InterContinental Abu Soma Resort

This is just a review to try and balance the poor reviews that are logged on this site. Firstly I would add that we did read the reviews before we travelled (and after we booked) and I emailed Mark Warner (with who we travelled) to get some sort of clarity on the remarks that had been posted ont he sire.

MW responded very quickly to my emails and gave me reassurance that all would be well.

Accommodation 5 out of 5

Friendliness of hotel staff 5 out of 5

Friendliness of hotel/beach staf 5 ut of 5

Cleanliness of hotel/beach/pool area 4.9 out of 5

Food 5 out of 5

Drink - wine and spirits were expensive, but most evenings (at dinner) we had two beers, two soft drinks and a large bottle of water (1.5ltrs, I think) for £13stg - I reckon you wouldn't get it for that in a London 3* or 4* hotel, never mind a 5*!

MW staff, equipment and MW experience 4.5 out of 5 (our 1st MW holiday)

We all had a tummy upset last 36/48 hours - but we indulged in the cuisine moring and evening, so I suspect we added to a problem.........if there was one!

On the issue of short changing - (bear on mind an Egyptian pound = 12.5pence), there seemed to be a problem of lack of Egyptian coins and Egyptian 1 pound notes, so if your drinks bill came to 92 Egyptian pounds you probably only got 5 Egyptian pounds in change from a 100 Egyptian pound note - so you were short changed by about 38pence! On the basis that the lowest denomination I could get when I got my stg changed to Egyptian pounds was a 100 Egyptian pound note, how one earth were they ever going to get enough 1 pounds to go around?

I respect each person can only reflect on there own experience - my glass is always half full! From some of the comments I have read (including someone who was obviously there the same week I was) I cannot agree with any negative comment made against this hotel or the staff, MW or the hotel staff.

I did hear a couple of rude people/remarks - those were from guests (English may I add)!

Nemo - it was an experience. The boat may have been basic, but it was seaworthy and the guys involved could not have been more helpful, friendly or polite, indeed no one could have done any more to add to this holiday.

And finally, to be clear, my youngest daughter has Down's Syndrome - and I am very fussy about where I go and what sort of service we get - I HAVE NO PROBLEM RECOMMENDING THIS HOLIDAY OR HOTEL TO ANYONE.

By the way we got our vacinations in any event as we thought it was the sensible thing to do!

Ken Alderdice

We went with Mark Warner (single parent family) and can highly recomend it as a beautiful and relaxing resort. We were very lucky as the wind was good for windsurfing for the first four days and then non existant for snorkelling, diving and waterskiing. Watersports are free for Mark Warner guests (not diving or waterskiing) so we made good use of this. Strongly recommend you kayak or wind surf out to the island about a quarter of a mile out from the resort - a real desert island and we found lovely coral and shells plus some interesting starfish, jellyfish and crabs. Do not try to take any coral home though or we were told you risk a fine when bags are scanned at the airport. Drinks are dear and I believe the best deal for lunch is probably the Cafe Stella although we didn't discover this until the last morning. If you go diving, take some cash as the drinks are just 1 euro (7 egyptian pounds) on board - a fraction of the cost at the resort.

Beds are rock hard and soft mattresses can be requested but there are very few in existence. Bath small as you'd expect in a dry country but it is adequate as long as you don't have too big a butt (!) Shower is good.

Be prepared to walk some distances as this is a large resort, especially if sampling beach/waterfront and also horse riding/tennis facilities. If you are stuck there are management "buggies" but you need to ask specially for help as it is not promoted.

I would have liked a kid free spa and much less loud music in that area and also, on occasions, near the beach too. At the risk of sounding like a killjoy, I also hate smoking which is allowed at the outside tables of the restaurants and even in the magnificant lobby (complete with island with cafe and grand piano surrounded by large fish).

With Mark Warner you do have to endure a cheap airline with no upgrade to first class available so expect cramped seating, charges for drinks etc and screaming babies. All this pales into insignificance when you arrive at the relatively deserted resort. It is nice that there is only a 1-2 hour time difference from the UK despite the 5 hour flight. Excellent children's clubs (with Mark Warner) keeps noise levels fom this source to a minimum whilst the adults get to enjoy their holiday too. The Mark Warner staff are very helpful, especially at the Waterfront.

If possible take US dollars as these are much valued and best value for the duty free. Euros also accepted but watch the exchange rate.

This is really a stunning hotel built in the middle of knowhere in an area which is ideally suited to watersports especialy beginners. It is windy allot of the time making it a mecca for Kitesurfers, windsurfers and sailers. There are large areas of shallow water making it particuarily good for beginers and children. Our children are 15 to 9 and loved the water sports. It would be difficult to imagine a better watersports area espcially combined with Mark Warner's excellent facilities and staff.

If you are not into watersports it is still a magnificent place to sunbathe but the wind can get you down. Many of the sunbeds on the beech have permanante wind breaks. In and around the hotel pool is better as it is more sheltered.

The main swimming pool, as seen in the brochure, is better than it looks in the photos but to not have it heated is such a waste. The week we were there it was colder than the sea! All week we only saw a few people in it, such a waste of an amazing pool. There is one heated pool but it is very plane and round in the health spa with limited room which does get crowded. If you have wetsuits take them for the pool!

The real problem with the hotel is the cost of the extras mainly drinks but also ice creams and lunch. You need to allow GB£ 10 per person for a light lunch and forget alchohol unless you have deep pockets! There are ways of keeping this down if you are on a budget. I would guess that they are keeping the cost of the accomodation down in order to get people there so they can fleece them with the extras.

You will be half board everybody is, all your meals are in the main resturant 'Cafe Stella' which is fine, the food gets a bit monotonous after a week but general is okay with plenty of variation. We have a couple of very fussy children and they survived as they do some children only food which is thankfully fairly plain like pasta, even though many adults pile into the chips! We did take emergency weetabix but as the milk is made from powder, I presume, it made the cereal un eatable as far as they were concerned anyway!

You can always buy lunch as an extra in Cafe Stella which is about GB£11 + drinks but under 12's are free so this helps with the average cost per person.

They offer you a chance to exchange your evening meal for lunch in Cafe Stella plus $10 discount per adult in one of the other resturantes for evening meal. They will try to tell you that adult is over 18 but it is actually over 12! We did this on the last night. We went to the Italian and had very good pizza and pasta, just main course which was enough and after our $10 discount it was actually cheaper than buying lunch, which was a surprise. Obviously if you have more than main course or other extras the cost will soon rise.

Alchohol, you are best to have a detox for the week it will save you allot of cash. One way around it is when you are waiting for your bags at the airport there is a duty free where you can buy spirts and also 24 cans of Grolsh for GB£20 which does mean you have a beer or two after your hard days. Best too try and get this in a bag when you take it in the hotel as I am sure they are going to start getting stroppy about importing drink. We were told that one guest a few weeks before had gone to town to buy a case of beer but had it taken off him, on his return, in the hotel lobby and he was allowed to collect two cans a day!

The evenings can be quite quiet as people do not collect in bars etc and presumerably go back to there rooms with friends to consume there Grolsh.

We went in to Safaga, about 15 minutes away, by taxi for 25 Euros which is all controlled by the hotel. This is the big problem with being so far from anywhere. The taxi had to take us to the hotels own shop in town which is much further than you need to go. Tell him that you do not want to go to the hotel shop and he will take you to a supermarket. There are lots of local shops where you will only pay twice the going rate for goods rather than ten times! You can buy soft drinks etc but alchol is not easily available and expensive, if you can find it. You need to be discrete about your illicit goods when you get back to the hotel unless you like heated discussions. Ask the taxi not to drop you at the main entrance so you can go in around the side rather than the main lobby. This can all be turned into a sport, trying to get one over on the hotel. If you need to do any complaing about costs be aware that the staff must spend a large part of there time dealing with fed up tourists and are very good at it. Unless you have a very strong case and can prove it they will win. I watched a Russian guy trying to argue that he had not had three bottles of Champange even though he had signed the ticket! It was GB£350 per bottle though.

Dive Club, this was run by a guy with a great outlook on life. You pay at the end of the week for what you have done. We had to cancel at short notice and they are very helpful and are not trying to get one over on you. I guess they are not the cheapest but it looked good value and people were happy with the trips. The marina, where allot of other boats go from, is part of the hotel so you can walk to your boat rather than have to endure a long coach trip first.

All in all we had a great holiday and getting a bit of inside information before we went helped allot which is why I have put this review up. I am sure the hotel will change its ways before long as it will have too. You very rarely saw anyone with wine at a meal and all the other bars and resturants seem to be empty! Quite why they want to attract so many negative comments about a small issue in what otherwise is a fabulous place doesnt sound like good business.

You will have a great holiday just take your wetsuits and buy your drinks else where!!!

After reading all these reviews, I was a little worried, but I shouldn't of been:

If you're after a rest - this place is ideal - it's a massive hotel and totally empty! It's in the middle of nowhere, but the plot it sits upon is huge which my wife ran around most mornings.

When you walk into the lobby, you can't help but be impressed. The rooms were huge and although the beds a little too firm, it room was perfect. The health centre at the hotel is fantastic and we ended up in the gym each evening to try and burn off some of the food we scoffed! In addition, the pool at the health centre is amazing - it was generally empty, heated and I adored just floating in it in the evening watching the stars appear above. There is hot tub, sauna, steam room treatment rooms etc - everything you would need and the staff there are really helpful.

Food wise, there are a lot or restaurants to choose from, but we mainly ate in the Stella restaurant (buffet help yourself) included in our HB Mark Warner holiday - as we were sailing / Kitesurfing etc during the day, this was fine for us. There was a lot of choice here and the service is very good.

We generally skipped lunch as the breakfasts were soooo big, however the sandwiches etc we occasionally had were fine (just feels expensive with the exchange rate).

Mark Warner did a very good job of running a very relaxed waterfront. I caught up on my Kitesurfing and this has to be one of the best locations ever to learn - they are very well setup and stacks of instructors. The rest of the time lying on the beach was great with very comfortable beds and as many free towels as you can manage!

If you were paying the hotel rates to go here, no doubt it might feel a bit expensive, but with MW I was very impressed by the total value of our holiday - we had a lovely time. I'd definitely go back.

This is the perfect place for a vacation that combines wind- or kitesurf with relaxation in the sun. We got a great price on the Intercontinental webpage, and stayed for 7 days. We did not join the meal-plan, but was very happy going to different on-site restaurants (almost) every day. The hotel is luxurious with a beautiful garden with great pool and beach. The kitestation is within a short walk with good facilities, bar and rescue service. Its german run, and there's a lot of germans here, and Euro is the currency. Not the friendliest place I've experienced, but I didn't really try. As the rest of Soma Bay it is absolutely nothing to see or do outside the hotel-area, the next hotel is kms away. There are excursions and trips to join, though. Overall very happy with the place and the price paid!

Abu Soma has had some mixed reviews so we went with some trepidation. Mark Warner with whom we have holidayed frequently and trusted, assured us we would be pleasantly surprised and indeed we were !!

Having been to Egypt before we are aware that 5* usually means 4* however the Abu Soma is truly awesome. It is a spectacular, opulent design in a spectacular location and certainly the best we have ever stayed at. The entrance and foyer is breathtaking and no expense has been spared with works of art and dripping gold up into the towering atrium.

The marble staircase is a work of art in itself and made using the stunning open lifts less interesting. It was a joy to walk in such elegance.

The room was American size with twin queen beds which were hard to our standards but others found them fine. We had a huge balcony overlooking the multiple swimming pools in glorious and extensive grounds filled with palm trees leading down to to the Red Sea.

The beach was about 1000 metres long and raked by hand every night then rolled to ensure no footprints were visible. The sun beds all had mattresses and the warm sea, an incredible azure made it a safe haven for children.

The Mark Warner child facilities were as usual excellent and the sailing which we went for magnificent with morning winds extremely challenging !

Food both breakfast and dinner were scrummy with a wide variety each day and a special offer for children. How anyone could complain is a mystery. Service was friendly as were all the staff who loved it it you made the effort to talk to them. They love the British so much they made us feel very welcome.

We were fortunate to go to Luxor for 2 days and see The Valley of the Kings and other sites. We stayed at The Saint George on the banks of the Nile and our guide Bahaa Zakaria was an expert Egyptologist and a simply lovely guy who gave us memorable excursion.

All the guests I spoke to were like me baffled by the negative reports and one suggested that they could have been spoilers by other hotels ! I hope not as I trust Trip Advisor.

So enjoy Abu Soma there are amazing deals at the moment and you can stay with Mark Warner for little more that the cost of a B&B in Bognor. NO CONTEST

An amazing holiday...

We went with our two teenaged girls 15 and 17 and had a really grat time.

Our girls were in Mark Warner Indy club and we never saw them they were having a great time with all the others of similar ages. They learnt how to sail and windsurf and a participated in a number of other activities. The swimming pool is huge and always space available.

All the staff were very friendly and beach staff saved us our particular sunbed everyday. The Mark Warner staff could not do enough to help and always ensured we were happy.

The food is plentyful and very tasty with a number of resteraunts to choose from you will never go hungry.

Rooms are very large with ensuite and great facilities. Alcohol is expensive but we got around this by buying at the airport before we left. (remember a bottle opener £9 to get a bootle of wine corked!!!)

None of us were ill and there was very little report of any others being ill.

Looking forward to going back this summer!

Having read some of the reviews with trepidation I wondered what I was going to. The worries - in our case anyway - were unfounded.

We booked through Mark Warner. It is very "off season" there now with hotel under 20% full and Mark Warner had 20 rooms booked (they can have over 100).

The staff were all fine - polite, helpfull and chatty - especially if you approached them - the chefs for example will expalin all the local dishes, how to prepare them etc. The main restaurant serves a range of dishes - there may be similarities to the previous days menu - but if you work your way around the various tables you can have a different dish every day.

Extras (drinks, water, beer etc) do have the 10% sales tax, 12% service charge and 2% if you add it to the bill. But you would normally tip anyway - so just don't add any extra tip! Water was about £2.50 per 1.5 lt bottle - but it was £1.86 at Gatwick (past security) so you do not save much taking your own. A trip to the town (18 Euro return per person) wipes out any savings you make there.

Extras were reasonable - beach towels free - Sunsail Antigua charge for them - so it is swings and roundabouts. If you want wine every night you have to pay - that is the same anywhere.

We went for the watersports - and except for the inconsistent quality of wind - the staff and MW can not be critisied on this.

If it is calm then the Captain Nemo boats on the beach (and others in the nearby marina) will take you snorkelling on the reef which is well worth the trip. There is a "semi-submersible" submarine for those who like to stay dry.

There are trips to Cairo (£199 by air), Luxor 2 day and 1 day etc - but minimum numbers of 4 must book - so we missed out. Worth sorting out your fellow travellers when you arrive to make sure you can make up the numbers. The Mega Safari (£45 per person) is 8hrs of fun in the desert - quad bikes, sand dune jumping etc etc and a "Disney style" Bedouin camp - but the food and entertainment is good.

We liked it - already thinking about a return trip next Jan - and we have only been home 12 hours!

My husband and I have been in Egypt for 4 years and have stayed in a lot of places. This is absolutely the best hotel we have ever stayed in! The food was excellent, the staff were the most friendly and helpful, and the resort itself is beautiful and very well maintained. I'm not sure why people said the cleanliness was not good - I checked the bathrooms per other reviews and found nothing wrong with them, private or public.

For a "do-nothing" vacation, this is definitely where to stay - nothing to do but lay at the pool or the beach, or sit in the (very nice) English lounge. Prices were no higher than they are in any tourist resort in Egypt, and I enjoyed our stay there more than any hotel in Sharm el Sheikh.

We booked our trip through Mark Warner and have to say it was a brilliant holiday and we were very impressed at the service throughout from Mark Warner staff.

The resort itself is beautiful. We booked the panorama suite and it was HUGE with the most amazing views of the red sea.

If travelling with children and booked through MW this place is great. The children's club organises lots of fun activities for the kids everyday and the carers are lovely. The resort also has it's own playground with climbing frame/swings/slide for all hotel guests if you're not booking through MW.

The resort offers sailing and lots of other water activities. Also there is a dive centre nextdoor to the resort which offers fab diving/snorkelling trips. We went on a snorkelling trip to Soma Gardens and it is a MUST. The underwater life of the red sea is absolutely beautiful.

If travelling with kids you can leave little ones at your MW or the hotel's own children's club when going on such trips however if your young one (like ours!) is a little on the clingy side the diving centre were fine for us to bring him along on the boat. And in fact he loved it!

Be warned if you're travelling here during the winter months like us then few things to watch out for: The resort is deserted!! It's a resort catering for around 800 people and there were no more than 100 guests during our week stay. It was a little like a ghost town at times - the beach was deserted! But the great thing was we had all the facilities to ourselves and given extra attentive service! Also if you are holidaying here during this time make sure you bring a few cardigans/sweaters as it is a little chilly/windy in the mornings and evenings. The weather does also mean that the 3 beautiful pools you see in all pictures of the hotel cannot be swam in as the water is freezing! Thankfully there is the gym's outdoor heated pool which is nice enough.

The only negative thing I have to say about the resort is the spa needs lots of updating. I booked a massage while there and I was not that impressed. The spa facilities are minimal - a small hot tub, small steam room and small sauna.

Food at the resort is OK. Cafe Stella puts on large spreads at mealtimes - brilliant fresh pasta station (our toddler loved it and had pasta everyday while there!). Highly recommend the lebanese restaurant however of course this is not included in the all-inc package. Nice for a treat. And watch out for the wine prices - very expensive!! And to put it subtly Egyptian wine is not great at all!

The beach was gorgeous - clean, big, staff at hand to provide towels and food/drinks. The grounds of the resort are lovely to walk around. However the hotel is pretty much in the middle of no where - literally when you drive outside the resort it is just desert. So if you are wanting more than just a resort holiday - this is not the place for you, unless you're prepared to do a few overnight/day trips to Luxor or Cairo for instance. If however, like us, you're looking for some relaxation time where the kids are happy too and there are lots of activites at hand - this is the place for you.

Lastly I have to mention if you are travelling with XL airways do not have high expectations - in fact have none at all. It is pretty appalling in everyway. And if you are travelling with little ones I would recommend packing some food for them!!

I thought the resort was lovely. The beach was fantastic with one side sheltered from the wind and the other side perfectly windy for water sports. There was a shelf that enabled you to walk out to sea a long way and which was great for learning windsurfing as you only had to step up on to the board. Our 4 year old loved it. Mark Warner have a great set-up on the 'Waterfront'. We really enjoyed our ride on Casinova the camel along the beach. The pool and hotel grounds were lovely and the rooms were high quality. I thought the staff worked really hard and were very friendly and I didn't feel we got hassled. I saw it as part of the service that people asked you if you wanted a massage. I did - bought a course in fact - and thought they were some of the best massages I'd ever had. The cash machine won't work with your debit card but it automatically changes cash (GBP,EUR or USD) into Egyptian although you might need to get one of the tour guys sitting nearby to show you how this works. We went on the sunset Try Dive which I'd recommend for beginners and on the Mega Safari. It was hot riding quad bikes in the desert in the middle of the afternoon but lots of fun and great to see the Bedouin village and some of the local arts and crafts. We all got tummy upsets but take a supply of imodium to stop the cramping and you can live with it although it was the worst aspect of the week. The onsite restaurants are good. We enjoyed the Greek the most. A bottle of water was £2 (18EL) but it was a litre bottle served in the restaurant or bought to you cold round the pool. It's a muslim country and alchohol is expensive but there are happy hours at several bars so best to buy your wine then.

When my 4 year old is a bit older, I'd love to go back and get more involved in the water sports as a family. There can't be many natural spots on earth so perfect for water sports.

Having read many reviews of hotel have just returned from a week at Abu Soma booked by my friend and I at short notice.

Hotel has excellent location and it clearly states it is 40 mins from Hurghada so did not expect mush surrounding hotel apart from desert. Beautiful seafront location with superb sunny weather but such a shame about the prices of all extras especaily water which one cannot cut back on in the heat. Even the staff seem aware that prices are inflated but cannot do anything about it despite protesting to their managers. My frins and I became teetotal after buying one bottle of wine the first night and making it last more than one night. Not much fun not to be able to have a few drinks on holiday!!

Still although I got a mild dose of the Egypt tummy people have descibed on their reviews I suffered a lot less than others I heard about and met - this is not good enough for a 5 star hotel like this

All in all we had an enjoyable holiday but it could have been improved by a sensible approach to pricing and a real desire on the part of the hotel to help less guests succoumb to debilitating tummy upsets

Hotel was very quiet. Staff were very friendly and polite (I couldn't say the same for the other guests though).

Nice beach, clean rooms and good food but expensive drinks (take your own spirits with you and just buy the mixers).

Many people were ill from the food while we were there.

The holiday was good value for money, but the night life was not that great. All in all a good holiday!

The InterContinental in Abu Soma is certainly a clean, well managed and nice place to stay, providing you are not looking for anything 'authentic' in your Egyptian residence! It certainly is a bit 'mock-flinstone' meets 'mock-venitian' in its appearance which the 'Russians' certainly seem to like......of which there are PLENTY! Buffet food is of a good standard + dinner and breakfast, although food ouside the main resturant is a bit 'limited' and unimaginitive, did not really want cheeseburger + chips after a morning scuba diving! Anyway, we did not come here for the hotel specifically so were delighted with the extensive water sports facilities provided, the main purpose for the visit. If you love sailing, kite surfing, wake boarding, windsurfing and scuba diving this really is a great place to visit. All come at a £price though so make sure you pack your wallet more than your suitcase! Things can get a bit pricy here (£32 for G&T + club sandwich by the pool) but if u want to stay in 5¤ resort that's what you should expect I suppose. Anyway, for a water sports packed, exciting week in very good accomodation I would recommend this, providing you have a few £'s you are willing to spend while you are here.

A family of four, and a last minute booking for some sun, sailing and tennis, we read the reviews on this website with some mixed feelings. As others have said, we needn't have worried. The resort is beautiful, the rooms are large, clean and what you would expect from an Intercontinental branded hotel. The food is buffet style but varied and very good for both small people and adults alike. The biggest bugbear for all the Brits - and this is a message for YOU Mr Main Man Hotel Manager - is the price of alcohol. The bars are great but empty, as the price of a gin and tonic is approx £12.50 sterling! Wine prices start at approx £29 for a bottle of local red, not including taxes and service charge at 12.5%! As most of us in business explained to the Mark Warner management (who agree), a 30% reduction in prices would result in a more than equal cash margin gain, as a result of the increase in volume consumed!! Our advice - take duty free, avail yourselves of the happy hour on the beach early evening, and/or go almost tea-total for the holiday...it's a great weight loss method, we guess.

In terms of childcare, Mark Warner once again delivered in fantastic style. The kids were desperate keen to get to club each day and video club at night. They did lots of activities on the beach and inside when the sun was hot. There are also organised trips to scuba and snorkel for those older kids, which was fantastic.

If you are a salty sea-dog, the wind is mostly very good for sailing, windsurfing and kite-surfing, but it can get very gusty which brings everyone but the best of the latter two activities in off the water. When it is this windy, the beach can be a bit much to bear with a book, but the health club pool is in a quadrangle and also heated, which suits very well at this time of the season (the other pools are brassic cold!). Tennis courts are hardcourt, the balls fly fast and it can be a bit too windy at times during the day to play "seriously" if that's your bag. Nevertheless, the coach is a fab "Guy" from Scotland and we all had a great time.

We also went with Mark Warner and rate the holiday as excellent vaue for such a smart resort, with really good buffet breakfast and dinner included. Room was very smart, large and clean with good views from balcony. Low occupancy made for a relaxing atmosphere and good service. Weak Sterling makes extras expensive - get used to it, and if you like a drink before dinner take some duty free with you and just buy the mixers. The only clue that you are in Egypt is the very friendly/helpful local staff and constant sunshine. The resort is quite isolated and local towns looked uninteresting. Take another holiday if you want to see Egypt.

If like us you've experienced Mark Warner in the med, I think you'll find this resort lacks the ability to deliver the sociable friendly experience you associate with the MW brand - being part of a large hotel dilutes the brand, and I think the MW team give in to it - they react positively to their guests requests, but do nothing to try and create the MW experience at the resort - if you accept that its still a fine holiday, but I would not recommend the resort for singles. There is no nightlife.

Sailing, kite surfing areas are great. It is windy - can be very windy, but resort has lots of shelter, and there are also sheltered sailing areas for learners.

Give it a try and have fun.

We went with mark warner who we've holidayed with several times, including Dahab last year. Generally it was a good holiday with plenty to do, diving, watersports, horse-riding, tennis and as ever excellent childcare from MW for our young son. Great weather was a bonus and the standard of accomodation and food was on a par with our previous experience in Dahab, ie buffet breakfast excellent, lunch and dinner sometimes better than others, but perfectly adequate at worst. Flexible eating arrangements on half-board package allow you to swap meals around and get hefty discounts at the non-buffet restuarants for dinner, though these are pretty average. The gripes about booze prices are entirely justified, only local beer at £3 (perfectly drinkable) is remotely affordable otherwise it's £40 for a bottle of Jacobs Creek!

Biggest drawback is there's absolutely no social life, probably due to cost of booze and lack of happy hours etc. MW organise a couple of small events in evening but most guests (hotel only about 10% full when we went) seem to just retreat to their (spacious) rooms. So if nightlife's important then don't come here particularly as there's no town etc nearby. Otherwise its fine, particularly if you want a sporty holiday and/or childcare and it's good value if take advantage of the big discounts MW are offering, just bring your own booze!

What a relaxing place to get some winter sun - and what a lot of sun there was, perfect.

I booked through Mark Warner, who, considering the problems with XL have managed to rearrange all of there flights with new carriers with little dissruption. The flight left at a reasonable time, although I would advise taking your own food and drink as it is very limited on the flight.

The hotel was huge and so were the rooms, and we had great sea views from our terrace. We really felt like we could get away from everyone. We also had no trouble getting sunbeds on the beach, even when we rolled up later than normal with a slight hangover!

The watersports were great, and run really well by the very friendly Mark Warner staff, who were very on the ball with everything.

One piece of advise would be to take a taxi to the local suopermarket and bulk buy large bottles of water, they work out at about 20p for 5ltrs - and no tax! Also go out to the local bar, Dive under, brilliant and so so cheap.

Thank you Mark Warner, a great holiday.

This hotel has a fantastic lobby, very opulent with a koi pond around a piano bar, with a pianist every night. A lovely pool with dramatic caves and waterfalls and a nice clean beach. Very windy though all the time we wre here. Not a lot of entertainment in the evenings, but a daytime programme of various activiites. The kids club must be ok as there were children there but we never saw them.

The majority of staff were very pleasant and helpful. The rooms are large and clean and the beds were "very firm" to say the least. Most rooms have a sea view.

The food was ok, nothing special but we never got poisoned either. They can decorate bread and pastry a million ways. We thought El Tannour is probably the best restaurant.

They have a stables with some nice arab horses in with names like Shakira,Madonna and Michael Jackson.

The resort is quite large, but like most other hotels in this area far from towns etc, transfers are available and there is a free transfer to the cascades spa and gold, otherwise transfers are quite expensive we thought, only 18 euros to Hurghada, but 90 euros to go to Makardi Bay golf.

Very popular with russian travellers, although it was very quiet while we were there. They were making cute gingerbread houses all over the place for christmas while we were there.

Ok, before we went out to Abu Soma, we were on here many a time getting a real idea about what to expect. I vowed to add our voice upon our return to help anyone else going so here goes...

We booked through Mark Warner-I wouldn't do it any other way as their panoramic suites were outstanding (we could have fitted 20 single beds in the living area for the kids instead of the 2 we needed) The flights were surprisingly good, as a budget airline we didn't know what to expect from XL but were pleasantly surprised from check in through to baggage delivery, one of the best services we've ever encountered and getting my hubby to fly anything other than business is nigh on impossible! Hurghada airport was a shocker though, especially the return flight where we were accosted from the moment our coach arrived, by hobbos wanting to carry your bags then getting very aggressive if you say no to them.The whole system is corrupt, even the officials have their hands out offering to let you jump the queue for cash.Don't do it, just get inline and go with the flow, it's far safer.Also, buy any camel souvenirs at the airport going home as the shops at Abu Soma have very limited choice and it's all terribly expensive.All our son wanted was a cuddly camel and having searched high and low without success, we were met with a sea of them in the duty free shop for about a tenner! Ok, it does sing in a very tuneless arabic voice but I'm betting that once through the washing machine will silence it!

Anyway, back to Abu Soma.The hotel complex is huge though I reckon after a week or so, anyone would get cabin fever and a trip to Luxor or up the Nile is well worth the additional expense.Talking of expense, take your own snacks and if you have picky eaters (our 4 yr old is a nightmare) take favourite foods, diluting juice etc as the choices are quite limited and as lunch worked out at about £40 for 4 of us, can be a bit expensive especially when the food itself is pretty ghastly.Don't get me wrong, breakfast was adequate, fruit, cereals etc but as Brits, we were warned to avoid eating the cheeses, scrambled eggs etc as there had been a nasty bug the week before we arrived which wiped out more than half the Mark Warner guests but did lead to everyone being given 4 bottles of water a day which is very welcome as it is extremely hot and water is extremely expensive! So by lunchtime we were hungry but the best food is at the beach bar where they'll rustle up a large slice of pizza or a tuna roll without you having to raise a 2nd mortgage! As i have already said, it is very, very, very hot out there.Our air con could only go as low as 24 degrees and when we came into the room it felt like we had hit a wall of ice-thats 24 degrees!!!! It must have been at least 38 degrees out there and without the wind it would be impossible to move around, just too exhausting.The mornings are the best time to catch the wind and take littluns to the beach, but take litres of factor 50-even if you tan, you'll need it!Casanova the camel is well worth a ride on the beach,he's lovely and it only costs a fiver.We also did snorkelling trip on a glass bottomed boat.The kids loved seeing all the fish so close up and at 3 hrs, was just long enough to be out on the water.The water sports are superb and the staff are very attentive and professional.Even my husband was sailing by the end of the first week, and I could stay on a windsurfing board for more than a nano second.So-back to the hotel.When we were there it was only at 30% occupancy but there were loads of staff, some more helpful than others but if you tip your favourites at the beginning of your holiday, they can't do enough for you! The rooms were keep very clean, the fridge well stocked and the sheets were changed daily.The hotels own laundry service was amazing and very reasonable, with all garments returned in individual bags beautifully ironed.Don't over pack, we had far too much clothing, the hot wind on the balcony will dry even soaking wet rash vests and shorts in under 30 mins, it was amazing.The food, as I have already suggested is definitely not 5 star and after a few days it does get a bit 'samey' Forget all the complaints about paying more for the other restaurants, at a fiver a pizza the italian is ok, but get them to deliver to your suite as the time it takes them to serve in the restaurant was a joke, especially as there were only 3 tables full, we actually walked out as our kids were just too hungry to wait.The coffee is lovely, especially in the cool of the huge reception area in the evening.The cafe is raised with a moat full of ornamental fish running around this which our little guy was fascinated with but I was pretty sure he was going to end up in there with them at one point.Which brings me to the subject of safety.There are lots of pools and ornamental ponds in Abu Soma.They look great but are unsupervised so if you have non swimming kids, beware.There isn't really anything to do in the evenings and although we thought this would be a problem with our older boy, after a day on the sea, he was pretty exhausted and more than happy to go back to our suite, into the cool and watch cartoon network before lights out.

So-to summarise.

Resort-excellent

food-hmmmm average take loads of Pringles,snacks and treats for the kids

watersports-best we've ever encountered

staff-fab room service staff-tip them well

airport-pretty scary, don't let anyone touch your cases!

rooms-lovely

medicine-take antihistimine and mozzy spray, I was bitten on the first night and ended up with a large absess on my ankle which kept me out of the water for days.The doctor was brilliant but a bit trigger happy with injections and medicines but my final bill was only £90 ( a lot better than the £700 bill for ordering soft drinks and snacks during our stay!)

Anyway, hope this was of help-enjoy the photos

Resort chosen purely for the climate and the sailing - but we were delighted that it was in such a beautiful location and that the hotel was as comfortable as it was as well.

Mark Warner experience fantastic. Staff enthusiastic, energetic and great instructors. Children loved the kids club (as did we!).

Hotel experience slightly mixed. General hotel/waiting staff were wonderful, really friendly, loved the children and many had very cheeky sense of humour which was lovely.

Breakfast was amazing. Huge variety of food, fruit, cold meat, cheese, cereal, yogurt, hot food and the most extraordinary selection of pastries and doughnuts that I have ever seen. We soon learned to eat a lot at breakfast, however, because our half board meant that we had to pay for lunch which was ruinously expensive wherever we chose to eat. Bottles of water about £3 for example, and when you can't drink the tap water you don't have a choice.

Buffet supper included in half-board was Ok, but nothing special. The best thing about it was the fruit - lovely bananas - and the bread, which like the pastries at breakfast was exceptionally good.

The other restaurants at the hotel served very good food, but very expensive and with incredibly slow service - Egyptians' concept of time bears no relation to ours! As we were on holiday it didn't really matter though, and we just booked our table earlier accordingly.

We had minor problems with stomach upsets, but not serious enough to have any impact on our holiday. Just don't eat unpeeled fruit or salad, avoid ice cubes and you should be fine.

Hotel facilities pretty good, but we had to pay extra to use the tennis courts which we thought was pretty cheeky. The outdoor pool was very cold, I suspect that it is only really used during the hottest summer weeks. There was a heated one (photo attached) which was fine, if a little small for fitness training. Never used the gym or the spa, but they looked good.

Hotel management fine until you had a problem. We had difficulties in paying our bill as the hotel bank 'ran out' of money and closed early on Thursday so we couldn't cash our travellers' cheques. We didn't realise that it wouldn't reopen until Friday afternoon by which time we would have left for the airport. I didn't know my visa pin number and it took three different visits to reception, speaking to three different receptionists before I found one who was prepared to make a phone call and arrange for me to sign my slip as I didn't have the pin number. Unneccessarily frustrating and unhelpful. There was a cash point in the hotel which took maestro, but nobody told me about it until an hour before we were due to leave. When we found it it was broken, and being mended so we only managed to have cash to buy souvenirs for the girls from the hotel (expensive and rubbishy in general) half an hour before we were due to leave the hotel. Annoying.

Fellow guests in general well-mannered and fine to get along with. Hotel inundated with Russians, some of whom were quite difficult to live with - stealing sun-loungers from under our children's bottoms, barging in queues and shoving our family away from a lunch table under an umbrella at the hottest time of the day. But such cultural differences weren't really a problem as it was such a relaxing place, and it taught our daughters the value of good manners and patience! Russians only tend to be there in large numbers at Easter though if it puts anybody off.

As far as the sailing/watersports are concerned, make sure that you make a detailed check to find out what the prevailing winds are like when you plan to go, because this can vary hugely. During our second week there was only one day when it was possible to water-ski for example. We had quite a variety of winds, and had a few days which were totally unsuitable for beginners at sailing/windsurfing, basically everything. On balance it was fine, but I would recommend that you make detailed checks about this if you are there purely for sport.

Snorkelling was amazing, highly recommend the half day trip out to the nearby reef.

We would gladly return for the Mark Warner experience. It is a relatively small MW resort, and there were plenty of boats and there was lots of individual attention.

Hotel good, but not consistently worth its supposed five star rating.

Hotel building was great and the rooms were nice and clean. The food was buffet style but it was good and tasty not always hot though. The hotel was full and it was difficult to find a table outside and the atmosphere in the main restaurant was a bit like school dinner time. Every night we had to listen to the childrens disco which was held by the pool...'the okey-kokey' and the birdie song. Not very romantic. The other down-side was that it was difficult to find a sun bed during the day. The dive operation was good and the boat the best option. Looked like it would be good for kite surfing but we didn't pluck up the courage.

Very mixed reviews on this website so thought i'd add my thoughts.

We went with Mark Warner on what looks like a very good 2 for 1 deal, inc flights and half board.

The hotel and rooms are fine- not quite 5* but a high 3* or decent 4* place. Good size, nice bathrooms- lack the classic finishing touches you get in genuine 5* but at the price we couldn't really complain.

The food: half board in Cafe Stella is acceptable. Breakfast and supper is fine- again average 3* food, a decent range of food and you can eat a lot, so good value for money. We avoided the salads (being cautious) but 2 of us still managed to get a slightly upset tummy- almost to be expected in Egypyt.

The resort: good facilities, yes the pools aren't heated but at 35 degrees it wasn't a massive issue and the sea is close by, warm etc.

Mark Warner: unlike their European locations they lease a small area and do not own the entire site. This really does make a difference- much fewer staff and the scattering of MW guests along with other people means you don't get to know people as well as on other holidays. There also aren't quite enough MW staff to cater for the number of guests there- i guess being a newer and smaller resort it's not the ideal place to go for a gap year- as much more isolated and less supported.

Water sports are well catered for but they do struggle to get everyone involved if there's a lot of demand.

Tennis: unfortunately only 1 tennis coach- great guy, but he's very stretched out there by himself and there's no cover if he's ill (which he was). Would be good to keep building it as a tennis resort but generally was poorly attended- which is a shame as the courts are nice.

Staff: MW staff as expected were friendly and helpful but as mentioned above and in other reviews there's not the same camaraderie as other MW venus.

Hotel staff: mixed. Polite, attentive. The spa/ massage guys really do chase you and try to sell hard to you- i had a chat with one of them and it's actually an area leased by intercontinental so the guys are paid commission to sell products to members. They do border on the rude/ aggressive but having understood how they are paid i now understand. We actually had a massage- mixed again, some good, some bad/ just a rub with oil!

Gym: actually poorly equipped, some old machines, free weights- it's quite a small space and not state of the art but sufficient for a week.

Spa area has a nice sauna and steam room. Plunge pool is not cold enough- same temperature as the pools!

Costs: Don't bother taking cash except for airports etc- not worth it as they don't really accept it in the hotel and short change you! 12.5% + 2% is added onto everything you charge to your room. Water is £2.50 a bottle - to be expected in a resort. Alcohol is taxed VERY heavily- it's a muslim country. 4 G and Ts come to circa £50 and a bottle of Hardy's wine that would cost you £5 over here, cost us £50 in the restaurant. Having read other reviews we were aware of this and bought duty free wine and took it with us and had a drink on the balcony first. it's slightly annoying as would be nice to have a drink with supper but you can work round it.

Overall: not a bad experience. We had a good time. We probably wouldn't go back to it, but at the cost MW are offering it at, it's decent value for money. And the weather is steady and predictable!

The hotel is nice and the private beach is lovely and accessible any time. Mark warner sports centre is great people are friendly and the choice of water sports and sailing is amazing. It is a shame that the other restaurants of the resort are not included in the package as they are very tasty but fairly costly especially alcohol. Wine cost a fortune. Good place to go with kids but I would recommend to book via Mark warner as they have loads of activities organised and that would be included in your package. Same to trip to Luxor this should be booked via Mark Warner. It is really worth going to Louxor for the day. There are nice free activities organised by the hotel such as yoga, acquagym, gym, volleyball,salsa etc. that was a good and fun add on.

I too like many others picked up gastroenteritis so was unwell for 7 out of 11 days. I then got dehydrated so needed to be placed on a drip for 45 mins. The Hotel Doctor was wonderful though.

The standard of this hotel is not what I expect from an Intercontinental. The hygiene leaves a lot to be desired. One incident was a little boy's nappy having heavily leaked in the restaurant they cleaned it up with furniture polish!

The service was very poor to begin with but did improve after a few days when we learned the owners were in town.

On a positive the Junior Suite was a lovely size and we were located near the pool which was perfect. On a down side the pools were very cold and our one year took about 4 days to get into it- he was braver than me!

The food in the main restaurant wasn't bad, of course a little repetitive being a buffet but look out for the themed evenings. Otherwise most evenings we paid 15 Euros pp and ate at the other restaurants which I would recommend.

We tried to bring water into the hotel which was turned away so beware you're paying £3 per bottle. Alcohol too so expensive. House white wine revolting but red not so bad! Bring your own though and make use of the happy hour 4-6 in the pool bar. Hotel cash machine didn't take international cards the whole time we were there. In room films also have never worked according to a laughing reception worker!!!

All in all disappointed in the hotel and not a reasonable holiday once you add the extras but one bonus ended up losing half a stone instead of putting it on!

We arrived back yesterday after a week as inmates...sorry...guests. We read the reviews before we went and I've just read the latest ones and although we agree with some of the sentiments expressed, we had no issues with cleanliness, we quite liked the beds and thought that the food overall was pretty good.

However, this is Africa and just because no vacinations are required, we did not understand why parents of children under 4 would expose their sometimes multiple offspring to a 5+ hour flight, temperatures in the 30's and blistering sunshine. Additionally some parents seemed unaware of the need to be vigilant about personal hygiene (such as not leaving plates of food unattended so that the birds could alight on them) and using bottled water for teeth cleaning as well as drinking.

The location is perfect for water sports - the sunshine is almost 100% guaranteed and the wind is omnipresent which is what you need for sailing, wind surfing & kite surfing.

That said, with the exception of the Barrakuda dive centre and the Mark Warner watersports, it seemed to us that this hotel's business model is fatally flawed. The shame of it is that I believe it could be much better than it is.

You are in the middle of nowhere, a captive audience. The hotel plan seems to be to drive up revenue by charging extortionate prices for everything (water, beer, wine, massages, food etc) whilst driving down costs by means of petty rules and regulations which make you feel like a criminal when taking an apple away from the restaurant.

The result is fairly predictable. The bars are empty so there is no atmosphere. The leisure staff have nothing to do (€50 for a massage), the night club had zero people inside when we looked and a culture of 'beat the hotel' has grown up around food & drink. For sure we found ways around the system (contact me for some tips) but it was both hard work and quite fun but I would have preferred to relax.

A good starting point for the hotel would be to treat the inmates as guests, reduce the price of a bottle of water by 65% (the dive boat can do it and make a profit), reduce wine, beer, spirits and mixers by 70% (the nearest town can do it) and reduce massage prices by 50% - then watch the difference in atmosphere & customer satisfaction.

In addition to mild Delhi Bellys which we accepted as going with the territory, we had a major issue about keys. What sort of hotel is it that for 4 days can't give it's guests a key to have free and unfettered access to their rooms - oh, ok, maybe it was a prison after all!!

Other illogicalities included Internet access being relatively much cheaper in their business centre using their equipment than using the internet connection in our bedroom using our own laptop. Still expensive though.

By contrast, the Barrakuda dive centre is a well organised operation that focuses on customer needs, is flexible and runs like clockwork. I can't score them separately on this review but I'd give them 5* If you go in a quiet week it's 1 on 1 dive tuition which is very impressive. They have the added advantage that the water around the reef dive sites is crystal clear (there isn't any rain to wash sediment into the sea) and the diving ( and snorkelling) is up there with the best in the world.

Finally, Mark Warner.

It was our first experience of Mark Warner and I'd use them again. The water sports centre is very well equipped, very safety oriented and the staff are friendly. However,like anywhere, some of the instructors are first class and some less so. The programme of activities is comprehensive but make sure you establish what is free and what you must pay for. In general, if you just want a boat (there are 6 types) or a windsurfer or a kayak then it's all free. If you want to take a course leading to a qualification (eg RYA level 1) then it costs. The notable exceptions are the 'clinics' for 'rusty improvers' which are free and an excellent idea.

The $10 per person discount that MW have arranged when dining in the other restaurants is good and one of the best meals we had was in the Lebanese. But we did get drowned out by the children's disco and it was one occasion when I was restrained from throwing the DJ's microphone into the swimming pool.

Summary.

Overall, we had a great week and despite the obviously poor management of the hotel, the lower level staff were fine. We had a low season deal for this week via TravelZoo and on that basis, I would recommend the deal to a friend. If we had been faced with a peak season full price rate, then, on the basis of the other reviews, we might have gone somewhere else. Except one of our party wanted an open-water diving qualification and I wanted to sail.... so who knows?

Finally, if hotel staff are reading this, in exchange for quite a lot 'in kind' and also a fat fee, I'd be willing to put together a business plan that would turn these poor reviews into good ones!!

This is a huge resort built on a very nice beach 25km south of Hurghada. The architecture is kitschy Italian Renaissance combined with the Flintstones for the water features. This is mass market tourism at its peak. Everything you would want is within the resort and you really are discouraged from leaving (it's an expensive and long hotel car ride to Hurghada).

The hotel staff seems to be severely abused. Most work 7 days a week, 12+ hours a day and they are very tired. Management is indifferent.

Everyone seems to be on half board with dinner at the buffet which is a feeding frenzy of mediocre quality.

The beach is very nice. Water sports (sailing, kite boarding, sail boarding) are good but expensive. There is an excellent SCUBA dive center that is well run with good equipment and great dive instructors and dive masters.

Recommended if you like a totally enclosed self sufficient environment and don't wish to interact with the local culture.

Hotel:

Great place for soaking the sun and the sea. Well managed with really pleasant and helpful staff. I think it is the greenest of all the resorts in Hurghada. Spacious rooms - great lay out such that almost all rooms have great sea views and balcony. Lying in bed watching the night-lights across the bay, or waking up watching the turquoise blue sea were such great pleasures. Don't know what other 5star hotels are like, but this one certainly had the opulence to make it one. Mini bath tubs – so no romance there! Plenty of beautiful pools, but only one is heated. Who cares – head for the sea! Don’t take any towels – plenty of fresh towels every where for the beach.

Hygiene:

Cleanliness is generally very good - however full of dust (expected for a desert land). Contrary to most reviews, did not have any stomach troubles (stick to bottled water). Did not wash mouth with bottled water either (but did religiously use Listerine after using tap water!)

Food:

We went on a half board package (buffet BF and Dinner). Plenty of choices, although nothing special to write home about (i.e., no exquisite top chef cuisine - clean and good food and plenty of it to keep you happy). Included meals can only be had from one restaurant (the main one - Cafe Stella) - but in fact, the others were always empty (Greek, Italian, Lebanese, Sea food - closed) - so I would not want to be the only customer there any way! BF includes drinks. But, for included dinner, you need to pay for drinks including water. Water is expensive at LE15 per 1.5ltr at the hotel. If you can, buy a whole crate full, before you leave the airport. Besides, everything has around 12% service charge and 10% sales tax on top. And if you charge it to your room, another 2% on top! – So, pay cash at the restaurant.

Shopping:

WARNING: KEEP AWAY FROM THE HOTEL SHOPPING CENTRE.

These are independent shop keepers who pay a rent to the Hotel. Because the resort is located a cool 50USD taxi trip from the nearest town and shopping center, they know people fall for the trap. And we learned from experience what a trap it was. Paid LE250 for 400 grams of Egyptian Hibiscus tea (Karkade) from the Hotel spice & exotic oil shop. Thought it was a good deal when we haggled it down from LE400. Only until when next day a manager at the hotel told us it costs no more than LE30 per 500 g!!!. They generally hike up the price some unbelievable 15 to 20 times what locals would pay. Then you haggle it down to half, they would still have ripped you off big time! And they do this at all shops there - mainly because they know that people who come to a 5* hotel are reasonably affluent, probably have very little local knowledge, and are trapped in the resort due to its remoteness from other shops, and lack of competition. Of course it is the basics of a free market in action - but to me this was sheer disgusting robbery. And they are exceptionally good at smooth talking, swearing in the name of God (God forgive them) and giving you a welcome drink and free gifts. Opposite the spice shop, there is a souvenir shop - that's even worse! Never ever seen such aggressive in your face selling and gut wrenching greed and rip off mentality. Worst is if you don't speak Arabic, the thought that they really laugh at you and take the mickey with their colleagues - or at least you feel like that. Left us with a real bad taste and spoiled two days of what was other wise good break, and really could not trust any of the locals any more. So, if you are planning to include some shopping in your holiday, you may wish to reconsider location of the resort. Or, if you really want to buy souvenirs, my advice is to try and include it in a paid excursion to Hurgadha (£25pp day trip) and venture in to the town bazaars - sure, they will all quote sky high prices - at least you have the choice of different shops to compare and decide. A third option is to try and get to know one of the local hotel staff (they all expect and get tipped any way - and ask them indirectly, how expensive are things etc - don't ask direct, or they will either not tell, or worse, stitch you up with some shop for commission!). Finally, unless you really know the value of something you are buying, or are desperate, never pay more than c. 30% of the price they quote. We also later found out that shopping at airport (departure) was a relatively better option - plenty of shops with lot of choices - and certainly prices more close to real life. To break our heart, we found the said tea bags being sold at fixed price of Egyptian Pounds 14 for 100g!! We were stupid and learned our lesson... Also, don’t fall for buying any exotic items (oils etc) they sell on the beach – not genuine.

Water sports:

Great for surfing, etc etc, diving & snorkelling. If you are planning to take a diving lesson (facilities at the resort), and are doing it for the first time, insist on getting your initial training at a pool. I went to open water when the sea was choppy (Force 4 according to instructor, who thought it was ok), and was asked to jump in to some 3-4m of pounding sea! – Jumped, panicked and bottled it!!! But the guys were great and offered to do it again another day (I chickened out!) and so they charged me only half (€40 instead of €80).

Semi-submarine trip:

Not worth it at £27 (GBP). The sales material has some colorful photos & videos- but you are unlikely to see them on the trip - most corals looked Grey (dead?) and there were not many fishes. I suspect the amount of powered boat activities in the vicinity have started to impact the marine life. London aquarium (for those who can go there) has more marine life at £13 (two for one if you take London trains!).

£70 (GBP) Trip to Luxor -

One day bus trip, great lunch and generally pleasant albeit long trip - 6-7 hour drive. Great tour guide from hotel (Marhaba Travels) who was really in to his subject. But, most tombs are closed for restoration/maintenance. Also, need to pay LE100 extra to see Tutankamen's tomb (and corpse). Finally, unless you are an expert in Hieroglyphics, the tomb visit will be over in under 5 minutes a piece - there are absolutely no explanations in any language to say what is what - you just see the writings - the guide will not come into the tombs. - and after one or two, they all look the same (no photos or videos inside either). The temple visits were great. However, the mini bus driving was scary to say the least. The highway to Luxor is mostly single lane; but with different speed limits for different types of vehicles. So vehicles are in a way forced to over take - and overtake do they do - at one point, our mini bus was overtaking another truck, which was overtaking another lorry - and I started saying my prayers...! Having said that, in the seven hours of driving, never came across a single accident - but in the one hour we drove back from Gatwick to our house on the famous 3 lane M25, we passed a really awful car crash! The guide will take you to a village factory that hand makes pots, bowls and statues out of all kinds of famous stones – Alabaster, Onyx, Basalt etc. And then you have a chance to buy them. They say it is fixed price – don’t believe a word. They quoted LE1000 for something and someone in our group bought it for under LE400!

We went with Mark Warner – great package – great staff, and very well managed overall. No complaints at all (cramped flight is what you get for what you pay – and non stop weeping babies (lot of them) – that’s what babies do – so no complaints there either). Their local partners (Marhaba Tours), were also great. Tip – if you book local tours etc through them, ask and you WILL get discounts! Its like, haggling and tipping is a way of life.

Overall, the resort is best for pure relaxation – and for water sports – although I personally would not support motorboat activities, as I think it wont last long. If you have shopping in mind, think again.

We had heard great things about MW holidays and we were really looking forward to this holiday however our first few experiences of this hotel were shocking. Upon arrival we were unable to take dinner in the main restaurant (due to sick child) and had to order room service, this was fully charged and I asked for a glass of house wine.... I was told they don't do wine by the glass so I asked for a bottle of house wine which he quoted at 1000 egyptian pounds!! I questioned his price and he said he could do it for 500... My last recollections of egyptian scams from a previous holiday in Cairo re-surfaced!!! We felt the resort was beautiful but isolated and therefore you were at the hotel's mercy & extortionate pricing for lunchtime meals/snacks and all drinks. You could spot the Half Board guests at Breakfast as they were 'secrectly' squirreling away food to last them til dinner. The MW staff were great and the childrens club was fantastic however we will only go on another MW holiday if they control the resort 100%.

not a five star hotel and the food is below average.We spent extra on top of our allowance to eat in the italian restaurant every night as the buffet and greek options were not good.Vegetarians not looked after.

Rooms good.Beach pleasant.Charged 22% on top of everything. Water expensive and not included at meals.Boring at night with little to do.Excellent for diving and bad tummy.Isolated.

We booked a last minute holiday to the Abu Soma Intercontinental Hotel with Club Mark Warner. We thought the holiday seemed excellent value and wondered how we could go wrong with an Intercontinental and Mark Warner half board package.

Mark Warner did not disappoint. the waterfront was very well managed by the team and as long as one looked out to sea, the setting was quite beautiful.the team were absolutely charming.

However the hotel is set in a desert miles away from anything and the view of the desert is punctuated by electricity pylons and very little else. The hotel is reasonably clean in most public areas however I was disappointed to see dirty ashtrays left on the beach from the day before and because of the sheer number of guests eating at the Stella buffet restaurant the tables and chairs were often not clean - sticky place mats and sticky cushions on chairs . I found it very unprofessional to be presented with a drinks bill for the wine and water before the meal was even over and this happened every night. I thought the hotel looked a bit like Disneyland with mock rocks around the swimming pool and mock wood on bridges , it could have been an Indiana Jones film set . Concrete liberally used rather than real stone or wood.

The rooms are spacious and well appointed - good light in the bathrooms, good strong shower but the beds are so uncomfortable, rock hard. I asked for a softer matress but was told they had all gone! I thought it was very strange when Tory from Club Mark Warner sent us details re departure times etc. and warned us that the hotel would be locking the minibar 24 hours before our departure. How mistrustful! I suppose this policy highlights the type of clientele this hotel is used to!

I was extremely surprised by the poor hot buffet offered by the Intercontinental. Our first night hot dogs! The fish was frozen and overcooked and tasteless, so disappointing in view of the amazing stock of fish in the Red Sea. Beef and chicken and turkey dishes, bland, undercooked or overcooked and often dry. I mainly stuck to vegetarian ! I think the executive chef was experienced at mass catering, perhaps for the army! Judging by the wastage, other guests were equally uninpressed. The pastry chef however is excellent, a wide selection of breads and cakes. If only the savoury hot dishes could have been so inventive. How hard is it to use spices and herbs and provide a decent selection of hot dishes?

We ended up eating four nights a la carte in the Lebanese Restaurant and the Greek restaurant. The latter was not much better and very expensive. the Lebanese is definitely the best. But even this has its negatives. The children's disco at 9pm is right next to the restaurant terrace, so you either have to eat inside or put up with silly songs. The Abu Soma supposedly has five restaurants but the seafood restaurant had not opened yet and the Italian is in the shopping centre - very unappealing.

I thought the spa was a joke. I booked a pressure foot massage and salt scrub on heels. Suffice to say it was a waste of money.

I asked to meet the general manager of the hotel to give him some general feed-back but the guest relations manager told me it would not make any difference!! this speaks volumes. The hotel is happy being mediocre.

Three scandinavian single mothers with 5 teenagers spent Christmas here - and first of all - the teenagers loved the luxurious surroundings and spacious rooms, and tasty roomservice at all hours. The mothers however, were treated in a patronizing manner by assistent managers in reception, restaurants and security staff in lobby. They suspected we had not paid our stay in advance, and reminded us every day. Eventually when their internet lines were ok, we had to go with them to the Internetroom to find receipts. So the hotel staff does note have a professional way of treating guests and not good enough systems. In the end we felt suspected of all kinds of things - and when we all enjoyed a dinner at night we were contacted at the table asked if we had paid for our breakfast!I guess most guest had all-inclusive package, which we did not have, and that created problems - which should not be necessary in a 5 star hotel. So our advice is - book through a touroperator or choose your internetsite carefully and show your receipt at check-in and demand respect and do not smile or try to be friendly-it might be misunderstood. However, the hotel has a lovely pool-area and is probably more exciting with a lot of guests staying there.

We had originally booked with Mark Warner to go to their Dahab resort. However, this was cancelled with 2 and a half week's notice due to Mark Warner being unable to secure the contract with the hotel. We were therefore transferred to Abu Soma and received a very ungenerous £40 as compensation for the inconvenience caused!

Abu Soma is an impressive resort with a stunning hotel lobby and generously sized rooms. However, the standard of service was quite far from impressive or generous. The staff on reception were unhelpful and rude. The standard of room service was seriously below par, with dirty glasses not being cleared away, flannels not replaced and shampoo bottles not re-filled. It was impossible to be served dinner without at least one inappropriate comment from the Egyptian chefs.

If you are going to Abu Soma then please take our advice. Take duty free drinks with you, as the cost of drinks is extortionate! Also take a supply of snacks (crisps, chocolate etc) if you want to avoid having to pay the crazy prices they charge for lunch (not included). Be prepared to pay approx £2.50 for a bottle of water. This includes about a 12% tax and a 12% service charge (which they add to everything!). Don't be tempted to put extras on your room bill as they will add a 2% room tax as well which stung a few of our fellow travellers. Wacth out for staff rounding prices up as well and giving you incorrect change.

Now for a few positives... The Mark Warner staff were helpful and the beach area surrounding the sailing equipment was brilliant. Stunning views and a perfect spot for relaxation. The watersports run my Mark Warner were well organised and always accompanied by friendly banter.

The breakfast and dinner served at the main restaurant (Cafe Stella) were very good. Lots to choose from and generally of a high standard. We also managed to avoid getting food poisoning!

All in all, if you are going with Mark Warner then the part of the holiday run by them (ie the watersports) is brilliant and their little patch on the beach is outstanding. The hotel, however, is most certainly not 5* because of the incredibly low standard of service that it offers.

To echo what most people are saying:

Expect lovely weather & great watersports, but also a high probability of food poisoning, very poor customer service, and drinks which will cost you a fortune over the week (even if you just drink water as they rip you off for £2 per 1500ml bottle, and you have no choice as you cant drink the tapwater.)

We have just returned from the Abu Soma where we also got really sick for over half the holiday. We met a number of people who had also got ill from eating at Cafe Stella. It was really distressing seeing our 3 year old throwing up violently as a direct result of the food here.

Aside from the sickness, the quality of the food was really quite poor.

On top of this, the only reason we booked the holiday was because of the 5 hour flight. When we arrived at the airport we were informed the plane now went via Athens making the flight 7 hours. We were never pre-warned of this and it would have been a total deal breaker for us with two very small children.

On the way back we were seated around alot of old people who complained about our children (who were being pretty well behaved for a 3 year old and 18 month year old). I expected that a Mark Warner flight would be child-friendly. In fairness, the flight attendant was lovely but there is no free water or anything on the flights.

While the weather was great, childcare good and beach nice there were a number of other things that added up to really stop this being a truly good experience

The service wasn't great and culminated with us being woken up at 11.30pm on our last night by someone asking to add up our mini-bar! Minor details like the pools are quite cold and too deep for children under 3, you can't get a beach sunbed because people go out and put towels on them at night, and it is hard to get served a coffee with milk at breakfast in the morning all added up to making us feel that the Mark Warner brand really disappointed. This holiday was worth about £300 and not ten times that.

We returned from Abu Soma last night. Three out of four of our family went down with diarrhoea after 48hours. We couldn't put our children into the Mark Warner clubs or go diving because of it. It was only on the plane that I realised that a large proportion of the guests from the hotel and the Mark Warner staff had been ill too. Why were we not warned by the company? Looking back at reviews this problem has been going on all season. There is a serious problem at this hotel. We were not affected like this when we went there in December 2005.

On another note, why did Mark Warner not warn us that following the collapse of XL Airways, the new carrier Viking uses smaller planes which have to refuel at Athens, making the journey time 71/2 hours. Also there also only is a limited range of food to purchase on the plane, and none on the return journey when they also ran out of water.

Well it's a fabulous location, great beach, lovely sea, peace and quiet. The hotel itself is also fantastic, it's truly 5* great buildings, lovely rooms with views, wonderful architecture, spacious lawns and lots of swimming pools and other facilities such as health centre etc.But, there are some drawbacks. First and most importantly the evening food is definitely only 3* Spanish buffet at best - very repetitive, often cold and piled up - very poor presentation, some of it was at times best described as slop. If you hunted you can find something you like but you'll soon tire of this menue!!! The breakfast though was always very good, hot and cold choice - fill up on this while you can. Second, the service is really quite poor. The staff are generally unhappy, don't smile, don't acknowledge you, don't offer to help, everything seems a chore. You'll usually have to pester to get served coffee with your breakfast or drinks with your meals. Third, some things are very expensive - drinks for example, local wine is well over £20 a bottle, don't even think of import it's far worse. Cocktails (over £10) and beer (£3 a small tin) are only affordable at happy hour. Coke £2 a small tin. All local prices have to have added 12% service charge ( what a laugh given the poor service), 12% local tax, 3% for credit card and unbelievably another 2% just for charging it to your room!!!. That can all add up to almost 30% more than the local quoted price. AND the staff expect tips on top of that !!! So in summary its a great location, great infrastructure but poor service, disappointing evening meals and expensive extras..

We flew to Hurghada just after XL airlines went bust. Mark Warner had managed the whole process of changing airlines efficiently and without fuss. althuogh we had to refuel in Athens, which extended the flight to 7 hours, it was fine considering the alternative! Our entry to Egypt was the best I have ever experienced - again thanks to Mark Warner's efficient operations.

The Intercontinental is impressive to look at and our room had fabulous views from the balcony. However, the hotel is the only place to buy bottled water, at rip-off prices - we reckoned we were spending £10 per day on water between the 2 of us. The restaurant seems impressive, with a wide range of food, but within 3 days, most of the people we met had come down with tummy upsets - I was ill for a week and have never suffered so much as a twinge in any other Egyptian resorts.

Mark Warner's windsurfing location was disappointing. Ther is a sand spit extending out into the sea - seemingly ideal, but they insist on beginners and intermediates staying on the windward side of the spit. Here, the waves pile up to a steep, choopy, 2-foot swell which it is very difficult for inexperienced windsurfers to sail in - most frustrating when we could see the calm, flat waters to the leeward side of the spit, but Mark Warner staff were reluctant to take their rescue boat round to scoop up those who couldn't stay upwind and just sent them back to struggle in the big waves. Shame, because what instruction we did get was great.

Mirroring the next review along, our experience here was a little mixed....

We travelled with Mark Warner. Decent enough, but I wouldn't describe XL airways as anything other than budget - like a long haul Ryanair without the crabby staff. Don't expect complimentary food & drink or any legroom! They ran out of food by the time they reached us anyway. And the overnight return flight is an ordeal to be endured.

Transfers to/from the airport were great. Met be a very friendly Mark Warner rep who gave us all a lowdown on the hotel, activities etc. Room keys handed out on the coach, so no fussing about in the hotel when you arrive at midnight.

First impressions of the hotel - excellent. Wonderful atrium, lovely pools, fantastic beach, nice rooms (although the bed was CRIPPLINGLY hard).

The food - be warned, you'll be sick of it by day 3. Although it's a "half board" package, all you get is breakfast and dinner at the buffett (no sign of any meal vouchers for the other restaurants as promised in the Mark Warner brochure). All you have to buy is lunch, which sounds fine, until you realise the nearest town (Hurghada) is a 45 minute coach ride costing $18 per person, so the only choice is... the hotel restaurants. Money spinner??? Makes you wonder why you bothered going half board. TIP - get a last minute deal with MW. We saved £350pp and would've been even more annoyed had we not done so! Apparently you can bargain them down on the phone still further (according to the Sunday Times!)

The buffet is ok for a 3* travel inn, but for 5* you expect something far better. They cater for a lot of russians and germans too, so quite heavy on meat dishes. As described previously, be careful what you eat - we were part of the previous group that was struck down by the food. Quite a horrendous experience. ( a visit to the hotel doctor will set you back €55 minimum )

The other restaurants are ok, but still nothing special. Italian is probably the best, but if you want wine with your meal it costs about £18 for a bottle of the house, with the rest costing £30 - £80! Beers and cocktails are similarly overpriced. TIP - buy a few bottles of spirits in duty free at gatwick. Will be an absolute godsend by the end of the week.

Another warning - water. You can't drink the tap water, so it's bottled stuff only. Again, wouldn't be a problem if there was a local town you could pick it up cheap at. Costs nearly £2 a bottle in the hotel. Doesn't sound like much, but bear in mind you'll have sweated half a litre by the time you've walked the 50 yards to the beach. Come the end of the week when you check your hotel bill, you'll be rightly annoyed at having shelled out £100 or so (for 2 people). TIP - take a trip to Hurghada on your first day, and bring back as much bottled water as you can - costs about 30p a bottle there!

As mentioned by another reviewer - you will get cabin fever by the end of the week, and start to feel like you're on alcatraz. There is nothing in the vicinity of the resort other than miles of featureless desert, and there are several guards/checkpoints at the entrance/exit road to the hotel. Pretty much the only way in/out is by coach! Definitely take a day trip, even if you're only there for 7 days. Organise it in advance too - no doubt the hotel will try and rip you off if you book it out there.

The "shopping centre" in the hotel is terrible too - naff, overpriced shops staffed by (mostly) in your face locals trying to flog you their junk (it really is tat). TIP - avoid like the plague.

Some of the local males are quite interesting too - expect to have your wife/girlfriend proposed to by members of the hotel staff. They are quite forward, to the point of being ridiculous.

The good points:

Fantastic watersports - MW staff are great, chilled out, accomodating to all levels. You can use their equipment whenever you want, they run regular sessions on sailing & windsurfing, the equipment is decent and can cater to various levels. We had a brilliant time windsurfing and sailing. Didn't try the diving as the guy in the diving shop said there aren't any particularly brilliant reefs in the locality.

Beach is fantastic - great for chilling out and getting a fabulous tan. Beautiful clear sea, and consistently sunny & very hot weather.

Hotel pool is brilliant too - there's a pool bar which you can swim up to & sit there in your trunks drinking a beer. Nice touch. The faux-rock waterfalls are quite good too, and it makes a change from swimming in the (very salty) sea.

To summarise - nice enough for a one off experience. Beware of the food/water/alcohol pitfalls, and if you like a change of scenery every few days, this probably isn't the place for you.

A small glass of wine costs nearly 5 pounds....and the staff are not very helpful at all.

There is literally nowhere to go outside the hotel so don't expect to see anything of Egypt.

Clearly some people have been very unlucky with their experiences of this hotel (my family included). Some have been luckier or have lower standards. 5 star should mean 5 star. This hotel is by no means 5 star. Hot water and cleanliness are essential in even basic hotels. We had no hot water for half our holiday and the place was filthy.

We have visited this hotel more than once, standards have dropped and the cut backs have been made whilst the price has still increased.

We have just returned from this dreadful hotel with Mark Warner. The Hotel looked promising really nice foyer and pool. The food was dreadful, a complete lack of hygiene everywhere inside the hotel. The cleaner banged on the door 3 times a day for a tip, all drinks very expensive, staff couldn't be bothered and were rude. Spa staff hassled you all the time on the beach and by the pool to book a massage. But the worst of it is food poisoning, leaving you feeling really ill even after a week of returning home! I would encourage any one going here to make sure they have all the vaccines needed for egypt, boy you will need them! If you book a boat trip with nemo bay expect nothing more than a boat with a bit cut out of the bottom and some glass masticed in and red love heart cushions everywhere!! On a high note the dive center was great.

Not recommended at all at the moment 80 guest and only a few lucky ones didn't get the gastro-enteritis. The Mark Warner staff did not inform us on arrival and no further information or help during our stay. A ruined holiday would not recommend this resort as a mark warner holiday the staff were very nonproactive and sleepy at everything including sports. The hotel is as it says in the brochure but lacks any soul and life. Very clean food lacked flavour and life.

PLEASE PLEASE do not book this hotel for your holiday! This is the most Horrendous place we have ever stayed!

We booked for 10 days and were both struck down with gastroenteritus for 5 days!! The queue at the doctors was amazing.... i have never seen so many people hit with the same thing! 2 women we got talking to ended up on a drip, and a little boy from one of the families was taken to hospital!

The service from staff was disgusting. Many would laugh at you with other co workers because you could not speak the kanguage and when asked to do anything they would roll their eyes and walk away! This is NOT what I expect from a £700 ahead 5 * holiday!

The eating places - apart from Cafe Stella which was BEARABLE - were all horrendous and were the obvious causes of the many illnesses. Fly infested food lay sitting around on uncleared tables for HOURS, chairs were sticky, cutlery filthy and tables covered in grime.

The watersports section was the only good thing along with the beach and the Mark Warner people were good.

The price of everything is also ridiculous - £3.50 for one coke and £2.00 for one bottle of water. And the taxi's also cost a bomb!

The location - when looking out onto the sea is lovely, but once turned the other way, you are in the middle of a desert with a load of electricity pylons everywhere you turn. The nearest place is 1 hours drive away and costs $40! I would not reccommend heading out of the hotel by foot for the fear of being attacked by wild dogs - one man was bitten by one when we stayed.

The hotel pool is FREEZZZZINGG! Even the children around would jump in and get straight back out again!

Rooms were good sized but filthy. dead fllies on the floor near the window, bathroom smelt awful and the door did not shut properly. I asked 4 times for it to be fixed - do you think it was? No. The matresses were as hard as concrete and could be swapped for soft ones - except there is a limited amount and they were all gone by the time we could drag our bodies from the room after the 5 days of constant vomiting.

I just want to warn anyone considering this hotel NOT TO GO ! PLEASE do not do it to yourself and those travelling with you! We stayed for 7 dasys out of 10 - 5 spent in the room dying! I am not usually like this about anywhere and love holidays but this one was not worth 1/10! Please just don't go!

Very simply great location terrible service. Simple advice is don't go. My partner and I along with many others suffered indifferent to poor service, severe gastroenteritis and a large bill at the end of it. There is so much of the world to see avoid this hotel at all costs!

Bad experience,rude employees & manager,

they refused to let a friend to come & pick me up after I finish my vacation ,& told me I have to use the hotel shuttle bus for 40$.

The air conditioned kept non working for over 4 hours until it just worked by itself (it was 38 degree C)

the bathroom light kept unlighting till we left (we stayed for 4 days)

a room service guy wake up us at 8'oclock in our last day to check if we have anything from the minibar & lock it with a key in a rude attitude.

they insisted upon our arrival to have a full payment for all the days we are planning to stay so we couldn't check out after we see thier horrible service

the most worst thing that I 've e mailed Intercontinental international to raise a complaign but unfotunately nobody replied till now

No wonder this hotel is almost empty!! We went with Mark Warner and have 2 small children. We had no hot water for 3 days, the pool was not heated for 4 days. The air con would not work so room temp never fell below 25 degrees. Broken glass lay on the hotel grounds for 3 days despite repeatedly telling them about it. Most disturbing of all was the fact that the Childcare block was being refurbished by local workmen whilst the kids were in club. Stanley knives and screwdrivers were left unattended in the kids play area!!!

Flight home with Viking airways was delayed and due to technical fault a smaller plane meant stopping at Athens to refuel. Mark Warners attitude to my written complaint was shockingly dismissive... in particular to the health and safety issues regarding the childcare. We wont be going again. I am not surprised they have cut price offers on the web if all there customers are treated like this

Just returned from a week at the intercontinental with Mark Warner. What a disapointment! Having had a great time at other Mark Warner resorts and stayed at other first class hotels on Soma bay ( Sheraton and Cascades) we were really looking forward to a fun holiday. The rooms were OK except nothing in them worked eg fridge, phones, hot water, etc , and the food was acceptable, although many of the guests suffered from one stomach bug or another. But the level of service was amazingly low with half the staff apparently not knowing what to to do and the the other half definitely not prepared to do it. The management was extremely poor seemingly only interested in enjoying themselves and getting as much money out of the guests as possible (very average quality Champagne £300+ per bottle on New Year's eve) Mark Warner staff were as heplful and jolly as ever but only involved themselves in waterfront and childcare activities. Definitely a place to give a miss!

This Hotel exists to rip you off. We paid GBP 37.50 for a bottle of Valpolicella tonight that would have cost £3.50 at Tesco (there is no local competition that you can get to). A small can of beer is a fiver. The food is absolutely disgraceful (no variety, rehash of prior nights food, same stuff day in day out, everything out of tins\packets). .Nice Hotel, lovely staff, lovely location, but only be prepared to go if you're prepared to spend GBP 1000 for very poor food and small numbers of drinks for a a family of four on top of your original outlay . I would never ever come here again.

Efficiently run, hundreds if not thousands of guests all reasonably well fed, plenty to do, etc, but the same could be said of an airport. If you are looking for a holiday with the personal touch, ambience, style and class then you will not like this place. The five stars mean nothing.

The beds have hard cheap mattresses.

The design of the building and the decor are an awkward mix of styles. There is plenty of natural stone, granite and marble used but the pastiche and the pretensions with no real reflection of Egyptian culture just result in an ugly mess.

A lot of the holiday makers are on extremely cheap packages mostly sold in eastern Europe and Russia. Expect to be buffeted in the buffet and do not expect a ‘good evening’ or an ‘after you’ out of any of them, a blank stare is the norm. There was quite an acreage of flesh around the pool spoiling the view.

The restaurants are a relief from having to eat in the buffet in the evenings but the food is really no better and it costs a lot more. I don’t remember one piece of meat during the entire stay that was not tough and tasteless.

The polite staff do mitigate but on learning that these hardworking people rarely if ever get a day off I was left feeling even more uncomfortable. This is a tourist machine that was a menacing experience for my wife and I but our three children loved it.

The local windsurfing and kiting centres are good. We had 8/9 days of 20 knots plus and the kit and the German staff at the Surfmotion centre are good. There an excellent shallow water area for beginners.