I and a friend travelled to the Intercontinental Hotel at Abu Soma with Mark Warner on 7th October 2005 for 1 week.
I can highly recommend the hotel and the Mark Warner as a tour operator.The holiday was very relaxing and great value for money. The weather was of course perfect. Flights were good and on time.

The Intercontinental hotel really is 5* with lovely rooms (apparently much better than the normal Mark Warner accommodation) and great facilities + great service on the beach (towels and drinks).
The main pool is lovely and you can get a good swim in it. The beach is manicured so very clean with good facilities -e.g showers. The food was good in the main restaurant, with a wide selection and some cook to order dishes but not as exquisite as Club Med at El Gouna. We ate in the Lebanese which was very good too.
It is very windy there, just as well as it was very hot! Good for Water sports facilities which were great - kite surfing, wind surfing, dinghies, catamarans etc - you have to pay for lessons though. All the kit is new and if you are proficient the use of the kit is free.
The healthclub is probably the best I have seen in a hotel, with a lovely pool, well equipped gym, steam, sauna and Jacuzzi.
The night life was very quiet and would not be good for a people who want to party all week. But suited most people (either with families or doing lots of sports during the day).

Only areas of slight disappointment -
1) a number of people got mild upset tummies while there including myself - which I would not expect from a 5* hotel.
2) The hotel allowed selected people onto beach to sell trips / camel rides to residents - I found this a bit of a pain although it wasn't too intrusive
3) Alcoholic drinks were quite expensive so stock up on duty free!

The Mark Warner staff are brilliant - the best tour reps I have met. Warm, friendly and helpful and always on hand.
The people travelling on the holiday were all very nice (no drunken yobs) and many families as the facilities are great for them - kids clubs and babysitting.

I would definitely go there again and recommend it to friends for a relaxing or water sports orientated holiday.

My sister and I stayed here for 2 weeks on a Mark Warner Holiday. Our room was great and had a fantastic sea view. Staff were very friendly, tours organised from there were great fun and was a well informed tour guide.

There isn't much of a nightlife so if you are into clubbing and hectic nights out this is not the place for you. Personally I don't so for me it was perfect.

There are 2 pools and each day there is an aqua aerobics class which is fun and worth doing to burn off all the food!