Sheraton Miramar Resort

I have stayed here on 4 occasions (and twice at the Movenpick), this is our favourite hotel based on the following:
The grounds, private beach and setting is superb!
Food is wonderful, snorkelling is great on the house reef.
Staff are excellent and so friendly.
The pool is nicer at the Movenpick but that is the only thing in my opinion, that is nicer than the Miramar.

Booked this as an add on to a Nile Cruise. The place was pretty quiet which is just what we wanted. The staff were really helpful & was always fussing about trying to make you welcome. The breakfasts were superb & after a good helping of whatever was on offer, usually everything, you didn't need much more for the rest of the day. The only reason I never gave the hotel a 10 was because I felt the restaurant & bar lacked atmosphere in the evenings. However with the free bus it was easy to find many decent alternatives 'Downtown' in El Gouna. The local beach is classed as an island which is easily with in walking distance. Certainly can't fault the resort or friendliness of the locals. Although it's a man made resort we'll certainly be going back again.

I read other reviews about this hotel before booking and people had said how lovely it was. I was disappointed. The hotel is average. Certainly not 5 star luxury I was expecting.
The hotel layout is vast and is certainly different. The design of the hotel is ugly but does have lovely views from the dining room and terrace. The rooms are a bit dingy and basic, but the bathrooms are spacious and have a lovely walk in shower.
El Gouna itself is very quiet and we were totally bored after one week. The weather in Dec/Jan is a bit hit and miss and was very windy so was not really hot enough to sit around the pool.
The hotel did provide activities during the day, i.e. beach volleyball, water polo etc. if you wanted to join in and the pool attendants were kind and friendly. There is a good hotel gym. Not much to do for kids, one pool table and two computers for a hotel of this size.
Any evening entertainment was outside but it was too cold, and many of the patio heaters were not working. The Miramar bar had a few tables but not nearly enough as the hotel was busy and people had nowhere to sit to have a drink after dinner.
We ate out most of the time and just came back to the hotel to go to bed; there were never any tables free if we had wanted a drink at the bar.
Egypt itself is so cheap to eat out - then why was the hotel so incredibly expensive? Not just drinks, that’s expected in Egypt. Example - at the pool bar we bought two coffees, two cokes and two plates of fries - cost £14.
We ate at the hotel Piscina Italian Restaurant, why would a risotto dish cost over £16? It wasn't even nice. Some friends had brought us a bottle of champagne over as a New Year present and we asked to open this in the hotel bar - they charged us corkage of £15 and that was after an argument as they had initially insisted on £30!
No jippy tummy everywhere is clean and the security around El Gouna is reassuring. Very little pestering from the shop keepers, in general they were friendly and genuinely pleased to see English people.
There were some lovely restaurants and bars at the Marina and we loved travelling in the little tok tok's. The hotel provided a good bus service.
The New Year's Eve party was fantastic a big effort from everyone involved at the hotel. Well done for that - but overall a forgettable holiday.
I would not visit El Gouna again, but if I did then I would stay at the Three Corners Ocean View right on the Marina - its only three or four star but its great.