Le Meridien Makadi Bay Hotel

2 readers found this review helpful

Just returned from 2 weeks at Meridien. Went as 2 families, 4 adults and 4 children (10, 10, 8 and 7). After reading negative reviews we went with an open mind and were so pleased with our 14 nights.
We stayed in the Dune rooms which were spacious, the linen and towels changed every day, the room was really clean and comfortable. Mini bar in room which was filled twice during our stay with soft drinks. Tea & coffee making facilities also. The cleaner was excellent, friends air con didn't seem to be working properly and it was fixed same day. Children loved to come back with their towels made into swans, hearts and their pj's folded and made into a fan shape, just the little touches make a difference. The rooms were probably the furthest from the main hotel but this was not a problem, we would only do the walk twice a day and it was nice to walk through the gardens on way to breakfast or at the end of the evening. It was nice and quiet up there too. They have built some more rooms, the other side of the hotel to where we stayed and there is now a new pool which should open soon.
The staff are so friendly and gave so much time to the children. They all work so hard and such long hours. The animation team are full of energy and not sure how they keep going. They are always doing some sort of activity around the pool, but you can get away from the noise by sitting somewhere else at the pool, it is definitely big enough.
Be polite and tip where you feel somebody deserves it, a smile goes a long way with the staff. They have to deal with the RUDE RUSSIANS. The way they behave is appalling. Be prepared for them pushing in, taking too much food and leaving on the table. They are animals. Do not let this ruin your holiday, just watch and laugh at them, can be quite entertaining.
We thought the food was very good, rice, potatoes, vegetables, chicken, beef, fish and freshly cooked pasta. It is all fresh and plenty of selection. Even with a fussy eater in the family wasn't a problem with the buffet food. There is free ice-cream upstairs for children 2pm-4pm, hot dogs and chips from 3pm. You will never go hungry.
We did not eat the salad, no major tummy problems, we drank the beer mainly and there is always plenty of bottles of water.
If you want to go on a boat trip, book through Tiger Marine on the beach, we hired a boat for a day; Adam from Tiger Marine was really helpful. We had our own skipper, chef, guide, and 2 or 3 other members of staff who made the trip so enjoyable. The extra money was well worth it to have exclusive use of the boat and the trip tailored for our needs/requirements. Quad biking worth a go, we did the 2 hour trip and took the children on the bikes with us going through the desert, they loved it.
Talk to the people that come round the pool, you don't need to book anything through them, just smile, say hello they will stop for a chat and they are nice people. Husain from the salon knew we would not book treatments but every day he would ask how we were, "high 5" with the children.
We hired a hotel mini bus one evening to go into Hurghada, we did not like walking around the Old Town, there is nothing much to see and not a nice experience for the children, felt a little unsafe. We ate out a few nights just for a change and it was so cheap.
The only negative comments I can make is shame about the Russians and I would not travel with Olympic again. We were not picked up until 4pm on day of departure, we had our lunch at the hotel but went to the bar before coach arrived to get bottles of water and were charged which was a shame.
We are already looking into returning next year, was a great relaxing holiday with the children.

1 reader found this review helpful

Great hotel where the staff were all very friendly. Never had a problem getting a sunbed.
Only problem was the place was full of poorly mannered Russian whom I am certain never learnt basic manners.
Every day we watched them queue for the restuarants at breakfast, lunch & dinner and storm the place as soon as the doors were unlocked. To see the shear quantity of food they piled on their plates and then left was unbelievable.
After a couple of days we found that if you waited about an hour after the eating places opened you could enjoy fresh food in much quieter surrounding.
Slight downer on checking out we were charged for an orange juice that we know we had paid cash for at the time and the management wouldn't take our word for it which was a shame.

1 reader found this review helpful

Too Big, to many Russians (Approx 2000 out of 2600), Music to loud from animation team who seem to have to scream and use a whistle continuouslly for the amusement of approx 30 Holiday Makers, ate in the all inclusive 1st night only and then used the Ala Carte for the other 13 nights! DO NOT GO HERE FOR A QUIET HOLIDAY.

This hotel is amazing. I have just got back from a weeks break with my girlfriend and neither of us can speak highly enough of the place, staff or activities. We stayed in one of the dune rooms which were little over a 5 minute walk to the reception. The people who moan about these rooms should check before they book. They are either lazy/Russian!
The food in general was good, however most of it was inclined toward the vast amounts of Eastern European/Germans staying in the Hotel. As was the entertainment before midnight! Some of the entertainers are very talented, but as they are entertaining a mainly Russian audience it is mainly geared toward pleasing them.
If you do as the rest of the English do and take time to talk to/tip the waiters and bar staff, it becomes clear that they are some of the friendliest people you are likely to meet. Keep an eye out for Ossama in the Reception Bar, he does a very good Del Boy impression! Dont drink the Egyptian lager in the hotel, drink the Vodka. The lager is not good for your health.
Went into Hurghada once and would recommend it, but only in the new town as the old part of town never looked or felt too safe! Also the snorkelling was great, to get to swim with Dolphins is one of the best things you can do! I would say go to Mahmya island and book through your rep. This way you go with other English people and can get a decent conversation and a laugh! The island itself looks as if it could be in the Maldives, absolutely stunning!
All in all a fantastic holiday in a fantastic Hotel. I will definitely be back there in a few years!

Please pay attention to the reviewer who suggested booking room class as all important. If you are away from the main building (and lastminute.de charged extra for this location) you will have to walk back and forth to every meal, activity, or excursion. Also, 500 new rooms will be added above the hill behind the resort, which means an even longer walk. The resort is no longer with the Le Meridien chain, but owned by Egyptian Sarkawy. Rooms are decent size, but prepare for cracked tile in the bathrooms and unrenovated bathtubs. Food is decent, especially the fish, and food standards are hygenically acceptable. If English is your native language, and you are polite in the American and British tradition, you will be catered to by the staff who appreciate civil communication. In a week, we had only one or two service staff who did not follow through so expect a high level of customer service which is what my family experienced.
Though I can't confirm if this practice is allowed at other resorts, also be prepared to have your sun time interrupted by hotel employees or commissioned agents hawking special dinners at an additional charge, or to buy a haircut, massage or horseback riding. It can become quite annoying, especially as I saw a German guest woken from a nap to be asked about booking a facial.
The abuse the staff regulary encounter from Russian tourists is horrendous and having lived in Germany for almost 3 years, there are many jokes about naked Germans and sunbed stealing, which are generally true. A whole new level of Russian tourist will put you off of the resort, booked via Russian tour companies. Be prepared for unattended children, cutting the line (cue) as sport, and incomprehensible grunting for food and drink. How difficult is it to learn please and thank you in Arabic? Having flown directly from Moscow to Germany and then flew the next day to Makadi, there is no difference between their city life and a resort vacation. Of course, this isn't the resort's problem, but with such a large percentage of greedy and uncivil guests, who would choose to be around them? If you can afford better, upgrade to the Grand Makadi directly on the beach, which is also expanding to its south.
If you are not a snorkeler or diver, there is a catamaran service which drops you under the surface of the Red Sea to see the reefs, coral, fish, and in our case six orca gleefully swimming along. Should run about 25 euro at the time of this review.

My daughter and i are just back from the most fantastic week at the Meridien, and are glad that we ignored the bad reviews.
Walking into the lobby is very impressive, and we were allocated to our (wrong - but that was down to the travel agent!) room which was one of the Dune rooms very quickly. That room was huge with a view over the complex to the sea. We moved into a MUCH smaller Main Building Room after 2 nights but it was still comfy, and MUCH more convenient. All of the staff are polite and charming and if you give the barmen even a small tip, they are there asking you if you want another drink as you put your empty glass down, even ignoring the frantically waving Russians.
Meals are a bit of a scrum with the lovely Russians pushing shoving and taking huge amounts of food which they then left on their plates, and verbally abusing the lovely waiters. Food is a bit bland but it DOES change every mealtime (apart from the sauteed vegetables), and it must be incredibly difficult to cater for the United Nations dietary preferences which the clientele here represents.
We tried out the Prince Karim restaurant and whilst it was nice to be out of the main rush of the Alladin, was not really worth paying a supplement for, and we thought the Chinese restaurant was truly awful, very limited and pricy menu and everything overcooked - even the prawn crackers. DD loved eating at the Caravane on the beach. I can recommend the local red wine and gin and tonic as both being drinkable, and my daughter loved all the non alcoholic cocktails.
We did have a couple of niggles, though
- the toiletries in the room weren't replaced as they were used (unless you specifically asked for them) - something that I would have thought was basic for a 5 star hotel,
- the swimming pool was out of action , although frustratingly it was refilled during our stay, but not usable.
- why oh why is the seagull restaurant and its sandwiches and snacks not available for the All Inc customers. I for one don't really want 3 cooked meals a day!
- would it kill them to let the kids have ice cream on tap?
Overall though our experience was favourable, the accomodation, facilities and staff were exceptional, and the food acceptable, and for £500 each for a half term week, we can't really complain.

This hotel is advertised as a 5*.
The service and rooms struggle to be 4*
The food is 3*
The grounds and facilities are 4*
We booked a Lagoon View Room but were put in a lesser grade room albeit were told we had been upgraded we complained after the first night and were upgraded to a Lagoon view room yes you have it we were given the room we booked.
The senior staff constantly tried to rip us off and the younger staff constantly harrassed and made inappropriate advances towards my partner.
The pool advertised as the largest in Egypt was under reconstruction.
In summation the room we fought for was nice, the house boy was super, the reception and first floor bar area was good quality comfortable and sophisticated.
Dont change your money there and study your bill and the charging currency.
Look around you could get more for your money but the attitude of the staff will; probably be the same

Normally I'm really fussy with holiday's especially the food.
Upon arrival at the airport I wasn't too impressed as we were literally in the middle of the desert. Our journey to the hotel was fine and I was immediately pleased once we got into the hotel lobby. The check in was effecient and very welcoming.
I would definately recommend upgrading to a garden or sea view room. We opted for the garden room for a little extra and I'm glad we did, the apartments spanned quite a distance from the pool and main entertainment area.
The room was large and clean, the cleaners were lovely.
The pool is HUGE and every day we found a quiet spot to relax and enjoy the extremely hot weather. We were approached twice by two guys selling excursions, the first time just said "no, thank you" which was met with no resistance. The second time the guy came and we spoke for 30 minutes or so but only because I found the excursions interesting and we got talking about various other things. At NO point did I feel uncomfortable or put under pressure. From the discussion I booked a boat trip and quad biking in the desert.
On the boat trip we were taken to paradise island, I have never seen anything so amazing in all my life, not even on tv. The quad biking was an experience we throughly enjoyed it and booked again for a few days later.
The food was buffet with fresh pasta cooked to order. There was various types of food each evening and the bread/rolls were soft and fresh.
Overall a holiday definately worth recommending and we will be going back next year, this time for two weeks!

Never again! We had no hot water, sometimes water didn't even come out of the tap. We paid 40 Euros for a late check-out and still had no hot water that afternoon and had to travel all the way to Durban, South Africa, without a shower. It was cold; and cold showers would have made us more sick than we already were. We asked to be moved to another room but they did not reply to us. Our room was situated really far from the hotel and we had to climb dozens of steps in the howling wind to get back from the restaurants. I estimate that the room was 1 km from the shore.

This was the 5th time I had been back to this hotel..... I think that probably says it all!
Please, please ignore the bad reviews that some people have written and try it for yourself.
The truth!
The Hotel is not a 5* hotel as we know it - if it was, you would be paying a lot more money! BUT... It is spotlessly clean - considering it is on the beach I have never seen a grain of sand anywhere in the main building - considering there is nearly always a breeze and quite often it is windy the dust seems to be cleared before it has time to land.
The food - Yes there is always a chicken dish on the menu but perhaps those people who say that is all there is to offer did not bother to take the time to look around - what about the fillet steak or the duck or the lamb? Or have pasta freshly cooked for you. I think too many people just walk around dumping everything on their plates and end up with a mish mash of food - remember, have a good look round first and then it is up to you what you put on your plate.
You always have the option of paying a little extra and eating in one of the other restaurants like the Prince Karim - you can watch them cook your food to order at very little cost and excellent service.
Yes I have had an upset stomach over there - which was probably due to all the sun, lots of cold water, eating richer food than normal and possible a slightly higher intake of alcohol (only possibly though). What on earth do you expect! The other thing is that everyone shakes hands over there so make sure you take some antiseptic gel along and use it frequently - This time I spent 2 weeks free of any upset tums.
You will get people coming up to you on the beach trying to sell the boat trips, trips, massage, the a la carte restaurants etc but if that had not happened then I would not have paid far less on my visit to Luxor or for the boat trips I have been on ..... smile, be nice and polite and before you know it you will either just get a friendly wave or if you want, you will learn a little about their way of life. Don't always think you are about to be ripped off - they are only selling the services of the Hotel; you don't get traders marching up and down the beach selling you cheap t shirts.
Now, the Animations Team - what a lovely bunch of people, they try their very best and work very hard to entertain people both on the beach and in the evenings - their shows are fun and if they are not putting on a show that night then you will usually find that there is an Egyptian evening or the Cobra man or something to see. The evening entertainment is in the Dockers Bar and is heralded with shouts of Showtime - later on the disco is there.
Service at the bars can be a little slow - there are three bars in the main building - the main bar downstairs seems to be the most popular but try the sunset bar upstairs or if you want quicker service the Dockers earlier on in the evening before the entertainment starts (usually quite empty as they show kids cartoons at that time). Again, be nice to the guys - a smile goes a long way.
I could go on for hours but in brief, if you want a clean, comfortable hotel with friendly staff then give this one a chance.
They love kids (not that I have seen that many there) and really give them the time of day unlike anywhere in the UK.
Throw away British caution, Smile lots, shake hands lots, spend a little time chatting to everyone and you will be repaid with a holiday to remember.
Go back again and you will not be forgotten.
The staff earn very little - tipping is their way of life but a little to us means a lot to them -
When buying things remember that negotiating is a way of life to them - I find it difficult but approach it with a smile - be prepared to sit and have a cup of tea with them - don’t get offended and you will end up with a bargain.
Have fun.