A Transformation Story

Some hotels are born great. Others have greatness thrust upon them by the people who take them over. Sultan Gardens Resort falls firmly into the second category — and that is what makes it special.

The resort's lush tropical gardens

This was once a Holiday Inn. A perfectly competent, perfectly forgettable chain hotel on Sharks Bay, one of several that lined the Sharm el-Sheikh coast in the era when mass tourism was the name of the game. Then an Egyptian-Canadian family saw something that the chains didn't: the reef, the bay, the gardens, the potential. They took it over, stripped it back to its bones, and rebuilt it as something entirely different — a 5-star, family-run resort with 520 rooms, five restaurants, seven bars, five freshwater pools, and a house reef that divers and snorkelers travel from across the world to experience.

The transformation is not just architectural. It is cultural. Sultan Gardens doesn't feel like a corporate resort. It feels like a family home that happens to have 520 rooms. The service has that particular quality that only family-run properties possess — a genuine investment in guest happiness that comes not from a training manual but from the simple fact that the owners' name is on the door.

That this is a family operation matters. In a region increasingly dominated by international chains and all-inclusive conglomerates, Sultan Gardens is a reminder that the best hospitality often comes from people who care personally — who walk the grounds, who know the staff by name, who treat every guest as a visitor to their home rather than a unit of occupancy.

Quick Facts

  • Location: Sharks Bay, Sharm el-Sheikh, South Sinai, Egypt
  • Nearest Airport: Sharm el-Sheikh International (SSH) — 10-15 minutes by road
  • Beach Access: Direct — 220 metres of private sandy beach with overwater decks
  • Local Nightlife: Naama Bay is 10 minutes by taxi with restaurants, bars, and shops. Soho Square (25 min walk) offers dancing fountains and entertainment.
  • Property Size: 520 rooms and suites
  • Star Rating: 5-star ultra all-inclusive
  • Best For: Snorkelers, divers, couples, families, solo travellers seeking a full-service Red Sea base
  • Price Range: From approximately €100-200/night (ultra all-inclusive)
  • Adults Only: No — family-friendly, with a dedicated adults-only pool (North 38)
  • Website: sultangardens.com

The Location: Sharks Bay

Sharks Bay is, in the minds of seasoned Sharm visitors, the sweet spot. Close enough to the airport that you're on the beach within twenty minutes of landing. Far enough from Naama Bay that the evenings are calm rather than chaotic. And positioned on one of the most dramatic stretches of the Sinai coastline, where the reef drops away into deep blue water and Tiran Island sits on the horizon like a promise.

220 metres of private beach with overwater decks at Sharks Bay

The bay itself is sheltered, which means calm water for swimming and snorkelling — a crucial detail for anyone who has experienced the currents at some of Sharm's more exposed sites. The resort's 220 metres of private beach face east, catching the morning sun, with overwater decks that extend out over the reef for easy water access. Tiran Island is visible from the beach and from many of the sea-view rooms, its silhouette shifting colour throughout the day — grey-blue in the morning, gold at midday, deep purple at sunset.

Sharks Bay is also the gateway to Ras Mohammed National Park, Egypt's protected marine reserve at the southern tip of the Sinai peninsula, which offers some of the most spectacular diving and snorkelling in the world. From Sultan Gardens, the park is accessible by boat in under an hour.

The Rooms

Sultan Gardens offers 520 individually furnished rooms and suites across several categories, from comfortable standard rooms to spacious villas with private gardens. All share a design language that is clean, comfortable, and practical rather than cutting-edge — this is a resort that invests in experience over aesthetics, though the sea-view rooms are genuinely beautiful in their simplicity.

Every room comes with a private balcony or terrace — furnished, sea-facing or garden-facing — with air conditioning, flat-screen TV, minibar, coffee and tea facilities, and free Wi-Fi. The beds are comfortable, the bathrooms well-appointed, and the housekeeping is of a standard that suggests genuine pride rather than routine.

Standard Rooms

Garden view and sea view options available, with queen or twin beds. Comfortable, well-maintained, and perfectly adequate for guests who plan to spend most of their time in the water or by the pool. The sea-view rooms are worth the upgrade — waking up to the Red Sea and Tiran Island is not a view you tire of.

Suites

The suites add a separate living area and, in the Deluxe and Premium categories, a Jacuzzi for two. The 28 Deluxe Suites, positioned around the North 38 pool, feature large in-room Jacuzzis, separate dressing rooms, and makeup areas — a thoughtful touch for guests who want space to spread out. Premium Suites offer views of Tiran Island and represent the resort's most luxurious non-villa accommodation.

Villas

For those seeking maximum privacy, the villas offer private gardens and multiple bedrooms — ideal for families or groups, with the space and seclusion of a private residence within the resort's grounds.

Sea-view room with private terrace overlooking the Red Sea

The House Reef: Sultan Gardens' Crown Jewel

This is the reason snorkelers and divers return to Sultan Gardens again and again. The house reef is, by consensus, one of the best in Sharm el-Sheikh — and Sharm's house reefs are among the best in the world.

The house reef — a sheer coral wall teeming with life

The reef begins just steps from the beach, accessible via the overwater decks that extend out over the coral. Step into the water and you are immediately over a living wall of coral — a sheer drop-off that descends from shallow shelf to deep blue, lined with coral formations in every shape and colour. The fish life is extraordinary: parrotfish, angelfish, butterflyfish, clownfish in their anemones, lionfish hovering under ledges, and, if you're fortunate, green and hawksbill turtles gliding past with that unhurried grace that makes every snorkel feel like a privilege.

The reef wall is what sets Sultan Gardens apart. Many Red Sea house reefs are shallow gardens — beautiful, but limited in drama. Sultan Gardens' reef is a wall, and walls attract different life: larger fish, deeper-water species, and the kind of vertiginous drop that makes snorkelling feel like flying. On a calm day with good visibility, you can see 20-30 metres through the water, and the reef stretches in both directions along the bay, meaning you can snorkel a different section each day and never repeat the same route.

For divers, the resort's on-site dive centre offers guided dives, courses, and boat trips to the legendary sites of Ras Mohammed and the Straits of Tiran. The southern Sinai's dive sites — Shark Reef, Yolanda Reef, Jackson Reef — are considered among the finest in the world, and they are all within easy reach from Sharks Bay.

For snorkelers who prefer guided experiences, the resort also offers boat trips to nearby reefs and to Tiran Island itself, where the coral gardens are pristine and the water clarity is staggering.

The Pools

Five freshwater pools — a number that sounds excessive until you experience the layout and realise that each serves a different purpose and a different mood.

The adults-only North 38 pool with private cabanas

The North 38 pool is the adults-only pool — heated in winter, framed by private cabanas, with a swim-up bar. This is where Lisa should spend her afternoons. Calm, uncrowded, and positioned to catch the sun throughout the day. The cabanas offer shade and privacy, and the swim-up bar means you never have to leave the water to get a drink.

The remaining four pools serve the wider resort, including family pools and a children's pool. The resort is large enough that the pools never feel crowded — there is always space, always a lounger, always a quiet corner.

All five pools are palm-framed, landscaped into the resort's extensive gardens, and maintained to a high standard. The water is fresh, not salt, which is a welcome change after a morning in the Red Sea.

Dining: Six Restaurants, Seven Bars

Sultan Gardens operates on an ultra all-inclusive basis, which in this case means genuinely comprehensive. This is not a resort that pays lip service to the concept — the all-inclusive package covers multiple restaurants, bars, and entertainment options without the nickel-and-diming that mars lesser all-inclusives.

The Restaurants

The main restaurant serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner on a buffet basis, and the reviews are consistent: the food is genuinely good. The choice is vast, with fresh salads, grilled meats, local Egyptian dishes, international options, and live cooking stations where chefs prepare pasta, stir-fries, and grilled fish to order. Breakfasts are a particular highlight, with fresh juices, pastries, omelettes, and the Egyptian staple of ful mudammas with warm flatbread.

Beyond the main restaurant, the resort offers speciality dining: House of Spice for Indian cuisine, an Italian restaurant serving homemade pasta and wood-fired pizzas, a Cajun restaurant for something different, and additional venues offering live cooking shows and themed nights. The variety is impressive for a resort of this size, and the quality holds up across the board.

The Bars

Seven bars, including the Al-Dar lobby bar (open 24 hours, smartly decorated, serving hot and cold drinks throughout the day), a beach bar for barefoot afternoons, a swim-up bar at the adults-only pool, and a nightclub for those who want to dance. The bar program is well-executed — cocktails are properly made, the local Egyptian beer is cold and refreshing, and the wine list, while not extensive, offers perfectly drinkable options.

Restaurant terrace with panoramic Red Sea views

The Spa and Wellness

The resort's spa offers a full range of treatments — massages, facials, body wraps — alongside a Turkish bath (hammam), sauna, jacuzzi, and steam room. The spa facilities are genuine, not an afterthought, and the treatment quality is consistent with the resort's 5-star rating. After a day of snorkelling, a hammam and massage is exactly the right way to reset.

Traditional Turkish hammam at the resort spa

The fitness centre is well-equipped with modern machines, free weights, and cardio equipment. It's not a luxury gym, but it's more than adequate for maintaining a routine while travelling.

The Gardens

The resort's name is not incidental. The gardens are genuinely beautiful — extensive, mature, and meticulously maintained, with palms providing shade, flowering plants adding colour, and pathways that wind through the grounds making the 520-room property feel far more intimate than its size suggests.

The gardens are also the resort's environmental conscience. Sultan Gardens has been recognised as an eco-friendly resort, and the landscaping is part of that — native species, water-conscious irrigation, and a respect for the natural environment that extends to the reef protection policies in place on the beach.

The Service

This is where Sultan Gardens truly distinguishes itself. The service is warm, personal, and genuinely caring in a way that only family-run properties can achieve. Staff are attentive without being overbearing. They learn your name. They remember your preferences. They go out of their way to solve problems before you've finished explaining them.

This is not the choreographed, corporate hospitality of an international chain. It is something better — real people who genuinely want you to enjoy your stay, because the family that owns the resort genuinely wants you to enjoy your stay. That attitude filters down from the top, and it makes a difference that you feel from the moment you arrive.

Who Is This For?

Sultan Gardens is a resort that works for almost everyone, which is both its strength and the reason it isn't for everyone.

For snorkelers and divers, it is exceptional — one of the best house reefs in Sharm, with a dive centre, boat trips, and Ras Mohammed on the doorstep. For couples, the adults-only pool and the sea-view suites offer romance without isolation. For families, the resort is equipped with children's facilities, multiple pools, and a safe, self-contained environment. For solo travellers, the all-inclusive format means no awkwardness around dining alone, and the reef provides a daily purpose and structure.

It is not for those who want cutting-edge design or boutique intimacy. 520 rooms is a large resort, and while the gardens and the layout mitigate the scale, you will not feel like you're staying in a private villa. But for what it is — a full-service, family-run, 5-star Red Sea resort with world-class snorkeling — it is exceptionally good at what it does.

Getting There

Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport (SSH) is 10-15 minutes by road from Sultan Gardens — one of the shortest transfers in Egyptian tourism. The airport receives direct flights from the UK (including from London, Manchester, and Birmingham), Germany, Italy, and many other European cities. The resort offers private transfers, and taxis are readily available.

The brevity of the transfer is not a small thing. After a five-hour flight from London, being on the beach with a cold drink within twenty minutes of landing is a luxury that should not be underestimated — particularly for travellers who have experienced the long transfers to more remote Egyptian destinations.

Best Time to Visit

September through November is the ideal window — the Red Sea is at its warmest, the air temperature is balmy rather than punishing, and the visibility underwater is at its peak. October is the sweet spot: 30°C during the day, 22°C at night, and water temperature around 27°C.

Red Sea sunset over Sharks Bay

December through February is cooler — pleasant enough for swimming and snorkelling, but evenings can be surprisingly chilly. March through May is spring, with warming water and increasing visibility. June through August is hot — 40°C+ — but the diving and snorkelling remain excellent, and the resort's pools, air-conditioning, and beach provide relief from the midday sun.

The Verdict

Sultan Gardens Resort is proof that ownership matters. The Egyptian-Canadian family who took over a former Holiday Inn and turned it into one of Sharm's highest-rated resorts (9.0 across nearly 3,000 reviews) did so by caring — about the reef, about the gardens, about the food, and about the people who stay there.

The house reef alone is reason enough to book. It is one of the finest in Sharm el-Sheikh, and Sharm's reefs are among the finest in the world. But the reef is just the beginning. The restaurants are genuinely good. The pools are beautifully conceived. The gardens are a labour of love. And the service has that quality of warmth that you cannot train into people — it has to come from the top, and at Sultan Gardens, it does.

For anyone who loves the Red Sea — who has snorkelled it before and knows what it offers — Sultan Gardens is the kind of place you return to. Not because it is the most luxurious resort in Sharm, but because it gets the important things right. The reef. The food. The warmth. The feeling that you are a guest, not a unit of occupancy. In an era of homogenised, chain-driven hospitality, that distinction matters more than ever.

Verified Traveler Scorecard

The Hotels-Reviewed Verified Traveler Scorecard aggregates structured, verified guest ratings to provide high-trust social proof. Scores are based on verified guest submissions and are updated regularly.

  • Staff Service: ★★★★★ (4.8/5)
  • Rooms & Comfort: ★★★★☆ (4.3/5)
  • Food & Dining: ★★★★☆ (4.4/5)
  • Pool & Facilities: ★★★★★ (4.6/5)
  • Location & Setting: ★★★★★ (4.9/5)
  • Value for Money: ★★★★★ (4.7/5)
  • Snorkeling & Diving: ★★★★★ (5.0/5)

Overall Verified Score: 4.67 / 5.0

Sultan Gardens Resort is one of seven resorts in our Sharm El Sheikh Collection — seven properties, seven philosophies, one coastline, curated by editorial reason rather than price tier.