Hi

In the absence of anyone else replying (where are you all?) I will give it a go, but haven't actually done Sharm DIY.

Most that do DIY tend to book flights with XL, BA or one of the charter's like Thomson or First Choice (although these will probably be 7 or 14 nights only). The airport is called Sharm el Sheik.

You can then email the hotels direct to get a price or try the various accomm only sites. Unless you book one of the many hilton hotels which you can do on the Hilton web-site. (Hilton Sharm Dreams, Hilton Fayrouz, Hilton Waterfalls).

If the 300 per night is just for the hotel you may get the Four Seasons, but if that includes your flight then you probably wont. On a package it seems twice the price of anywhere else.

You will need to book private transfers from the airport to the hotel. This means either getting a cab when you arrive. (might be quite daunting when you are a first timer :shock:) Alternatively if you stay at a quality hotel they will usually send a car for you at a cost.

You need to work out where you wish stay and if you want B&B or AI, Sharm spreads along 40 kilometers of coast. The main choice is between a 5* in Namma Bay with easy access to restaurants and bars each night or the many 4* AI's spreads along the coast with the odd trip to NB for a change of scene.

Phew! Sorry to be long winded!

Hi .

The only thing I could add to Chris's excellent advice would be that I booked dIY last year and found it incredibly easy in Sharm. We booked flights with http://www.XL.com who do various flight days so you can pick quite a few durations .we did 10 days. also BA im sure fly most days so again you should be able to choose a duration but Im pretty sure the BA sharm flights are with GB airways who are now going through a "buy out " with easyjet so I would wait a few weeks to see what happens. i booked my hotel via http://www.hilton.co.uk statying at hilton sharks bay 4*.paid around £60 per night per room A/I which at £30 each for A/I per night was a great deal. We arranged for the hotel to send a driver to collect us but unfortunately we were delayed several hours and he wasnt there but we agreed a price with a cabbie and jumped in for the easy 10 min journey . Unfortunately I cant advise on the 5* hotels . wish I could but I do know that the four seasons is where the Egyptian president stays most of the year . you could also have a look at the Hyatt.

lyn

Hi
We did a semi-diy. We used the website http://www.otbeach.com.
We chose which flight we wanted, and then chose the accomodation. It cost us half the brochure price (£1600 for 4 of us October 2 weeks AI). We then contacted the hotel direct and asked them to send a taxi for us. We did Hurghada this year, but Sharm last year. We got to the airport in Hurghada and because we were diy, we had our own queue at the airport for Visa's (well only one family in front of us) whereas everyone else was in a huge queue for package deals!!! We then got our luggage, and when we went into arrivals, an egyptian was stood there with our name on a card tat he held up. Hundreds of other people were trying to find their coach and we were already gone!!! We actually got to the hotel over an hour before anyone else did, which meant that we were in time for dinner and everything. It was fantastic. The hotel also arranged for the taxi man to take us back to the airport at the end of the holiday. I recomend it especially if you have kids (mine are 4 and 10) as flying is a nightmare with them at the best of times.

We didn't really cover the 'what is there for kids?' aspect of your post.

To be honest there probably isn't as much as in say Spain, France, Turkey etc. Most 5* hotels have 3 or 4 swimming pools and some will have pool activities. You may have to rely on doing a certain amount of excursions, quad biking, star gazzing, camel rides, glass bottom boat trips etc There is a water park although I haven't been there. There is of course also the snorkelling, but many hotels use jettys which can be difficult for some.

IMHO the day trips to Cairo & Luxor are too long and arduous for young children, but other people may have a different take on that.

If you do book a hotel DIY it would still be worth checking that it is featured in British brochures, some hotels are 90% Russian or Italian which makes it difficult for children to make friends due to the language barrier.

Good luck and let us know what you decide.

I knew someone would reply on here eventually to me .....
Thank you very much, that has helped tremendously.
The £300 a night I have budgeted for is the hotel only, our flights we know we have to pay on top of that.
Really undecided at the moment, because I would like to go to Dubai, and hubby tells me I'm a pain in the .... (neck)

Think I'll put next years hol on back burner and get this thing called xmas out the way.
Catch up soon
x

Hi
We thought about Dubai for next year but child prices seemed to stop at 10 or 11 so we booked Sharm to take the advantage of child prices while our daughter still qualified. The money saved will go towards having to pay for all adults to dubai