Sunrise Island View Reviews

Please take 5 mins to read this review. I dont wish to sound like a 'Know it all' but iwish i had read a review like the one i'm going to write, before i had travelled. My wife and i travelled to this hotel on Mon 20th Aug 2009 with our 8 year old son. Firstly the hotel is impressive.A nice big grand entrance with helpful staff. On this first floor it leads round right to the 'Victoria bar',Italian restaurant and various little shops. The staircase leads down to the eating areas indoor & outdoor,where you are met on going outside with pool1 (the largest and busiest of 4 pools) complete with bar to the one side and poolside bar. There are 3 other pools at different points throughout the massive complex. Pool 2 is also quite busy.( the 2 slides exit into pool1 & 2) Slides are supposed to be for over 12's but if your child is 7 or above and a competent swimmer you should be ok. No 'T'-shirts made of cotton can be worn in the pools for sun protection (nylon style footy shirts are ok) something to do with the cotton sticking to pottential blisters! Pool3 is for over 16's only. The 4th and furthest away pool is pool4 at the bottom by the beach and 'Fatimas' restaurant. 'Pontoons' lead out into the sea and you've got to snorkle off here.It's amazing.Even if it just to wear googles and look under the water.It's like a scene from 'Finding Nemo'. Food is fantastic with loads of choice. Rooms are spacious. The grounds and gardens are spotlessly clean and constantly groomed by the hard working groundstaff. Now after reading other reviews,here comes the helpful stuff. Out of about 40 staff, 3 or 4 are really helpful, 3 or 4 are really unhelpful,and the rest are just ok. You can get away with just taking English money(you can pay everywhere in English) DONT TIP EVERYTIME (pound coins seem to be the best).Find a waiter who will look after you and tip accordingly.If you look after them they will in turn look after you. We tipped a waiter £4 on the first night and did'nt see him again. DONT book trips with the 'Thomas Cook' reps TOO EXPENSIVE,book witk the guys who come round the pool areas.(the boat/snorkling trips are outstanding). The plastic glasses are'nt the pretiest or most hygenic.They are worst for wear to say the least.(take straws and use) Take disinfectant hand gels(the money is dirty). Take the fob off the keyring and leave in the holder in the room for 'permanent aircon' Hide/Remove un-used bottles of water out of fridge.They get topped up daily if you dont have any.(canned pops once a week). Brush your teeth with bottled water. Sunbeds are a problem.Do you...A; play the game,get to the pool at 8/9am and find find there are no sunbeds.....Or B; .. Get up at 5.30am everyday to put your towels down...you decide. The two restaurants are the Italian (good) or Fatimas (not so good) you have to book both of these and do so as soon as you get there as a 'week waiting list' is not uncommon.Both are worth a visit. There are daily games by the pool (polo,darts,aerobics etc). The Thomas cook reps are'nt interested unless you're booking trips. All in all a good holiday,great hotel and great food.

the hotel was a excelllect place to stay in, the food was something diffrent what a change to most of the hotels. the weather was hottt! staff was frenindly. the best resturant for dinner was the beach resurant. gotto go in there gawjus food! the best bar was the victoria bar. hade a fantasic time and would many times come back too sun rise veiw again.

Beautiful hotel , loads to do would recommend to young couples and families. Very clean and helpful and kind staff.

Fantastic holiday experience first time in Egypt. Good choice of hotel all inclusive feature. Room was lovely and kept up to a great standard by our room attendant Akmed. Food was of a good variable choice in the main restaurant and our experience was enhanced by a great waiter called Hassan. He was always keen to ensure everyone was well catered for, which really made you feel an individual amongst so many people. We enjoyed the itialian restaurant which we visited twice, choice of food was good and we went once to Fatimers on the beach which has a lovely atmosphere though the food was very spicy which is great if that is what you like We made most use of pool 3 as this was the quiet pool which suited us. Met some lovely holiday makers along the way, the recreation team made your daily time around the pools enjoyable especially Mohammad and Ali who were at our pool over the 2 weeks. One negative about the pool is that people still put there towels on the sunbeds very early sometimes 6am, (once on the last night towels were put out on 5 sunbeds at 11.45pm!! Ridiculous) we could see from our room. There should be a rule that towels should not be put out before 7am or will be removed and if towels are left on beds for more than 2 hours during the day then again they will be removed to give people a chance of beds. Sometimes because we were at the sunbeds all day we noticed towels lying on beds for sometimes more than 4 hours. The recreation staff should be allowed to remove towels after a certain time with management support. Other staff members who enhanced our stay with there happy attitudes and helpfullness were Abdul Towel and recreation, Hany one of the recreation supervisors who always worked hard along with the other staff. Barman Sherid, Mohey,and Hanny along with Amir in the Victoria bar. All the staff worked hard to please and did help make your experience enjoyable. One thing I would say is there was always a lot of managment presence which sometimes felt a little overpowering and I did wonder how necessary this really was ?! Would definately go back to this hotel in the future. Keep up the good work.

We spent 2 weeks here and without a doubt, the best money we've ever spent. We went all inclusive, meaning we didn't have to worry about the cost of drinks and food around the hotel, but wasn't so much more than it didn't stop us visiting Sharm El Sheikh for a change of scene. Not that the cost of food and drinks are expensive anyway, given their local exchange rate.

After 2 weeks you can imagine that the same food would appear on the buffets quite often, so it was nice to go a la carte or outside the hotel from time to time. the two onsite a la carte restaurants were worth booking, one Italian, to make a change from the main restaurant area that is usually a buffet choice.

We spent extra to get a view,our balcony had a sea view including Tiran island. This also meant we were quite close to the pool furthest from the main building, which I believe is specifically for adults, so didn't have to worry about kids and the pool games that would happen in the main pools nearer the main building.

They had an outdoor theatre for entertainment, which was better than I expected.

Taxis into Sharm el Sheikh didn't cost much, so we also ventured into town on a few evenings to try out local restaurants and bars, and do some shopping.

We didn't venture to any of the public beaches, we did spend some time on the hotel's own private beach and walked along the pontoon though we didn't actually get into the water, but it looked absolutely beautiful and no doubt was teeming with tropical fish of various colours.

Now, some tips:

* When shopping, never pay the price they tell you - haggle, I know that's hard for British people, but Egyptian markets are all about the haggling.

* When outside of your hotel, if you're in the company of a woman, expect to be asked how many camels you want for her. I'm not entirely sure if they were joking or not :)

* When you find a good waiter or if you've got a good room attendant, it's well worth tipping £1, because they really do go the extra mile, it seems, such as leaving your new towels shaped like hearts and other things :) Just make sure you don't waste it on someone you'll never see again.

* When you go on excursions, remember to take your own loo role, most toilets outside of the hotels usually have a toilet attendant who will sell you loo paper per sheet.

* Also at the airport, expect to be asked if you want your baggage carried, for a small fee.

* Well worth taking the trip to Cairo, but be warned, a day trip by coach is a REALLY long day, and you need another day to recover from it. Better to stay over in Cairo, or go by local plane. We were lucky to spend 2 weeks in Egypt, so we could afford to lose a day in sleeping in order to visit the Pyramids, the Nile, the Sphinx, and the Museum. Just be careful of people offering tacky tourist gifts for extortionate prices - again, haggling is key, if you actually want them :)

* If you've got the legs for it, take the night time trek up Mount Sinai, and see the sunrise from the peak. It's quite surreal though, as you'll walk past shops selling western products like chocolate and soft drinks - commercialism on a holy mountain :) On the way down, take a walk around St Catherine's monastery, where the burning bush that spoke to Moses can be found. Again, expect to be bombarded by offers of a camel ride on the way up, and by kids telling you they're hungry on the way down - the fact that the elder men who run the shops and so on are carrying mobiles and dressed in named clothing suggests they aren't as poor as they make out. Again, this is a long trip, expect to be knackered when you get back, and get room service and an early night.

We picked this hotel after looking on this site and were not disapointed. We have 2 children aged 15 and 6 and the hotel catered for both ages. We booked a junior suite (which was all that was available) and on arrival thought it was a bit small so went to have a look at a family room (twice the square footage) but this was $95 per night more and there didnt seem to be that much more space so we stayed where we were. We spent little time in the room that it didnt make a difference. There are 4 pools but only one was heated and therefore very crowded. The attendant still managed to whisk beds out of thin air to accomodate people. There was a no reserving beds policy but that didnt stop anyone and everyone doing it. The beach is not the best on the strip with no real sand for kids to play in (more an orange grit) but ours still managed a sandcastle of sorts. The food was very good with good variety. There were complaints from the pie and chip brigade but we realy enjoyed it and it was a good way of sampling things you normally would never order in a restaurant. The drinks available (alcoholic and non alcoholic) were good but the local Gin was a bit ropey!! The kids loved the non alcoholic cocktails which were either lovingly created or thrown together in a glass depending on the barman. We have been to Sham and Egypt many times and this holiday was purely to relax and get some sun. We didnt leave the hotel as everything we wanted was there for this type of holiday. There was a shuttle bus to the resort and all the excursions were available. We did tip the sunbed man on the first day but then didnt tip anyone else until we left. Would recommend this hotel.

Very well planned, excellent service, you can do as much or as little as you want. The choice is yours. Tip the staff at the start of the hol and you will not regret it. As soon as you go into the restaurant the waiters rush to help you, same at the pool and the bars. Very friendly. We had a lovely time. Pleased with the room - we booked a junior suite - and as there were only 2 of us found it very spacious. Water and soft drinks are provided in the room even though the bars are close to hand. Wish we had known it would be quite cool on an evening as we did not take appropriate clothing, however we will be better prepared next time we go as we do intend to visit again. We only went on one trip - St Katherines Monastery - as we fully intended having a "chill out" hol. Again we did not wear appropriate clothing as it was very windy and quite cold. This trip was exactly as described - nothing spectacular - just a day out making a change from sunbathing.

For my first trip to Egypt i choose to stay at the Sunrise Island View Resort which turned out be a great choice. After reading many reviews of the resort and it's Hotels this one stuck out as being pretty reliable and suited our budget. Overall could not fault the hotel itself nor the staff, Be polite to them and there will be polite back ! Our rooms ( we had 2 me and the missus in one and the daughter & her friend in the other No's 223 & 224 ) were pretty good , clean and everthing worked without fuss ie Plumbing / AC etc. Beds were hard compared to our own but was not a real issue for us. Food was plentiful & varied for our tastes with the waiters working hard to stay on top of drink serving & clearing / relaying tables after use , They do work hard. If you plan on eating at the italian or chinese resturants make sure you book ASAP as they fill up very quick and are well worth a visit at no extra cost !. The complex overall was well looked after with gardens and walk ways very pretty and kept very clean. The 4 pools are well located , you don't have to walk far to find one, But only 1 is heated & this was the most popular / noisy during our stay. Despite the day time temp being between 20/23 degrees the other pools were too cold to swim in , The sea was far warmer ! ! . Beach was good with plenty of beds with drinks and snacks at the back of the beach nice and handy. You will get pested by the sellers of trips/tatoos/hair bits etc but we found once you had told them no the would not push it anymore but would still be polite and say good morning etc. Would go back to the same hotel with out question and Sharks Bay is a fine location in my opinon. We did do a evening trip to Naama Bay which i have to say was HORRIBLE ! ! . Pestered by the locals non stop from the time we left the cab until we reached Hardrock Cafe ( which was very good ) and the same on the return walk back to our waiting cab. Walking with 3 women in that situation was very unsettling and a bit scary ! ! Anyway - Good Hotel , Nice Resort , We Wil Return.

Just arrived back from 2 weeks holiday at the sunrise island view,excellent hotel right on the beach,i would say 4 star rating.This hotel has 4 pools to suit everyone.The weather was red hot,not a cloud in the sky for the full 2 weeks,take plenty of sun lotion.The staff were really friendly especially with the english where they appreciate a please and thankyou.There is a good selection of food for everyone at the restaurant and snack bar at the beach where they do hot dogs,burgers and chips. We flew with thomas cook,good service with both flights on time,which helps. All in all an excellent holiday,looking forward to going back!!!

The junior suite provided loads of room for the three of us in our family. No noise at all at night. 4 pools to suit eveyone (1 with bar, 1 with loads of activities, 1 quiet and 1 by the beach). Fantastic snorkelling on the reef. Great kids club from Thomas Cook. Food was OK but didn't really change that much even with the daily themes. The Italian and Arabian restaurants were a much better choice and if booked a few days in advance you could get in a few times a week rather than the once a week advertised. Service is polite but slow unless you are Russian in which case it's much quicker!

The best holiday i have ever had. Great for familys

Great hotel for the money, dont expect a 5* palace as its not. But for two weeks all inc I paid just under £400 with teletextholidays so I didnt excpect much. I was pleasently surprised. A really nice hotel but close to the airport. At times you could hear the planes taking off etc but after couple days you didnt notice it. Some apartments you could see the runway - only a handful out of couple hundred.

Food was fine, BBQ, Italian and main restaurant. Pool bar is fine - bit like pub food, burgers, hot dogs and drinks etc.

The location is perfect right on the beach. Snorkling was brilliant. We stayed by pool 4 as it was close to the beach. Pool and bar staff were great, they made our stay very enjoyable. I am a nighhtmare with regards to food, as I only like plain things no spice or garlic ect. I was very surprised at the selection of food available, I had plenty to choose from each day it was FAB!! The weather was boiling hot. We tried the quad bike trip into the desert. My husband and son loved it but me and the daughter didn't. When we booked it we were told not to bring anything, not true, you need a scarf for around your face and head, you can buy it from the supermarket or from the quad bike place. You need some money as they stop in the desert and you can buy cold drinks, photo and dvd of your trip. Tip to the ladies were a good suport bra, and wear something that you wont be wearing again as you get really dirty. We all had a hena tatoo, My son had a very bad reaction to his and ended up at the doctors, he wasn't allowed in the pool for the last 4 days. The first week we were pestered to have a massage or go on trips ect, but a friendly no thanks did the job. All in all it was a great holiday, would go back to this hotel.. The one thing that would put me off going to Sharm again was outside the hotel. The men were a nightmare with my daughter who is 14. Didn't feel comfortable at all, it put us off going to the market at the old town.

I stayed in this hotel in June 08, we were supposed to stay in the sister hotel but it was full up and weren't we glad as this was the best holiday ever. I plan on taking my son with me next time back to this hotel as it was such an amazing experience. Couldn't fault anything on it, highly recommended.

We stayed at the sunrise Island View fromt he 2nd june for 7 nights and found the trip to be excellebt, the staff could not do eneough for you and the hotel was very nice. We had a Junior Suit what was very big and fully air conditioned. The bath room was not great but as good as most in any european country. The food was good and plenty of it/choice with everyones need catered for. The beech is great with the reef at the end of the jetti, some amazing fish to be seen here.

We tipped the room guy on the first day and he looked after the room from then on in with bottles of water daily etc, also the waiters i gave one a tip and for the week he maid sure our glasses were full the whole time we were staying at the hotel.

Would recoment so much that we have rebooked for later in the year at the same hotel