1. Iberotel Makadi Oasis and Family Resort
Calling the Iberotel Makadi a hotel is kind of like calling a Bugatti Veyron a car; strictly true, but it doesn’t come close to describing the reality. It may sound like a pompous term but the Iberotel Makadi is actually a ‘family city’ and for things this grandiose only pomposity will do.

Located on the Safaga Road (about 30 minutes from the airport), the resort consists of six hotels – all four or five star standard – and covers half a million square metres along a golden beach and its own private coral garden.

Most impressive of all, the resort has its own souk – Souk Makadi – which has over 145 stores, selling everything from perfume and gold to clothing and food. There’s also a chemists and bank. The souk also has a range of restaurants, including Italian, Asian and Egyptian, plus there are cafes to while away the hours with traditional tea and a shisha pipe. You can even watch the traditional local bread being made.

After all that fun, there’s a spa for the adults – Chinese massages, manicures, pedicures and other treatments are up for grabs – while children have a huge dedicated playground area.

The only problem is that, with so much on-site, you might never see the rest of the town.

2. InterContinental Abu Soma Resort
Sitting on an island of blossoming greenery and in front of its own private palm tree-lined twin bays, the InterContinental Abu Soma is best described as “pure 5-Star” – not because it’s a giant homage to the rubbish 80s band, but because facilities, location and service rarely get any better.

The hotel has 445 luxurious rooms and suites each complete with safes, mini bars, air-con and satellite TV, and the hotel also boasts a dizzying array of dining options. Grab breakfast in Café Stella, lunch at the Greek Taverna Barba Kiriakos and, for dinner, try either Italian at Il Portico, Oriental at El-Tanour or fish at the soon-to-be-opened seafood restaurant.

Nevertheless, it’s at play time that the resort really comes to life; it has a gargantuan 2,375m² swimming pool with integrated kiddies pool, a heated indoor pool, tennis courts and health club. As if that’s not enough, stretched out along the InterContinental’s kilometre-long private beach are an Arabian horse stable, windsurf station and – it wouldn’t be Hurghada without one – a fully-equipped and qualified diving centre, making it a great place to stay for all the family.

3. Oberoi Sahl Hasheesh
This deluxe 5-star hotel is extremely popular with regular visitors to Egypt and Hurghada. On the surface, it may seem hard to differentiate from the resort’s other top hotels, such is the uniform quality. Like other complexes, its location is humbling, balanced between the warmth, colours and beauty of the sand, sea and desert with cobalt waters lapping up to the foot of the hotel. Equally, the hotel’s 48 acres contain all the attractions, restaurants, bars and sports that you’d expect to find.

Yet somehow, the Oberoi Sahl is more of a testament to romance than other local hotels. Maybe it’s the Eastern architectural style – all magnificent arches and domes – or perhaps it’s the secretive private courtyards. The 63 suites, 21 superior suites don’t hurt the hotel’s amorous image – all have luxurious bathrooms with massive shower stalls and sunken marble baths which look out on the courtyards below. The 12 grand suites and six royal suites even have private swimming pools and walled gardens.

After a hard day of sunbathing, watersports or discovering downtown, what could be more romantic than visiting the hotel’s Banyan Tree spa together with your loved one and having the stresses and strains worked away by the therapists qualified in both eastern and western techniques?