rooms - all the amenities you need, shower, fridge, tv...really character filled if alittle basic.

staff - friendly/playful, very helpful

restraunt - usually a good selection of local food, no dodgy burger n chips! though u can get them. Had abit of a delicate tummy a few times so carry imodium!

hotel barbaque night with magician & belly dancer - food was great except we could have ate for free! the charge it turned out was for the meat barbaque only, the show was free to all guests and the usual buffet available...the only difference appeared to be that our side of the pool had lamps! lol

facilities -
internet cafe - around £1 for half an hour so very good.
pool - moderate size, kept clean and pool staff provide sun loungers ect at request.

excurscions via medhotels - snorkelling, water park, quad biking, bedouin dinner & star gazing all excellent, but carry money as there seems to be an addition charge for everything in sharm!

Enjoy!

My girlfriend and I went away on our first holiday together and stayed at the Amar Sina in Sharm el Sheikh. I must admit that when I first booked the hotel I didn't actually look at any hotel review websites or the trip advisor site, I just looked at the price and thought I had a bit of a bargin...having looked at a couple of reviews a week before we were due to go I was a little apprehensive as the hotel had a couple of pretty low scores, 2/10 and 3/10, etc. from English people.

We were very pleasantly suprised. The rooms were pretty basic and the food pretty bland but the swimming pool was great, and the location (about 10 mins outside of Naama Bay) was ideal for us. All we wanted was a week in the sun to get away from work and uni, not at all intersted in going out clubbing and boozing.

The hotel beach is at the bottom of a large flight of steps, so not ideal if you're not too mobile and the Egyptian guys on the beach who 'looked after' you were a bit pushing and annoying when trying to sell you day trips or pizzas, and they descended like flys on any women sunbathing in pairs or by themselves. The best bit about the beach though is the reef which lies about 30 metres off shore - the fish are amazing and the coral is beautiful. The cramped sun loungers and annoying Egyptian men are worth putting up with just so you can go snorkelling on the reef.

The hotel staff were really friendly and there is a fantastic atmosphere there at night when the evening meal is being served and they bring on the entertainment. Whilst there we were treated to belly dancing shows and a magic act!

The only down side to the holiday was when we got back and we learned that we had both been infected with gastrointernitis - a pretty nasty stomach virus that took a week or so to clear up. I don't think this has much to do with Amar Sina itself as you are at risk of this disease and many others when holidaying in Egypt, Turkey and Greece, etc. it is just part and parcel of going abroad.

All in all a good hotel, the only other slight problem was all the Russian businessmen with their playboy wives/mistresses. They seemed to monopolise the pool area and sun loungers, and were a bit noisy sometimes but nothing major. However you did get the feeling that sometimes the food was geared more towards a Slavic palate than that of a Brit, lots of potatoes and pasta. But with Naama Bay being only a 10 minute drive away, there are plenty of other options foodwise.

If you are going to this hotel expecting it to be a 4* then you will be disappointed, we would rate this as a 3* at most, BUT DONT LET THAT PUT YOU OFF.

We arrived late Sunday night around 2130 hrs , dinner was served till 2200, there wasn’t much choice and it was a bit cold, this disappointed me as I thought “is this what there is to come”, but it got better.

Breakfast was 0700-1000, there was plenty of choice, but you won’t get a good fry up. Lunch served 1330-1500, dinner 1930-2200. Lunch and dinner were virtually the same except lunch was less; there was always rice, a potato dish, pasta dish and meat of some description. On the Fri. there was a bbq which you had to pay extra for, but worth it.

Rooms – Big double bed, no balcony, cleaned daily, bed made but sheets not changed. New towels every day, these were clean but very tatty and frayed around the edges. If you are a bit fussy take your own. Air con, that worked and a small fridge. The rooms are typical Egyptian in style but could do with a lick of paint.

Hotel amenities – Had a bar upstairs mainly used at night, two free pool tables. For such a large hotel there were not many sun beds, Abdul the pool man, works their daily, if you tip him at the start of the week he will guarantee you a bed for the rest of your stay. Security staff outside the door on every hotel. Hotel had a farm at the rear consisting of 3 baboons, a camel, goats and tortoise, very strange.
Free shuttle bus to the beach 3 times a day, but there is normally a queue, get there early and push in like the foreigners do(they have no manners).They collect you also, but you can get a taxi for 15 Egyptian pound(about £1.50)(exchange rate roughly 10 Egyptian pounds to £1)

Beach – The beach the hotel take you to is free but you are packed in like sardines and no privacy, under foot is very shaily and rough on the feet, you will need some sort of jelly shoes. There are beaches that you can pay to go on, so it may be worth the extra expense for a decent bed and sunshade.

Taxis – be prepared to haggle, they will try and fleece you and get more out of you. We only used them on a trip to naama bay and they wanted 50 Egyptian pounds but we ended up paying half that. If you don’t travel well don’t use a taxi as they drive like maniacs and everywhere you go they will beep there horn at you which gets very annoying.
Money – we didn’t see many atm machines around so you are best taking the currency with you, small notes are better especially if you are tipping.

Hassle – If you go near any shops prepare to be hassled, it got extremely irritating and in the end we bought nothing and ended up ignoring people and being rude to them to get them to leave us alone.
Airport – make sure you have a pen both ways as you have to fill in a visa entry form although you do not have to pay to get out the country.Sharm airport is very busy, bit like a cattle market and many of the planes were delayed.

In all good holiday, booked with on the beach.com., weather nearly 30 degrees every day, would recommend the hotel, but having been to sharm once would probably only go back for the weather, as there is nothing else there (except diving of course). If you can afford it a trip to Luxor is better and you are more accessible to the sights. If you want a week in the sun relaxing though, worth a visit.

We returned a couple of days ago from Amar Sina and have to say it is one of the best holidays ever. The hotel was a visual delight (albeit a little in need of some TLC here and there). The rooms were roomy and with all you need. The room service was unbelieveable; towels folded in swans, hearts or flowers every day and on our last day were scattered with petals also! The 'zoo' is a nice idea, but I would give it a miss really. The masseur and beautician attached to the hotel are excellent (best massage and manicure ever) and very cheap when compared with UK prices.

The food was good with a reasonable choice at each buffet style meal; a particular favourite with us was the soups, they were just so tasty and light! The special nights were very good value with the entertainment - I am still bewitched by the 'tanura'. I had a birthday there and had the Egyptian treatment - fantastic, never had such a fuss since I was a kid!!

But what really made the holiday was the staff: the staff on reception were so helpful, the bar staff and waiters were so lovely and kept us entertained for hours, the chefs quickly knew what you would like and Abdo, the pool guy, was a real treat. Every single one had a great sense of humour and their main aim was that we enjoyed our holiday, which we did immensely and were so sorry to go!

So thank you Mahmoud, Abdo, Sam, DJ Mohammed (in da house), the other Mohammeds, Waleed, Mr Joe and everyone else.

We miss you and will see you next year.

Highly recommended by Heather, Jane, Joe and Becky X