“Former French President Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni stayed in this villa, “ said Mohammed, the front office manager as he opened the door to our three-thousand square foot home for the next 24 hours.
To be fair, the couple were guests during the hotel’s former life, as a Sofitel, not that long ago. “Enjoy every minute of it, as long as possible,” Mohammed encouraged us, begging our request for a late check-out. Asked and answered, we would inhabit Villa 1 until 5pm the next day…a more generous extension than we could have hoped for when we first arrived.
The Movenpick Hotel in Sharm el Sheikh, one of Egypt’s diving mecca’s in the Sinai peninsula, has a reputation which precedes itself, mostly for the famous names who have forked out up to $2500 a night to stay in one of these mini-mansions with maximum security, seclusion, and a separate driveway.
A private infinity pool faces the Red Sea, and three large bedrooms, all with their own bathrooms, share some of the most special views in Sharm, thanks to the hotel’s elevated position. A formal office fit for an oil magnate, and two living rooms fill out the ground floor, along with a dining room and granite-topped kitchen screaming for dinner parties.
Five private beaches, with great snorkeling, an on-site dive center, and a swimming pool large enough(45m) to take Michael Phelps’ breath away disperse clientele to avoid over-crowding, even at maximum occupancy.
Sharm beaches, better for snorkeling than swimming, are notoriously hemmed in to avoid the coral reef, and often only reached by a jetty, which makes the Movenpick’s expansive, instant-access beaches unique.
The hotel runs regular shuttles just down the road to Na’ama Bay, Sharm’s main restaurant and shopping area, but the pedestrianized, well-lit, sea-side path is just a 15-minute walk. A good Indian restaurant, and seafood grill are on the compound, and it’d be a shame not to honor Movenpick’s origins with an ice cream, for which the Swiss company is best known. It’s a quiet place, with none of the non-stop partying at some other resorts, and a good mix of families and couples. The usual spa services are on hand, as well as court sports and an equestrian center.
The famous French couple no longer visit, but members of Arabian dynasties do.
Senior management and pool staff go out of their way for guests, with unusual requests met with a “can-do” attitude. After I’d checked out and de-camped to a nearby apartment, I could only source instant coffee for my morning cup. An email to Alain, the French general manager, resulted in a loaner cafetière, a foreign object in a land of Arabic coffee and Nescafe. Even after leaving the legendary villa, I’m still getting the royal treatment.
