Grand Makadi Palace Hotel

1 reader found this review helpful

Well just got back from the Grand Makadi Hotel. Hotel itself very nice and clean rooms cleaned daily, the pool is very nice if you can get a sun lounger with every one coming over from Makadi Palace.
Now the food, had one good meal whilst we were there, the food was never hot, the meat and chicken were never really cooked properly - if you liked your meat rare you'd be all right. Even the meat in the lasagne was under cooked!
Entertainment, they had a beach party on Monday night, leaflets sent round to come and enjoy started at 22.30 - guess what, when you got there had to pay for your drinks no mention about this is not part of your all inclusive package, one big rip off.
I would not rate this as a 5* hotel going by the food and entertainment, stopped in Sharm last year food and entertainment was far better than this hotel and it was only 4* hotel. Will not be going back to this hotel.

1 reader found this review helpful

In total 8 of us travelled to this hotel and generally found the accommodation standard not excellent but good. The temperature at this time of year is extremely hot so if you can’t sit out in the sun and wont use the pools forget it.
Out of the 8 of us two suffered S & D quite badly and couldn’t rid the issue until the doctor was called to prescribe drugs, the doctor was at your room generally within 1/2 hour of being summoned. The drugs put me back on my feet and my colleague within 1/2 an hour.
If you intend to go and you start the illness don’t persevere thinking it will get better because it doesn’t, it gets worse, so call the medic immediately. There were quite a few people suffering while we were there I would suggest 3 to 4 in 10 so be aware and it will take at least a day or two of your holiday, I got it twice.
The food all looks excellent but I would suggest that all is not quite as it should be purely down to the number of ill people on the complex.
The Staff were excellent and very friendly, watch out though they expect a tip and this will add costs to your holiday, they will hang around and sometimes this leaves awkward silences whilst they wait for the offer. I reckon the tips added another £250.00
Generally though the holiday and standard was good, I doubt we would return until they are able to assure us that all the hygiene issues are resolved. They claim it is down to the change in foods from what we are used to! Well perhaps it’s just not clean enough for the European pallet. Make your own conclusions. I wouldn’t want to put you off because it seems that most people enjoy themselves just be aware.

What can I say about this hotel apart from fantastic. Had a great two weeks at the Grand Makadi.
The rooms are huge and look great. The only grudge that I had was the food at the buffet restaurant which was very poor, as this was my second time to Egypt I already had in mind what a 5 star hotel would provide on a buffet and I’m afraid it did not measure up to magic life in Sharm el Sheikh.
Other than that could not fault anything with this hotel. All the staff are very helpful at this hotel and would do anything for you especially, Hany, who was one of the nicest people I have ever met, he was always checking to see of you were ok and if you needed anything.
Also a word for the rep who was very good as my partner was suffering from a stomach upset for a few days, Lucy. The rep went out of her way to pick her some medicine up and even bought my partner a bar of chocolate, now that’s what I call good service.
Have a great time all know you will.

What a surprise! A real gem in the desert, from the rooms to restaurants to whole ambiance
Food - Simply excellent regarding that this is an AI resort, one of the best I have seen in a long time.
Dome - excellent food, a bit busy at times, but could be because of the great food on the buffets. Discovery- is another gem, for excellent risotto.
Sunset grill has excellent steaks, and great relaxing atmosphere!
Will certainly recommend to all my friends.

We stayed here in May 2007 and without a doubt the hotel grounds are fabulous but there is no way this is a 5* Hotel.
The food in the Palace was very disappointing, The Dome was awful, and we saw people standing eating their dinner on one evening as there were not enough tables and chairs.
The waiters were really unhelpful and would not reset a table for you.
The Thai restaurant is excellent but you have to book 24 hours in advance, also the Italian and the Caribbean in the Grand Makadi were excellent but you need to book again 24 hours in advance. The Italian was great for lunch though.
There is no real spa or hairdressers so ladies if you want to be pampered here don't bother. A young woman comes round the swimming pool and tries to book you to have massage - this is done inside something that looks like a Dalek, is very noisy and they never shut up talking to each other whilst doing the massage, this was very expensive and really not worth the effort.
The 'beach' immediately outside the hotel is not a beach - it is dead coral and rocks. To get a sandy beach you have to walk for 10 -15 minutes in searing heat with no shade.
Even then there were not that many fish and loads of jelly fish which they assured us were not dangerous, but very unnerving when you swim into one.
We spent most of our time by the pool which is lovely but we could have been anywhere in the world.
We took a day trip on a boat to Paradise Island - like Bank Holiday Monday in Blackpool! I have never seen so many boats and they had to limit your time on the island as one boat off another on!
We then went to a fantastic reef and the fish were tremendous but the real danger was being knocked out by someone else's flipper there were so many people here.
The Excel flight was atrocious on the way out, no leg room, cramped. On the way back they brought back 2 flights in one on a Jumbo Jet so we had a bit more room.
Everyone in our party of 8 had really bad stomach upsets, cramps and this is the third time we have been to Egypt and have never suffered before.
As for the airport... when you have a really violent upset tum and some bright spark tries to charge you for 2 sheets of toilet paper to go into a filthy toilet.... not funny. The airport has a large cafe and loads of shops - all selling junk.
We really are most disappointed and will not be going back to either Hurghada or the Makadi Palace.

Hurghada airport is a great deal more civilised than Sharm El Sheikh but the rigmarole is the same.
I'm not as agile and able as I once was, and the walk to our room from reception, where we were dropped with our luggage, was a little bit longer than I would have liked, but there you go.
We went as a party of seven in three "Junior Suites" which were just large rooms with a king size bed, small couch and chair in.
The rooms were kept nice and clean, the towel boy came by each evening to swop over the beach towels and leave us a large bottle of water, and we had no complaints whatsoever about the service we received.
There were none of the little extra's like we have found at other 5 star hotels in Egypt, such as arranging one's towels or pyjama’s into interesting shapes or sculptures, but so what?
We were on the 2nd Floor, quite close to the lift overlooking the rectangular pool, so that's the pool we used all the time. It also meant that when the three boys were on their own and we were in our room we could keep an eye on them.
They were old enough to look after themselves, and just old enough to try to get beer out of the waiters! (The age for drinking alcohol there is 18)
The Thai restaurant was absolutely lovely. I am a vegetarian and they were able to cater for me without too much hassle. The Dome always had good food and plenty of choice. They have a small children’s section with things like pasta, chips, angel delight, and stuff like that.
We could use the facilities and restaurants at the Grand Makadi because we only had three restaurants, but that may be different now. We ate in the Italian at the Grand twice in our two weeks and weren't disappointed. The salad bars in both the Dome and the Italian were great!
At lunchtimes we ate in a little restaurant just to the side of the Dome and, again the salads were lovely.
Sometimes, if the boys wanted an afternoon snack, we went to the pancake bar in the middle of the facility.
The entertainment was interesting. My husband, his dad, and our oldest nephew drank too much beer whilst watching the team perform exerts from the Rocky Horror Show twice! Sad git's!
We took US Dollars to tip with because it's just impossible to get hold of low denomination Egyptian Pounds and we found that a dollar a round of drinks for 7 of us was fine.
They will give you just the same civility and standard of service if you don't tip, but I know their income is very low, and we don't like to take advantage.
We wouldn't hesitate to go back and the only reason I don't want to recommend it to you, dear reader, is that you might go there too and crowd me and my family out!

Absolutely stunning, exactly how the brochure explained, no nasty surprises. It was perfect.
The hotel was spotless, the staff went out of their way to help (not just because they were getting tips). We got a free upgrade to a junior suite which was like an apartment we thought we were sharing it was that big! Stunning views of the sea and gardens. We were right on the beach.
The food was fantastic with a choice of Lebanese, Italian, barbeques, Caribbean. We tried them all it was nice being made to feel so welcome.
We did a couple of trips one out on a sea trip snorkelling, taking us to Giftun island, and the other quad biking ...both were excellent value for money, and even managed to have a ride on a camel during the quad bike trip ...it’s the third time now to Egypt and we were so impressed we have booked to stay again in October.
In particular one member of staff called Hany (he was a shift leader on the door in green polo shirt) made us so welcome he met us twice during our holiday and took us to some places we might not have gone to, and got us some fantastic bargains on presents, he was a gem.
We took him out with us one night to the Hard Rock Cafe in Hurghada and he cried, he was so overwhelmed. He was happy to come out with us for nothing in return.
What a fantastic country and people ... can’t wait to return.

We have just returned from a week at the Makadi Palace. If you want a complete chill out in beautiful surroundings with excellent service this is the place for you!
The hotel is immaculate, the gardens are beautiful, the service is excellent, and the food is good.
We preferred the Discovery Restaurant for breakfast as it was quieter and more relaxing than the Dome, but still with a good choice of hot and cold food.
At night we tended to prebook the speciality restaurants which were excellent, the Thai was really good and the Caribbean was fantastic (our favourite).
The staff were polite and charming and they couldn’t do enough for you! We took our own snorkels (John Lewis £15) and went snorkelling every day the fish were amazing.
You can buy under water cameras from the hotel shop.
We would definitely recommend this hotel and will be returning next year.

1 reader found this review helpful

Beware: Went to this hotel in March 2007 for 1 week. On checking in, they said that they had given us a suite free of charge!
It was a huge room but was dirty and looked like a butlins chalet. It had 5 windows and a balcony overlooking a building site. There was also a security guard sat outside our window at night. We demanded to change rooms.
They were not very accommodating and told us to come back in the morning. We eventually changed room which was not as big but comfortable.
It was a good 10 mins walk to the main pool as complex is so big. Not enough beds at the beach, and most of the good pool beds were gone by 7.30am.
Pool boys were lovely and put umbrellas up for you and put your towel down.
Hotel was very nice, very big, did not know where any of the restaurants were as complex is so big and there were no signs.
Rep meeting was all about selling trips we asked about info about the hotel but we were told to ask at reception!!
After the 3rd day of eating at the buffet (same food all the time) we found the Grand Makadi hotel next door and could use their facilities, but they could not use ours. We went to the Italian which was fab, and the Caribbean which was also good.
The food was far better at this hotel and in my opinion I would save your money and go to this hotel.
Entertainment was very poor. Cheap alcohol that you could not drink.
Staff were far too friendly, you did not get a minute’s peace, they were asking to change English coins into notes. Word gets around and they would hassle you, but in a nice way.
The party of 4 all suffered from sickness and diarrhoea, we thought it was food poisoning until we got back to the UK. We actually caught a virus.
I will never go back to Egypt, the airport was a nightmare. No air conditioning people begging for money, security and passport control taking your bags a asking for £1.
Toilet attendants took all toilet rolls and were asking for £1.
Biggest scam: scales at check-in were broken and they were trying to charge for excess baggage, they were pocketing the money. We demanded to see a rep but no reps are allowed in the airport!!!
If you are looking for a quality 4-5* holiday at reasonable prices all inclusive, please go to Tunisia at the Iberostar Phenicia. We have been 5 times and love the place. The food is fantastic, (never had a dodgy tummy) weather is fab, people are amazing. Can't speak highly enough f the place.
Good Luck!!

Fantastic, fantastic, fantastic. This is the third time we have been to the resort.
First time only the Grand was open and we saw the palace being built, second time saying in the Palace, part of it was open and the remainder still being built and the last time we stayed in the Grand and upgraded our bands to use all the facilities of both hotels.
The whole place is amazing and just keeps getting better each time we go; this is one place we will just keep going back to.
You can guarantee sun, friendliness, clean and beautifully presented hotel, extremely good value for money
Like I said at the start, just fantastic.