask to change rooms!)

Nice pools. If you go out of summer season be aware that most pools are not heated. The best heated pool is up in the top corner near rooms 2705 (where we stayed). There is another small pool nearer the Casablance restaurant which is heated but it`s more like a spa.


Note: There is a wine shop in the main shopping drag where you can get some decent plonk if you didn`t bring any with you.

In terms of activities. Obviously the snorkeling is free (you can rent a mask etc). We did a 4x4 Jeep tour in the desert...very expensive ...but great fun and quite frankly getting away from the resort and seeing a bit of the Sinai is something you should do if you can.

That`s it. It`s a great hotel, not perfect, but definitely a great place to stay.

Neil Oakshott
Montreal, Canada

we had a great holiday at sonesta beach the staff were great nothing to much trouble. For the price we paid for 2wks i was a bit concerned but need not have been the cheapest yet the best holiday iv been on.Yeah people do moan you get that everywhere but when taking into consideration how much uv paid and what u are getting for that money when are those people moaning about. The place was clean room big food and drink plentyfulll and the staff were great