The Sharming Inn was anything but a sharming experience. This is my fifth trip to Egypt and by far the worst.

The sharming is well past its sell by date and needs either a total revamp or knocking down and starting again.

When I was there I(I returned this morning) a guest had £300 stolen from his room, even though the room was locked and the money was in the safe. Management attitude was it was his own fault, so if you have money or other valuables leave them in the large safe in reception.

If you are a single woman expect to be hassled for sexual favours by members of the staff, again i know of two women who had this happen to them, again management attitdue was it was their own fault

The rooms need to be cleaned much more thoroughly, every evening there was I film of dust on the florr nad rust stains in the shower cubicle and toilet (I hope they were rust stains).

The food is mediocre to poor, i ate out most nights (I can highly recommend Onions in Naama). Just ask the taxi guy and he will arrange for you to be taken there and collected when you have eaten. This should cost about LE 50 (£5.00). Meals at onions for 3 courses are about LE 100 (£10.00), on our second visit we were given complimentary melon as they remembered us from the previous night and we had left a generous tip, 10-15 % is about right.

On the positive side most of the staff are friendly and like to chat for a while, although their English sometimes makes this hard work but do persevere for their sakes as they really do try and they only way they can improve is with practice. Another good tip is to learn a couple of Arabic expressions if you can a "please" and "thank you" in Arabic really suprises them and they put in a little more effort for you.

Do try the Shisa before yoy go to bed, this is smoking through a "hubbly bubbly", it's only LE 25 and does relax you at the end of the day. Do remember to take of you shoes as you enter the Shisa area, to my shame I kept forgetting. This is not smoking Has or anything like that but just a very mild relaxant. It never had any effect on me but it is a very relaxing thing to do anyway.

Overall there a re a lot of negatives for the sharming and a bit more effort and more positive attitude by managemnt could correct these and the sharming a cheap but relaxing holiday.

Just returned from the Sol Y Mar. Quite a nice hotel overall. Room was adequate,very clean, clean sheets and towels everyday, controllable air con. warm shower, beds comfortable, sat tv if your interested, 5/6 english channels. One fault, no balcony or terrace. The hotel only has a very limited number of rooms with these ie about 6. They do have apartments to the rear of the hotel but no idea how to get one. We booked a twin superior, ended up with a double standard in main building. Would have complained but bed was huge and room was quiet. Also there was quite a walk to the superior ones(appartments). Food, hmmm, edible but repetative. It just starts to get very boring if you are there for two weeks. Hence second week we ate out most nights for around £20 for two including taxi there and back. Night entertainment!! Apparently have the usual fire eater, belly dancers, but we never went having seen this last year. There is some awful music that starts around 9.30 in the lobby bar/lobby complete with very annoying pub style singer, who sings in english for most of the song then sort of mumbles through the bits he doesn't know. This unfortunately is unavoidable if you want to stay in the air conditioned lobby bar. Very annoying if you want to have a drink and chat, as you cant hear yourselves. This happens every night.
Bar area could do with a good wipe down a few times a day ie the tables, they are good at emptying ashtrays and taking glasses away but have forgotten what a cloth is. Staff friendly enough but do not expect to be served as swift as you would in england.
Pool and sunbeds are great, they provide sunbed towels daily for you, but do keep an eye on them as they may disapear when some one else has lost theirs. Bit of a chain reaction.
The private beach was not as good as expected, rather dirty with fag ends, cluttered with the other two hotels that share it. The bus there and back is simular to that of cattle being taken to market. Cramped. However the good news is that for £1 a day you can go to the Reef beach (public beach) which is only 500 hundred yard walk down the road. This has everything you need. Usually nice and quiet too. Overall I would give this an english 3 star rating, but fine for the amount we paid.

i just came back from sharm elsheikh i stayed in soly mar sharming inn. this place was remarkable and worth for money, the stuff were very nice, smiling and they were glade to surve us, the swimming pool was beautiful with these waterfalls, the room was old fashion but clean and comfortable, the pool bar was very cool, the hotel is located in the middle of sharm elsheikh 15 min. to neama bay. its good from the hotel that they provid free transportations to neama bay everyday, sure we will be back. thanks for the staff they made our vacation.

Booking and flights

I booked a week stay at Sol Y Mar Sharming Inn in early June 2008. I booked the flights the day before travel and paid £120 return from Manchester with cheapflights.co.uk on a Thomas Cook charter flight. I booked the accommodation seperately through ebookers and paid £150 for the week bed and breakfast. I wasn't expecting anything amazing given the price - but I was pleasantly surprised overall!

Always look to see if you can get cheaper booking direct than booking a package. You don't get a rep, of course, but this is overrated and the excursions are much cheaper booking elsewhere. Try expedia, ebookers, charter flights.co.uk and so on. You'll probably find it cheaper to book the accom and flights seperately, although sometimes expedia has good deals for this. Flights to Sharm can also be got direct from Thomas Cook, Monarch, XL Airways. Google them and see what the prices are like on their websites for flights only and book the accom direct with the hotel or on ebookers/expedia.

Transfer from Airport

You can contact the hotel in advance who charge 100LE (£10/$20) but I didn't and ended up paying 80LE from a taxi at the airport. I was first quoted 350LE and after walking away and a 10 minute negotiation got down to 80LE. By the end of my week, I had met a taxi driver who I used all the time who charged me 50LE, although I tipped him well as he had been so helpful throughout my whole trip and ended up paying 150LE. Still, you can get much cheaper than the initial quote from the driver at the airport and/or the hotel price quoted.

Arrival at the hotel

I greased the palm of the receptionist with 100LE and asked for a room by the pool on the ground floor. I was very happy with my room and, on checking out and using a 'shower room' saw that I had really quite a nice room in comparison to others. I strongly recommend either requesting a ground floor room by the pool in advance or asking for one on check in. Be prepared to tip the receptionist in order to get this - but it really is worth it. Having a room with my own little space outside and my own lounger made a big difference. I should imagine the upstairs rooms with their own balconies were nice too - but most don't have balconies and appeared significantly smaller.

I didn't get a welcome drink - but didn't need one and was keen to get to my room. Got help with luggage - they kept hold of my passport for the whole week.

Room

My room was actually great. It wasn't four star UK - I'd put it at three. No safe. Minibar (chargeable but reasonable - 20LE for a beer, 8LE for a coke - very cold - came in handy).

Bathroom very clean - no problems with the water although the shower was a little trickly at times. Not a big deal though. No bath, only a shower.

TV - good reception (other guests were complaining about this but mine was fine) with English options including Star TV (compilation of US/UK programmes), CNN and a couple of movie channels. Didn't watch it much but I could catch the news on CNN no problem.

Tiled floor, mopped daily. No bugs. Sheets changed three times in a week and offered most days. Towels changed whenever I wanted them changed. New pool towel everyday.

Staff

My room was serviced every day. I had a lie in on a couple of days and there was no problem getting my room serviced in the afternoon instead of the morning! I just put my Do Not Disturb sign on the door and didn't have any problems.

I tipped the service guy directly (20LE) on the first day and got whatever I wanted all week (you want extra towels? anything I can get you? etc). Tipped 50LE at the end of the stay.

Bar/restaurant staff

Very helpful and friendly throughout.

Reception

This is my downside and relates to my check out when the particular receptionist on duty was unhelpful and quite rude. He wasn't keen to let me have a room to shower in after 4pm (my flight didn't leave until 10pm and I wanted to shower at about 6pm just before I left for the airport. When I did get a room at about 5pm (the latest he would allow) there were no towels in the room. I rang down to reception and he told me that I couldn't have any towels and should 'use my own'. I ended up going down to reception and complaining.

All sorted in the end but the guy was really quite rude and unhelpful.


Food - all inclusive vs B&B

I went B&B and was glad I did. I can't comment massively on the all inclusive and suggest you read other reviews for more detailed comments but I'll tell you what I think.

The all inclusive option for me was £100 UK more for one week. When I arrived at the hotel, I was asked if I wanted to 'upgrade' to all inclusive for 10LE per day (£70). This is apparently standard and offered to all B&B guests. So, I'd firstly always suggest that you go B&B unless it is much cheaper than £10 per person per day. Then you can 'upgrade' whilst you are there directly with the hotel.

Secondly, I spent about £15 per day on food and this included a substantial lunch and a three course evening meal every night. I went to different restaurants and ate when I wanted to without queueing. There is great food to be had in Sharm!

In comparison to the hotel food, eating where you want is great. If you're going to be going off resort (ie to the beaches, naama bay, old market etc) anyway - eating independently is much better.

My eating out tips? Pomedoro in Naama Bay seemed to be the 'hot' restaurant and was very very busy most nights - I struggled to get a table. I eventually did and wasn't actually that impressed. I did very much like Onions in Naama Bay though - but the best places were the fish restaurants in Old Market.

For beer, well I guess if you're going to have 10 beers a day then all inclusive is worth it - but bear in mind that you have to drink that beer out of little (1/3 pint?) paper cups. The local spirits are pretty grim I think - out and about it's quite cheap for local beers (20LE each?) so if you're having a couple of beers a day it's still worth not bothering with the all inclusive I think.

It all comes down to what type of holiday you want. If you are happy to sit in the resort all day by the pool and don't actually visit anywhere else then all inclusive is for you. If you want to get out and about - have meals out, visit some of the local places etc - go B&B.

Breakfast (same for everyone) is fine - functional, not very exciting but ok. Avoid the 'beef' bacon - it's very strange! Good eggs though!

I had room service twice (not included on either B&B or all inclusive) when I'd had enough of the heat and wanted just to relax in my room in the shade for an hour or so. It was actually surprisingly good - 40LE for a good burger and chips or 30LE for some nice pasta.

Resort

It was quite quiet whilst I was there (I'd say about half full?) and I've noticed other reviewers have complained about lack of loungers on occasion - although most seem to be ok. Whilst I was there - this was absolutely not a problem. Although, if you get a ground floor room you have your own loungers by the pool anyway!

The pool was nice, big enough, although I agree with previous comments about the depth - it is a bit strange as I'm 6foot and the water came just above my mouth standing up so you are constantly treading water or swimming - you can't just relax in the water unless you have some kind of inflatable! No big deal though... water nice temperature, pool not overrun with people...

There is a 'Sheesha cafe' which is a small carpeted area in the shade and it is nice enough and the guys working in there are very friendly... but it is expensive in comparison to getting Sheesha's elsewhere in Sharm.

Downsides - there was a rather odd smell on the ground floor on a couple of occasions. I didn't investigate it - other reviewers have mentioned a 'sewerage' smell and I don't think it was this (at least I hope not!). It really wasn't a big deal - just a bit noticeable two or three times in the week I was there.

Another downside is the people on the resort selling things perfume shop (don't bother with it - the smell hardly lasts on you although it smells good at first it wears off fast - false economy - this goes for them all not just the ones on the resort), hair braiding (good for kids I suppose), massage, trinkets etc etc. Other reviewers have mentioned that they go away quickly when they realise you are not going to buy - this was not my experience at all. Perhaps this was because the resort was quieter than usual, but I found them rather annoying.

Taxis/getting around

The hotel has a taxi service in the main reception just by the 'Lobby Bar'. They charge 35LE to Naama Bay, 20LE to Old Market and 100LE to the airport. This isn't too bad and they are always available. I preferred to give my money to the poorer drivers sat outside on the grass by the side of the hotel. I'm sure you could get these quite cheap but I paid the same as the hotel prices most of the time.

You can easily get cabs in Naama Bay or anywhere really in Sharm. I got to know a taxi driver on my second day who gave me his mobile number and he became very helpful over the week - taking me shopping to bargain places rather than the overpriced Naama Bay - suggesting excursions and picking me up whenever I wanted. Tripadvisor doesn't let me give his number out so I won't - but I suggest if you can to support the poorer guys who are struggling sending money back homes to their families (usually in Cairo) rather than the hotel taxi drivers who appear to be quite well off and have their own nice cars/much bigger houses than other locals.

Excursions

The hotel charged, on average, double what you could get elsewhere. Dependent upon what you want to do, I'd ask a friendly local taxi driver for advice. If you're going on a Cairo trip - this is absolutely the best way to go - much cheaper and you get a personalised trip for you and yours rather than having to deal with the whims of other passengers from other hotels. Also, a good taxi is much more comfortable than a bus! This way, if you want to spend a bit more time looking round the city than in the museum, or vice versa - you can just do it. You can also stop for a rest/coffee whenever you want. Most of the workers in Sharm are from Cairo and will bend over backwards to do something that you want rather than offer a standarised trip.

Same goes for trips to St Catherines or whatever. Try the locals first - put money in their pockets that will go to their families rather than the hotel coffers or to some rich guy who runs the overpriced excursion firm.

If you want to go quad biking or on a flight somewhere or on a glass-bottomed boat or something then obviously you need an organised firm. There are several in Naama Bay and they seem, to me, to be pretty much the same. Many of them sell exactly the same trip and are middle men for someone else - they are just doing the sales. So barter and negotiate and shop around.

Getting ill!

This is my fourth trip to Egypt and I was very ill on my first trip. Some of the other guests are Sol Y Mar were ill whilst I was there. If you're only going for a week and you get ill for four days it obviously takes a massive chunk out of your holiday so it pays to take precautions.

There are lots of theories as to why people get ill - I don't know what is true and what isn't - but I'll tell you what I did to stay well!

Don't drink the water. Avoid ice in drinks at all cost - even if you are told it is made out of bottled water - it often isn't, even at the hotel.

Drink lots of bottled water to keep hydrated in the heat.

Avoid salad at all costs - it is washed with tap water which makes us Westerners ill.

Wash your hands after handling money. I'm not sure how much of this I believe, but some people claim they get ill from the notes which are old and dirty. It's obviously hard to do - but try and remember to wash your hands if you've just been counting your money or something.

Wash your hands all the time before eating. This can be hard too if you're eating out as, amazingly, a lot of the restaurants don't have loos (they often tell you to go to McDonalds!).

Don't eat soup. It's made out of tap water and, although heated, I'm convinced by this one because we once worked out on a trip to Egypt that the only people who were ill were those who had had soup when it appeared on the menu.

Take some anti-bacterial wipes with you and wipe down obvious things in your room yourself - door handles, loo seats, remote controls - anything that harbers bacteria.

I know the above seems anal - but I genuinely think that some or all of it have avoided me being ill and, given the amount of tourists in Egypt who do get ill, it is worth it in my eyes!

If you do get ill - the hotel has a doctor but this, in my view, is way overcharged. You can just go to any pharmacy (there is one a 10 minute walk from the hotel and reception can direct you) and explain your symptoms. You'll get the same drugs for half the price. Obviously don't take any risks though, and if you are very ill - see a doctor anyway. You can probably claim it back on your travel insurance.

Shopping

Again, avoid the hotel for everything - it is very overpriced.

Naama Bay can be quite good fun - but if you want to do some serious shopping (especially for handbags, trainers etc) ask a local taxi driver to either take you to Old Market or to a local set of shops. There are lots of back streets where the locals buy their stuff for cheaper here than Cairo prices.

But, if all else fails, you'll find much better prices in Old Market. Whilst there, try the stalls where the drinks are made of out tree bark - strange but very nice!

Overall

I thought it was a good resort. Helpful staff, a bit far out perhaps but I like to get out of the hotel anyway. The entertainment is rubbish if it exists at all and this might be a problem if you have kids and need to be back in the resort in the evening and have nothing to do.

Don't pay a fortune for this resort though - always try booking with the hotel direct (google them for their website and phone number - they speak English) and try and get a cheaper flight rather than pay package.

If you're going to spend £300 per week B&B or £400 per week all inclusive - try Hilton Waterfalls. If you going to spend £200 per week B&B or £300 all inclusive or less - Sol Y Mar is a good option.