It’s one of my life goals to live in a hotel. Aside from the fact that such a goal (OK, more like a dream) would be a bit costly, finding the right hotel — one with an ideal location, spacious rooms and good service — is not as easy as it seems. With this dream constantly in the back of my mind, I can’t help scrutinizing every hotel I stay in as if I am considering making it my new home.

The InterContinental Abu Soma, in the newly developed Soma Bay, is not a hotel I would live in; even better, it is where I would go to escape the world. The hotel is huge, with spacious rooms, a fabulous beach and a pool reminiscent of the one at the Playboy Mansion. Don’t get your hopes up; this isn’t the type of place where you will find a bevy of Playboy bunnies relaxing in between parties. On the contrary, the InterContinental Abu Soma is where you go to get over it all: work, family or the general zoo also known as Cairo.

The luxurious hotel décor embodies an eclectic mix of eras and styles. The hotel is borderline kitschy, overhauling the senses with everything from oriental paintings and Pharaonic mosaics to palm trees.

Upon entering the hotel, you’re greeted by a large and airy lobby, and the smiles of an efficient and friendly reception desk. When stepping into your spacious bedroom — which includes an interesting mirror that reveals almost all your pores and a not-so-friendly scale — you’ll immediately feel at home whether your room overlooks the beach or the pool (either way, there isn’t a room in the hotel that doesn’t have an impressive view of water). You can choose from a Panorama, Presidential or Royal suite. The Royal suites are equipped with a hot tub, a kitchen, a dining room and even a room to house your butler. A luxury hotel in the middle of the beach, this haven is a place where opulence marries relaxation.

Out of the sun, the hotel provides various amenities, including a day care center and a fully equipped gym and spa. There are also five restaurants offering a variety of cuisines catering to fulfill your taste for Italian, Greek or Lebanese.

In the sun, whether you enjoy water-skiing, windsurfing or simply lounging on the beach, this is the ultimate place for rejuvenation, the place to come to enjoy a full-blown beach experience.

Nicolè A. Staab The spacious interior makes you feel you’re not indoors.

On vacation, I tend to get somewhat lazy. I enjoy waking up (relatively early of course, after all, there are prime tanning hours to think about) to sit down to a wholesome breakfast. You can tell a lot about a hotel from the quality of its breakfast buffet. My advice: Do not order breakfast from room service, this hotel’s breakfast should not be missed. A huge room is decked out with a variety of cheeses and cold cuts, fruits, fuul and tameya (for the particularly Egyptian breakfast), soft rolls, delectable French sugared bread, scrambled eggs or omelets, pancakes and crepes. After such a feast, it is natural to worry about strutting around in your swimsuit, but the food is good enough that you begin to ignore the images of yourself as a beached whale.

After breakfast, make a beeline for the beach. The weather in Hurghada is perfect and unlike Sahel, Cairo or Sharm El-Sheikh, its beaches have all the sun without the irritating humidity. You will have no problem lying on the sand hour after hour working on that ideal bronzed look. The beach is also incredibly clean, and the crystal-clear water doesn’t leave you with that oily, slick feeling synonymous with swimming in Egyptian seas (like that feeling after swimming in Ain Sokhna or Agamy). Instead, the salty water feels clean and refreshing, enabling you to spend hours sunning on the shore, wiggling your toes in the sand. Spanning over a kilometer, the beach is vast enough to provide every beach bum with their own secluded little nook away from the children making sand castles and yelling for mommy or daddy to come see.

The hotel also has a lagoon that seems to disappear and reappear every time the tide changes, as if you are in the middle of the ocean. Remember hard-core tanners: You will always get a better tan in the water than out, so don’t be afraid to get off your beach chair and take a dip. The lagoon is also a perfect place to scuba dive, windsurf or water-ski. Not the athletic type? It is still quite entertaining to simply sit back and watch the festivities, as you comfortably lay by the lagoon.

With all that baking in the sun, you are bound to need a little replenishing. The hotel offers a few convenient choices, including a restaurant near the beach and a bar smack-dab in the middle of the pool. Sit up on your little stool, with your legs swinging in the water and order yourself a beer (whether non-alcoholic or regular) and prepare for the most invigorating sip you’ll ever take. With the sun beating down on your back, the cool environment surrounding you and your beverage of choice, you will experience a moment of heaven. Then you’ll reach for the chips and feel even better.

The service in the hotel is excellent, if a bit slow, but you’ll be very satisfied with your ‘in-pool’ service. If you start to notice your shoulders have become turned a bright shade of red, go for a swim in their grotto, complete with makeshift waterfalls and rocks. The water is deep and cool (but not cold), providing the perfect little break from the scorching sun.

Whether you prefer beach-side, pool-side or lagoon-side, make sure you’re at the beach come sunset. As the sun slowly disappears and the sky changes color, you won’t want to be anywhere else.

Hungry? Go to the buffet dinner or try one of the restaurants. Porpico is one of the best restaurants in the hotel. This Italian eatery, with its extensive international wine list and gourmet food, is the perfect place to continue your day of luxury. The cannelloni offers a perfect blend of cheese, meat and pastry. While the mushroom and cheese risotto is mediocre, the pizza is supposedly amazing. But the highlight of my meal was definitely a lemon tart topped with whipped cream and raspberries. The light, bittersweet lemon meringue combined with the tangy taste of raspberries was the perfect end to the day. After dinner, guests tend to flock to Johnny’s Bar, an outdoor shisha lounge and nightclub, for a good time.

From tanning to dining, it is obvious the InterContinental Abu Soma resort provides all you need and then some for a perfect detox destination, family vacation or romantic getaway. A hotel I wouldn’t mind calling home, the resort has left more than sand in my shoes: It has left me with a nice tan and some much-needed piece of mind. et

InterContinental Abu Soma Kilometer 48, Hurghada – Safaga Road Hurghada Tel. +2 (65) 326-0700 www.ichotelsgroup.com