Rixos Sharm El Sheikh

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Quick Verdict

Rixos Sharm El Sheikh is the resort I point people to when they say they want an adults-only all-inclusive in Egypt and are not sure such a thing properly exists. It does, and this is it. The property converted from a family resort to a strictly 18-plus adults-only concept in late 2020, and it has been the reference point on the Red Sea ever since: 615 rooms on Nabq Bay, eight dining venues, an open-air club, a 147-meter jetty out to a genuine reef edge, and — the part that matters most — a real ultra all-inclusive plan.

That means premium imported spirits poured without a supplement, every a la carte restaurant included with no cover charge, and a minibar restocked daily. In a country where “all-inclusive” usually means local-brand spirits between 10am and midnight, that is a meaningful upgrade rather than marketing. You also get free access and a shuttle to the 23-slide Aquaventure park at sister property Rixos Premium Seagate — an odd perk for an adults-only hotel, and a fun one.

The honest caveats: Nabq Bay is famously windy, and red-flag days that close the jetty are common enough to plan around. Service slows when the resort is full. And at $300-600 a night for two, this is the top of the Egyptian market, not a bargain hunt.

Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Strictly adults-only, 18+ enforced	Nabq Bay wind; red flags close the jetty on some days
Premium imported spirits included, no supplement	$300-600 a night — Egypt’s expensive end
All a la carte restaurants included, no cover charge	No male-only groups or solo male bookings accepted
Minibar refilled daily with water, soft drinks and beer	Bar and restaurant service slows at peak occupancy
147-meter jetty to a healthy reef edge	Check-in queues on busy arrival days
Free shuttle to the 23-slide Rixos Aquaventure Park	X Lounge party nights carry to some room blocks
15-minute transfer from Sharm el-Sheikh airport (SSH)	615 rooms across 22 blocks means long walks

The Resort at a Glance

Detail	Info
Rooms	615, across 22 low- and mid-rise blocks
Restaurants	8 — The Palm buffet plus Gusto, Lalezar, Sakura, Salt, Taj Mahal, La Churrascaria and The Mangal
Bars	Multiple, including a piano bar, the Rixos Lounge, a sports bar, a detox bar, pool bars and the open-air X Lounge
Pools	Several outdoor pools including a large lagoon pool, plus three small slides on site
Water park	Free access and shuttle to Rixos Aquaventure Park at Rixos Premium Seagate — 23 slides, wave pool, lazy river
Beach	Roughly 330 meters of private sand on Nabq Bay, with a 147-meter jetty over the reef flat to the drop-off
Spa	Anjana Spa — hammam, sauna, steam, treatment rooms
Airport	Sharm el-Sheikh International (SSH), about 8-9 km — 10 to 15 minutes
Opened	2012; converted to adults-only in October 2020, with subsequent updates
Adults-only?	Yes — 18 and over only

Rooms and Suites

Standard Rooms

The entry category is the Superior Room at around 37 square meters — king or twin, balcony or terrace, air conditioning, IPTV, safe, and the daily-refilled minibar that is central to the ultra all-inclusive promise. The style is contemporary Rixos: dark wood, neutral fabrics, a lot of mirror. It is a comfortable, well-equipped room rather than a design statement, and it does the job for a week — a step above what the same money buys elsewhere in Egypt.

The Deluxe Room at roughly 50 square meters is a genuine step up in space rather than a marketing tier, and given how much of a Rixos holiday is spent on your balcony with a drink, the upgrade is easier to justify here than at most resorts. Ask for a block away from the X Lounge if you are a light sleeper; the open-air club programming is one of the property’s defining features and it does carry.

Suites and Swim-Ups

Above the Deluxe sit the Junior Suite (around 74 square meters), Senior and Executive/Diplomatic Suites, and the category everyone actually wants: the Swim-Up Suite at around 110 square meters with direct access to a private plunge pool or pool lane from the terrace. For a honeymoon or an anniversary, this is the room to book, and it prices accordingly.

Top suite tiers also unlock the Executive Lounge, which standard guests can buy into. It is the one place where an “ultra all-inclusive” resort still keeps something behind a paywall, and it is worth knowing that going in rather than discovering it at the door.

Our Pick

For most couples the Deluxe Room hits the value point — 50 square meters, the full inclusions, and a few hundred dollars less across a week than a suite. If you are here for a milestone trip, skip straight to a Swim-Up Suite; the private water is the single biggest quality-of-life upgrade on the property.

Food and Dining

The Palm Buffet

The Palm is the main open buffet, and it is the busiest room in the resort. Live cooking stations, an extensive breakfast, a broad international dinner spread and a strong dessert section. It is good — noticeably better than the Egyptian mid-market average — but it is also where the service pinch shows up when the hotel is full, and it is the venue most often cited in reviews for waits at peak times. Eat early or eat late.

A La Carte Restaurants

Seven of them, and — this is the headline — all included in the rate with no cover charge. Reservations are required, so make them early in your stay.

• Gusto — Italian fine dining: pasta, antipasti, wood-fired pizza.
• Lalezar — Ottoman and Turkish, and the signature Rixos venue across the brand. Book it twice.
• Sakura — Japanese and sushi. The most variable of the seven, but on a good night it is very good.
• Salt — seafood and fresh fish, in the best setting on the property.
• Taj Mahal — Indian, and a genuinely strong kitchen rather than a token curry night.
• La Churrascaria — Brazilian churrasco: skewers carved at the table, and the reliable crowd-pleaser.
• The Mangal — open-air barbecue with grills at the table. The most fun evening here.

There is also the “Stay at 1, Enjoy at 2” arrangement with neighboring Rixos Premium Seagate, which widens your dining options further — though Seagate is a family resort, so an adults-only week that stays put has its own logic.

Bars and Drinks

This is the reason to pay Rixos money. The bars — a piano bar, the Rixos Lounge, a sports bar, a detox bar, pool and beach bars, and the open-air X Lounge club — pour genuine premium imported spirits at no supplement, alongside cocktails, wine and beer. You can order a recognizable brand and not be handed a chargeable menu, which puts this resort in a different category from almost everything in Hurghada. The in-room minibar is restocked daily with water, soft drinks and beer.

If you want the wider context on how rare that is, read our guide to whether all-inclusive includes alcohol — Egypt is one of the markets where the distinction costs you real money.

Food Quality Verdict

Among the best all-inclusive dining operations in Egypt, and the fact that nothing carries a surcharge is what separates it from the Hurghada mid-market. Lalezar, La Churrascaria and The Mangal are all worth a repeat visit, the buffet is solid, and the drinks program is the strongest argument for the price. The only consistent knock is speed of service when occupancy is high.

Beach and Pools

The Beach and House Reef

Rixos holds roughly 330 meters of private sand on Nabq Bay, with loungers, cabanas and beach service. Nabq is inside a protected national park area, and the reef here is in genuinely good condition — the water is clear, the coral is alive, and the fish life is exactly what people fly to the Red Sea for.

Access is by a 147-meter wooden jetty that carries you over the shallow reef flat to the drop-off. This is the standard Sharm arrangement and it works: you walk out, take the ladder down, and you are snorkeling over a wall rather than wading through rubble. It is a far better sea proposition than most of Hurghada, including Jaz Aquamarine, where there is no reef from shore at all.

The caveat is wind. Nabq Bay catches it, and when it blows the resort raises red flags and closes the jetty to swimming and snorkeling — sometimes for a run of days. It is the single most common complaint in recent reviews, it is nobody’s fault, and it is worth building into your expectations: bring a book, and treat every calm morning as the one to get in the water.

Pools

Several outdoor pools including a large lagoon-style main pool with a swim-up bar, quieter pools among the room blocks, and three small slides on site for guests who want a splash without leaving. Loungers are plentiful and, being adults-only, the atmosphere around the water is markedly calmer than at any family resort on this coast — a point worth its own line in our roundup of the best adults-only all-inclusive resorts.

Activities and Entertainment

Daytime

The Exclusive Sports Club is unusually serious for an all-inclusive: outdoor workouts, CrossFit-style sessions, Pilates, yoga, aqua bike and aqua jumping, alongside a proper gym. Add non-motorized watersports, beach volleyball, diving and snorkeling through the on-site center, and the free shuttle to Aquaventure Park’s 23 slides at Seagate — which, yes, is an odd thing for an adults-only resort to offer and is used enthusiastically by adults.

Evening

This is where Rixos separates itself from the quiet adults-only crowd. X Lounge is an open-air club with visiting DJs, live performers and dance shows, and the resort runs a calendar of white parties, color parties, poolside DJ sessions and beach parties through the season. It is a party resort with a fine-dining program attached, not a hushed hideaway.

That is a feature if it is what you came for and a problem if it is not. Couples looking for a silent, contemplative week should book Steigenberger Coraya Beach in Marsa Alam instead — genuinely quiet, genuinely adults-only, half the price. Couples who want to eat well, drink properly and then dance should book here.

Spa and Wellness

Anjana Spa covers the Rixos standard: hammam and Turkish bath, sauna, steam, indoor pool and a full treatment menu from massage through to facials and body rituals. It is a good facility, and the hammam is the right way to spend a windy afternoon when the jetty is closed.

Treatments are chargeable — this is the main area where an ultra all-inclusive still bills you — so factor a couple of hundred dollars if a spa week is part of the plan. Access to the thermal and wet areas is usually included; confirm at check-in, since Rixos properties vary on this.

What’s Included vs Extra

Included	Extra Cost
The Palm buffet, all meals	Anjana Spa treatments and massage
All seven a la carte restaurants, no cover charge	Executive Lounge access for standard-room guests
Premium imported spirits, cocktails, wine and beer	Diving courses and boat trips
Minibar restocked daily (water, soft drinks, beer)	Motorized watersports
All pools, the on-site slides and beach loungers	Excursions — Ras Mohammed, Dahab, desert safaris
Free shuttle and entry to Rixos Aquaventure Park	Airport transfers unless bundled in your package
Sports club, fitness classes, non-motorized watersports	Laundry and personal services
X Lounge programming, shows and parties	Christmas and New Year gala supplements
Wi-Fi throughout	Room-service premiums, where applicable

This is a true ultra all-inclusive, not an optional package bolted onto a room rate — the plan is the board basis, premium brands are genuinely included, and the a la carte restaurants genuinely do not charge a cover. That is unusual in Egypt and it is the core of the value case.

Pricing and How to Book

Price Ranges by Season

Season	Period	Price per Night (Double, Ultra AI)
Low	Peak summer heat (July-August) and quiet June dates	$300-370
Shoulder	Late spring, early summer, late autumn	$350-450
High	March-May, September-November	$450-550
Peak	Christmas, New Year, Easter	$500-600+, plus gala dinner supplements

Figures are for two adults sharing on the ultra all-inclusive plan, from an August 2026 snapshot of OTA and operator listings rather than a live rate calendar. Deluxe rooms typically add 10-20% over a Superior; Swim-Up Suites can double the entry rate. Rates change with season and availability — confirm the current rate and exactly what’s included before you book.

One quirk to plan for: the resort does not accept male-only groups or solo male bookings, a policy it enforces and which regularly surprises guests who booked through a third party. If that applies to you, check before paying.

Best Time to Book

Sharm’s sweet spots are March-May and October-November, when the sea is warm, the heat is manageable and the wind is generally more cooperative. Those months also price highest, so book three to five months out. Summer is genuinely cheap because it is genuinely hot — 40°C is normal — and if you can handle it, the ultra all-inclusive at $300 a night is the best value this resort ever offers.

Where to Book

UK and European travelers should compare a direct-flight package into SSH against booking the room alone; on this property the package rarely wins by much because the room rate is the bulk of the cost. Rixos and Accor run direct promotions worth checking — the resort sits inside the Accor loyalty ecosystem — and the major OTAs are competitive. US travelers will connect through Cairo, Istanbul or Europe and are almost always better off booking the room separately.

Check current rates on Booking.com before you commit — Rixos pricing swings widely by season and promotion.

Compared to Nearby Resorts

vs Rixos Premium Seagate

Rixos Premium Seagate is the family sibling next door, and the two resorts share the same ultra all-inclusive DNA: premium spirits, nine included a la carte restaurants, 24-hour dining, a protected house reef by jetty, and the Aquaventure water park on the doorstep. It is bigger — 1,058 rooms — busier, and full of children.

The choice is simple. If you have kids or want the biggest possible facility list, book Seagate. If you want the same drinks program and dining standard without a single child in sight, and you would rather have an open-air club than a mini-disco, book Rixos Sharm El Sheikh. The prices land in similar territory, and both let you eat at the other under the “Stay at 1, Enjoy at 2” arrangement.

vs Pickalbatros Palace Sharm

Pickalbatros Palace Sharm is the value alternative in Sharm el-Sheikh — a large family resort with an aquapark, eleven pools and views across to Tiran Island, at roughly $130-200 a night. It is a genuinely good resort for the money and it is less than half the price.

What you give up is the drinks tier and the adults-only calm: Pickalbatros pours local brands as standard, and it is loud with families. If your budget is the deciding factor and you are not chasing premium spirits, Pickalbatros is the sensible pick. If the whole point of the trip is a grown-up week with proper cocktails, the gap is worth paying.

vs Steigenberger Coraya Beach, Marsa Alam

Steigenberger Coraya Beach is the quiet counter-proposal: adults-only from 16, one of Egypt’s best house reefs with dolphins and turtles in the bay, a four-kilometer airport transfer, and around $125 a night. It is calmer, cheaper and better for snorkeling — Coraya Bay is sheltered in a way Nabq is not.

What it is not is luxurious. Local-brand spirits, mid-range finish, no nightlife to speak of. Divers and readers should book Coraya. Anyone who wants premium drinks, seven included restaurants and a party at midnight should book Rixos.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Rixos Sharm El Sheikh adults-only?

Yes, strictly. The resort operates an 18-plus adults-only policy across the entire property — guests under 18 cannot stay. It converted from a family resort in October 2020 and there is no children’s club, mini-disco or family section. This is one of very few genuinely adults-only resorts in Egypt, which is a large part of why it commands the price it does.

Is the all-inclusive really “ultra”?

Yes, and unusually so for Egypt. Premium imported spirits are poured with no supplement, all seven a la carte restaurants are included with no cover charge, and the in-room minibar is restocked daily. The paid exceptions are spa treatments, diving, motorized watersports, excursions, Executive Lounge access for standard-room guests, and holiday gala supplements.

How good is the snorkeling, and what is the jetty situation?

Very good when conditions allow. A 147-meter wooden jetty carries you across the shallow reef flat to a healthy drop-off inside the protected Nabq area, and the coral and fish life are excellent. The problem is wind: Nabq Bay is exposed, and when it blows the resort raises red flags and closes the jetty for swimming, sometimes for several consecutive days. Plan your snorkeling for the calmest mornings.

Can I use the water park at Rixos Premium Seagate?

Yes. Guests get free entry and a complimentary shuttle to Rixos Aquaventure Park at the neighboring sister resort, which has 23 slides across six towers plus a wave pool and lazy river. It is a proper destination water park, and although Rixos Sharm El Sheikh is adults-only, plenty of guests make the trip.

Why can’t groups of men book this resort?

The property enforces a reservation policy that excludes male-only groups and solo male bookings. It is applied consistently and it is the single most common cause of cancellations after booking through a third-party site. If it affects your party, confirm directly with the hotel before paying a deposit.

How far is the resort from Sharm el-Sheikh airport?

About 8-9 km, or a 10 to 15 minute drive — one of the shortest transfers in Egypt. Nabq Bay sits immediately north of the airport, which also means Naama Bay and Sharm’s Old Market are a 20 to 25 minute taxi ride away if you want a night off the property.

Final Verdict: 8.8 out of 10

Rixos Sharm El Sheikh is the best adults-only all-inclusive in Egypt, and the margin is not close. The combination of a strictly enforced 18-plus policy, genuine premium imported spirits with no supplement, seven a la carte restaurants with no cover charge, a daily minibar, a real reef at the end of a 147-meter jetty and a 15-minute airport transfer is not replicated anywhere else on the Red Sea. Throw in free access to a 23-slide water park next door and an open-air club with visiting DJs, and it is a remarkably complete product.

The points come off for the wind and the price. Nabq Bay’s exposure means red-flag days that close the jetty are a normal part of a week here, which is a real cost at a resort whose best natural asset is the reef. Service slows when the hotel is full, check-in queues are a persistent gripe, and $300-600 a night puts this at the very top of the Egyptian market — territory where guests reasonably expect no rough edges at all.

Book it if: you want an adults-only week with drinks and dining that genuinely match a luxury label, you will use the reef and the sports club, you like a resort with a pulse after dark, and the budget is there.

Skip it if: you are traveling with children (book Rixos Premium Seagate), you want the quietest possible adults-only week and the best snorkeling in the country (Steigenberger Coraya Beach), or you are price-sensitive and would rather have a very good resort at half the rate (Pickalbatros Palace Sharm).

For the full Red Sea picture, see our guide to the best all-inclusive resorts in Egypt and the Egypt destination hub.