Just returned from 2 weeks staying at the Sofitel and we thouroughly enjoyed our stay.

Firstly the good bits. The hotel looks stunning, the views over the bay, including from our room were stunning. The views of Naama bay in the evening from the Horizon bar were spectacular. The entrance, the gardens, pool area, bar area, and restaurant areas are all clean and very well maintained. The staff are all very helpful and although could seem slightly miserable at first...I think this is just them being professional...thats the impression I got, once you get to know them, they are friendly, will share a joke and have a laugh with you...if thats what you want, if not, they will stay very polite and professional. They are all willing to help, will always say hello or Good Morning (even in the afternoon! lol)

The Rangoli Indian Restaurant that is onsite is excellent, the food, and service were first class, and the view of the sunset from the balcony of the restaurant was spectacular, the price of the food was very good value for money.

The rooms were cleaned everyday. The pool was lovely, plenty of sunbeds, people do reserve them but there are plenty enough to go around. There are 3 private hotel beaches, all that are clean and have bars with waiter services. There is really good access to the reefs from the beaches, the snorkelling was amazing.

There seemed to be plenty of activities during the day, although we didn't really participate in any of these so can't really comment....although aqua gym at 4pm every day didn't seem very popular!

The food was varied with a different theme every night, with lots of choice. Tables were cleaned quickly.

Secondly the few bad bits, the rooms are not 5 star standard, they are just that...standard. The bathroom needed complete renovation, it was cleaned everyday, and the sink area, toilet and shower base felt clean, but the grouting in between the tiling is discoloured in and around the shower, the bathrooms basically need ripping out and starting again, rather than just touched up every now and then as looks like has happend. The room itself, very basic, bed was very comfortable and the mini bar/fridge came in handy.
The air conditioning unit was fairly noisy but you soon get used to it as you will have it on all the time so it becomes the norm. The room did have internet connection. The only other fault was the price of drinks...17 egyptian pounds (approx £1.70) for a 1.5l bottle of water, 33 egyptian pounds for a small bottle of lager, a tia maria and coke cost nearly £7.20 (normal measure aswell!)
This did seem to be the trend throughout Sharm though so not isolated to the Sofitel, in hard rock cafe, a glass of Rose wine and a bottle of Heineken was £9.80! Food however is very cheap in comparison.
Also the music around the pool needed sorting out, I'm sure they were going for the record of how many times they could continuously play Mambo number 5 one day....and we even had instrumental versions of christmas songs another day!

There are quite a few steps around as the hotel is built into a hillside, but they are 2 elevators to help, but steps are still unavoidable but worth it to get the height for the fantastic position and views.

The walk in to Naama bay was about 15 - 20 mins, but it is a nice walk along the beach, and to be honest it was nice not to be in the middle of it all, but a short walk if you wanted to go there. The walk to the centre also ran through most of the hotels and their beaches, so with the Sofitel being right at the end you don't get the 'through traffic' which was also nice.

Overall we enjoyed everything about the hotel, the setting is lovely, the staff helpful and friendly, the real negatives were the standard of the rooms (for a 5 star hotel) and the bathroom but although basic very clean and comfortable. I would recommend this hotel for a relaxing chilled holiday.