We stayed at the Jaz Mirabel Club on the 11th June 2008 for a week. All in all I would highly rate this hotel. The Jaz Mirabel resort consists of 3 hotels, Jaz Mirabel Club, Jaz Mirabel Park and the Jaz Mirabel Beach. If you are looking for a quieter hotel then I would recommend the Club, however it does tend to be used more by the Germans and Italians than the British tourist. The Park is slightly larger consisting of a large pool and then 4 water slides. If you are looking for a larger hotel, where the majority of British were staying I would recommend the Beach. It has at least 4 pools and very large grounds that flow onto the beach. The Beach is the most luxurious followed by the Park. All the hotels are within the same grounds, flowing into one another with lovely gardens and paths. If you are looking to be close to the beach then the closest is the Beach, followed by the Park then the Club. It takes you a good 5-7 mins to walk to the beach from the Club Hotel.

Overall across the complex there is some great facilities: Spa, state of the art gym, amphitheatre, several a la carte restaurants(Italian,Asian & Lebanese), a shopping arcade with 32 small shops & a tennis & football courts. It also has a number of play parks for young children throughout and there are at least 3 children clubs, one at each of the hotels. There are two cashline machines at the shopping arcade plus a bank which is open from 10 to 1:00 then 18:00 - 20:30, however be aware it is closed on a Friday. There is an animation team across the complex, with various activities throughout the day, ranging from water aerobics, water polo, football, archery, learning to snorkle etc. At night each hotel has its own entertainment, however there is nothing stopping you going into one of the other hotels if you want. The only thing I would point out is you will have to pay for drinks if you use any of the bars outside the club hotel as these are not included in your all inclusive option. The only area that you can get free drinks is at the Reef bar on the beach.

Hotel & Facilities:
The hotel grounds and pools are super. The Club hotel consists of 1 large pool and 1 baby pool. However, across the whole Mirabel complex there must be at least 8, including 4 water slides for the kids, which you can use no matter what hotel you stay at. the grounds are very well maintained and very green with lots of pretty flowers throughout.
There are 4 bars at the Club all offering a wide variety of alcohol in your all inclusive option.
Your main meals are taken in the Cactus Restaurant. Breakfast is served from 7-10.30, Lunch 12:30 - 15:00 & Dinner 18:30 - 22:30. However if you are up late you can get yourself a late breakfast at the Ginger Snack Bar as well as snacks like burger and chips and pizzas etc. All in all the food is very good, there are always 2 different types of soup on offer at lunch and dinner. It has a pasta bar, where the chef makes your fresh pasta and a variety of sauces why you wait. There is a carvery bar, salad bar and also a wide variety of other dishes as well as sweets. They have beer on tap as well as many soft drinks which you help yourself to and one of the things I enjoyed in the morning was the omelette & waffle bar, where the chef made them again while you wait. There is also a childs section, with a couple of choices (macaroni, chicken, meatballs, chips etc). You can help yourself afterwards to as much tea and coffee you can drink. If you want a glass of wine with your meal you can choose from red or white and you only have to ask one of the waiters and they will bring one to you.
Every night the restaurant has different themes (italian, Chinese, Egyptian, Asian, American etc) If you are a fussy eater you will always find something and I would certainly recommend the pasta and soup.
Dress Code:- Smart casual, no shorts & no sleaveless shirts during dinner. Long shorts and a tee-shirt were accepted.

Staff:
The staff are all male at the resort. They are eager to please and exceptionally friendly. You only have to ask and they will do anything for you. They are looking for tips, so if you feel they have give you a good service I would highly recommend you give them a tip. They take the british pound, which means more to them than their own currency.

Rooms:
We booked a superior room. I certainly wouldn't of given it this clasification, however I think they rate on room size, as our room was huge with a king size bed, then a separate room with two single beds followed by a large bathroom with walk-in shower. The rooms are very clean, but quite old fashioned. All rooms have fantastic air conditioning and a safe and hairdryer, which are all free to use. there are some complimentary shampoos, soap, body lotion, shower cap and sewing kit. There is a mini bar in all rooms however the drinks in this are charged for, so be aware get your drinks and water from the bars and then store them in your fridge.

Entertainment:
The Entertainment across the complex wasn't that great. There was one beach party, which was good. However, the rest of the time it was just the animation team entertaining us, with music and some belly dancing. There is the amphitheatre, where there were some shows being shown. This ranged from a comedy night to some traditional dancing, with some entertainment for the kids (meet the team monkey and some disco dancing). If I had one critisism overall it was the night time entertainment, which could be improved upon.

Shopping:
As I mentioned previously there is 32 shops within the Mirabel complex, however if you want to buy things slighly cheaper, if you go out through the Mirabel Club reception roads and turn to the left and walk a few hundred yards you will come to a shopping complex and a supermarket. This area is slightly cheaper and if you are prepared to haggle you can get yourself some good items and cheap prices. If you want slightly more shops or want to experience a souk then you can take a taxi or one of the local buses to Namaa Bay. If you use the hotels bus it will cost you 38LE, which is £3.80 each. However, if you are like us we took the local buses which cost 5LE, 0.50p. However, it is an experience and the driving is manic. The Souk is further on and it will cost you about 6LE each way, but there are plenty more shops and stalls but please be aware they are always stopping you and trying to get you to come in and look at their goods.

Excursions:
We didn't do any trips as we were travelling with a small infant, however here is some details on the trips that you can book. Children under 5 are free! Children 6 - 12 half price!

St Catherine's Monastery: Passport needed. Full day and cost around £38 each.
Star Gazing & Camel riding. Passport needed. Half day at night and costs around £35 each
Water Park (Cleo Park) - Full Day £25 for an adult and £20 for a child
Lazy Day Boat Trip - Full day £30 each
Jeep Safari - Full Day £40 each
Dessert Quad Biking - Half day £25 each
Cairo by Air - See the Great Pyramids and sphinx at Giza - Passport & visa, Full Day £145
Cairo by Land - Passport & Visa, Full Day £75
Cairo Overnight by Land - Overnight at a 5* Pssport and VIsa - £145
Luxor by Air - Visit the valley of the kings on the bank of the River Nile - Full Day - Passport and Visas £175 each
Petra by Air- Price varies depending on your tour rep.

On arrival at the airport if you are looking to take a tip to Cairo or Luxor please ensure you buy your visa's here. If you forget or decide later than you want to book a trip you can get your visa's through your holiday rep.

Top Tips:
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1. Expect to get an upset stomach at some point, so take imodium etc
2. The temperature was ranging from 38 to 45 so make sure you take plenty of high factor and a hat. Between 2 & 4 is the hottest time of the day
3. Take some shoes that allows you to walk in the water, as the water at the beach is very shallow but has a lot of coral, so it cuts your feet. As the water is so shallow you can actually walk about 1/2 a mile out from the beach. If you like to snorkle you can swim a mile out and see 3 ship wrecks. Plenty of fish to see regardless if you just paddle or swim.
4. Take some British pounds to tip the waiters etc
5. I would recommend you exchange your British money in Egypt as you are getting a better rate of exchange.
6. Be prepared to be hassled when shopping it is part of the way of life. Be friendly but dismissive and if you want to buy anything always offer half the price they give you and then start from here.
7. If you use the public transport negotiate with the driver first before getting on the bus or in the taxi.

All in all I would recommend Sharm el Sheik as a holiday destination and certainly the Jaz Mirabel Resort.

Here are my final ratings:

Hotel Complex: 4 stars
Mirabel Club Hotel: 3.5 stars
Accommodation: 3.5 stars
Staff & Service: 4.5 stars
Food & Drink: 4 stars
Entertainment: 2.5

I hope you find this useful in deciding on where you want to stay and you can always contact me if you have any further questions