My stay - June 21-July 4, 2008 - was nothing less than perfect. While the accomodations were up to Four Seasons standards, it was the staff that made all the difference. Everyone - from the housekeeping guys, to the waiters, the beach boys, and management - was cheerful, polite, and very courteous. Everyone spoke some English - and in turn, taught me a few Arabic words. I went specifically for the diving and the resort-based Sinai Blues operation was terrific. The European instructors know their waters and were a pleasure to dive with. Those wanting a long stretch of beach should look elsewhere as the beach here is small. One cannot go directly into the water because the coral reef runs to within a few feet of the sand. However, a short walk down the hosue pier leads to a living aquarium where you can swim and snorkel with the resident fish - truly a one-off situation. All in all, I would recommend the FS at Sharm for both the holiday-maker and diving enthusiast. Plan to go back next year!

Having stayed at the Four Seasons for two weeks four years ago we decided to return for another two weeks this June. The hotel more than met our expectations last time so we were pleasantly surprised to see that it had got even better - which we would not have thought was possible. The most noticeable improvement was the food in all the restaurants which last time was only "good" but is now fantastic. The Italian is wonderful and the idea of turning the Waha pool restaurant into an authentic Indian restaurant in the evening was inspired. The food was some of the best Indian food we have ever had. The Reef Grill has the best location with tables at the edge of small cliff with the sea below. The menu at the Reef Grill had just changed and it now serves wonderful steaks and fish/shellfish dishes. We also had a memorable Asian/Japanese meal in Arabesque which I would highly recommend.

The rooms in the resort are large with luxurious facilities and are kept spotlessly clean. The evening turn down service was the best we have experienced - often it is just a general tidy up and pull back the covers. Here the room is totally cleaned again and all towels are replaced.

The spa is excellent with a wonderful selection of treatments and the main pool and the spa pool are in great condition considering the Hotel has been open 8 years now - no sign of wear and tear.

My husband dived nearly every day and was very impressed with the dive centre and all the staff. The fact that they use ribs to get to the dive sites makes it a much more pleasant experience as most other resorts you are minibuses to the main harbour then depart on a larger boat. The ribs depart from the four seasons jetty and get to sites very quickly and before or after the "masses" get there. One some occasions there were only two guests in the rib. My husband was fortunate to see hammerheads on two dives and a whale shark on another.
As others have mentioned the meet and greet assistance at the airport is well worth paying for as it makes your arrival very pleasant.

All in all this is a wonderful hotel, with attentative and friendly staff. Probably the best service you will experience in Europe/North Africa. I would have no hesitation in recommending it even to the most discerning traveller.

Had another fantastic week at The Four Seasons Hotel in Sharm.

Few issues getting there though, Monarch delayed our flight by 7 hours so instead of arriving at 5.30 on the evening of my 15 year anniversary with my partner to settle in relaxing with a bottle of wine watching the sun go down over the red sea, we ended up sitting at Gatwick for 9 hours, and an hour on the tarmac, and ended up arriving at the hotel at 1am, and missed the room we had specifically requested/reserved as a result of this. Someone with a screaming kid turned up in between apparently and got "our" room. Being tired and, by now, very dissapointed, we just went to bed as soon as we got there.

Mr. Farnfield came to the rescue the next morning and moved us to a much better room and did more than make up for the string of unfortunate events as a result of Monarch's disaster - and from here the holiday was back on track and just got better and better.

Dived 3 times, snorkelled a lot and took some great still and video footage just off the house reef including various rays, barracuda and crocodile fish this year. Many thanks to everyone at Sinai Blues for making this special - especially Stuart for the first 2 dives which were really "awesome" (I will send a DVD in the post !). Thanks also to the Sinai Blues Staff who made "Chris O's" first ever dive possible at very short notice on the Saturday before he had to fly home - his first 3 minutes into the dive and he's face to face with a Stingray - superb !

We used the meet and greet + driver service there and back - thanks to GingieCat for advising - it's definitely worth every penny.

We ate at every restaurant at the resort - exceptionally good service and food consistently experienced in all (as per ususal) - bhudda bar and floating deck restaurant in Naama were more expensive but not as good - so safe to say now that there's probably no point leaving the resort just for food if you stay here.

Thanks to everyone at the Waha pool who were very attentative, and last but by no means least, the gardeners who work relentlessly day and night to keep the views looking perfect.

Champagne still a bit pricey at resort so bring some duty free if that's what you like to drink.

But here's my only rant - My only one regret was booking the holiday through a tour operator that uses Monarch - who I will never ever fly with again - they ruined our 15 year anniversary by delaying our flight in and refusing to move us to 2 other earlier departures, and then had the audacity to take £30 off me at the airport on the way back for supposedly having a case which was 3Kg overweight !! This I later found out to be a bit of a con as I had weighed the cases before I went to Egypt and when I returned home to find they were not overweight (16 and 19 Kg respectively), coupled with the fact that other scales at Sharm airport are showing conversely -4KG when unlaiden - travellers watch out ! They also refused to sit my partner and I together on the return flight. They have lost us as customers for good, I would not even fly with them for free ! Longwood and other agencies who use Monarch - we spend 1000's - please take note if you want to keep us !

Do's and dont this year..

Do use the meet and greet service, you will really appreciate it.
Do eat in the resort.

Don't fly Monarch ! (Did I mention that before ?)

This hotel resort was a slice of Heaven. I have no doubt that our stay has created wonderful memories that will forever be etched into our minds and hearts.

We made our reservations directly through the hotel and reserved an airport pick-up via a 5-series BMW for not much more than an Egyptian taxi (which would likely have been a dumpy car with no seat belts or A/C).

After getting past the security fit for the White House, we were greeted with freshly squeezed mango juice and were wisked away via a golf cart past gorgeously manicured gardens to our lovely Mediterranian style villa. We had to photograph our villa as we fell in love with it and desired to borrow some design features for our own home in San Diego California. The bathroom was enormous and the attention to detail with the relaxing earth tones of the tile work, mosaic floor designs, and private balcony overlooking the beautiful Red Sea was breathtaking!

Walking through the grounds was difficult as we had to stop and admire the elegant and colorful landscaping at every turn, and of coarse pose for photos. The pools were very kid friendly and the private strip of beach was well located. It is true that there is competition for beach chairs, but this was only the case on the weekend. The pier takes you right to the best snorkling/diving experience in the world! There is no need to acheive that via a water craft--just jump right in and put your face in the warm clear water where colorful and amazing sea life greats you. I enrolled my 8 year old daughter in a free snorkling class and in one hour, she was doing her own snorkling.

The staff was very professional and exceeded our expectations in every way. There was plenty of musical entertainment and bellydancing at night. The spa was fantastic and was enjoyed after placing my daughter in the free kid center where she didn't want to leave. The food at the El Arabesque restaurant, although pricey, was worth every penny. I never conceived of spending $80 for a breakfast buffet for two adults and one child, but we were making plans to return each morning before we had even finished our first meal! Imagine having three chefs prepare everything from fantastic omelets with shrimp, fresh crepes with all the fresh toppings, and dazzling fresh cut fruit as you order it. The breads are all freshly made as were the crescents that were kept under hot lights. The melon and mango juices were of coarse all fresh, the variety of cheeses rivaled the best Parisian delis, and the hot dishes were all accompanied by the best toppings that comes to the imagination! All this was situated on a terrace overlooking the Red Sea! Clearly, our meals in this restaurant were far better than any meal we had on our subsequent trip through London, Northern Italy, and Prague!

I have two regrets regarding my stay here: We should have spent more than three nights here and we shouldn't have wasted our time visiting Nama Bay (which was a crowded dump of a beach that was loud and overdeveloped with overpriced shops with a good dose of hassle) or dining out (the food did not compare to the Four Seasons with no monetary savings realized, particularly after paying the inflated Sharm taxi rate of 50 EGP each way). One thing that venturing out did accomplish was helping us to realize how good we had it at the Four Seasons Resort.

We cannot wait to return to this fabulous resort and spa! I am planning to treat my newlywed sister to a one year anniversary getaway here with her new husband. Perhaps she will let her older bro tag along?