Just arrived back from a week at the Sonesta Club (9th - 16th August) - 2 adults and 1 teenage boy. At the time of booking the reviews were pretty good - we booked through Onthebeach.com. However the more recent reviews did concern us a little. We got there on the evening of the 9th, hotels never look too good at night so weren't sure what to make of it. Got up the next day and we were pleasantly surprised! The room was basic but it was clean and spacious. The pool areas and gardens are great - there is a quieter pool area and a livelier one, we stayed by the quieter one as it was closer to our room and was a bit more relaxed. The pool bars are good, the one by the quieter pool serves pizza and other snacks at lunchtime and the one by the livelier pool serves burgers, hot dogs, chips and other snacks - all included in the all inclusive package. The breakfast and evening meal in the main restaurant was a bit hit and miss - in fact my partner and I lost 4 pounds in weight which we were quite pleased about!! Wine is free in the restaurant but not at the pool bars.
We can highly recommend the health club, my partner and I both had the Cleopatra treatments and my partner's son even had a jacuzzi and face mask (after a lot of persuasion - he won't be telling his school friends about that part of the holiday!!) The entertainment wasn't great but it never is.
Went to Naama Bay one evening using the hotel's shuttle bus - LE 5 each way. It was an experience and you have to keep your wits about you - one man helped us across the busy road and then tried to get us into his 'art studio', of course we declined and swiftly walked on. Naama Bay is very busy and lively - definitely worth going though.
We also went to the beach at the Sonesta Beach hotel - sometimes used the shuttle bus, but it's not far to walk. The beach is quite small but room for everyone - you can't get your all inclusive from any of the bars, there is a special 'bar' where Sonesta club guests can ge their food, drink and towels - not much choice but ok. The snorkelling at the beach is good but you have to go quite a way out for deeper water. Whilst on the beach we booked two trips - one to Ras Mohammed, this is a must, the snorkelling is fantastic! and one to Cairo by bus. The Cairo trip was great, only £50 each but be prepared for an 8 hour trip there and another 8 hours back. A hard slog but well worth it, we went to the Egyptian Museum, a boat trip down the Nile, the papyrus museum, the pyramids/sphinx and also a camel ride.
We had an excellent holiday and could easily have stayed longer. So if you are worried about this hotel, don't be, you will have a great time!!

We booked this holiday through a travel agent and went with Thomson, so we only had their comments and the brochure as a guide. Upon arriving home I checked the hotel on TripAdvisor and got a bit worried. Some of the comments were very negative. So we went with a very open mind and on our arrival were very pleased with the hotel. The grounds are immaculate, they are constantly cleaning and tending the gardens

Rooms

We arrived at the Sonesta Club we were more than pleased with the way we were quickly and professionally shown to our rooms and our cases were sent to our room soon after. Our rooms were very clean and more important the aircon was great. Our rooms were cleaned every day and especially our girl’s room was tidied up and they made a real effort with towel arrangements on our beds. The rooms come with a television, hairdryer and a fridge to cool down the much-needed water, which you get unlimited vouchers from reception.

Pools

There are numerous pools spread around the hotel grounds which you can use. We were late risers so by the time we had breakfast and strolled down to the pools all the sun beds were gone. I have to say that people snatch up the sun beds very early but the hotel does have a policy where if a sunbed is not used for one hour you can take the sun bed. The hotel does supply free beach towels. The landscape gardens around the pools do have grass areas where you can sunbathe.

Restaurants

The main restaurant is next to the reception and is on a buffet style basis. They cater for all types of nationalities. We found the food varied and well presented. The waiters are very busy but always found time to chat and joke with you. They are on a very low wage so tipping them is a large part of their wages. All the drinks in the main restaurant are free and served in glasses.
The other restaurants are at the other bars and are open throughout the day serving snacks and alcoholic drinks, be careful the spirits are not measured so they can be quite strong. The drinks in the outside bars are served with plastic glasses I assume for safety reasons, because they are near the pools.

Tours, Visas and money

We went on three trips :- 1. Cairo ( by plane ) 2. Bedouine Evening 3. Ras Mohammed all were very good and worth every penny. You can either book with your rep as we did or in the hotel there is Medou who sells them cheaper, the choice is yours. Because they are outside the Sinai region you have to have a visa. You can get them when you arrive at Sharm El Sheikh airport in the arrival hall. They cost either $15 or £11 but once you have left the airport you will have to buy them from your rep who may charge more.
All major currencies are accepted such as Euros, Pounds Sterling, US Dollars, Canadian Dollars and Australian Dollars you might have problem with others like Scottish or Irish notes. If you are taking Pounds Sterling as we did the exchange rate at the hotel is better than in England we got 10.30 LE to 1 English Pound (Aug 08).

Naarma Bay is a short ride away but be prepared to be hassled. Its worth a trip there just to enjoy the lively nightlife.

I hope this gives you a some help but go with a open mind and enjoy.

We have just returned from a week at the Sonesta Club. We were a party of 5 teenagers and 3 adults.
Our rooms were very clean and cool.
The grounds of the hotel are well kept as are the pools.
As mentioned by others there are insufficient sun loungers around the pool. This leads to some very sad people getting up at ridiculous hours of the morning to 'reserve' loungers or paying a daily 'bribe' to the pool attendant. There are notices saying that the reserving of sunloungers is forbidden but in true Egyptian fashion this is ignored. We succeeded by simply asking for sun loungers and when the attendant was unhelpful we insisted that he either had to find us loungers or we would be speaking to the hotel Manager about it. Just being polite but firm worked very well. The other solution is if you can see that no one has returned to their sun loungers for hours simply remove their towels and use the loungers. It is unlikely that anyone will challenge you.
The food is o.k. I couldn't face 2 weeks of it though. But if you have teenagers the all inclusive works very well as inevitably they want to eat at different times to the adults.
The all inclusive drinks are o.k. if you drink wine, beer or fizzy drinks. There are no fresh fruit juices so I suggest purchasing these from the supermarket (5-10 mins walk from the hotel) and store them in the fridge in your room. The wine and beer are perfectly drinkable.
Yes, the bar staff are a miserable lot as are most of the waiters. The exception are the waiters who serve in the outside eating area who are always cheerful and helpful.
The staff in the Health Club are good. We recommend going for the Cleopatra treatment!
Lost property is held by the housekeeping department, I visited them several times as I have teenage boys :) and everything left by the pool had been handed in.
I disagree with other posts suggesting that the taxi drivers 'rip you off'. Agree the price for the trip before you get into the taxi and you'll be o.k. In the hotel reception there are a list of the prices you chould pay for local trips so there is no need to be ripped off.
The walk into Sharm is about 20 minutes so make sure you do this early or late.
Site Seeing Trips are a must if you don't scuba dive or snorkel. No one in their right mind goes to Egypt to sit by a hotel pool all day! We went to St Catherines Monastery and did a day trip to Cairo. If you know where you want to go before you leave we recommend booking your excursions before you leave the UK. We used www.sharm-club.com for the day trip to Cairo. We paid a minimal up-front deposit and the balance on the day of the trip. It was an excellent well organised trip exclusively for our group of 8 with a very good guide (ask for Abdul Moneim Gamal) and driver in Cairo. We wished that we had booked the St Catherine's trip with them as well then we wouldn't have had to spend the first hour on the coach just picking up from other hotels in the area.
Have a good holiday.

The Dodd Family From Cheshire. We stayed at Sonesta From 22/07/08 To 05/08/08. 1st of all Hot Hot Hot which is nice 36c at 0730am and 40plus in afternoon, the pool set up and rooms are nice, a good 8/10, the staff are nice and help full 8/10, The food not to my liking the main restrurant is a Free 4 All CANTEEN 5/10.The Entertainment is CRAP! 0/10. Over all we had a good time the diving and snorkeling is out of this world, met some nice people JACKIE and RICHARD and there two girls(Laura big phone bill Chloe told me). Also Kadda and Lynsey and there two lads from Liverpool. 3 of us went to Cairo by plane £400 which was a fare price reps wanted £187 each got trips off Milow walks round pool with England top on. Went on a Bedouin night £30 each DONT GO ITS CRAP!!! .. When you go down to Naama bay or old town watch your money if the can Rip you off the will !!! Haggle all the time 4 everything ,its a laugh at 1st but after a while its does your head in, remember once your out of the Euro Zone its another world. Take drinks to the airport 3 cans of coke £7 the final rip off before you leave. 1 more thing THE TROTS everyone i spoke to had it from all hotels keep some loo paper with you at all times. Overall Holiday had its good and bad points so 7/10 would be a fair rating in my view.