Hotel Sultan Bey Resort

Hard to beat! The hotel lies on an arm of the lagoon with a direct boat shuttle connection to a beach on the sea (approx 500m away) if needed. We found the little beach directly at the hotel on the lagoon to be exaclty what we needed. The sunbeds with thick comfy matresses and towels (to no extra charge) were just what we needed to rest our weary bones. The hotel is situated on the island that forms the town centre, so the post office, supermarkets, shopping malls, restaurants, bars, etc are easily within a 5-10 minute walk. The hotel entrance is flanked by two dive centres, a massage salon and an aquarium. We tried the one dive centre called Dive Trek - in itself very good guides and instructors, but we had an issue with the state of some of the equipment.and were informed that they plan to buy new gear shortly - a word of advice: check out the diving shop and the gear before signing and paying a deposit on some diving trip with a guy on the beach. Trips are offered to Luxor or Cairo, to Hurghada for submarine, hot-air baloon or catamaran rides, etc.

The staff were competent and friendly, some with a (for me) surprising and refreshing sense of humour. Professional and tourist-fluent in a wide range of foreign languages including English, German, Dutch, Italian and Russian. The rooms and facilities were clean and tidy. The beautiful gardens were pruned, mowed and generally well kept. The "Snoopy Club" near the pool catered for children, while the parents relaxed at on the adjacent hotel beach.

It was Ramadan when we visited. What appeared to maybe be a second restaurant was reserved for use of the personnel so that they could eat before sunrise and after sunset. The dining facility open to guests had a beautiful terrace overlooking the lagoon and was surrounded by blossoming bouganvillas. The dining area was clean, tidy and well arranged. We had a half-board arrangement which proved to be more than enough. The selection at breakfast and supper was not superfluous, but enough and of very good quality, with excellent variation throughout the week of our stay. Meat lovers, vegetarians and sweet tooths alike were not left wanting. A "Dine Around" plan allows hotel guests to dine twice at a local 5-star resort of their choice (Sheraton, Mövenpick and Steigenberger Resorts). We tried one of the resorts and decided that were better served in the Sultan Bey due to the level of service and the quality of the food in general. Bars are situated in the reception area (a large outdoor area included) and on a lovely terrace overlooking the lagoon. Baring in mind that Egypt is not exactly reknowned for its cocktails and we were there in Ramadan (although that should not really make any difference) we found - after trying a few bars in the town and at the nearby Marina - that the hotel bar served the best Mojitos and Caipirinhas. This brings me to what some call Pharoah's Revenge or the Wrath of the Pharoahs - travel diarrhea. It is virtually unavoidable in Egypt when it comes to the European stomache. Avoid drinking tap water (including ice cubes), wash your hands before eating, rather drink carbonated drinks like coke or miranda, etc. We had a mild bout, but we also witnessed more serious cases, especially while waiting at the airport in Cairo.

A spotless pool and turquois sparkling lagoon at your doorstep. The pool is divided into a kiddy pool and swimming pool by a bridge leading to a bar on the terrace overlooking the lagoon. The deep end is approx. 1.50m, where the water splashes over into a a drain to be channeled back in through the filter. The pool is approx 20m in length and overlooks the beach and lagoon below. The lagoon is great to swim in although we found that some passing speedboats had the potential of the proverbial "accident waiting to happen". There was no club song, club dance, club disco, no drinking games, water aerobics, etc - thank God! The pool was not perfect for swimming lengths, but I still managed approx. 2kms every morning. The lagoon is perfect for a lengthy swim if you have the courage on your own. The sunbeds and large thatch umbrellas were a dream come true, with matresses as comfortable as my bed back home. The winds were quit strong during our visit, however the hotel facilites are well positioned to protect the gusts sunbathing and swimming. The beach on the Red Sea, on the other hand, is a playground for sailors, windsufers and kite-boarders. Pure fun! Waterskiing, kayaking and motorboating offered nearby for extra charge.

Rooms are generous in size with on-suite shower and toilet. As far as we could determine, each has a balcony. Ours was overlooking the pool and the lagoon. The rooms are clean and have a safe, minibar, telephone, aircon, a flatscreen TV with cahnnels including 5 English movie channels, at least the equivalent amount of sports channels, news channels in foreign languages, as well as a few general channels in German, Italian and French boradcasting cultural programmes, soaps, documentraries, etc. Plus of course a number of local channels. The rooms could be totally darkened with thick curtains to allow a comfy sleep-in if needed- WLAN in the room and ON THE BEACH!!! for a small additional fee.