Just spent a week here with my 3 children aged 7, 5 and 3. The hotel is set in beautiful gardens and there are several swimming pools and a beach to soak up the sun, which is essentially why we were there.

The pools - are nice though the main pool and kids pool are salt water and my kids found the mix too strong so that it hurt their throats and noses after a short time. We ended up swimming at the chlorine Health Club pool which is next to the kids club - convenient and adequate but not much atmosphere. A bit of a bad smell wafting in the air quite often.

The room was a bit shabby - woodwork that needed painting or replacing, bathroom with very poor workmanship for tiles and taps etc, thin bath towels. There were nice Crabtree and Evelyn toiletries though not fully replenished, no cotton balls, face cloths etc that make the difference between OK service and great service. The sofa bed was appalling and certainly not fit for more than one small child as it dipped in the middle and squeaked with every move.

Food - The hot food was very disappointing and unappetising - mostly sloppy meat dishes and soupy vegetables. A fairly big salad selection, but often with a middle eastern flavour - is it cumin? - overpowering. There is no children's menu in any of the restaurants and the 'Kidz Buffet' was virtually the same every day - horrible sausages, plain pasta, a bowl of grated cheese, and for breakfast the same sausages, rice crispies and cold french toast....every day! The hotel is completely overrun by Eastern Europeans who are on full board packages. The buffet dining room had a terrible cattle shed atmosphere. Certainly not conducive to having a relaxing evening meal. Wine was ridiculously expensive. Because most guests were eating at the buffet, the atmosphere in the hotel's other 3 restaurants (seafood, Lebanese, Italian) was non existent and the food, having little turnover, was not great.

Drinking water - obviously tap water is not drinkable. I was surprised the hotel did not provide any drinking water in the rooms free of charge. To me that is a basic requirement that 5 star hotels should provide.

The staff - were friendly and kind to the children. Kids mini disco was a hit with my kids and there was aqua gym, belly dancing and other activities organised throughout the day for anyone who wanted to participate.

For us, this hotel served its purpose of providing a place of a reasonable standard in the sun. If you want a luxurious experience typical of a 5 star hotel, this is not the place to be!

Firstly, let me say that surely a holiday should be what you make it, and reading other reviews on this website, it sounds like some people expect hotels to provide them with all the fun.
Anyways....my partner and I have just returned from a great week in Sharm . After a tough week in Cairo, Aswan and Luxor (due to the heat) we relished in the relaxation the Sharm Waterfalls could provide.
Yes, there are many Russians (but hey, what country doesn't have its on own special brand of tourists!) but peace can still be found.
The Waterfalls offers you a choice of 4 pool areas. The main one at the bottom, overlooking the sea, is aimed at families, but there are a further 3 pools in the complex which are much quieter. We found the pool near reception to be ideal for us, and for a couple of days it was only us there, and the helpful pool attendant Ahmed.
The room was excellent, no faults with ours. (Room 1115 which was on the same level as the bottom pools with amazing views of the red sea - as stated in a previous review there is some building work going on to the left of the hotel, and a sometimes noisy hotel on the right side - if you can request a room in the 1000's or 2000's you shouldnt hear much of either).
Whatever time you leave your room, so long as you hang the 'clean my room' label on the door handle, it will be cleaned in good time.
Breakfast was a good selection and if you pick your time right, again, you can take it in a more relaxed atmosphere. We were just b&b so went to Naama bay in the evenings. We recommend Tam Tam restaurant, the Lebonese restaurant, and the Egyptian restaurant above Hard Rock. All excellent for local foods and very reasonably priced.
Vanilla do great take-out ice creams, and we recommend you follow this up with a turkish coffee and a sheesha at one of the many relaxed bedouin style coffee houses which are opposite KFC. Best choice for us was one in the middle of the group - better music. Make use of the hotel shuttle bus to Naama bay, hassle free, always on time, and much cheaper than a taxi.
If you want Internet, turn right out of the hotel, walk about half mile and its near the columbus restaurant (on the other side of the road). Nearby you can buy cheaper bottles of water, beers and wine. (Obelique red is palatable for a red wine, ~UK£5.30 a bottle.
The Chillax bar at the hotel offers you the opportunity for a late night drink/sheesha overlooking the sea (at hotel prices) but still relaxing.
Although these types of holidays usually aren't our thing (ie hotel complexes), after the previous week of hostels and sightseeing, it proved to be exactly what we needed, and I got in some excellent diving with Ocean college diving (based at the hotel). And, some amazing snorkelling off the floating pontoon.
The only time I would not recommend this hotel, is if you are planning to spend all your time on a beach. The hotel beach is very small. However, if you are happy to be pool side, and want the sea for snorkelling..this hotel is definitely 5 star!!

Just came back from Waterfalls and must say we really enjoyed it.The hotel is spotlessly clean and the staff really friendly and couldnt do enough for us.Loved the funicular to get down from reception and restaurants to go down to rooms and pools,as I have recently had surgery on my knees and would otherwise not have managed the steep slopes.Again lift operators were lovely lads.The food in the main restaurant was ok,not really 5*,and a bit repetative We ate in the Italian one night and that was really good,but of course you pay extra for it.The biggest shock was the rudeness and arrogance of the Russian guests.They barge past you to get to the lifts,take people's table when they get up to get their food,and as for desserts!!!They go up to the dessert counter before they have even started the first course and fill their plates with everything in sight.We watched then virtually clear the entire section within minutes of the restaurant opening!Its very clear the staff dont like them and we witnessed many showdowns between the Russians and the staff,it was very entertaining!You do also need to be up by 7.30 am to ensure a sunbed and umbrella,and dont leave them unattended if you want to keep them.Again lots of funny scenes,but the sunbed attendants are lovely boys who cant do enough to help if you are polite and treat them with respect(and act like the delicate English rose).All in all we had a good time,and Sharm is certainly the place for guaranteed sunshine and wonderful snorkling,couldnt have gone any later though,as it was soo hot!35 degrees when we were there and getting hotter by the day!

I've been to Sharm a couple of times before and had great holidays. I had an exceptional stay at The Hyatt 2 years ago. Unfortunately the hotel was full booked this time and so my friend and I chose The Hilton Waterfalls as a 5 star alternative. All reviews on this site and the travel agent gave it good reports. I thought the hotel was more 2/3 star. The hotel was very poor and had shaby facilities. Our room had rusty tiling in the bathroom and the shower curtain didn't fit, which meant there was a flood every time you wanted to wash. For 2 days our mini-bar remained empty...the safe didn't work....our towels were practically rationed and it was only when we started tipping that we got a new shower curtain, towels and mini-bar. there was significant building work both sides of the hotel....on the beach for the next hotel there was constant digging and a huge crane!!!The hotel is very Russian/Eastern European - 90% bookings - and they are mostly AI, which felt really quite isolating. When we went to the fish restaurant which is paying, there was only us and another couple there! There was no evening entertainment.
The hotel is also a good 10/15 minutes away from naama bay - again isloating. This is NO WAY a 5 star hotel and I would not go back there (or to another Hilton) if you paid me.