Nine islands linked by wooden footbridges, a necklace of turquoise lagoons and architecture by one of America’s most celebrated designers: Sheraton Miramar Resort El Gouna is less a hotel than a small world of its own, moored between the Red Sea and the Eastern Desert mountains.
The story starts with the architecture. In the 1990s the American postmodernist Michael Graves master planned this site so that canals and lagoons carve it into nine islands, with every room facing the shoreline or a waterway. Domes, vaults and shaded arcades in desert ochre, terracotta and deep blue take their cues from Egypt’s traditional villages, and local craftspeople made much of what you see, down to the glass lanterns and rugs. The resort opened in 1997 as one of El Gouna’s founding landmarks and it remains, in our view, the most distinctive place to stay on Egypt’s Red Sea coast.
Crossing the little bridges sets the rhythm of a stay here. Gardens and water open onto three private beaches, a pool landscape at the heart of the resort, an Egyptian restaurant standing on its own beach island and a bar aboard a wooden boat moored in the lagoon. Planet Spa and a 24 hour gym cover the lazy days, El Gouna’s championship golf course is around five minutes away, and the restaurants and nightlife of Abu Tig Marina sit within walking distance.
Couples after somewhere characterful and calm, families who want space and safe, shallow lagoon swimming, and anyone tired of identikit mega resorts.
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All 339 rooms and suites at Sheraton Miramar El Gouna come with a furnished terrace or balcony, and thanks to the Graves masterplan every one of them looks over water, whether that is a lagoon, a pool or the open sea. Interiors carry the architect’s warm palette alongside walk-in showers, 55 inch televisions and individually controlled air conditioning. King or twin bedding is available in most categories, and cots and connecting rooms can be requested when you book.
The core category and a lovely one. Your terrace or balcony hangs over the still water of a lagoon, with the desert hills colouring the light at dusk.
A touch more space than the lagoon rooms, angled so the balcony catches glimpses of the Red Sea and the beaches beyond the gardens.
On the sand rather than near it, with full Red Sea views from the terrace. These go first in summer, and for good reason: you are in the water before breakfast.
A proper step up: a sitting area, a dressing area and a marble bathroom, looking over the beach or the pools. Good for families wanting one stylish space.
Arranged over two levels with floor to ceiling glass, these hold the finest panoramic sea views in the resort.
Recently upgraded and known simply as The Palace: three bedrooms, a dining lounge, sweeping terraces and a private pool, sleeping up to 9 for milestone family trips.
Our upgrade advice: if the budget stretches, we rate the Deluxe Beach Front rooms for the joy of stepping straight onto the sand, and the Executive Suite for the best view in the house. Celebrating something big? Ask us about The Palace.
Almost all our customers take Sheraton Miramar El Gouna all inclusive, and it is a generous version of the board. Here is what it covers:
Dine Around is one of El Gouna’s best ideas and worth planning your week around. All inclusive guests can typically take one meal away from the resort on a four night stay and three on a week, choosing buffets at participating five star hotels around town or putting a credit towards hotel managed à la carte menus. Drinks taken away from the resort, and a handful of premium dishes, are payable locally.
The main restaurant, and better than most main restaurants: chefs cook to order at live stations and the menu changes nightly, with themed evenings through the week.
Standing on its own island directly on the beach, with authentic mezze, charcoal grills, a bread oven and oriental desserts. In our view the most atmospheric table in the resort.
Candlelit dinners overlooking the illuminated pools; the homemade fresh pasta is the thing to order. Reservations are needed, and it is among the areas being refreshed during the 2026 works.
The daytime venue by the pool for salads, grills and long lazy lunches you never quite get dressed for.
The pools sit at the centre of the Graves masterplan rather than being an afterthought: a sequence of adult pools and an exercise pool for proper lengths, with sun terraces threaded between palms and the lagoons glinting beyond. Loungers and parasols are plentiful, and Waves handles lunch a few steps from the water.
One pool is heated through the winter, which matters between December and February when El Gouna’s air stays warm but the water cools; paired with the sheltered lagoons, it makes this a resort we happily recommend for winter sun as well as high summer. After dark the pool landscape is beautifully lit, becoming the backdrop for candlelit dinners at La Piscina, and the pool terrace bar keeps drinks and snacks within reach all day without leaving your lounger.
If you prefer swimming with more space and silence, the lagoon and Relaxation Beach are the quiet alternatives; between the pools and three beaches, finding a corner of your own at Sheraton Miramar El Gouna is never difficult.
Few Red Sea hotels offer one beach as pretty as this resort’s three. Miramar Beach is the showpiece, with its own bar and long views over open water. Relaxation Beach is exactly what it says: the slow tempo corner where nobody hurries anywhere. The sheltered Family Beach sits on the calmest, shallowest water of the three, ideal for gentle swimmers.
Because the resort is laced with lagoons as well as fronting the open sea, the water here is remarkably calm: warm, shallow at the edges and protected from the swell, so you swim rather than battle waves. It is one of the reasons we rate El Gouna so highly for early and late season holidays. The Boat Bar, moored out on the lagoon, is the spot for a sundowner with the water on every side.
Snorkellers should know there is no coral house reef at the hotel itself; El Gouna’s reefs lie a short boat ride offshore, and honestly that is the better arrangement, since daily trips reach pristine sites rather than a well trodden hotel reef. The on site Scuba World dive centre arranges snorkelling excursions, guided dives, courses for beginners and equipment hire, and this stretch of the Red Sea is world class, with dense corals, turtles and rays.
Windsurfing and beach volleyball run from the resort, and El Gouna’s famous kitesurfing lagoons, among the best places on earth to learn, are a few minutes across town.
Classic Holidays when selling travel arrangements is a trading name of Co-op Travel Services Ltd. Classic Holidays is an Accredited Body Member of Co-operative Travel Consortium. (ABTA P7508, ATOL 12904).
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All of the flights and flight-inclusive holidays on this website are financially protected by the ATOL scheme but ATOL protection does not apply to non-flight holiday and travel services offered on this website. Classic Holidays will provide you with information on the protection that applies in the case of each holiday and travel service offered before you make your booking. If you do not receive an ATOL Certificate then the booking will not be ATOL protected. If you do receive an ATOL Certificate but all parts of your trip are not listed on it, those parts will not be ATOL protected. Please see our booking conditions for information, or for more information about financial protection and the ATOL Certificate go to: www.caa.co.uk
