We have just returned from our second stay at this hotel and it was just as good this year as it was last - we enjoyed ourselves again.

The staff are the best ever - nothing is too much trouble for them and the food is very good - some may say that it is a bit 'samey' but this isn't a British hotel and one should go abroad willing to try what is on offer in a foreign country - not expect the same old British food.

The hotel is spotlessly clean - there are people cleaning all the public places all the time and the bedrooms are serviced every day, with towels left in all sorts of 'sculptures' and flowers left.

We took friends with us this year and they were as pleased as we were with the hotel and have decided they will definitely come with us again next year - we now just have to wait for the dates to be made available and we'll be booking.

One of the lovely things that happened was, on our first visit to the restaurant, one of the waiters who had served us last year saw us and came and greeted us like old friends and welcomed us back. How often does that happen?

I cannot sing the praises of this hotel enough and wonder what the people who leave less than great reviews want from a hotel in Egypt.

just returned from our 10 day holiday and we thought it was brilliant! we had a fantastic room (adjoining one for the children) with views over the pool and sea. the room was kept spotless by the cleaner who left us a different towel creation ever day! yes the rooms are a tad worn but they are still clean.
down by the pool ahmed put our towels out evey morning for us - if we needed the sun shades up he put them up for us and he kept the pool area immaculate.
the food was fantastic plenty of choice - you could always find something you liked although towards the end of our stay there didnt seem quite as much choice or maybe we had just eaten so so much in the begining that we had become bored of it! yes there is an issue with birds although a beaded curtain is now in place in the door way so they cant get in so easily. meal times truly are a feast and it is very easy to over indulge. i know people have complained about food poisoning but i dont think its the food making people ill - i think its the lack of personal hygeine on the holiday makers behalf - our party consisted of 9 people - only one person had a tummy upset and they didnt eat anything different from the rest of us! a lot of the food is served in large metal covered containers with handles to lift up to serve yourself - thats a lot of hands touching the same place and also the serving spoons are well handled. numerous times i saw people drop servers on the floor and then just pick them up and put them back! unacompanied children are a nightmare - touching everything and putting their hands in the bowls of food etc.
we were all inclusive and we did find it a bit difficult at first to work out when and where served all inclusive. this was soon sorted out after speaking with the "big boss man" on the welcome cocktail night - all you need to do is ask a waiter to bring you a drink no matter where you are and that is fine!
if you are all inclusive they dont tend to leave you with a bottle of water but you can ask to have your glass filled as many times as you want and you can also ask for a waiter to bring it to you where ever you are so i dont see this as a major problem.
i have read a lot of reviews where people have moaned about the hotel being in the middle of no where and there not being anything else around - well i knew this before i booked so i cant see why anyone else wouldnt if they had done their homework - i cant find any information on the hotel that says its within walking distance of anywhwere( appart from the baron resort) or that it is a lively bouncing place- if this is what you want then you need to be booking a hotel up in naama bay. also the beach has been moaned about - the same again, if you have bothered to read up about the hotel you will know that it is surrounded by protected coral and the only way into the sea is from the jetty!
the annimation team are great, real characters( if a little cheesy! ) and they love children. if you want to join in, all well and good but if you dont thats fine they dont pester you. my daughters played beach volley everyday and really enjoyed it. water polo is good fun too even if the guys do get very competative!
lots of boat trips available if you ask! we went on glass bottom boat - booked at the dive centre. if you cant manage snorkeling then this is a must as the coral is just amazing! (and the boat taxi to get to any of the boat trips is fantastic if you are a thrill seeker!!) we also did para sailing which was great fun too.
we went up to naama bay one evening - not for the faint hearted and i wouldnt do it again! lots of hassle - constantly trying to get you in their shops and bars.
i had 2 massages on the beach - they were very good.
all in all we had a brilliant time and the only thing that would make it better is having a choice of eating places - it did get a little boring going to the same place every meal time.
we did tip the staff and they took anything - euros, dollars, sterling or egyptian pounds.
oh - mosquitoes!! very bad so make sure you take planty of lotions and potions one of our gruop got about 20 bites the first evening we were there! plug in machines are a must for your room. they start coming out at about 4.30pm so beware!
if you would like any more info you can contact me

We have just returned from a week at the Melia Sinai.

Location- The hotel is on the beach which is very pretty. You cannot however access the water from the beach due to the coral so you have to walk along the jetty. This wasnt so good for me as I dont swim and just like to paddle. You cant really paddle if you have to get in the water from a jetty as it is quite far out!
There isnt really anything around the hotel, you are kind of secluded. There arent any nearby shops etc within walking distance bar the hotels own shops and there arent any boat trips or anything you can organise from the hotel that dont solely cater for divers.

Food- Terrible. Absolutely terrible! The food is poor quality ie gristly chicken and hard bread and is more often than not served cold in the middle after being left out too long or not cooked properly. Luke warm cheeseburgers.....not good! I got a stomach bug and am still recovering from it now. Breakfasts are the best meal of the day, Toast, salads, breads and jams, yoghurts, cereals, omelettes are all available. The only thing letting the breakfasts down is the watered down fresh orange or mango juice they serve- disgusting!
Be aware also, we booked for a "romantic dinner by the pool". They charged us 25 euros per head (180 egyptian each) but didnt give us a menu, they just brought the food out. It was awful. Starter of hard breads and hummus etc secondary course of mushy vegetables in tomato sauce, main course of mixed stringy gristly unidentifiable meats (luke warm) and followed by ice cream (the best part of the meal). As there was no menu we didnt know what we were being served and when we asked the waiter he said to "eat it and see" as he obviously didnt know either!!!! He asked us if we wanted wine which we said yes to only to find we were charged £50 UK when the bill came at the end for it!!!! Horrible local egyptian wine. They didnt bring a drinks menu or wine list despite being asked so we couldnt choose or see prices so just be warned if you eat here.

Taxis- Be aware when you book taxis from the hotel!!! There are 2 blokes that seem to organise the taxis, one is fine (the older one) and you pay him the money and he sends you out in the taxi and sends the same one back for you. The other bloke however (the young one) is a chancer called Ashraf who sends you out in the hotel taxi but then twice turned up with his uncle in his uncles car to pick us up at the end of the night, late of course and clearly pocketing the money. Not good!

Cleanliness- the rooms were kept clean. Beds changed and towels clean and fresh every day. Toilets in main areas of hotels not so good though, often out of loo roll and not the cleanest (floors often wet and dirty). Rooms always spotless though.

Hotel Beach- not cleaned very thoroughly, ie there are no bottles or crisp packets or anything like that left lying around, they pick up things like that if they were found but its not raked over at night or anything and so there is broken glass and cigarette butts in the sand.....not that nice to lie next to or walk over!

Staff- good (apart from Ashraf!) Bit over friendly at times, asking everything about you (gets a bit tedious for the twelfth time in an hour telling someone if you are married, if you like egypt, where you live etc etc etc when all you want to do is sip your drink!) but I suppose thats maybe just the culture out there and they are just trying to be friendly.

Hotel shops- perfume shop which is nice, shop for sweets and sun lotions and all round things, jewellers, t shirt shop and a souvenir shop which are all handy.

I wouldnt give this hotel a 5 star rating as I think a 5 star hotel should have good food with a good choice. This hotels food is terrible and there is no choice, (during the day there are 4 bars to eat in and they all have the same menu with luke warm not nice food!) At dinner time you can eat from the same menu that was available during the day (yuk!) or go to the buffet which is not good at all, cheap meats, lots of salad everywhere- but with lots of flies (and believe it or not but birds too!) buzzing about inside due to the open patio doors, I didnt fancy it!
I also think for a 5 star hotel you should have excellent waiter service ie pool bar service where you dont have to get up for a drink etc and this hotel doesnt do that, you always have to go to the bars yourself and yes the staff then bring what you have ordered over, but of course they expect tipped for it!

All in, we had a good holiday as the weather was nice and we left 4 degrees to get to 35! The hotel was ok, it wasnt bad apart from the food but it wasnt 5 star by any means. I am aware 5 star abroad is not 5 star in the UKs standards but this really wasnt, there just wasnt anything about it that stood out to make it any standard other than average.

Our 2nd time in this area - previously stayed at Baron Palms Resort.
Booked Melia as it was rated no 3 on tripadviser at time of booking- highest rated AI hotel in Sharm. Did not book Baron again- as wanted to experience another hotel + had discount for a particular travel company that did not have them on list.

I'm not going to say the hotel is bad, it wasn't - it had good points, but lacked the special touches that one expected ( and rec'd at Baron) , and few points that let it down.

Email to hotel asking about WiFi in rooms remained unanswered ( appears not available but available in lounge at a price)

Hotel happy to arrange taxi pickup from airoprt- he was waiting for us ( £15.. not cheap but acceptable)

We had booked 2 rooms, with request for them to be next to each other - on arrival 5.30 we were told only one room ready.. another 2 hrs before we got key to other room, but suppose it was a connecting room , so worth the wait.

Rooms - ours was a bit dark, but sizeable. Beds slightly hard, linen fresh but some marks. Bathroom again good size but a little worn ( understand hotel is less than 4 yrs old) .. shower was attached to wrong end of bath. TV only BBC World and 1 movie channel ( not new movies) . No robes , limited storage space. Hot water often had funny colour

Entertainment poor.

A fairly small hotel, spread over a fair area , so even though full it did not look busy. Right on the beach , with jetty out to sea.

Building work to the back & left means walking to other hotels not easy ( trek along beach) , and no taxi rank so slightly inlated taxi fares for card from desk.

Pool guys happy to reserve beds for us daily , did not seem to do this for everyone , so guess others less willing to tip.

Pool bar gave good service ( see more on AI later)

Inside bar staff less attentive

Ok you had to pay for bottled water outside of meal times, but that is a known fact on booking , and is not going to break the bank at £1.20 for 1.5 litre

AI drinks, Luxor lager 5% , drinkable served by the glass , normal fizzy options, carton juices ..(glass) I also tried the rum ( in pepsi) and was OK , did not bother with other spirits as I'm aware that AI brands are generally not that great . Tried wine with meal , red more than passable , white only just.

Meals
Breakfast standard fare I would expect , eggs to order, pancakes , breads, salad, meat & cheese (restricted choice),. Good but not great.

Lunch, perhaps lacked inspiration , pasta cooked to order, meat , salads , rice etc

Dinner - same as lunch but with more meat - including hot plate

Did get a bit of under cooked chicken , and quality maybe not upto 5* ( although something has to give, as you see some people taking plates of food away from restaurant .

As the dining room was half in and half out ( with sliding door) it suffered from small birds flying into main area , some did hang around food. which is off putting. Nice display of sweets , but no hot sweets .. and those birds seem attracted to the uncovered cakes.

Being a small hotel , other eating options restricted.
Can't walk to other hotels.
Pool bar food ( extra if AI) closed at 5pm
Al a carte restaurant closed ( they say will open on request, but who wants to be only people there)
Beach / pool special nights a bit pricey if all you want is a change rather than an elaborate multi course meal

None of use suffered food poisoning or even Pharaoh's revenge ( which I got whilst staying at Baron) , but lets say holiday tummy !

When booking a 5* in Sharm, don't expect any of them to mean total luxury ( maybe Four Seasons excepted) , and whilst this hotel was not bad I don't think it met the mark of its peers let alone true 5* , although one must consider after ripping out cost of flights , the accommodation is inexpensive compared with Med , and the weather is good even in March/ April

Having stayed in Sharm twice I think next time I will be B&B closer to Naama Bay.