Winter Sun. It’s a complex equation. How hot depends on how much time and money you have to play with. Then there’s proximity to Christmas break and even distance from the UK to think about.
It can be a careful juggling act to get rid of the January blues. The favourite has always been the Canary Islands, but hold on to your sun hats… Sharm El Sheikh on the sun-drenched Egyptian Red Sea is just five and bit hours from most major UK airports. And as Sharm El Sheik international airport is only 10 minutes away from the resorts, when you land you’re instantly there.
And going from -4 in London to the 26C early January heat of the Sinai peninsular is actually a world away. Otherworldly is certainly true for the Four Seasons Sharm El Sheikh – it’s so large and diverse you never have to leave. A spa, two gyms, five different pools, two dive centres, 3,000 palm trees and more restaurants that you can swoosh a crow-repelling stick at (more of that later).
In actuality there’s SEVEN restaurants and they differ wildly from the Japanese and Asian fashion at Yatai to traditional Lebanese at Zitouni and elegant Italian at Il Frantino.
You want to know how fancy this place is? It has a tram car to link the top and the bottom. In fact it has three. That’s fancy AND functional.
The best way to describe the attention to detail here is this (and stick with me on this one). One night I read a magazine on the toilet in one of the two bathrooms in our apartment. The next day the staff had noticed… and had brought me in my own reading table, placed handily at commode level. Now I don’t even have to use my hands.
You don’t get that at the Premier Inn….
Get some luxury
Entrance into the rooms is an event. One that can go on for quite a while.
We stayed in a King suite in the newer side of the complex with a large living room and dining area with large TV and sofa. Next door was a large bedroom with another massive TV (NOTE: You’ve not tasted luxury until you’ve watched Wrexham lose to Shrewsbury in a bed the size of Anglesey on TV screen visible from space).
We also had his and hers walk in wardrobes, plus a large bathroom and titanic bath that one of us was frequently getting lost in. The balcony ran the whole width of the suite and overlooked the beach on the Red Sea with the mountains of Tiran island in the background.
All that walking around your massive room means you need to unwind. The Spa was one of the features of the resort when it opened some 22 years ago and it is still now. They’ve had a lot of practice in how to reach those nooks and crannies you forgot existed.
We had an almost dream-like hour long massage with essential lavender oils from head to foot as they unknotted backs and avoided banana boat bruises from the day before. Emerging relaxed, we climbed a golf cart back to our room in our robes, ready for something to eat…
Eat, drink and be merry
Yes, there’s a lot of choice with the Asian-fusion Yantai being a particular favourite of ours with the beef dim sum and the Yantai Sashimi platter worthy of special mention.
There’s lobster roll at Waha for lunch, washed down with a Sakara Gold – the definitive session holiday lager that you’ll take at least two bottles home in your suitcase to remind you of better/warmer times.
Over at Reef there is a fresh catch of the day where we had a whole dorado fish (no, me neither). We’d thoroughly recommend the Egyptian wine which is a fraction of the price of the imported stuff but just as good, while if you want a beer that reminds you of home (Belgians, look away now) then ‘Stella’ is brewed down the road and is a close copy of its ‘reassuringly expensive’ pal.
The restaurants seldom get busy in winter months, but sometimes you don’t want to eat with everyone else. And that’s just as well if you fancy a private Bedouin breakfast on a hill top overlooking the dive boats on their way to the Tiran straits.
Fresh fruit, fetter, hummus, kamiya (or falafel), baba ganoush and honey – it kept coming and by the end the rug in front of us was covered in every conceivable flavour and texture. Food-wise that was the authentic highlight of the holiday but you can’t spend your whole day eating and drinking…
Dive for your life
Sinai Blues Dive Centre is run by Nick from Leicestershire. He’s been around these parts for three decades because when you think of Sharm, you think of diving. There’s around 30 top-class dive sites close by and a perfect place to learn with dive pools and a programme of lessons for beginners in the hotel complex.
Ear problems prevented our foray into the deep, but we did jump on board a speeding boat for a spot of snorkelling in the Rivan straits.
Our instructor Nabil had already fitted us out with masks and talked us through the route along a coral reef with the wreckage of a downed boat the other side. The boat captain knew us too, he’d already half-killed us on the banana boat the day before and had that glint in his eye that he was going to make this trip fun again.
As we bounced over the waves towards the site and we all held on for dear life, we believed him.
Once we were in there was a cacophony of marine life right below us from needle fish to clownfish and groupers. Nabil was patient with the struggling members of the group (well, me) who couldn’t make our masks work in the tepid Red Sea.
Get out and about
Yes you can stay exclusively in the resort and get everything you need delivered on a silver platter – but you shouldn’t.
A short 20-minute car ride away is Sharm’s Old Market where you can buy every conceivable trinket and designer clothing of questionable origin as well as fresh spices and perfumes. If you enjoy a bit of haggling under the shadow of the impressive Al-Sahaba mosque AND a fake waterfall up a man-made mountain then this is the place to come.
Enjoying the neon theme? Then Soho Square is an attack on the senses and just a one-minute walk away from the top of the resort.
Run by the Savoy it’s everything the Four Seasons isn’t with gaudy fountains and brightly covered archways leading to duty free shops, supermarkets and its famed Queen Vic British Pub.
Yes, that does exist and if you want to watch a lively Premier League match egged on by the locals this is the place to be. But unfortunately no one shouted ‘get outta my pub’ Peggy Mitchell-style when we walked in.
We can but dream…
The stars are the staff
The Four Seasons has become even more world-renowned thanks to the White Lotus TV series which uses their hotels as locations, but don’t worry – you won’t get any debauchery or dead bodies here.
All you get is 875 of the friendliest, politest staff and attention to detail that you couldn’t fault at the hotel giant’s largest resort in the world. They are what makes this place special.
Over a 30 hectare site and it’s their job to come up with everything to make your stay as comfortable as possible – and they’re good at it. These guys sort out stuff before you realise there was actually a problem (see above).
As the complex is so large they’ll ferry you around in golf carts from one side to the other and there is always someone on hand to give you directions or moral encouragement on what you happen to be doing at that time (even if it is just lazing around).
The heated main pool is Khaled’s domain as he strolls up and down sorting out towels, recommending drinks, talking about football or generally just asking how you are. And if you’re partway through a good book, he knows when to leave you alone, too.
Abdu run the tram service nearby and does around 100 trips up and down from beach level to reception level every day but looks utterly content with life. Rayan is a waiter at Waha and Reef who is always trying to raise a smile and Adel is the sun glasses cleaner. Yes, really. You never know how handy this service is until you have access to one.
These are the sort of people who make your trip memorable.
But the busiest guy in the resort? The fella swooshing away the birds from the breakfast buffet. But even he didn’t dare take on the crows outside who make breakfast a fun, if slightly loud, experience.
Yes the Four Seasons may be fancy, but even they can’t take on nature.
Book it
Wizz, Air EasyJet and British Airways fly out of London Gatwick with prices from £233.
Full details of Four Seasons rooms and excursions here
