Completely Spoiled in Sharm El Sheikh

This about sums it up.

Half a world away and just over three months ago we were travelling through Egypt ending up in the resort town of Sharm El Sheikh at the very bottom of the Sinai Peninsula.  Sitting here in Australia it feels like that part of our round-the-world trip could have been a lifetime ago. Looking back on that part of the trip puts a huge smile on my face and our five nights in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm El Sheikh really stands out from the crowd. We had just spent an exhausting 10 days touring Cairo and Alexandria then travelling up and down the Nile via train, boat, donkey car and any other means of crappy transportation available. We were definitely in need of some rest and relaxation and were very excited to get to Sharm for a much needed break.

The view of marine park Ras Mohamed from the airplane.

 A very scenic morning flight from Cairo had us to the Sharm airport by 10:30am. After a long argument with a  taxi driver we were off to the Hyatt Regency Sharm El Sheikh where we were to spend the next five nights. We used our Hyatt points to book a room in the Regency Club section of this property, it only cost us 50,000 points for the five nights and was well worth it. This was the fourth or fifth Hyatt we’d stayed at on our Honeymoon and were sure looking forward to the hospitality and service that comes along with Hyatt, especially with the Regency Club.

Home away from home for us :-)

Checking in we were given an overview of the services at the hotel which included many restaurants, pools, beaches, gym, spa, waterslide, nightly entertainment, house coral reef and so much more. We were stoked and off to our room for a quick change before hitting the beach. Quickly admiring the amazing views from our room we were off to the Regency Club private beach area where we were met by Beach Butler Gomma, who saw to our every need while on the beach. Seriously, this guy had our ideal beach chairs set up and coffees ready for us after day one.  Pamela was under the weather so Gomma made her a special herbal tea every day. This was the type of great service, and this just one example, of what we experienced while at the 471 room resort.

Admiring the sunset from our room.

Prior to the beach or pool every morning started the same way, with a trip to the included breakfast buffet. Of all the breakfast buffets we’ve had on the trip, and we’ve had many, this was one of the best. An egg chef masterfully cooked up whatever kind of eggs you wanted while you added to your plate any number of breakfast items including freshly dripped honey from a honeycomb. After downing the eggs we’d head over to the pancake and waffle chef for freshly cooked Belgian waffles topped with chocolate, strawberries, coconut, nuts and anything else we can throw on there. Fresh strawberry and orange juice would wash it all down before rolling out of the buffet. Thinking about it all now makes my mouth water.

Pamela thoroughly enjoying the breakfast buffet.

The Red Sea is renown for it’s amazing diving and snorkeling and boy did it not disappoint. The Gardens Bay Reef was literally a stones throw away from the beach at our resort. Swimming out in about one minute, I was quickly blown away by the variety of hard and soft coral formations and colors that seemed to jump out of the water. It had to be one of the best examples of shallow reef I’ve seen in a long time and it was right on our doorstep!! I only wish our underwater camera worked as we would have some great shots of the colorful coral and fish.

One of the beaches at the Hyatt. You can see the wall of the reef just off the shore.

Our original goal was to spend the days at the resort and visit the town of Sharm El Sheikh at night for dinners and nightlife. In the end we never even left the resort. Prior to dinner we’d head over to the Regency Club lounge for appetizers and drinks, each night was a different theme including a sushi night and fondue night. We loved it!! The resort was decked out for dinner choices including a beautiful Thai restaurant called Sala Thai serving up some of the best Massaman Curry we had our on trip. Chatting with the head chef we also tried several other amazing dishes during the couple nights we dined here. The Souk, another dinner option, is an open air restaurant that allowed you to choose from many different types of cuisines including seafood, Mediterranean, local cuisine, Asian and a dessert shop. While dining you can watch a different entertainer each night, we saw a good belly dancer and a great troop of acrobats.

With the Chef at Sala Thai Restaurant

Enjoying dinner

When not snorkeling or stuffing our faces we lounged by the pools, there’s at least four of them, worked out at the gym or relaxed in the spa, sauna and steam rooms. The latter being the favorite of Pamela as we all know she loves a good soak, sweat and steam to get her through these tough days. The waterslide and grotto in the main pool area was a nice touch along with the poolside libraries when you were done with a book. Some of our best times were just lounging on our patio watching the sunrise over the Red Sea and distant Saudi Arabia.

Acrobats at The Souk

The belly dancer at The Souk

Departure day came all too fast along with our 6:30am flight back to Cairo then onto Abu Dhabi. We picked up our packed breakfast boxes and jumped in our resort provided transfer back to the airport. I’d have to say that getting a transfer from the resort is so much easier than dealing with the local taxi drivers. The taxi drivers try and charge a ridiculous amount of money for a short ride, save yourself an argument and let the resort take care of your transfer for you, it’s worth it.

Sunrise view from our room

Our time in Sharm El Sheikh, really the resort, stands out amongst the crowd as we approach the eight month mark of our Honeymoon. We’ve stayed at over 70 properties around the world and this experience was right up there with the top. The exceptional personalized service has you feeling like you’re at a luxury boutique hotel rather than a large 471 room property with hundreds and hundreds of guests. This has to be the best use of hotel or airplane points/miles I’ve ever used. For only 50,000 Hyatt points we were treated to five nights of pampering luxury that we won’t soon forget. A huge thanks to the staff at the  Hyatt Regency Sharm El Sheikh for making this part of our Honeymoon so special.

More pics from our time at the Hyatt Sharm El Sheikh can be found here: https://picasaweb.google.com/117257906652666550268/SharmElSheikhEgypt?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Cheers for Now –

Pamela and Dave