i loved this hotel so much, everything about it the staff were all so friendly and couldnt do enough for you. the entertainment team were rilliant and always had fun stuff to take part in,throughout the day and in the night i fell in love with egypt . im alreadly planning my trip back.
manda xxxx

I'm writing as a sixteen year old girl who stayed at the Sunrise Island Garden from 13th April 2008.

The first five days were pretty good-the service was impeccable, the cleaners and barmen were great and really did their job well. The only downside was the food was pretty unvaried and the reception staff were pretty snooty!

Sadly on our fifth day I got really ill from the hotel food- despite the staff claiming I was ill from elsewhere. Also, I know I was not the only one to become ill- as the doctors clinic at the sister holel was full of young people with the same as me aswell. I spotted several guests walking round with needles in their hands from being put on the drip- like me, too.

Whilst I was ill the staff were very forgiving, especially the guest relations staff at the Sunrise Island View- they were fantastic- and the manager at the Island Garden.

I had a great time before I became ill but just as a warning to you-be very careful about choosing to stay at the Sunrise Island Garden as I was very careful about what I had to eat there- no ice, no meat etc yet I still became very ill and got rushed to hospital as soon as I arrived home.

Ok I'm sorry to moan but i do advise that you read this before you book your holiday here!!!!

Firstly when we arrived at the airport we were ripped off by a cab for £15 English pounds. Now when i say that i could have walked across the runway in 2 minutes to our hotel is no exageration by no means.

When we arrived we were told to leave our cases. We were taken inside and handed a bunch of paper work to fill out. Once this was done we were handed an information pack. When we asked the reception about times for breakfast etc we were told 'oh just look in there' pointing to our information pack. Trust me when you arrive in the middle of the night the last thing i want to do is read pages of information.

Once escorted to our room (very quickly i might add) we were very disappointed. It was more like a 3* max then a 5*. There were cracks in the bathroom sinks etc and holes in the wall which were filled but not repainted over. And what the person says in the other review about the room being dirty is spot on. My feet were sticking to the floor and not very nice.

Food- Breakfast was ok
Lunch- i ate the same everyday which consisted of rice, chips and chicken.
Dinner- They had themed nights but this consisted of about 2 dishes whereas everything else was the same.

DRinks round the pool were ok. Sometimes you would get served in half a plastic beaker that you could drink in no more then 2 gulps, so you found yourself going up numerous times.

Unfortunately we had a room which was by the pool and near the stage area. dead on 9.30 loud music would be played and someone would start talking in about 5 languages. Not good if you had a late night. I think this music was played to help drown out the noises of the airport so i cant complain too much as I'd much rather listen to music then planes.

I was very concerned though on one thing. so please take notice especially if you are a woman or have kids.

There were 2 photographers (letchs) attached to the hotel. NIce you might think but really it is not. They aimed completly at young woman. No problem you might think but the poses they were asking the girls to pose in were more like glamour shots by laying on the side of the pool with their hands on their heads and posing as if they were appearing in FHM. If you are with a boyfriend or husband this is not a problem as they do not approach you. However i also noticed that they take pictures of children. Not that I'm saying this is wrong because some of the shots were cute with little kids laughing and splashing in the pool with mum and dad, but i was alarmed to see that some young children (girls mainly) were also being asked to pose in glamour style shots. If parenst were asked permission before hand then i cant really say much, but i just found this a bit alarming. especially as they have the pictures on display and you can have the chance to buy them.

Naama bay we went into on a few occassions simply to get a decent meal. The hotel offer a shuttle bus service which is good and cheaper then a cab.

The pool area was nice and very clean as staff were always coming and collecting rubbish etc. Staff were also friendly here and on hand to help put the big umbrellas up..

However room cleanliness did not improve as on one occassion whilst on the loo i turned to find that there was no toilet paper. Not good if you get what i mean!!

The 2 restaurants were ok, although after eating in the BBQ one night i am afraid to say i am still suffering the consequences.

WE asked to keep our room on until 6 o clock in the evening the day we left. This cost us £17 English pounds which i think is a bit steep. However from 5 o clock we were recieving phone calls every ten minutes to see how long we would be in the room and if we were nearly finished. This became quite annoying especially as we were trying to get ready and finish off some last minute packing. Then with15 minutes to go we had a bang on the door to be greeted by cleaners asking us to hurry up. They knocked a further time after this. Once we left our room at about 2 minutes past 6 the room was quickly vacated by the cleaners and no one offered to help us with our bags. It was as if they had the attitude that 'you're on your way home now, we've had your money, you're on your own.' 20 minutes later i went to the toilet which was situated opposite our room to be completely alarmed to see that new guests were being ushered into our room. How on earth was this room cleaned to a sufficient standard in this time?????

In all our holiday was not what we expected.

yes there were lots of foriegn people which is not a problem, but the staff had difficulty in speaking English and this was frustrating especially if you are trying to find out information.

I'd save your money on this one and go somewhere else

My girlfriend and I have jus returned from the all inclusive Sunrise Island Garden Hotel in Sharm El Sheikh and I have to tell you, if you can afford to go elsewhere then do!

Depending upon whcih website you look at, the hotel is described as a luxurious 4 or 5 star resort. Let me tell you, this hotel is neither. I would say it's no moe than a 2 star hotel and on the strength of that, is in my opinion over priced. 400 quid each to stay in this hovel is at best cheeky, at worst misrepresentation of a sub standard product!

We arrived at around midnight on our first day. You can often tell a lot about a hotel from its lobby, and immediately I had a sense of what was to follow. The lobby is dated, not particularly clean and slightly chaotic, and this pretty much sets the theme for the hotel in general. We arrived with several other guests, and the fellow that took us to our room couldn't get us in quick enough in order that he could get back to the other guests and the further possibility of a tip. It is no joke to say that my girlfriend and I had to virtually run in order to keep up with this joker. Once inside the room he lobbed our cases in and was off like a long dog! No explanation as to what our all inclusive entitlement was, what time breakfast, lunch or dinner were, what facilities the hotel had on offer, absolutely nothing. What we did have was a welcome pack that was in Russian! Useful? I think notski!!!

Then there was the room. We paid for a double room and naturally expected a double bed. What we had were two beds on either side of the room. After much reorganisation of the room we pushed the beds together, revealing all manner of crud under where the beds had previously been. Nice touch. I took my shoes and socks of and walked to the bathroom. Once inside the bathroom I discovered that the soles of my feet were black with grime from the hotel room floor. If you can picture a travel lodge hotel in the 1970's then you have an accurate mental picture of what the room is like! The bathroom had a broken soap dish in the shower, a broken shower door and no toilet paper. Inexplicably, it had a telephone on the bathroom wall. What that's about I have no idea! The good points about the room were the air con, which blew nice and cold (to start with, which we will come on to in a minute!), the free electronic safe, and the beds and pillows which were fairly comfy. The TV was a throw back to the late 80's. I didn't know whether to plug it in or put coal in it!! All in all not a good start!

Then there's the food. There is an Italian Restaurant, which is quite nice but you have to book it. We had to wait 3 days to get a table. I've eaten in Conran restaurants with a shorter waiting list! The same applies to the poolside restaurant. It's pleasant enough but why do you have to wait for 3 days to get a table??? Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served in the main restaurant which is a buffet. I kid you not, it is rubbish!!! it changes only slightly daily. My girlfriend and I had more or less the same thing for every meal and it really is a free for all. Proper chaos. You end up having rice with pasta, with potatoes and bread with some for of chicken every day. We were eating the oddest combination of food, simply because it was so bad and the choise was limited. We ended up sacking it and going to eat in the nearby Naama bay and I feel that this really paints a picture. Despite having paid for an all inclusive package, we were paying to eat out most nights. My pallet is not the most discerning, but even I could not eat this muck every day! I liken the grub to1980's school dinners. You eat them at first and then go to the chip shop every day because they're so rancid. Rancid is a good word to describe the food.

I sound like a right moaner but I'm not, just bear with me as I'm a disgruntled and disappointed person who wants to prevent anyone else making my mistake.

The real piece de resitance was the evening entertainment. Now don't get me wrong, I have no problem with Russian's, Belarussians, Dutch, German's or Ukranians but why do these people love Karaoke so much? We were "treated" to Karaoke evenings on 3 of our 7 nights. Driven by drink and encouraged by the moronic Animation Team, we were subjected to Russian Karoke Classics incessantly. The hotel is in the middle of nowhere and so you can't really go anywhere as an alternative (apart from the sister hotel which is more of the same) so thus youare a captive audience. And this all taks place on the main stage in front of the pool bar in the centre of he hotel on amplified speakers. Even if you retire to your room, you can still hear this rubbish and it all goes on until midnight. We were meant to have oriental dancers one eveing but these failed to appear, and we watched a fakir show which was quite good but lasted only 20 minutes before the sound system was cranked and the Karaoke commenced!!! Seriously, I would've thrown myself out of the window but unfortunately we were on the ground floor!!!!

I liked the pools which were clean and tidy and the gardens were pretty. The all inclusive beer cocktails and spirits were ok. The wine was roapy but I wasn't expecting to be quaffing Crystal so fair enough! The staff were quite nice albeit inefficient. The air con packed up in our room - fair enough, it happens. I reported in 6 times (6 TIMES!!!!!!!!) before they sent someone to have a look! I reported it so many times I was starting to annoy myself!!! They got it sorted and were very apologetic, but by this point I was really getting the ump, and all the little annoying nuances were starting to grate. Dollars for everything? They seem to prefer it to their own money. I never encountered 1 American during the entire course of our stay, so why on earth would I bring American money to Egypt? Weird!

The hotel is on the perimeter fence of Sharm El Sheikh airport and the planes fly all night. You can actually see the departure lounge from the hotel. If you are a light sleeper then you will be woken in the night by aircraft taking off.

To compound everything, we ate at the hotel restaurant on the last evening, and I now have a bout of the trots to end all bouts of the trots!!!! Not nice I can assure you.

So there you have it. I could go on but I think you're probably getting a flavour for it by now. If you're looking for a run down, dated, overpriced hotel with dirty rooms and enjoy eating the same food every day for 2 weeks then this hotel is most certainly fo you. If however you want to come home feeling relaxed and refreshed and not wanting to scream every time you hear the Karaoke classic "I will survive", then book elsewhere. Any of the hotels in Naamah Bay are very nice and worth a look. This one most certainly is not.