Stella Gardens Resort & Spa - Makadi Bay

“Oriental Paradise”

This is going to be a very long but honest review! No description of pools/ pool activity is that is what you are looking for. People based their reviews on different criteria. Mine is hotel premises and beach (snorkeling included). That is how I pick my hotels. The architect who designed it surel… more

This is going to be a very long but honest review! No description of pools/ pool activity is that is what you are looking for. People based their reviews on different criteria. Mine is hotel premises and beach (snorkeling included). That is how I pick my hotels. The architect who designed it surely deserves 5 stars and a raise!:-) It is typically oriental in style and the lush greenery adds to the general atmosphere of the place. Inside, despite the 40°C outside, the air stays bearable and the rooms quite cool. Surely because of the thick walls. At the beginning, the spectacular complex seems like a labyrinth you need to decipher, inside and outside. It gets easier to find your way as the days go by. The rooms are huge and beautifully designed, though the furniture and the linen are very old. The renovated rooms offer a new bathtub and a big screen TV. The air-conditioning and the shower work well. There is shampoo in a dispenser by the shower and a hand soap by the washbasin. There is a hairdryer ( very fragile, coming to pieces with every use) and the toilet area is separated from the rest of the bathroom via an arched vault. Even the bathroom was given enough consideration by the architect. Kudos! The wardrobe in the hall has no doors, so your clothes will be exposed to anyone who comes to your room. There are 2 mirrors (one full length in the hall) and the lighting is dim everywhere. There is mini fridge which stays cool when you leave the room. The door opens with a card that you need to keep in the special slot by the entrance. The balcony offers 2 sunlounges that are very comfy and there is an extra couch by the balcony with 2 coffee tables. The couch and the beds are not the most comfortable but I managed to sleep well during my 2-week stay. They give a 2l bottled water in the room every day but you can also get small bottled water at the Joker bar, by the reception, at all times. A small attention to the cleaners and you get nice towel art on the bed every day. The room was kept clean during my stay and I had 2 different housekeepers. The lush greenery in the complex comes with the cost of falling leaves and flowers everywhere. The hotel manager might want to insist on cleaning the are constanly. Gardeners tend to sit in the shadow a lot and pretend working. Cleaning is also an issue in the main restaurant, The Melange - the handles of the doors are sticky, the glass on the door has oily prints all over, and I had an impression that even the cutlery is slightly sticky there. The old wooden doors are being pushed with hundreds of hands every day, whereas the Dome (spectacular restaurant but only offers dinners) has automatic sliding doors. The same old sticky wooden doors in the Discovery Restaurant but this one makes up with the service/ food choice. The waiters are just well mannered and well behaved, unlike some in the Melange (very pushy and obvious in demanding a tip). The same good mannerism in the Dome. I haven't tried the A La Carte restaurants (Thai & Botanical) although advertised daily on the beach. The food offer was quite good, in all restaurants, although some rewievs were critisisng this aspect. I had something tasty for every one of the 40 meals I ate. I loved the grilled chicken, the sushi, the fish pasta, the grilled fish, the stuffed turkey, the blue cheese and the numerous option for vegetables. The desserts were amazing in every restaurant (mousse, eclers, boiled prunes, cakes, typical honey cakes, puddings, fresh figs & dates, lots of fruit, ets.) The tourists are a good mix of mostly Hungarians, Germans, Slavik people, and fewer Romanians, French, Italian, Portuguese and British. I even saw a Korean family.The quality of some these people is sometimes questionable. Some will seat on the cushioned chairs in the Melange with wet swimsuits and make it very uncomfortable for the next tourist to sit in the same chair with dry clothes on. Not much reading is going on either. There is a book stand with very few books withered from the sun. I found 2 in English and 1 in Romanian that I could read besides the 4 thrillers in English I took with me. Left them there after reading and all disappeared - hopefully to be read and returned. I waited desperately for the stand to be updated for no avail. The beach is a small distance walk and it offers lounges (old but sturdy, old mattresses) and sunshades (quite old, not opaque enough to block the sun). The beach itself doesn't match the luxurious looking aspect of the hotel premises, as it looks old, outdated and poor. There are guys who bring you the mattress and insist on placing the beach towel on it. I offered each a tip, as they "learnt" my preference to be early and sit on the front row. Two sun lounges are protected by a paravan in a semi circular shape which offers some discretion/ shade. The beach towels are provided everyday in the room, around 6 pm (one odd aspect I found unpleasant as it is the first hotel where you cannot exchange your towel yourself and "need" a service provided for it!). It got me by surprise when there was a knock at the door on the first day. After sunbathing all day long the only thing you are looking forward to is having a shower not staying dressed up and waiting for the knock & towel as the guy insisted he came by your room to drop a clean towel (although I ran into him almost every day on the corridor). Every employee makes sure you understand they expect a tip - and they invented a service for actions you could we'll do them by yourself. If you an extra 100 euros to pay everyone, good for you. But for me, the constant "only for you, madame" was quite annoying. Beach Services - BIG NOPE!!! It's not how it should be done! There isn't what I call a Beach Bar but a beverage station that opens at 10 - bad idea if you ask me (had to carry my water on the beach every day in a thermos and my coffee in a plastic mug I had packed). I like going out at sunrise and avoid staying in the sun after 10.30. Once, I arrived at the beverage station 10 minutes before 10. They have these self-service dispensers for Cola, Sprite, Soda, etc. I asked if I could fill my cup and the guy said "10 o'clock". In scorching heat! I asked again if I could please have soda. He almost yelled "10 o'clock" again. Probably, because I hadn't offered a tip. Tears welled up as I left the place - ruined my morning. I tried my luck a second time - hoping I get some water, and again it was not possible before 10. Walked back to reception for the bottled water. It is the first hotel in the 8th I have already been to that has this CRAZY BEACH policy! No drinks before 10, no towel hut, no entry in the sea before 9, no snorkeling or just lying in the sea after 5:30! The last 3 corners I visited was Fairuz Three Corners hotel in Marsa Alam (way above this hotel, definitely!!!) and I am speechless at how Makadi Palace understands beach services! You should learn to treat your customers better if you want them coming back! Start with clean, white linen, cleaning in general, and beach comfort! These areas are really bad. There is this other guy who comes by your lounge and asks if you need a drink. He is the only one who is very respectful and helpful. He brought me a soda and a beer every day. I felt comfortable to tip him, as he didn't "ask" for it. The good thing is they serve Stella Artois on the beach! Very tasty! The entrance in sea at Makadi Palace beach is via corals - quite flat at the beginning but a lot more difficult to walk on after 100 m. It opens at 9 and closes at 5:30. One of the guards let people in earlier but another one was always blowing his whistle to people if they dared go in the sea ealier. He said it has to to with reception orders (boats start going at around 8 which makes predators go further deeper in the sea). The water is shallow most of the way to the big coral. The deep sea/ big coral is reachable in around 300 m. I swam there twice as I hate the coral walk on. I preferred using the pontoon at Grand Makadi. You can swim along and above (which is quite a new experience for me) the coral all the way from the pontoon to Stella di Mare if you want. I swam along the coral from to pontoon to Makadi Spa beach and back. I walked to Fort Arabesque on two days and swam around the coral patches there. Nothing to impress me except for the 2 clown fish I saw. I saw big morenas on several occasions and a huge blue ray on one. Somebody said they saw a big tuna fish one day. I saw a very big dark blue fish but I can't tell it was a tuna or not. No turtles, no dolphins. There are all those fish species you expect to see in the Red Sea. The guy at the pontoon is very helpful and really cares about your well being and safety, although "swimming at your risk" is displayed on a sign at the base of the pontoon. There is a camel waiting for rides there from time to time. The pontoon is wide, long, and well build and it is lit blue at night. The pontoon opens at 10 and closes at 5 pm. Snorkeling here is definitely not as interesting as in Marsa Alam. The entire beachfront is rocky from the pontoon (Grand Makadi) to Makadi Spa (very fancy hotel). After that, the entrance in the sea is sandy and suited for families with children (Grand Waterworld Makadi & Fort Arabesque).There are shops and different services by the beachfront and a wide, beautifully paved alley that offers relaxing walks in the evenings. The events I saw organized was a disco on the beach on Wednesday (14 euros entry) and some jet ski show in the big pool on Friday (some entrance fee). I'm not fan of the pools so I know little about entertainment, although I saw the guys on a few occasion on the beach. There are offers for trips, massage, hair salon, fresh drinks and ice coffee every day - they will approach you more in the beginning of your stay if you keep refusing services. Out of the 4 hotels managed by Red Sea hotels, The Makadi Palace seems the little poor sister. Grand Makadi is huge and has plenty of beach bars and beach restaurants (I saw them on my daily walks to and from the pontoon) and Makadi Spa is quite next level. Makadi Palace is definitely low-buget (1000 euros / 2 weeks/ solo) so it was great value for money. I might choose Grand Makadi next time!

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“Makadi palace”

This is about our 12th visit to Egypt We have come back to the Makadi palace hotel after 8years and other than the dome restaurant been refitted and some new outside furniture nothing has changed. The rooms are now in need of refurbishment and some of the outside areas require the same. I can’t fau… more

This is about our 12th visit to Egypt We have come back to the Makadi palace hotel after 8years and other than the dome restaurant been refitted and some new outside furniture nothing has changed. The rooms are now in need of refurbishment and some of the outside areas require the same. I can’t fault the food it was excellent throughout the hotel. The staff I would say most staff are great but not all a lot of staff are just constantly looking for a tip especially the joker bar. I do tip all holiday but for good service we had one member of staff knocking on our door telling us he was going home tomorrow for holiday when I went to the door I had never seen this member of staff before.The staff in the restaurants were excellent.The lobby bar in the hotel is so confusing drinks inside to pay sit outside don’t have to pay?The trips sold by Red Sea rep having been on many boat trips was told we have a new island trip £49 Eden island when we got there was the same island we had been to but the beach was named Eden beach next to another beach hula hula beach that’s a con not a new island just a bit of beach with different names. Then when the trips are booked to be told we then have to pay £6 each government tax on the trips so we had two trips another cost of £24 for the two trips we booked. This should be mentioned on the trip sheet with prices but is not so be careful.We booked a trip with the guys walking round the hotel not Red Sea and guess what did not have to pay the £6 government tax so is this a con ??Overall a great holiday but needed to mention the above points

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“Needs Redecoration Everywhere”

We have visited this hotel since 2015. The staff are amazing, they work damn hard. I feel the owner needs to put money into the Hotel instead of making his choices of having 30 Hotels by next year!!! I heard he decorated the reception area using cheap paint!!! Put Money into this hotel and maybe m… more

We have visited this hotel since 2015. The staff are amazing, they work damn hard. I feel the owner needs to put money into the Hotel instead of making his choices of having 30 Hotels by next year!!! I heard he decorated the reception area using cheap paint!!! Put Money into this hotel and maybe more English people will pay!!!

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