Pickalbatros Royal Grand Sharm

If your ideal holiday involves a sea view, a proper breakfast, and no children's club soundtrack competing with your evening drink, Royal Grand Sharm Hotel has a fairly clear brief. This is an adults-only beachfront resort for guests aged 16 and over, with private balconies or terraces, several pools, a private beach and an all-inclusive setup that keeps the practical business of the day pleasantly simple.

The atmosphere is built around choice rather than a single grand feature. You can settle by the pool, walk down to the sandy and coral beach, use the spa, or head out towards Il Mercato and Phantasia Land. The hotel team is multilingual, and the hotel website is available in English and Arabic, so English-speaking guests can at least find the essential information in a familiar language. Free Wi-Fi covers the resort, including the rooms.

The official name is Pickalbatros Royal Grand Resort, while booking information also uses Royal Grand Sharm Hotel. Whichever name you see, this is a large resort aimed at adults who want diving territory nearby, but also want the evening to work even when nobody feels like discussing bottom time.

The resort is in Hadaba, on the Om El Seid plateau in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. The resort sits directly on the seafront, with a private 400-metre beach made up of sand and coral. That gives you a place for swimming, sunbathing and shore snorkelling without having to turn the beach day into a transport operation.

Il Mercato and Phantasia Land are around a ten-minute walk away, making them an easy change of scenery when you don't want to commit to a full evening expedition. Reef Beach is about 0.8 miles away, while Ras Um El Sid Beach is roughly 1.2 miles away and Sharm El Maya Bay Beach about 1.8 miles. Sharm El Sheikh's traditional bazaars are around a 15-minute drive from the resort.

Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport is about 13 miles away by road, with a drive of roughly 20 minutes. Nearby options include Fares Sea Food Restaurant, around 0.7 miles away, and Al Fanar Light House, about 0.9 miles away. The surrounding area gives you a few alternatives, but the hotel itself is set up so that leaving the grounds is optional rather than compulsory.

The standard room layout is generous enough for a proper holiday rather than a tactical sleeping arrangement: each room has a balcony or terrace, air conditioning, a minibar, a safety deposit box, satellite television and an en suite bathroom. Views vary between the landscaped gardens, the pools and the Red Sea, so the view category matters if you want to start and finish the day with water in front of you. The sea-view and sea-front options are the natural choice for that; the pool-view rooms keep the resort itself in the frame.

Travelling as a trio? The Superior Triple Room is the sensible option to look at first, rather than trying to make a double room perform an act of furniture-based heroism. Couples have more choice, from twin-bed layouts to rooms with a king-size bed, while the suites bring a different level of space, with two bathrooms in both the Suite and Presidential Suite. The Presidential Suite is the one to consider when several adults need room to spread out without forming a queue for the bathroom.

For the night itself, air conditioning matters in Sharm El Sheikh, and the rooms also have heating, soundproofing, a mosquito net and blackout curtains. The minibar keeps water and drinks close at hand, while daily housekeeping removes one more small task from the list. A kettle, wardrobe, clothes rack and drying rack cover the unglamorous business of unpacking, drying off and getting ready for the next morning.

The all-inclusive formula is backed by four restaurants and four bars, so you are not relying on one buffet for every meal of the week. Soprano Restaurant serves the main international buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Breakfast runs from 8:00 to 11:00 there, with an earlier breakfast at the Mediterranean Buffet from 7:00 to 8:00, handy when you have somewhere to be underwater in the morning.

Mediterranean covers breakfast and dinner, while Culina moves from daytime snacks and ice cream between 12:00 and 16:00 to an open-air evening restaurant serving Italian, Indian and seafood dishes from 18:30 to 21:30. The Beach Restaurant keeps things lighter, with snacks, fresh juices and cold drinks by the shore. Reservations are required for the à la carte options and open buffets, so it is worth deciding on dinner before hunger starts making the decisions for you. Room service runs around the clock.

There are four distinct places to drink. Lobby Bar is open 24 hours, with alcoholic drinks served from 10:00 to midnight, while Olympus Bar handles the evening with premium drinks and cocktails until midnight. Beach Bar and Pool Bar both run from 10:00 until sunset, with tropical cocktails, fresh juices, cold drinks and light snacks. In other words, coffee, lunch, a cold drink and a late cocktail each have their own place in the day.

Five outdoor pools give you room to choose your preferred level of activity, including a heated pool for cooler days and a separate relax pool for the more traditional holiday discipline of staying still. The private beach adds another place to lie down, with sun loungers, beach chairs, umbrellas and pool or beach towels available. Snorkelling, boating and on-site water sports are also part of the offer.

When your muscles need a break, the Spa & Wellness Center offers massages, revitalising treatments, calming rituals and a sauna. A couples massage is available, along with head, neck, back, foot and full-body treatments, plus a spa lounge and steam room. The fitness centre is on the fourth floor, with cardio and strength-training equipment, and the programme includes aqua gym, aerobics and gymnastics.

The drier pursuits are varied enough for an afternoon without fins: mini golf, padel, table tennis, billiards, darts, boccia, water polo and beach volleyball. A cooking class, themed dinner nights, live music, evening entertainment and a nightclub with DJ provide options once the sun has gone down. For two people travelling together, the resort also offers a romantic dinner at Royal Moderna, set outdoors under the stars.

Check-in is from 14:00, and check-out is between 12:00 and 12:30. You need photo identification and a credit card at check-in, and the hotel asks you to share your expected arrival time in advance. Early check-in and late check-out can be requested, subject to arrangement with the hotel.

An airport shuttle is available and can be arranged with the hotel; car hire is also offered. A 24-hour reception, concierge, luggage storage, currency exchange, an on-site cash machine and a minimarket cover practical needs that tend to arise when you are tired, sunburnt or looking for something you forgot to pack. A doctor can be requested if needed.

Free private parking is available on site without reservation, and Wi-Fi is free throughout the resort. The property has lifts, ramp access to buildings and wheelchair-accessible facilities. The hotel accepts cash payments. It is a non-smoking property, and children are not accommodated, so this is firmly an adults-only booking rather than a family resort with a quieter corner.