Our trip to Sharm El Sheikh
We went to Sharm el Sheikh after Christmas with our nearly 4-year-old, and it was a lovely experience for all of us.
Finding the perfect hotel for me is always a bit of a process, let’s say.
I have a tendency to spend hours researching the best hotels, and it drains me.
I become obsessive, trawling through TripAdvisor, sifting through filters, reading all the reviews/comments, then cross-referencing the ratings with Google, Booking.com, and Expedia. I check out all the pictures, look up keywords, etc.—it’s a full-time job.
Egypt has so many hotels under the same chain, all with very similar names, so it’s hard to differentiate between them. But once I’ve found the right one, I know I’ve made the right choice.
My husband’s response after seeing me at the computer for hours on end? “Just pick one and go with it.”
So frustrating to hear—amateur even! Does he want to end up in a bed bug-infested room with food poisoning and no aircon? Would he immediately notice if I’d booked a sh***hole? Of course, he would! But I digress.
My hot destination filters are usually quite specific and help whittle the choices down efficiently.
It’s mostly: family-friendly, kid’s club, beachfront, playground, heated pool, slides, family rooms, all-inclusive (if possible), aircon, and a restaurant.
I finally settled on the Sunrise Grand Select Diamond Beach Resort. (See what I mean about the names?)
I found it quite helpful to join the Sharm el Sheikh Facebook group (don’t judge me) to ask my list of questions and get advice from fellow travelers.
I had originally booked one of the Jaz hotels, but after combing through all the TripAdvisor pictures, I zoomed into the water park and saw a notice that read, “For children 10 and over.” There isn’t much info on their websites—hence the forensic approach—so I had to cancel it. I then found a great deal on one of the hotels on the tip of the peninsula, but I realized it was cheap because the wind gets quite strong at that time of year, and it can feel cold, so that was a no.
It came down to a choice between the Sunrise (5*) and the Aqua Blu (4*).
The advice from my newly found Facebook friends was that if I went to the Aqua Blu, I was essentially paying for the water park. The Sunrise had a decent one for my 4-year-old, so I went with that.
I also learned that in Egypt, the star ratings are given according to how many amenities the hotel has—not necessarily the quality.
That said, the Sunrise delivered: clean rooms, spotless public toilets, a tasty buffet, heated pools (shoutout to that 29-degree water), good service, helpful staff, and zero mosquitos or bed bugs, I’m happy to report.
The buffet was different every day, and you could book à la carte restaurants as many times as you liked. None of us got sick, and we didn’t even brush our teeth with bottled water…essentially because I forgot, lol.
What I didn’t love, however, was the coffee and hot chocolate. It was standard from a machine—a tad watery and tasteless.
The alcohol included in the all-inclusive deal wasn’t the best, so if you’re keen on your Grey Goose, it’s best to buy a bottle beforehand.
There’s not much choice outside the hotel, either. Let me get all the bad stuff out of the way now, actually…
The other small blip was the room service. Tiny detail: there’s nowhere to eat on-site between 5 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.—literally a dead zone—so your only option is to order room service.
I ordered once and ended up extremely hangry, trekking to reception after my food got lost somewhere in the void.
I waited an hour and couldn’t get through to anyone on the phone.
The hotel has an app for restaurant bookings and room service, except you can’t really tell if the order has gone through or not. I asked reception to cancel the order and ate my frustration away at the buffet.
Also, the spa and massage staff can become a little irritating at first because they go around the resort asking people to book treatments. You just have to either be firm, or it’s likely you can haggle on the price of your treatments.
Our room was lovely. I booked a 2-bedroom with a balcony.
It was very clean and spacious and had everything we needed.
My daughter doesn’t sleep if we’re all in the same room, and she also sleeps pretty early, so at least with a separate sleeping area for her, we don’t have to sit in silence.
The kids’ club was decent. I wouldn’t have left my daughter there on her own. They had 2 people working there, and the children in there by themselves were older.
There was a small playground with sand, a slide, a seesaw, and a trampoline outside, and a bigger indoor area with a foosball table, 2 small beds, very clean toilets, a cinema room, toys, crayons, paints, etc., and a small ball pit.
It did the job when we just needed to pass the time before dinner, and when it started to get chilly, she always wanted to stay longer.
The pool/beach essentially closed by 4:30 p.m. at that time of year.
The aqua park was great. They had slides for smaller children and bigger ones for older kids and adults. The water was very warm at the aqua park and the quiet family pool.
There’s also an adult pool and the main hotel pool, which is busier and has all the animation stuff going on.
It never felt too busy, though, and we could always find sunbeds.
We didn’t swim in the sea, but the water wasn’t as cold as I thought it would be. It was nice to get knee-deep and then come out again. The sandy beach was a small area but good enough to entertain the little one. There were other sandy areas on tiered levels.
They had bars at every pool and waiters coming over to ask if you wanted a drink. They were very friendly and attentive—no complaints about them. There was also a mini-market in case you needed to buy any essentials.
Spa & Salon
We had our daughter’s hair braided there on the last day, which took an hour because my husband decided she should have 14 braids put in—not the standard 2 braids they were advertising—but a timely fourteen.
To be fair, they were patient, and they obliged.
I had a very welcome blow-dry, which was great except for the ear-burning.
We didn’t have a massage because when I went to book, there was no availability for when I wanted it, so I can’t comment.
All in all, it was a great trip, thanks to me and my incredible research. I would definitely recommend it as a winter sun destination. It hovered between 21–22 degrees Celsius but never felt cold because the pools were so warm. My daughter had so much fun, and there was always something to keep her busy, whether that was the slides, the kids’ club, the family pool, or just building sandcastles on the beach.
Our flight back to London was in the evening. The hotel manager, who I could WhatsApp at any time, gave us a free late check-out at 5:30 p.m., which was super helpful, as well as 3 packed dinners to take with us to the airport.
NB: There’s a camel outside the hotel. Top tip: don’t make eye contact if you don’t want to pay the camel rider. He’ll ask if you want a picture and then ask for money.
Same with the airport stewards. If you don’t have any cash on you, don’t let them take your suitcases. They will literally take them from the car without asking and then ask you for money at the end.