Overall this is a great hotel.

Exterior:
as you walk in security is very tight!!
The front of the building is nothing spectacular, low key and minimal.
When you get in the resort its all about the views and the cascade down to the sea, its superb and well maintained.

Interior.
Marble and clean classical finish. once again nothing too spectacular.

Rooms:
Once again, clean, large, clean and classical finish (but not dated). We had a sea view room 3116 and the views were spectacular.
Mini bar, well stocked.
TV, not lcd or plasma but it worked.
Table and chairs and a big arm chair.
Balcony had beautiful sea views table and chairs and a lounger.
Bathroom Separate shower, bath and black marble.


Pools:
Nice pools
but extremely busy and beds very close together.
Pool butlers quick and effieient.

Restaurants/Bar
Thai: brilliant food and excellent ambiance.Average cost for 2 £80
Cascade: outside, overlooking sea..Food was good, service and style trying to be 5 star but not quite there....eat at the italian in ritz carlton, that was 5 star and cheaper. Average cost for 2 with wine £100
Souk: excellent fun, out door eating area with various types of food, italian, steak,chinese,egyptian, fish and salad bar. Idea is you buy 15 tokens and pay for what you eat. Average cost for two £40 with some wine.
Alcohol: if you dont drink, this experience will be reasonable priced. If you do expect to pay over the odds.
Wine: egyptian (which was ok) £5 per glass, £20 per bottle.
Wine: World wide (but would only cost £5 in UK) £60 per bottle
Beer: £4
Shots: £5
The bar: really good design, waiters really good especially George. Where they get it wrong is the entertainment in the bar, week nights is a singing duet (ok for one nite but not every night). Friday night a DJ, playing in appropriate music with extereme profanities..ok for a club..not for a 5 star hotel.

Staff:
Superb some of the best service you will ever get..there motto "my pleasure"

Beach:
Awesome, coral reef, stunning fish...bring your snorkel.

Weather:
36 c in April...too hot.

Other:
Bloody mosquitos..bring spray.
Deli belly...yes twice...wash your hands after using money.
Internet good..cost £2 for 30 mins.
I didnt stay in the club rooms, but would consider as the pool was quiter and you get pre dinner cocktails....by all accounts the rooms are the same.

Summary:
3 actual 5 star hotels in Sharm, Everyone I spoke to said there ranked in this order Four seasons, Hyatt and then Ritz.
I can definately say the hyatt is better than the ritz as we went for dinner.
Next time I would try to get into the four seasons first.
Hyatt I would stay again but in the club rooms...the hotel is good, but its 4.5 stars not 5...some things let it down.
YOU WILL ENJOY YOUR TIME HERE

Thought i would write this review as we travelled with my two young sons (1 and 2 years old) and i know what is was like to try and get infomation and advice of places to go with kids so young. So because of this I thought i would write the review for all those in view of travelling to shalm/hyatt with young children.

We were a bit apprehensive at first about travelling to Egypt while they were so young but shoulden't have been and will definatly be returning to Shalm and the Hyatt next year.

We stayed the 1st week March and the weather was perfect 30c of shunshine every day and the nights were not cold .

On arrival, Shalm airport can be a bit hectic especially if a few flights come in at the same time and you can be queing for a while to get through customs/passport control..so be prepared!

On arrival at the hotel all the staff were very freindly and made a massive effort /fuss of the kids which carried on with every staff member throughout the week. Especially the pool attendants and kids club staff.

The Hyatt rooms compared to other hotels are large, clean and modern and with a bit of monvering of furniture easily fitted a king size bed, single bed and a cot with loads of room spare. House keeping kept the room spotless and made an extra effort by even coming in for a second time most evenings to clean the floors and give us extra towels, (which if you have young children you will know is very useful). You also have a television in the room which if you have early wakers like me you will be able to find cbeebies and the cartoon chanel. Ask for a room like we did when making the reservation to be near the main pool/hotel area as the resort is quite large and if you need to keep going back to the room you are not to far away. We stayed in room 5102 which was perfect and had a great sea view.

The resort is built in to a hill so you certainly come back fit after pushing the buggies around for a week but we didnt have any problems as there are plenty of lifts and slopes.

The pool areas are great and with such young children you are mainly restricted to the 'lazy river pool' which the kids love going around. There is no childrens pool in the main pool area this can be found in the kids club which is located just outside the main hotel in a seperate building.

The kids club mainly advertises that it is for 4 years +, but younger kids are always welcome if you stay with them, we found this a great resource about 4-5pm when the sun goes down, and there is plenty of toys/drawring and slides to keep them amused. They do offer a evening babysiting service which we never used but the staff were fantastic and fully trained/qualified.
As i said there is a shaded childrens pool area here too which again as long as you stay with them they can use and has loads of pool toys for them to play around with.

There is also a play area on the beach, but this is mainly for older kids.

Food was fine with plenty of choice. Breakfast is buffet style with everything you cquld think of . Lunches can be taken by the pool or the beach restaurants both offer kids menus (ie Pizza, fish and Chips, pasta) and we never had a problem in finding something for them to eat. Most nights we spent at the souk as this was the ideal place for the kids to eat, it is quite family orrientated with all the kids danicing on stage and running around, not to the ammusment of other diners without kids, but easy for us as the shows that put on ( very repeatative for adults!) and the dancing kept them ammused.

Two nights we went in to nama bay for a break from the hotel, this has too be one of the tackiest places around but def worth a visit, the kids will love all the lights and hussle and bussle, people moan about being driven mad by shop keepers ect....but we didn't find this maybe because we had the kids! (they have their uses). To be honest i felt safer walking down the main street at 10pm a night with the kids than i would in London or any canary island. We ate at Hard Rock and Fridays and I think as long as you stick to the main restuarants you sholdn't have any doggy tummies..ect. We didn't the whole week and as long as you used common sence i think you will be fine (wash fruit in bottle water ect..). While in nama bay you can also stock up on essentials like milk/sweets ect... hard or expensive to get at the hotel.

Overall we had a great week and will definatly be returning. For winter sun shalm/hyatt will beat the socks of any canary island 5* hotel for value for money. Some people have said on this site that food and drink is expensive, i feel it was comparible for a 5* hotel and was plesantly supprised when i received my bill at the end of the week and we were on b&b board ( which is better value than going HB).

Some tips if travelling with kids like us.

1. Take all your baby nappies/wipes/meds with you hard to come by in the hotel and shalm and if found not like our brands.
2. Milk....you can get this at any of the hotel bars or even room service, it is expensive this way so if you go in to nama bay stock up, you have a fridge in your room.
3. Take Sweets/Choc/Crisps ect with you , really expensive in the hotel shop, and if your kids are like mine they always want stuff throughout the day.
4. Tip the pool attendants about 20EGP (£2) on your first day and they will look after you all week..(Even blow up all the enflatables)
and have your have your subeds and towels wating.

Last year we stayed at the Hilton Fairuz in Sharm El Sheikh and had an excellent holiday. This year (perhaps partly because it's rated number 1 in the resort by users of this site) it was fully booked.

So we opted for the Hyatt Regency instead.

The Hyatt is basically a very good hotel -- the swimming pools are excellent (the children had a great time), the rooms are fine and the places is clean, as mentioned by many others.

But there are two real problems. First, it's overcrowded -- at least it was when we went during the Easter holiday. The hotel has 400+ rooms but the infrastructure would be more suited to 300 rooms. This means we had to queue for up to 20 minutes for breakfast. And if you didn't get to one of the two lunch restaurants by 13.00, you would not get a seat or, if you did, the service fell apart. So this cannot really claim to be a five-star hotel.

The other problem is the prices charged. Because the hotel is some distance from Naama Bay (the centre of Sharm), it has a captive audience of guests who can't easily go elsewhere (unlike the Hilton where everything is in walking distance). This means that the prices in the Hyatt's shops were about three times those we found in the resort itself. And all the meals were approximately twice what we had paid in the Hilton the previous year (and we went back to the Hilton for a couple of meals this year and found that this was still the case).

So I would recommend using this hotel as a base for a family holiday. But, if you want value and variety, take a taxi and go elsewhere for shopping and eating.

We have recently arrived back from a weeks stay at the Hyatt Regency. Overall it was a very good hotel, service within the hotel is generally exceptional, the staff being very friendly. You need to be prepared sometimes to wait longer than expected for your drinks order to be delivered, as it does get very busy in the Souk and Beach House restaurants. (Arrive early to ensure you dont get a 30 min wait in the Souk!)

The hotel is immaculately kept, gardens beautiful, pools very well kept, beach is smallish but the vista is amazing.

They have their own diving school, expect to pay 350 Euros for a 3 day PADI course. I had an intro dive which cost about 50 sterling for 30-40 mins diving.

Snorkeling in the sea is very pleasurable if you don't fancy diving, the fish types, colours and varieties just blew my mind. Really an amazing experience.

Outside of the hotel is quite an eye opener, we took a evening trip out to Naama Bay which from the start was terrifying. The taxi drivers take their own and your lives into their hands! They drive way to fast and too close and at night without lights! Then of course you have the constant badgering by the locals to enter their shops and restaurants. Just keep walking and don't engage with them, if you don't want to that is.

Weather at this time of year was excellent, quite hot but there was generally a cooling breeze most days.

Food was very good overall, The Souk restaurant takes a bit of getting used to and isnt an especially relaxing experience but the food is good. The buffet is OK, the Sala Thai is fantastic, quite pricey but best Thai I have had in years!!! Room service or pool service for food is excellent as the staff really earn their money.

In terms of tipping, be prepared to within the hotel. How much I am not entirely sure we got it right. Its up to you.

Overall I would say, go here if you want a very relaxing week or 10 days away, stay here. You can also take day trips to Cairo or Luxor but expect to get up at 4.30am. We didnt as we have a 5 year old and he would just be too grumpy starting the day so early.