This is a 5 star hotel, with grounds, facilities, staff & service to match.

I emailed 4 weeks prior with a room request of 2 adjacent rooms in cluster 7. I had read this was a quiet location which is our preference. Guest services replied they could not guarantee this, but would try - fair enough. We arrived on the Fri of a local holiday, so the hotel was full & they could not meet the request, but offered a 1 bed suite for the 1st night & a move next morning to adjacent rooms in cluster 7. Which we accepted. We were told that if we preferred the suite we would haave it for the week.

It was beautiful, but unfortunately the sofabed was not comfy enough for the 3rd adult (probably fine for a child) & we had a preference for a 2nd bathroom. even though the suite bathroom was huge. The staff moved us the following morning to 7124 & 7125, both excellent rooms, overlooking the lagoon pool. It wasn't the inconvenience one would assume, I didn't move from my sun-bed & it took 20 min of DH's time to be with the staff to check the right bags went into the right rooms & obtain new keys.

If we return as a couple we would love to stay in a suite, lots of space, peaceful location, two balconies, one massive with a full patio set plus outstanding views.

We stayed on a B & B basis, breakfast was excellent & I'm sure if you were of a mind you could eat enough to keep you going till dinner. They do offer an all inclusive programme but we wished to eat out of an evening.

We had lunch most days served to our sunbeds round the lagoon, by the more than willing staff. Such items as capress salad, chicken wrap & chips, portion of chips, bread basket, large beer & large water or 7up cost between LE170 & LE200 which seemed fine for 3 adults.

We had 2 meals in El Sayadin the fish restaurant, our meal on the 1st evening & a lunch. This has to be the best setting in El Gouna for lunch due to the views, fish soup, 7 mixed meze, breads, a beer, 7up, water, 3 desserts & a coffee was LE350. The evening meal we had there was approx LE600.

We also ate in the Thai which is prettily located round the Oasis Pool of an evening, this was great food & cost approx LE500. All food & drink we consumed was enjoyable & good quality. Never made it to El Limone the Italian.

Being new to El Gouna we weren't quite sure where we were located in the resort. We seemed to be on the outskirts, however the local transport system of tuk, tuk's & shuttle buses are very efficient. We could be in Downtown in 5 min or the Marina in 10. Downtown & the Marina are the 2 main hubs for restaurants, bars & shopping.

Maybe we could have walked to downtown in 15 min, as while travelling we passed many who were walking there. But the fare in the little vehicles is the equivalent of 50p per person for a single journey & they are fun to rid so we took advantage of them.

The Movenpick staff were excellent, from the cleaners to those working the restaurants, there were people raking out the edge of the lagoon, checking the pools & tidying the gardens. Our rooms were on the edge of the hotel, but if walking to reception & a member of staff was on one of the golf buggies & saw you, they would always stop, ask where you were going & offer a lift.

We did tip as we went, little & often, only small denomination Egyptian & we used up some dollar bills we had to tip the room boys at the end of the week, as they did a great job. They never forgot to replenish the toiletries, loo rolls, change the towels etc. If we signed for food/drink to be charged we made it up to the next round number. No need to wander around with shed loads of cash, also the staff whilst grateful did not seem to be looking for tips.

In terms of entertainment, not sure what was going on of an evening, there was a small stage though, but we went out by 8pm. During the day there was the normal organised activities taking place at the Oasis Pool, but the staff did come round the Lagoon pool to let guests know what was going on.

The dive school is located under El Sayadin. I thought it was a company called Dive Tribe, but they seem to have been taken over by Emperor. We did an excellent dolphin spotting boat trip with them & DD did a 1 day refresher dive course which good, so would recommend them based on these experiences. The Orange Concept also work out of this hotel & offer various water based activities but we didn't have time to try them.

We thought about it but struggled to find anything we disliked about this hotel. It wouldn't suit people who want small & intimate & I imagine the main restaurant at night could be a bit frantic, but then that's buffets for you & only to be expected. But the overall level of service on offer is something that a lot of hotels are still striving to achieve.

Other guests were multinational, many Egyptians staying the 1st weekend, after this the hotel emptied out a bit. Other guests were German, Swiss, English, Scandinavian. We saw no rowdiness or drunken behaviour of any kind. The hotel attracts families with children, probably due to the multiple pools, large rooms, playground & AI.

When settling our account, DH had scanned our receipts & added them & the invoice we were presented with was accurate. This often isn't the case in many decent hotels so is to be commended. He mentioned we had enjoyed our stay & was offered a complimentary late check out to 2.30pm - normal time of check out being noon, which was a nice touch & made having that final swim & last lunch more pleasant.

We would seriously consider a return. The 5 hour Thomas Cook flight is a serious downside, but you do forget it once you are there, we probably need to accept that we should go for extra leg room seats on this route.