I'm consideing to spend a short beark (a week) in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt during September and I would like to hear about members' experiences at this property.
Programs: AC SE MM, Marriott Lifetime Titanium, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 2,101
Any recent trips here? TripAdvisor has some pretty bad reviews from 'resort' guests, but these seem to all be people from the UK/Eastern Europe who buy cheap packages and stay in a separate complex.
It's terrible. The hotel is full of cheap package guests from Eastern Europe. Sheraton Soma Bay is much much nicer. In April I stayed first one week at Soma Bay and then one week in Sharm. Unfortunately it was not possible to return to Soma bay, otherwise I would have done so after one day in Sharm!
Just returned. The property is still full of cheap package guests from Eastern Europe.
Reserved king/non-smoking room; provided twin/non-smoking room. Requested change, provided king/smoking room. I gave up trying to get it right.
No towels available at the pool as all used up by the guests referred to already.
Originally Posted by cruising
It's terrible. The hotel is full of cheap package guests from Eastern Europe. Sheraton Soma Bay is much much nicer. In April I stayed first one week at Soma Bay and then one week in Sharm. Unfortunately it was not possible to return to Soma bay, otherwise I would have done so after one day in Sharm!
Hmm, this doesn't sound very promising. Are there any more recent experiences? I'm thinking of a trip in November.
Given the low rates I could tolerate the "cheap" other guests since we're pretty cheap ourselves provided this property had some other mitigating benefits. Does it have a lounge? Platinum benefits?
will be traveling around egypt towards the end of the year & its pretty sad this property is getting such poor reviews....i may need to avoid it....the last time i tried to tolerate a bad property i had a pretty awful experience....
Yes, sad. Although it seems most of the complaints on TripAdvisor are from people on all-inclusive packages at the affiliated resort complaining about the lack of Benidorm-style free entertainment. If this is the only drawback I think I can handle it!
I have emailed the property to ask if it has a lounge of any kind.
I am also mulling a stay at this property in January and have been rather put off by the negative reviews (my only other stay experiences in Egypt at the Meridien Heliopolis weren't great either).
Any recent feedback would be welcome, otherwise it looks like the Ritz Carlton for us.
I stayed at the property 3 years ago. Was SPG Gold at the time but booked a suite. The suites are 3 times the size of a standard room, on the corners of the property and have 3 separate balconies which have amazing views. The balconies are the same size as the room and extremely private! The decor is not ultra modern, but it was certainly superior to the other Egypt SPG properties. I'm aching for the St Regis to open in 2014.
The major positive of this property is its location. There is a jetty from the beach, and snorkelling off this jetty along the beach will give you fare superior views of underwater life than any of the expensive boat trips to Ras Mohamed.
The majority of people staying at the hotel are from the UK on package deals, but they are pretty well behaved compared to other package tourists. We now stay at the Ritz Carlton because it is a far superior property, however the Ritz is actually overrun with Russian package tourists who are often exceedingly drunk.
In short, the Sheraton Sharm is a great property. The breakfast has a huge selection. I was able to organise trips to St Katherine's Monastry, quad biking in the desert easily, and they have a regular shuttle into Sharm which boats a BuddhaBar and Pasha Nightclub where you could easily be in any club in NYC or London. If you choose to just laze on the beach it's great too, and the staff on the beach are extremely cheerful and attentive.
I have decided for my trip in January as I arrive early in the morning to book a room at the Sheraton for 1 night for the day prior (so I have something to arrive to) and then a further flexible 2 night stay at the Sheraton and the RC. If I like the Sheraton I will cancel my EC stay or vice versa. I will report on my findings then, but any other opinions in the meantime would be helpful.
Well I had my brush with the Sheraton Sharm last week and thankfully it was just a short stay from 05:00 to 14:00. The place is absolutely horrible and is a disgrace to the Sheraton Brand. I received no upgrade nor any apparent platinum recognition, no water in the room, no internet code, the worst possible room in the category (allegedlly sea view but really tree view on the ground floor). The furniture was old and tired, the decor was tired, the staff were broadly disinterested. The bathroom was thoroughly disgusting.
This place does not so much need a refurbishment it needs a nuclear explosion. It is a cheap nasty 3 star (and that is being generous) hotel for tour groups masquerading as a full service property. Avoid at all possible costs.
Most of the reviewers over at Tripadvisor have it absolutely spot on. I had thought maybe there was a big difference between the "villas" and the main property. unfortunately this was wishful thinking on my part, if the "villas" are the downmarket part of the resort i shudder to think how bad they are.
Starwood, you should be ashamed to let this property carry your brand.