Grand Makadi Palace Hotel

Hotel excellent was impressed with the resort the staff bent over backwards to help you and were very friendly food good but did have a stomach upset for a few days.
It was good that you could use Makadi Palace as well only 30 second walk from each other it just seemed a big hotel.
Lots of restaurants to choose from we did not get around them all in our stay there
Beer was excellent and drink able do not use ice so sometimes drinks could be warm if not been chilled.
Will be 5 star plus when finished building.
Only down side to holiday were the ignorant Germans not very nice people I thought Americans were bad buy they just beat them.

My girlfriend and me went to this hotel, a little dubious due to some very average ratings that had been given on certain websites. We were sent a letter informing us that building work was taking place on the hotel, which worried us even further.
When we arrived at the hotel, all our fears were destroyed as we walked into a gorgeous hotel.
Don’t let someone confuse you, the Makadi Palace and Makadi Bay are pretty much the same hotels, we had a room in the Makadi Palace, but were only about a 30 second walk away from the Makadi Bay reception, and patrons of both hotels can use the facilities from both hotels.
The cleanliness of the hotel was the most amazing thing, everyday your room gets cleaned, I know that is nothing special, but they change your bedclothes, fold your clothes up, open the TV cabinet ready for when you return to the room, and leave bottles of water on your pillows. I know the water is free, but it was just the little things like that that made the holiday amazing.
The restaurants were also amazing. All the restaurants at the Palace are not yet completed, but despite that, we still had 11 restaurants to choose from. The food was amazing, impeccably prepared with much care taken into everything including the presentation. I recommend the Tarbush Lebanese restaurant!!
The staff around the hotel receive 10/10, they were amazing, during the day around the pool they would constantly be there, offering you drinks/food, you almost had your own personal waiter, also if your towel got too wet they would swap it for a nice dry towel for you. At night, the waiters would be swarming the bar area, if you were queuing at the bar, they would take a drinks order and bring it to your table to save you queuing, or if you had just got a plate of food from the buffet in the restaurant, they would take the plate from you and take it back to the table for you, all in all they were brilliant. A good little tip is to give the waiters a 10 or 20 Egyptian pound tip a night, that’s no more than 1 or 2 quid, and that would make them dote on you for the rest of the night, bringing you your drinks before others!
We did a couple of the excursions, but they really aren’t vital, I can guarantee with the weather and the hotel that anyone would have a great time. I cannot recommend my experience with the Makadi Hotels any more!

We arrived at 4am in the morning and there were no lights on. We had a huge hike through dark corridors to eventually get to our room, as the reception was not open due to the hotel being under construction i.e. still being built. We had to use the reception in the sister hotel the Makadi Grand.
The whole holiday was a nightmare.
There were no restaurants open, we had to walk to the Makadi Grand for everything. Therefore that hotel was packed due to two hotels merging into one. There was constant building work going on, in fact scaffolding next to the boarded up entrance next to our room, had a mans legs quite often dangling down as he hammered and drilled all day, 8am-9pm. There was no fire alarms in operation, no glass in them. When we alerted the rep to this he said that he had informed Airtours in the UK and they had said that it was not their concern as the fire alarms etc were the responsibility of the hotel, not them.
Bearing in mind that this was an all inclusive holiday, 5* with no mention on the screen when booking that there was building work going on I feel we were duped. The flights had also been changed to a later time without informing us. Therefore giving us less time at the resort, which in hindsight was a good thing.
There was only one bar for the two hotels with three barmen at maximum serving. If they didn’t want to they wouldn’t serve you. The drink waiters took ages to return a drink to you even when they had accidentally spilt one on you!
The restaurants in the Grand were fairly basic, we were told in the Italian restaurant that there were no lasagne or pizzas left! The buffet style quite bland.
The beach was OK, but not as nice as further down in Hurghada. The pools in the Palace looked fantastic, shame there were no sunloungers. We had to go to the Grand for that too, therefore it was crowded.
The Grand hotel was spotlessly clean and there was always someone mopping the floor.
The room was always clean and the cleaner very polite and friendly.
We constantly felt obliged to tip people, a concept we are quite embarrassed about, i.e. when, where and what do you say. Not because I am tight! It is only men who work in the hotels doing everything.
I don’t know whether the hotel is completed yet, and dare say it will be lovely when it is. Unfortunately it wasn’t when we were there.

My husband and I spent 2 weeks at the Grand Makadi. Although we booked this hotel we were initially put in the Makadi Palace.
We didn’t find this out till the next day when we went to complain to the rep about the noise of workmen from 7.00am. The hotel was nowhere near complete. We were eventually moved later that day after several trips to the reception. If you wanted a sun lounger you had to be up by 7.00 when the towel man arrived. The Germans were tipping him in order to reserve beds to save them getting out of there beds at that time.
We both ended up with severe stomach pains for the first 5 days which meant that we were unable to go on any trips the first week. We blamed in on the terrace bar as the only seemed to rinse their glasses in water (which you were advised not to drink) when it was busy and did not dry them , which meant that every time you had a drink it contained some of the contaminated water.
On a better note, the food was very good and the service good too as long as it wasn’t busy. We had a nice boat trip on the second week, which provided you with lunch and 2 snorkelling breaks for only £20.00.
The free shuttle bus was good as it is about 30 km to the nearest shops apart from the tiny one in the hotel foyer. The rooms were very nice. We had a junior suite, which was massive and very comfortable and always cleaned to a high standard every day.
The weather was well over 40c most days so it was on with the high factor sun. cream.

We holidayed here from the 6th-13th May. We had booked into the Grand Makadi thankfully, I didn’t envy those staying at the Palace. As previous reviewers have mentioned, it is unfinished as yet, but they shouldn’t be too long as the work is ongoing.
We had booked into a Junior suite, but I'm not sure we actually got this. The view wasn’t too good from our balcony, but it didn’t ruin our holiday. The food was excellent, as was the service. Do get up early for your sun loungers though as most of them were taken by about 8.30am.
Just a note - if Germans aren’t your thing, steer clear! The hotel is predominantly geared for Germans, and being as obnoxious and rude as they are, I’m surprised the staff haven’t walloped any of them by now!
All in all an enjoyable holiday in Makadi Bay, but definitely a one off, and I won’t be returning.

Hi as it stood on the 13th May there is no such hotel as the Palace just an extenuation of the Grand Hotel. The Palace is built on to the side of the Grand so one huge complex, you have the use of the whole area. When we got there we used the reception for at the grand to check in, its a little walk say 4 mins from the Palace to the reception at the Grand, so not all that far.
There is still some building work going on near the beach. The beach isn't open for the palace yet but the grand’s beach is open. The beach gets really full very early, if its a front spot you want then get up at 06.30 and get your towels out, I got up at 07.00 and could only get the back of the beach. But there are loads of spaces by the pools. The first day we where there 6th May the first restaurant opened at the palace, buffet style open in the morning and at night. Just as we where leaving they where finishing off the other bar and restaurant’s. It is being built really fast now, so don’t think it will be long for it all to be open.
We used the beach, bars and restaurants of the grand hotel. I can say that the food was great, and the service was as well. The entertainment at night tends to be by the beach on the stage after the kids club has finished, or by the top bar at the Grand after 21.00. If you can get a seat by the pool you will have a good view and get some great service. You may find it hard to get a seat by the bar and grills at the beach side (starfish bar) but you can get your food to take away to your sun lounger. I found if you didn’t want to wait for a seat at the a la carte restaurants 19.00 was a good time to get there.
The room we where in, wasn’t finished off very well no chair by desk fresh paint and a couple of sockets that didn’t work. The TV’s aren’t tuned in very well, but if you ask at reception they will send someone to do it for you. No coffee making equipment in rooms, but that’s the same for anywhere in Egypt. Some wires sticking out of walls in corridors so be careful, and in our bathroom. Didn’t really make a huge difference to the holiday to be honest. as you spend all your time at the Grand Hotel I think the holiday companies could be a bit more honest when people book. Also the poor to the lights in the corridors sometimes goes off, so watch going back to your room at night.
One thing to get in the sea its a good idea to buy rubber slippers at the hotel shop, the beach goes in to corral at the waters edge not sand so hard on the feet. There are some great excursions run from the rep's. The snorkelling one was good, three stops and a good range of fish to be seen £20. 1001 nights safari £40 a great day out with doing.
The Grand hotel is really night and if I had the choice I would have booked that. But it was a good holiday all in all, and when it is finished the Palace will be a great hotel as well. I’m sure they will be up and running really soon.