Hello everyone, I've just got back from a two week break to the Radisson in Nabq. I must say it was one of the best two weeks of my life and the best holiday I have ever been on.

The hotel: I couldn't ask for a better hotel to stay in, I went with my boyfriend and this hotel is perfect for couples. It was clean and very spacious. We stayed B&B rather than all inclusive as we enjoy eating out. There isn't much to do in Nabq itself other than a few shops and very few restaurants. We got a taxi most nights to Namma bay as that's where the main resort is. Taxis to namma bay are usually about 70 EP but haggle and get it for 50, it is possible!

The beach: Not a sandy beach due to the coral, a jetty comes off the beach and you have to walk along to get in the water. You can go in the shallow part of the water but must wear water shoes due to the coral. You can only go so far though due to the reef. You must buy some snorkal equipment, we went to decathlon beforehand and picked up a snorkel and mask for a fiver! The fish are amazing and so is the coral. All different types of fish can be found from bright yellow angel fish to huge green parrotfish. I saw a whale shark which was huge!!! But not harmful. Buy a rash vest (once again about £7 from decathlon) which protect you from the suns rays when snorkelling. Some people came out burnt as you can spend hours looking at the fish without realising!! There is a man on the beach who walks around with a camel - beware, he will try charging you £50 english pounds for a 1minute ride around the beach but wont tell you until AFTER!! And also charges you for taking photos!!!!

Excursions : we booked our excursions through Cataract Travel, which is situated in Namma Bay opposite the Camel bar. This was by far the best tour company there. We booked one excursion through Olympic (our travel agent) and for the price we paid we didn't get any English speakers or food or dinks, however for a third of the price, booking through Cataract, we had English speakers, meals and drinks included. We went quad biking through the desert and to Nabq protection area. Went to Cairo by bus (long journey but worth it) We paid £22 each for the whole day (includes all entrance fees to museum, pyramids and spinx) and included lunch and drinks all day. We went on two boat trips, one to Ras Mohammad and one to Tiran Island - both good, but Tiran Island was the best. Saw sting rays and morays and a triggerfish which has huge teeth and tries to attack you but the guides know how to protect you from any danger!! We also climbed Mount Sinai (Mount moses) and went to St. Katerines monastry. Well worth it, climb the mountain in the early morning and see sunrise over all the mountains. Spectacular!

Money : everything was cheap in Egypt! Sharm el Sheikh was more expensive compared to Cairo (which is extremely poor). For example a can of coke at the supermarket near the hotel costs 0.50p but in Cairo costs 0.15p! Meals in Namma Bay are cheap but they all add a service charge on them. We took £800 for two weeks, a combination of £300 english, $300 US dolla and £200 Egyptian pounds. This paid for taxis most nights, all of our excursions, lunches and eating out every night.

Namma Bay : very touristy, main resort full of restaurants/bars/clubs etc. All the usual english fast food (MCd's, KFC, Pizza hut, hard rock cafe, TGI's) We didn't go to any of these places!! Try the pomadora (lovely and cheap Italian), The Peking (chinese), A mexican next to the little buddah, Camel Bar and the tandorri in the camel bar. Do NOT go to the Indian House next to the Thai and Chinese place above the supermarket. I caught food poisioning from here as did my boyfriend but luckily he only sufferred a day of it where I suffered 5 days and still am recovering.

Shopping - To buy souveniers visit Old Sharm Market. Very cheap. Prepare to spend a long time in each shop you visit though as the Egyptians do pester a lot! Don't get hassled to spend a fortune, they put prices very high so you must haggle!

Other tips:
1. Never drink the water, use bottled water for brushing teeth, don't have ice in drinks.

2. Buy an antibacterial handwash as the money is very dirty and you must clean your hands everytime after handling money to prevent getting any stomach bugs (however this didn't prevent myself from getting anything!).

3. If your girlfrind and boyfriend, tell the Egyptians that your married. Otherwise they will try their way with the ladies! If you say your married they will leave you alone and wish you happiness and prosperity.

4. Take rehydration sachets and immodiom (most people get a day or two of a funny tummy so it's worth being prepared)

I've just returned from 2 weeks in the Radisson SAS Hotel in the Nabq area of Sharm El Sheikh. The hotel is supposed to be a 5 star rating but compared to here in Ireland it would only be a 3 star. However it was clean, our room was lovely and spacious and cleaned twice daily. The staff were really friendly and couldn't do enough for us whether it was booking a taxi of helping us find a sunlounger, they were always on hand to help. The hotel is situated within gardens which are kept very well by gardeners who seemed to be there 24/7. We were on a half board basis and this worked out to our advantage as the restaurant in which the all inclusives eat is not great. Breakfast wasn't really our cup of tea but La Casata restaurant near the pool was delicious. Just be careful with salads and don't drink the water. Bottled water is so cheap over there anyway.

The pools are clean as is the beach. However the beaches over there are not sandy because of the coral in the sea but the hotel provide a pier from which you can go snorkelling. This is definitely worth doing, it is an amazing experience to swim with the fish and see the coral,wow! Even if you are not a strong swimmer I would still reccommend doing it, as they're are constant lifeguards there.

In the actual area of the hotel ther is not much except for other hotels and a few shops. The hotel do put on entertainment but it is mainly aimed at familys. As myself and my boyfriend are in our 20's it didn't really do much for us so most evenings we got taxi's into Naama Bay which is approx 15mins journey by car. But the taxi's are very resonable, just make sure to agree a price with the taxi driver beforehand. The hotel taxi's charge 70 egyptian pound which is less than 8 euro but on the street you might be lucky and get one for 60 pounds. Drivers over there are alittle erratic but we had no problems with any of the drivers, most were very friendly and we always got to our destination safely. The hotel taxi's will even offer to pick you up after your night out if you wish to do so, sometimes its handier than trying to bargain with one of the street taxi's.

Naam Bay is full of life. It is very safe with Tourism police everywhere and we never saw a row or any kind of a fight take place. The majority of tourists are families or couples so there are no rowdy drunken louts! There's a great atmosphere there with a wide variety of shops, bars and restaurants including Hard Rock Cafe, TGI fridays, starbucks and the usual fast food outlets. We mainly ate in a lovely Italian restaurant called Pomodoro and The Hard Rock Cafe.

You will be guaranteed to be pestered a little bit to go into shops but keep saying no thank you and keep walking. They are used to it and will not take offence. We made the mistake one night of following a guy into his shop after he said he wanted to give us his business card but once we were in there they made it very difficult to leave. Just stand your ground and say no. It is too much hassle to go into these shops. If you do go into any shop they will hound you a fair bit, but get what you want and get out, most of them are friendly enough they're just trying to make a few bob, but by the end of the 1st week we kind of had a system going.

I would definitle reccommend doing day trips while in Egypt. We went to Cairo to the pyramids and to St. Catherine's Monastery. We booked both trips through our travel rep and we were looked after very wel. Even our trip to Cairo included a flight and ther was someone waiting at each end for us. The pyramids is definitely worth a trip although Cairo is extremely hot, bring a fan and drinks lots of water.
It is very easy to become ill over there as the heat is something else, dry hot and sometimes hard to breath, Sharm is totally different to Cairo, it is brezzy and more manageable. It is so important to drink 3 litres of water a day. Myself and my boyfriend both suffered a little bit with diarrohea but the chemists really know their stuff and were very helpful and friendly.

Going to Sharm was a bit of a culture shock. The country's economy is still developing. Alot of the area around the hotel is still being built but we did not hear any construction noises or even see any work going on as it was too hot. The main workforce in the area are men with very few women there. It is an islambic country and they are all very religious with the women wearing burkas. It is a different culture and a different life, to expect the same standards and service as here is ridiculous. You need to have an open mind and respect their way of life. It was to great experience a different way of life. We had no problems with our holiday whatsoever. I had been slightly put off by some of the reviews on this website but don't be. Don't have any expectations just go over with an open mind. We both had a wonderful time with lots of happy memories.

On arriving at the Radisson we were impressed cases and ourselves buggied to our room. WEe were immediatly offered an upgrade but our room was all we could have wished for , and 1 minute from the huge pool.
We upgraded to AI at 26 American dollars a day each (very worthwile as bottled water and soft drinks ,beer ixpensive. AI however doesnt mean you can eat at the alacarte resteraunts ,just the buffet resteraunt..
You cant pay as you go either no money is taken all on bill at end of stay.
Its supposed to be a 5 * hotel i wouldnt give it that rating.
If you wanted fresh juice for breakfast you paid extra and also if you wanted to it in theme resteraunt, and beach party you paid extra.
Sheets changed everyday and clean towels each day too
Very few English people staying which was nice because the foreign children no how to sit and eat properly ,and they no what "no means" . Just happy kids all week only heard one crying
Now if you want a sunbed you have to set your alarm for 6-30 at the latest because all the beds will have a towel on. Not exactly a relaxing break.
Staff were seen rinsing glasses under running water to be used again and they were coming out with lipstick on. This was reported at reception apperaed to be taken seriously but continued to happen.
The sea is lovely and the snorkelling off the pier fantastic like looking into a tropical fish tank.
The massage reps are annoying . Animation team are a great bunch . Entertainment pretty poor but they try funny little competitions the the foreigners find hillarious i enjoyed watching them enjoying the rubbish usually "rudish" humour.
Watch out for tall chap walking around selling tickets for Quad biking . He will say take no extra money, water and scarves provided. When we got there we had to pay £5 each ontop for scarves ,you have to pay extra for water. It was unbelievably hot ,slap on heaps of lotion.
Be warned also that if you go as a family you will be split for the duration if some of you are sharing a quad as apposed to single quad.
Also when we had our photo taken we agreed on the p[rice. On return i was handed the photo and pleased with it the chap then tried to double the price and got nasty with my hubby , we handed it back to him but he kept pushing it at us ,even when we walked away he wouldnt go away. Take your own photo.
We did Bedouin desert trip that was lovely (through rep) ,with a camel ride ,the children are lovely and they love sweets , they do try to put bracelets on your wrists though,i just avoided it they were happier with sweets than money.
Temperature in the 40s so you need to drink lots continuosly.
All staff nice and friendly they work very hard.
The very worst bit was 3 nights running , we would hear a noise and a bloke would be walking along with a fogging machine emitting a cloud of smoke aroungd the whole place . We saw a family of children caught up in it . It said in the info pack its harmless and to eradicate bugs etc. We only saw it thoise 3 days complaints had been made , i did get some nasty mozzie bites as thers a lot of smelly streams on the complex.
Bit lengthy but hope its usefull in someway

Unfortunately the plane was delayed, standard I suppose. Arrival at the airport was a reasonable enough experience except that on arrival you may not be told that non-purchase of the visa can restrict you travel outside the main Sharm area and specifically will not permit you to travel to Ras Mohammed or Cairo.

On arrival at the SAS about 15 minutes from the airport, we were greeted by very pleasant and professional Receptionist/Managers who went to every length to facilitate our rtequested room upgrade and after much haggling and joking, we upgrade to the suite referred to as the Royal Siute - unbelievable from a size point of view, 100 feet of balcony with fantastic panoramic views of the Red Sea and Tiran Island, needless to say the entire hotel could be seen from here. The piece de la resistance was the 32 jet whirlpool jacuzzi, set in its own marble pedestal in the already huge bathroom. A small kitchen, dining room for 8 and a lounge that would seat 50! all in all well worth the upgrade price - and many thanks to Amr and his team!!

The downside - breakfast in your room whether a royal suit or standard apartment seemed to happen more by chance than planning - several requests (via doorhanger) were never collected, when breakfast was delivered it rarely resembled the original order and everything was tepid! Room service in general was good, our first week we were looked after by an excellent young man - Ahmed, he cleaned, organised and dressed our rooms with flowers, fruit and amazing towel sculptures each day; on the second week unfortunately Ahmed went on his monthly break and was replaced by Eid or Ed as he calls himself - this older man would need to shadow Ahmed for a week or two if he expects to receive the same tips!! If Eid is assigned to your room be careful as he appears to forget to lock balcony doors after he has finished pushing the dirt to a different corner, the hotel continuosly refer to safety and security - here's a starting point eh?

Before I continue with what appears to be a complete trashing of this hoilday - precisely the opposite - a wonderful holiday and with money time and effort the SAS could start to compete with the likes of the Hyatt Regency further down the road and certainly worth a visit if only to compare quality and value. We visited the Hyatt on a number of occasions during the holiday and found it a little more expensive in some aspects but you could see why!

The SAS has a choice of restaraunts - I use this term lightly, they are functionally eateries but most of the fare on offer is of poor quality and limited choice, and HIGHLY expensive for what you get elswhere in Sharm. On on evening in Il Grotty we had a basic spag bol and steak and chips, no alcohol, and the charge was about £st23! On another evening we went with friends to the Hard Rock cafe in Naama Bay (15 min cab ~ £st7) and 6 adults ate until we could eat no more, had several rock style cocktails beers etc and the total bill was less than £st50! Another evening 6 ate in PIzza Hut and for only £st17 we all had a main shared salads etc and soft drinks! Certainly, value for money is alive and well and living in - KFC, Pizza Hut, TGI's and Hard Rock in Naama Bay - so as long as you can forget the dietary and potentially life threatening associations with fast food you will eat well and cheaply for your holiday!

The Radisson also let itself down on the entertainment front - advertsised as live entertainment nightly did not accurately reflect the amateurish and rather ad hoc performances by the 'Animation Team' who seemed to spend most of the daytime relocating the 'single' rotating discoball (14" diameter!!) from one venue to the next. There were no costumes, little choreography and entertainment just didn't happen. Beware the beach party nite - they will expect you to pay extra for it as they will for such things as the day old newspapers from home - £st4.50 for the SUN!!! They even charge you for using old unlevelled snooker tables for which they had three cues, one with no tip! Again not the kind of thing you associate with a starred hotel?

Access to the coral has not really been developed sufficiently yet as the section of beach(?) is seperated by two access jetties that you will need to be able to climb up and down rusty old ladders to access the coral - the Hyatt however invested in a floating pontoon style jetty allowing much easier and safer access.

Presentation wise the SAS was acceptable but not at the start rating it has, the food was overpriced and of poor quality - but the SUN was fantastic, the PEOPLE were fantastic and we will definitely return, unfortunately it will not be to the SAS Radisson.

PS The hotel was advertised to us in trhe Thomas Cook brochure as ADULT beware, according to Nick our TC resort rep that means adults - not adults only - you figure? There are LOADS of children!!!