Grand Makadi - Couples and Families Only in Hurghada

Grand Makadi Hotel, Hurghada April 2026 A really enjoyable stay overall, with some standout highlights, but a few areas that let it down. The good: The reef snorkeling is absolutely incredible, genuinely world class and right on your doorstep. If you like snorkeling, this alone might justify staying here. The hotel has a laid-back feel with lots of pools and space, so it never feels too crowded. The beach bar was a highlight, a bit livelier than the lobby but still relaxed. The pool staff and lifeguards were excellent throughout, friendly, helpful and always around when needed. Food is hit and miss overall, but the à la carte restaurants (Lebanese, Mexican and Italian) are much better than the buffet and you can book them as often as you like. Mahmood in the lobby bar deserves a mention, consistently friendly and attentive. The not so good: The smoking is hard to ignore, especially in the evenings. It feels like stepping back in time to the UK 30 years ago. Rooms are dated and housekeeping was unreliable. We had to keep asking for basics like toilet roll and water. We also had to move rooms due to noise from a neighbouring hotel, so definitely request a quiet room unless you’re happy with late evening noise. Service really depends on tipping. Some staff are great, others come across as uninterested. You’ll also be regularly interrupted by spa sellers and excursion reps, even when trying to relax by the pool, which quickly gets irritating. Reception was the biggest letdown. We found the staff consistently unhelpful and at times rude, which isn’t what you expect from front of house. Small issues were handled poorly and without much courtesy. The buffet is average and leans more towards local and European tastes. Drinks are basic, served in small glasses or plastic cups, and the use of plastic crockery doesn’t help the overall feel. Fresh juice costs extra. Overall: Hurghada is a great destination, and this hotel has real potential thanks to the reef and spacious layout. But the rooms need updating and service, especially at reception, needs improvement. It looks like a 4-star from the outside, but overall feels closer to a good 3-star. Would we return? To Hurghada, yes. To this hotel, sadly not.

My husband and I arrived in the dark and our first impressions were, wow, what a beautiful resort. The whole place was twinkling like a fairyland. At check-in, as we are both senior citizens, we requested a ground floor room, twin beds and, more importantly, a walk-in shower. We were advised to go for dinner, pointed in the general direction, (down the steps and to the left1) eventually found the Lagoon Restaurant. If you knew how big this resort is, down the steps and to the left was not particularly helpful, bearing in mind it was dark. We returned to reception, given the key to our allocated room which turned out to be on the second floor, a kingsize bed and a bath! Totally unacceptable. The following morning, we returned to reception and were taken to another room. Not as nice but at least it had a walk-in shower, not exactly twin beds but there was a single bed which , sadly, I can only describe as an affront to single beds! It was more like a camp bed, the mattress was bigger than the base and the headboard was hidden under a folded up sheet which, when uncovered, had four rusty wheels screwed into the back of it. The quality of the bedding was poor and no mattress cover. Needless to say, we moved to our third room, a Junior Suite with pool and sea views. Just as well the hotel was not full. As previously mentioned in other reviews, although the room was large and spotlessly clean, it was tired and terribly dated. There are swimming pools everywhere but very few guests braved the icy waters. We dined at all the restaurants and our favourite was the Asian with a great choice of dishes on the a-la-carte menu. The Lagoon buffet restaurant offered a tremendous choice of dishes, catering for every palate but as is the 'norm' for buffet restaurants, the 'hot' dishes were generally 'not that hot'. One of our favourite places was the Beach Bar which we frequented every day. The food there we found to be very good. Despite the fact that the Grand Makadi was 'sister' to three other hotels, woe betide you if you sat on another hotels' sunbed, either around the pools or on the beach. Despite the fact that there are literlly thousands of sunbeds on the beach, the majority of them unoccupied, we were told quite aggressively that the sunbeds we were lying on were 'Palace' sunbeds and told to move. There is nothing on the beach to indicate where each hotel's sunbeds start and finish. We asked where the Grand sunbeds were and were told 'over there'. Not helpful. The majority of staff were friendly and helpful but sadly, some were quite abrupt. Not our worst holiday but unfortunately not our best. Sad to say, we wouldn't go back.