We stayed 3 of us.Me, my hubby and our teenager son. All of us loved it very very much. Excellent diving sites with friendly adventurous diving instructors. Lovely daily buffet. Clean hotel,multilingual staff. 3 min walk from shopping point with all the restaurants. Can't wait to comeback.

The hotel and service was excellent with very friendly and helpful staff. The variety and quality of the food was very good, bearing in mind we are all vegetarians! The selection of cakes and pastries at every meal was amazing. A lot of the food, such as pasta and pizza's were cooked fresh to your specification.

All the staff were attentive and responsive to your needs and all though there was some pressure to sell you additional services, such as beauty treatments, they respected a clear no and quickly identified whether you were likely to spend out on these extras.

We stayed over Christmas and the amount of effort and attention to detail that went into making this day special (albeit on Christmas Eve) was remarkable. Father Christmas ariving on a grumpy camel is a memory that will remain with us all.

The hotel was very clean and the grounds lovingly maintained. The room cleaner worked particulalry hard and provided a good service.

Our ten year old son thoroughly enjoyed his stay and loved playing volley ball at any opportunity. The hotel was predominantly filled with Russian guests and the animation staff not surprisingly were the same. There has been a lot written about their behaviour, but there were no significant issues appart from their tendancy to want to dominate the beach volley ball court! The style of food was probably weighted towards there diet, but it was quite nice to eat different things for 10 days!

Overall the hotel reperesents excellent value for all inclusive guests. We came home very relaxed having had a most enjoyable time and all felt that the hotel and holiday had exceeded our expectations.

My better half and I have just returned from a wonderful week at this superb hotel (13th - 20th December 2009). We booked via On the Beach and got a good deal for an all inclusive holiday.

I hope the following review will help and I'm offering a few tips that you may or may not take up if you decide to visit The Grand Hotel or Sharm in general.

We arrived at the airport and having declined the option for a transfer, picked a taxi. This worked out at 200 Egyptian pounds (aprox £22 UK). As with everything in Egypt, the price is open to discussion. I think we could have got this a little cheaper though as our return journey, a week later cost 125 Egyptian!. Hotel to airport is aprox 20 km and was pretty quick.

Check in was a simple process and we were delivered to our room by golf buggy, with the driver kindly carrying all our luggage to our room.

Our room (809) was on the second floor and lovely and quiet. We had a central area with super king size bed (firm but very comfortable). The room also had a coffee table and two padded wicker chairs. We had ample drawer and hanging space and plenty of hangers. The room also came with a safe, a fridge which could be stocked as a mini bar upon request, a TV with 30+ international channels and patio doors leading to a private balcony with coffee table and chairs. Our bathroom was spotlessly clean with large walk in shower, deep hand basin, toilet and bidet. There were ample soft fluffy towels which could be changed daily.

Even though this hotel is a large complex, it never felt crowded and all the buildings are designed so that each has a view and you never feel hemmed in. The hotel grounds are wonderful with beautiful trees, flowering hedges and plenty of green spaces.

There are a number of pools, one of which is heated (25 degrees) and each has numerous sun beds. One of these pools (the main one) has an attached beach bar which also serves food. At the other pools (and in the beach area) there is good waiter service.

Other contributors have mentioned being hassled for massage / trips, etc. We were approached a couple of times during the first two days, but after declining we were left in peace to swim and soak up the sun.

The hotel has a number of restaurants, the main one being called "Caravanserai". Here you take your breakfast (in doors or on the spacious patio overlooking the sea). The choice is vast. From cereal through to salad, fresh crusty rolls, toast, fruit, omlettes or eggs as you prefer them (Fried, boiled, etc), cooked sausage, tomatoes, white beans in tomato sauce, french toast, croissants, danish pastries, pancakes, cheeses, cooked meats and more. If you are feeling adventurous try the "Foul Madames" , an Egyptian speciality similar to Mexican re-fried beans. Be sure to add the provided spices which really bring the dish to life. Each table comes with a pot of fresh coffee and another of tea.

Lunch can be had at the pool bar which does a 5 course set meal or again in Caravanserai. You will have a choice of over a dozen main courses and a vast array of salads. These can be followed by multiple selections from the dessert table.

Dinner is served from 7 - 10pm and the choice of meals gets ever bigger. Fresh pizza cooked to order (pick your own toppings), a changing selection from the BBQ, numerous main courses, fresh pasta dishes, salads, etc, etc.

A couple of people have mentioned that the choices are a little repetitive. !!!! Nonsense. The choices vary from day to day, and providing you limit yourself to no more than 4 main courses a day, you can easily go for a whole week without eating the same dish twice!

As it was my better half's birthday during the trip we ate one night at the "Itallian" a la carte restaurant. Meals here are not part of the all inclusive package, but guests receive a 25% discount. The food here was excellent and I MUST recommend the seafood soup which is one of the finest soups I have ever tasted, being loaded with crab, prawn fish, cream and wine.

Drinks. The Egyptian wines are well worth sampling and the beer is nice and cold. Unless you are in the pool area all are served is real glasses too (not plastic tumblers as in some hotels). Water is in bottles and is free of charge (unlike many hotels). Locally produced spirits and cocktails are free and we sampled the vodka, gin and brandy during our stay and all were perfectly fine with a mixer.

The hotel is right on the red sea, but has only a smallish man made beach area. However this is far outweighed by the hotels own coral reef. You can walk over it on the floating pontoon bridge and even if you dont plan to swim from the platform at the end, you MUST take a walk out. Here you will see the most beautifully coloured sea fish you can imagine. Incredible!. From the diving platform you can snorkel and get up close to these stunning creatures. The sea is crystal clear and very warm (25+ degrees)

Also in the hotel and grounds are a small putting green, table tennis, card tables, internet room, health and beauty room, massage tent, medical room and much more.

The hotel also has other bars. The one in the lobby is quiet and relaxed, the downstairs bar has more going on, (music, dancing, etc) and there is also a shisha bar if you want to try a smoke of the local fruit tobaccos along with a beer.

The hotel has an animation team to keep kids happy and the pool and beach bars offer unlimited free ice cream to kids of any age !

If you need a taxi to visit anywhere, get it from the stand just outside the hotel (rather than using the hotel's own service). A taxi from the hotel to Naarma bay will cost no more that 30 Egyptian and 125 to the airport. (Haggling will also get these prices down if you can be bothered).

Hotel reception will exchange money for you and does not charge commission. All staff speak some English and everyone we talked to was friendly and helpful.

A walk up from the hotel to the main road will bring you out by a modern shopping mall with good shops, pharmacies, cafes, bars, etc. If you turn left at the main road and walk 3 or 4 minutes you will find a couple of small local supermarkets and souvenir shops. These are very cheap and you dont get any hassle. In here we bought 200 cigarettes for 60 Egyptian pounds (about 8 quid!). You can also buy cheap T shirts, swim wear, snorkles, hats and more. Across the road is a mini Naarma bay. Expect to get a bit of hassle here from the shopkeepers who will try to entice you in. A polite "No thanks" is all you need though and they will move on.

A few tips to close with.
1. Take some mozzy repelants
2. Haggle for everything!
3. Smokers: There is a smoking area in the airport.
4. Duty free at the airport is cheap but much dearer that local shops
5. If you fancy going to trendy bars and clubs in Naarma. Use the discount booklet given away free at airport.
6. Take sun block. Even in winter
7. You will be expected to pay a small fee if you take pics of Bedhouins and camels on the street
8. You can buy anything in pharmacy without a prescription (From anti biotics to viagra!)
9. Try the seafood soup .... and the bbq chicken ..... and the grilled aubergines .... and...!
10. All cash machines have English instructions

Stayed at this hotel in November and had a wonderful holiday but if you are looking for night time entertainment then go to another hotel as it’s crap at this one.
My room was lovely with a wonderful view of the sea. The snorkelling is amazing, the beach is ok but a bit crowded and the service at the beach bar isn’t as nice as at the pool. Always a space by the pool in the sun or shade and the hotel was fully booked. Towels available and they are clean and a good size but a bit shabby.
Food was fine but a bit repetitive after a week and the service at the restaurant was really good.
There isn’t a great deal to walk to from the hotel but you can get a Taxi to everything in Sharm for about £3
The pool staff are very annoying just tell them you don’t have any money and they will leave you alone.