The Chain That Looked at the Future and Built It
Sunrise White Hills is not subtle about what it is. From the moment you arrive, the resort announces itself with the kind of architectural confidence that says: we spent serious money on this, and we want you to know it. The "futuristic concept" branding is not marketing fluff — the design genuinely looks like someone imagined a resort from twenty years hence and then built it, white arches and all.
The futuristic pool complex at Sunrise White Hills, Sharm El Sheikh
It is also big. Very big. With over 540 rooms, seven swimming pools, six restaurants, and nine bars, White Hills operates at a scale that makes its neighbours in Sharks Bay look boutique by comparison. Sultan Gardens, just down the road, is family-run and intimate. Park Regency, ten minutes south in Gardens Bay, trades on Hyatt-era structural pedigree. White Hills trades on sheer ambition — the ambition of Sunrise Resorts, one of Egypt's largest hospitality operators with 25+ properties across Egypt and Zanzibar, throwing everything at a single property and seeing what sticks.
What sticks, mostly, is impressive. What doesn't stick is worth talking about honestly.
Quick Facts
- Location: Ras Nasrani, Sharks Bay, Sharm El Sheikh, South Sinai, Egypt
- Nearest Airport: Sharm El Sheikh International (SSH) — under 5 minutes by road (approximately 2km)
- Beach Access: Direct — private beach on Ras Nasrani, one of the Red Sea's most famous diving spots
- Local Nightlife: SOHO Square (Sharm's main entertainment/dining strip) is within walking distance
- Property Size: 540+ rooms and suites
- Star Rating: 5-star (Egyptian Ministry of Tourism)
- Best For: Families wanting big-resort amenities, groups, and anyone who likes having nine bars to choose from
- Price Range: From approximately $80–220/night (all-inclusive available)
- Adults Only: No — family-friendly with dedicated Kids Club
- Chain: Sunrise Resorts & Cruises
- Website: sunrise-resorts.com
The Location: Ras Nasrani
Ras Nasrani is the diving spot. Not a diving spot — the diving spot. The name translates literally to "Christian's Cape," and among Red Sea divers, it needs no translation. The reef here is one of the most celebrated shore dives in the world, with a dramatic wall that drops from shallow coral gardens into deep blue within a short swim of the beach. For snorkelers, the upper reef is accessible directly from the shore — no boat required.
The pool deck at dusk — White Hills by night
White Hills sits right on this reef, and it is the resort's single biggest geographic advantage. While other Sharm properties need to arrange boat trips or point guests toward neighbouring bays, White Hills guests can walk from breakfast to the beach to the reef in minutes. The coral is healthy and diverse, with the full cast of Red Sea marine life — angelfish, butterflyfish, parrotfish, clownfish, and the occasional passing reef shark on the outer wall.
The proximity to Sharm El Sheikh International Airport is another genuine advantage. At roughly 2km, you could arguably walk it faster than the transfer bus takes to load. For families with tired children at the end of a long flight, this matters enormously. SOHO Square — Sharm's modern entertainment district with restaurants, bars, an ice rink, and a bowling alley — is also within easy reach, giving guests a non-resort option for evening entertainment without needing a taxi to Naama Bay.
The Design: Futuristic Concept
Sunrise calls it a "futuristic concept." In practice, this translates to a design language that blends Mediterranean arched architecture with modern, clean-lined finishes — white walls, stone-textured accents, glass balustrades, and infinity-edge pools that seem to merge with the Red Sea beyond. The aesthetic is more "contemporary Mediterranean" than "science fiction," but the scale and confidence of the execution give it a distinctly modern feel.
The main infinity pool — where White Hills' futuristic design meets the Red Sea
The pool complex is the visual centrepiece. Seven swimming pools — including swim-up rooms, jacuzzi pools, and a main infinity pool — create a layered waterscape that is genuinely impressive in scale. At night, the underwater lighting transforms the pools into glowing blue rectangles that complement the warm-lit arches of the hotel buildings. It is, in the most literal sense, a resort that photographs well at golden hour.
The architecture's weakness, if it has one, is that "futuristic" is a moving target. What looked cutting-edge in 2023 may date faster than the timeless traditional design of Sultan Gardens. The white arches and clean lines are stylish now, but design trends in hospitality move quickly, and a property that leans hard into a contemporary aesthetic risks looking dated sooner than one that opts for classicism. This is not a criticism — it is an observation about the inherent risk of the design choice.
The Rooms
White Hills offers nine room categories, ranging from the 40m² Deluxe Room to the 130m² Royal Suite — the latter available exclusively in the Posh Club premium tier. The range is broad enough to cover most family configurations, from couples wanting a standard room to large families needing a 60m² Family Suite.
A Posh Club suite with private pool — the premium tier at White Hills
The Deluxe Rooms are the entry point, and they are competent rather than exciting. At 40m², they are comfortable but not spacious by 5-star standards. The design follows the resort's contemporary aesthetic — clean lines, neutral tones, modern fixtures — but the finish quality can feel more "good 4-star" than "genuine 5-star" on closer inspection. This is the Egyptian star-rating debate in microcosm: by local standards, these are well-appointed rooms. By European luxury standards, they are nice but not exceptional.
The swim-up rooms — Deluxe Swim-Up (47m²) and the various Posh Club swim-up and jacuzzi suites — are where White Hills starts to justify its 5-star claim. Direct pool access from your terrace is a genuine luxury feature, and the suites (particularly the Executive Pool Suite at 70m² and the Royal Suite at 130m²) deliver the space and amenities you'd expect at this price point. The Posh Club tier, in particular, feels like a different resort within the resort — and that is precisely the point.
Posh Club: The Resort Within a Resort
Posh Club is Sunrise's premium tier — a concept that runs across several of their properties — and at White Hills, it is the most interesting thing about the rooms programme. Book a Posh Club room or suite and you get: exclusive access to the Posh Club Lounge (a private bar and relaxation area), a dedicated check-in, premium amenities, and access to the Posh Club Restaurant. It is effectively a resort within a resort — a quieter, more exclusive experience within the larger, busier property.
For guests who want the scale and amenities of a 540-room resort but the feel of something smaller, Posh Club is the answer. The Executive Pool Suite and Royal Suite, both Posh Club exclusives, come with private pools and enough space to make you forget you're in a mega-resort. The premium is significant — but so is the difference in experience.
Dining: Six Restaurants, Nine Bars
The numbers alone are staggering for a Sharm resort. Six restaurants — Boscage (international), Clove (Indian), Manzoku (Asian), Elia (Mediterranean), Posh Club Restaurant (premium), and Felucca (seafood) — plus nine bars including the Ivory Lobby Bar, Chocolatier, Melange Lounge, three pool bars, a beach bar, and the Posh Club Lounge.
The main restaurant — buffet-style dining at scale
The reality, as always, is more nuanced than the brochure. The international buffet at Boscage is the workhorse — it feeds hundreds of guests three times a day and does so competently. The à la carte restaurants (Clove, Manzoku, Elia, Felucca) offer genuine variety and are where the kitchen team's skill is most visible. Indian and Asian food in an Egyptian resort is ambitious, and the execution is better than you might expect, though purists will find the flavours dialled back for a broad international palate.
The Felucca seafood restaurant is the standout — fresh fish grilled and served with a Mediterranean touch, eaten overlooking the Red Sea. If you're going to do one à la carte dinner at White Hills, make it this one. The Posh Club Restaurant, available only to premium-tier guests, offers a more refined dining experience with better ingredients and more attentive service.
The nine bars sound excessive until you spend a week here and realise that each one serves a different purpose. The lobby bar for pre-dinner drinks. The pool bars for daytime refreshment. The beach bar for sunset. The Posh Club Lounge for a quieter nightcap. The Melange Lounge for evening socialising. It is overkill for a weekend, but for a week-long family holiday, the variety prevents the staleness that sets in at smaller resorts.
The Pools and Beach
Seven swimming pools is not a typo. White Hills has seven — including the main infinity pool, swim-up pools connected to ground-floor rooms, jacuzzi pools, and children's pools. The pool deck is vast, well-equipped with loungers and umbrellas, and the layout means you can always find a quiet corner even when the resort is at full capacity.
The pool complex at twilight — underwater lighting transforms the resort after dark
The private beach sits on Ras Nasrani, and the reef access is the headline act. A jetty extends over the shallow coral, providing safe entry for snorkellers and divers. The beach itself is well-maintained, with cabanas, loungers, and the attendant service you'd expect. The water is the impossibly clear turquoise that the Red Sea is famous for, and the coral starts within metres of the shoreline.
For families, the Kids Club is a genuine asset — supervised activities, age-appropriate entertainment, and enough structure to give parents a few hours of peace. The resort's family-friendly positioning is not just a label; it is built into the infrastructure.
The Numbers
White Hills' review scores are strong across the board, though they tell a slightly different story than the more boutique properties in the area:
- TripAdvisor: 5 bubbles from 2,100+ reviews
- Expedia: 9.2/10
- Trip.com: 8.8/10
The scores are impressive for a property of this scale. Managing consistent quality across 540+ rooms is harder than across 200, and Sunrise deserves credit for maintaining standards at volume. The reviews praise the pool complex, the beach and reef access, the variety of dining options, and the family facilities. The criticisms cluster around the usual suspects for large Egyptian resorts: food quality inconsistency, service speed during peak times, and the gap between "Egyptian 5-star" and "European 5-star" expectations.
The Niggles
Three honest caveats are worth flagging.
First, the scale is both the strength and the weakness. With 540+ rooms, White Hills can feel crowded during peak season, particularly around the main pool and buffet restaurant. If you're used to the intimacy of Sultan Gardens or the calm of Park Regency, the sheer volume of guests at White Hills can be jarring. The Posh Club tier mitigates this, but it costs more.
Second, the food. As with any resort feeding over a thousand guests three times a day, consistency is the challenge. The buffet is competent. The à la carte restaurants are good. But "competent" and "good" are not "exceptional," and guests who arrive expecting fine dining will be disappointed. This is mass-market hospitality done well, not boutique hospitality done exquisitely.
Third, the star rating. By Egyptian Ministry of Tourism standards, White Hills is 5-star. By European standards, it sits closer to a strong 4-star — the infrastructure and amenities are genuinely 5-star in scale, but the service standards, room finishes, and dining quality are more 4-star in execution. This is not a unique problem to White Hills; it is the Egyptian resort market's perennial debate. But it needs to be stated because the "5-star" label sets expectations that the resort does not always meet by European benchmarks.
The Verdict: Chain vs Independent
Sunrise White Hills is the resort that Sultan Gardens is not — and that is the point. It is big, ambitious, family-friendly, and unapologetically commercial. It offers more restaurants, more bars, more pools, and more rooms than any other property in Sharks Bay. The Posh Club tier adds a premium layer for those who want it. The reef access at Ras Nasrani is world-class and right on the doorstep. The location, minutes from the airport and walking distance to SOHO Square, is genuinely excellent.
But it lacks the soul that makes Sultan Gardens special. The family-run warmth, the personal touch, the sense that the owner knows your name — none of that exists at a 540-room chain resort. White Hills is efficiently managed, professionally staffed, and well-maintained, but it is a machine, and machines do not charm. They deliver.
For families who want everything on-site, every option available, and the reassurance of a major chain brand, White Hills is an excellent choice. For couples or travellers who value intimacy, personality, and quiet luxury over scale and variety, Sultan Gardens — or the adults-only Meraki next door, for that matter — is the better pick. The three properties sit on the same stretch of coastline, offer completely different experiences, and together make a compelling case for why Sharm El Sheikh's resort scene is more diverse than its reputation suggests.
White Hills earns its place in the collection as the benchmark chain resort — the one that shows what big-budget, big-scale Egyptian hospitality looks like when it is done well. It is not the best resort in Sharm. But it might be the most complete.
Editorial note: This review is based on desk research, verified guest reviews across multiple platforms, and the resort's official materials. An editorial contributor visit would provide first-hand calibration of food quality, service standards, and the Posh Club experience. Hotels-Reviewed publishes honest assessments — including the niggles — to help readers make informed decisions.
Sunrise White Hills 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.
