We are off to the Grand Makadi in October and wondered if anyone has been there at that time of year and could tell me what the water temp would be like.

We did Sharm last March and the pool was freeeezing!!!!!
I am hoping by October the water would be warmer.

Also my sister has two children. Anyone know if the junior suites have two double beds of are the childrens beds separated.
Their 11 year old girl is getting "fussy" about her sleeping arragments.


Werewolf - is there any chance the topic heading can be changed to Grand Makadi and Makadi Palce please??

dont know why i asked werewolf???????

Briar can you assist?

We went to the Makadi Palace/Grand Makadi for a week at Christmas and it was absolutely wonderful. I cannot understand some of the bad comments I've seen about this place. There were 11 restaurants to choose from and as long as you are interested in good food they were really good. If all you want is "typical" English holiday stuff then you are in the wrong place. The Thai was excellent, the Island fish restaurant was wonderful, the Italian was good, the Lebanese was the only disappointment - although the belly dancer was great. The afternoon pancakes and ice creams were unmissable. We didn't eat in the buffet restaurants apart from breakfast and that had a good choice of things eg omelettes etc made in front of you, fresh fruit as well as meats, and usual breakfast cereals etc. Another is a grill restaurant where they make whatever pasta dish you like to your own recipe as you watch them. Very entertaining, even watching somebody else's food being prepared.

The beach did get crowded fairly early on but if you could get a sunbed you had drinks brought to you and some of the suneds are in little basket alcoves which make them very private.

The snorkelling was unbelievable. Yes, it is rocky to get into the water, but it is a coral reef so what do people expect. You can buy the reef shoes on the beach or take some with you, but don't miss the chance to see those fish! There are plenty of places to go scuba diving from here and not expensive.

Our room, a junior suite in the Palace hotel was beautiful, really spacious and with a great view from the balcony. The water did come out of the taps a rather murky colour but just be sensible and use bottled to brush your teeth as well as drinking. You can get bottled water in some of the bars and restaurants and all of them serve water from proper containers, they never serve tap water. Also we never got ice in our drinks - I think the hotel is very careful about our delicate European stomachs!

The staff couldn't do enough to help you and although they do expect to be tipped, if you give a small tip when you arrive then they provide all sorts of things like fruit, water etc in your room every night - without expecting anything extra during the holiday. This is the culture of the place and most of these people get paid in a month what we get for a day, so I can't see the problem.

The resort was quiet and very relaxing, which is what we wanted, but I can accept that it wouldn't suit everybody. There were bars and some evening entertainment, but it is not Ibiza! We really liked the layout of the grounds which linked the two hotels by lots of pathways and pools. nice places for a stroll. However, you could find really quick shortcuts through from the Grand Makadi to the Palace by staying inside rather than by walking through the grounds.

All in all, I would recommend these two hotels to people who want to relax, eat well and spend time in or on the sea. It didn't seem that good for small children and it doesn't offer the sorts of on site activities that you get in Caribbean resorts - such as sailing, banana boats etc because the coast is not suitable for that. But, we would definitely go again, especially in low season when it is not too busy.

hi hazel,
yes seperating the hotels would be difficult we were trying to work it out!
but there not doing it untill the family stars resort is bulit later this year probably even next...they were digging the footings whilst we were there....
the restaurants are great i do think that you'll be able to use both resorts though.
im currently looking to book to go back next easter for 2 wks, i believe that direct holidays is the cheapest operator on the net.
anyone got more on that, would be great
kylie

Hi Kylie

Thanks for the information, it's good to hear that the facilities of both will be available. You know how it is on all inclusive your normally get fed up with the food after a week, so to have a choice will be great. We booked via Going Places and it is with Panorama, that was the best deal i could find at the time.

Thanks again
Hazel

hi hazel,
if you would like i could send you some pics.....
kylie

Hazel,

have you been yet?? Would love to hear how you got on

Hi Barbara

Just got back yesterday, to the lovely English weather.

We had a fab time, i loved the hotel and setting. You can still use the facilities of both hotels which was good, plenty to choose from. One great thing about the place is it never feels busy, we asked our rep if the hotel was full and he said all except about 100 rooms in both hotels. We never had a problem once with sunbeds there are more than enough to go round, both on the beach or by the pool. The pools are huge, and not too cold.

The temperature was around 37 degrees, most days. The sea temperature was around 24 degrees(only know this from hubbies dive watch), it felt a bit chilly when you got in, but you could be in there a good hour and not feel cold. Not sure what the temperature will be for you in October, but i would have thought pretty similar. The snorkelling is amazing. A bit difficult to get in and out of the water, but they sell coral shoes, believe they were around £5, we had our own snorkel gear with us, but you could use the hotels fins, masks free.

Just thinking what info you might want, there is a childrens club in the Grand Makadi, and one of the beach bars specialises in kiddies meals with Nuggets etc . The main buffet restaurant at the Makadi palace again, has a seperate kiddies bit with french fries, fish fingers etc.

The rooms are lovely, we had a junior suite, but can't answer your question on the beds. We had a sofa and two chairs, in our extra space but i think they move beds in an out perhaps as necessary because ours initially had a cot in it which they moved out.

There is more relaxed evening entertainment on the beach at the Grand, started around 9, with cushions on the floor. Or alternatively in the Jokers club at the Makadi Palace, we preferred here because they served beer, whereas at the make shift bar at the beach they had none.

If you have any concerns over Security, which i did before i went, the Security is very high there's a traffic check point as you leave Hurghada and another as you travel into Makadi Bay and the hotel itself has an armed barrier. However once in the hotel and grounds you become oblivious to it and forget about any qualms you may have had.

One thing i will say, and i had read it before i went is there is another hotel being built at the other side of the Makadi Palace. However you don't hear anything from the pool area, beach area, restaurants etc at all. But we were moved from our original room which was 2115, as it overlooked the area they were clearing at must be the back of the new hotel (although perhaps a few hundred yards away. We asked to be moved which they did immediately and ended up in 2148 which was fab. It's almost like a crescent shape and our original room was as far right away from the Grand Makadi beach you can get. There was probably only this one block of about nine rooms which overlooked the works in the Grand Makadi, and i suppose it depends on how fussy you are.

We had a wonderful time and would recommend it to others, i probably wouldn't return but we never return anywhere, too many other places to see.

I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time, if you need any specific questions answering fire away.

Hazel

Thanks Hazel.
It all sounds Fab!!

Anyone been to the Hotel Grand Makadi of late?
Would be interested to hear what you thought of it.
All the hotel reviews seem to be for the Makadi Palace.

Do you think we need to book our a la carte restaurants in advance for a party of 9?

Hi

When we were there, we booked either for the same day or the day after, we never turned up on spec. So i would say you will probably have to give a few days notice.

You will have a great time.

Hazel

Thanks Hazel.

How many a la carte's are there?
Are you restricted to how many times you can use them?

Thanks
Barbara

Hi Barbara

There were three i think, we only went to the Thai and the Italian, both were very nice. Whilst we were there they were finishing off another one, at the Grand Makadi pool area. You can visit them as many times as you like, and we never struggled to get a table, only booking on the day or for the day after. We've been to all inclusives in the past and really struggled to get our allowance in, but it is nothing like that.

Hazel

Can anyone offer assistance please? We are going to the Makadi Palace in a few weeks but I am reading conflicting reports about the all inclusive. The brochure says any of the al la carte restaurants are an extra charge (presumably those in the Grand Makadi too) but all the reviews sugges that you can use any of the al la cartes as part of the all inclusive. Can anyone who has been recently qualify this please?

Thanks in advance

Kevin

Just back from the Grand makadi. Had a great time.
I will post a hotel reiew in due course

Hi,

Hotel review now added. Hope it helps!