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The Charm of Sharm el Sheikh

Where: Ras Um El-Sid Cliff | South Sinai,, Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt

What to do in Egypt when you grow weary of the Pyramids of Giza and the ancient Sphinx...when the tales of Cleopatra's romantic and political connections and influence to the Roman Empire get old... when the sprawling city of Cairo seems like one big dusty drag and you just wanna go pool-hopping?

Then get yourself over to Sharm el Sheikh at the Southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula and do a little dunk at the Hilton Sharm Waterfalls Resort. This area of shore along the Red Sea is reputed to offer the best diving in Egypt.

Here the Hilton chain takes advantage of the waves and throbbing sea with a 401-room resort that has six pools, a beach, and a jetty out to the "house reef." It's more relaxing than a handful of hieroglyphs.

Tripadvisor reviews boasts that the resort is popular with Russians and Eastern Europeans; the pools are kept deliberately cool to offset "the devils' anvil" (what Omar Sharif called the sun in "Lawrence of Arabia"), and it gets big points for liberal towel dispensation.

On the downside, it suffers from a slow funicular that brings you from pool to lobby level.

And food?  Did someone say food? There's an Italian restaurant, a Lebanese restaurant, a main dining room and, of course, the Seashore Pool Bar & Restaurant, not to mention the usual American fare if you want it - pizza, burgers, and the standard US breakfast buffet.  There's also four bars, a health club, Jacuzzi, massage, dive center, and steam rooms, plus a cyber café.

Ask the hotel concierge about the shuttle vans over to the nearby resort strip in Na'ama Bay for a change of pace, or take a desert exploration trip for a bit of sand in your shoes. One day outings to Petra in Jordan are available, so you can get back to feeling like a big dusty drag.

[Photo: Danrees]

Related Stories:
· Hilton Sharm Waterfalls Resort Reviews [TripAdvisor]