Having just returned from 2 weeks at this Hotel I feel I have to place a review singing the praises of the Iberotel Makadi Saraya.

I did book a ground floor room with First Choice but was allocated an upstairs room at the hotel, this problem was instantly sorted by reception, we were re-allocated a ground floor family room by the quiet pool which was brillient. The room was cleaned every day by Ali who was a wonderful person given that he made a model of a man sitting in our lounge area and frightened me to death when I came in from the pool (amazing what you can make with blankets, towels, my fleece and my friends shoes. I did suffer for 24 hours with a stomach upset but Ali brought me a variety of teas to settle my stomach otherwise not other health problems.

The restaurant was fine depending on what time you arrived for your meal as sometimes it was a little hectic, we decided on eating late. The food was excellent (especially the Egyptian bread) as was the service, my plate of food was often carried back to the table for me, I feel I should mention some of the staff who gave service above and beyond.

George, Restaurant Manager, Mustafa, Tofany, Ahmed, Ebd and not forgetting Mohamed we were made to feel very very special.

The pools were cleaned every night and surrounds washed down every morning, the pool areas were kept tidy and an excellent waiter service was provided by staff at the quiet pool.

I have to agree with other reviews of this hotel regarding nationals of an Eastern Country they were extremely rude, ignorant, loud and a downright pain, we tried to avoid being near them.

We did venture to the beach twice but forget the white powder sands of Sharm, Hurgharda has a shingle beach which does hurt your feet and we found the breeze at the beach too cold but it was only January.

Would I go to this hotel again, yes definitely if I knew when a certain nationality would be the minority and not the majority.

First of all we would like to thank Ahmed and Mohamed. They were always there when needed ;)

Seriously, our family (kids 2 and 3) stayed a week here in January. Overall we enjoyed our stay and as opposed to our other holidays in Egypt and abroad, this ranks as top quality. Here are the detailed comments:

Weather
Was chilly when we arrived 19th of Jan, heavy wind and +16. I quess Makadi Bay as well as Hurghada are quite windy which can make the winter months fairly cold. By end of our holiday the weather got better and kids were able to enjoy swimming.

Service
The hotell is wery well organised and clients are treated with high respect in all matters. The check-in and out went smoothly. We applied for a special room beforehand directly with the hotell and received what we wanted. All the staff at the hotell were friendly and very polite.

Food & Restaurants
In Makadi, the idea is to have AI and meals at your own resort. Within AI the choises in Saraya were fairly limited. There was abuffet breakfast / lunch /dinner at the main restaurant (sunflower) which was plentyfull but quite repetitive. In addition there was another buffet restaurant, however, they served the same as the previous. The pool bar served basic but good lunch meals for change (AI). The beach bar was mainly for snacks. The 3 other hotel restaurants were a la carte and not included AI. In restaurants the service was goog and sympathetic, not that professional though.There was also stylish arabian sisha bar with free drinks untill 0 am, howver it lacked clients every night as it was so cold in the evenings.

Rooms
We had a spacious double room apartment on ground floor. There were basic kitchen facilities and huge bathroom. The double bed was large and we had an extra bed. The apartment was clean and decorated with good modern and classic style. There was nothing to complate about the rooms.

Swimming pools & Beach
There was one bigger pool and two children's pools heated. The pool area was nice and relaxing, not too loud. Public music varied from Abba to Buddha Bar. The bar service at the pool was well orientated and good. Beach was ok, within nice and calm 8min walk away from Saraya. There is decent reef to snorkel just off the Saraya beach.

Animation
Was wery good in our opinion. We participated the kids part and they were enjoying the animation and the team.

Trips& etc.
Did participate ahalf day snorkeling trip operated by Tiger Marine.Can highly recommend them. In addition the snorkeling was great, almost the same as in Sharm el Sheik.
The water park was great, especially if you have children. The water is very warm and there are a lot to do there.

Overall we would recommend this hotell for all kind of travellers, especially families. It was a high standard and wery well organised.It seems though that same applies for all hotells in Makadi area.

Happy family from Finland

Have just returned from a week of winter sun at Iberotel Makadi Saraya Resort with First Choice.
The whole experience was just what we wanted except it was very cold and windy at night (and often windy during the day) - they even had gas patio heaters in the restaurant.But in January, that's not unexpected.

The room, cleanliness, food( of very good quality and too much choice!)were excellent and the service top class - they even remembered our names and choice of drinks and rang our room twice during the week to make sure everything was OK. The daily room towel decorations were a night touch.

The hotel was only about 60% full so I would think that in the height of summer with full occupation, it might get a bit crowded and the service levels may suffer.

The facilities - restaurant, pools, bars, reception were excellent with very friendly staff who could not help enough.

Makadi Bay itself is not particularly interesting - just a large purpose built group of hotels with not much to see/do but, again, this may be due to the time of year.

The only real drawback was the presence of the R......ians who were boorish, rude, greedy and had no consideration for others. Heard rumours that many Germans only go to hotels that do not take R.....ians!

Overall, an excellent holiday, well organised by First Choice with very good transfers between hotel and airport and visa procedures on arrival at the airport - not the long wait experienced in the past. Also, very good and helpful rep.

We would certainly return to this hotel for a winter break - preferably without the R......ians!

Having visited Egypt on four previous occasions, we decided Hurghada and opted for this hotel. On arrival we were invited to a seated bar area, with a complimentary drink and the staff attended the tables with the relevant registration forms, leaflets, infoi etc and wrist bands. This was a first for us as generally, we queue at reception and every one rushes. This was immediately very easy, calming and effective. Our rooms were beautiful. We took my Mum who has a wheelchair. The staff fell over themselves to assist and she was give a primary ground floor room with large open areas for ease of movement. Our room had a mini bar (chargeable), very, very comfortable furniture and exceedingly clean. Usual 5 star applied eg: hair dryer, TV, free safety deposit box, microwave (useful for ppl with babies), toiletries etc etc. We did not want for anything. The rooms were cleaned daily by a very articulate, polite house MAN who we tipped generously. We enjoyed arriving back daily to see what he had made from the towels/pillows. Eg: Flowers, swans, elephant, dog, dragon fly, crab etc etc. He did a marvellous job every day! The pool area was immaculate and again, very articulate, polite staff attended the gardens and pool areas which were immaculate throughout. The pool bar staff waited on us at the sunbeds and were circulating every 10 minutes or so. We were very spoiled. There are a selection of restaurant but we favoured the 'Sunflower' for ease of access for Mum and the huge selection readily available daily. Breakfast had fruits, cereals, yoghurts, continental cheeses and meats, salads?? Wide selection of pastries/breads and the hot selection had omelttes/eggs made fresh to order plus sausages, beans, tomatoes, french toast , hard boiled eggs plus traditional Egyptian choices too. Fresh pancakes/waffles also made to order. Lunch time and evening meals were vast! Many many (too many to list) choices of salads, vegetables, fish, meats, curries, casseroles (eg. goulash and stroganoff) rices, various potato dishes (mashed, chips, roast, jacket, creamed) and similar with the variety of rices... very nice !!. Desserts were also in abundance, hot and cold, very sticky, colourful and choccy cakes, sponges and pasties to choose from every day. I preferred the cheese board with several gorgeous cheeses to choose from along with their breads... scrummylicious!! I have to mention at this point, that my hubbie is a coeliac and never struggled once, nor had any reactions or illness. Many, many gluten free dishes were available every day. I also need to add that the Chef's are circulating and checking constantly and speak very good english so if anyone had an allergy or intolerance, I feel this could be addressed worry free!! The staff in the restaurant were cheery, polite, attentive and immaculate at all times, as, indeed were all the staff. The Animation Team worked hard daily to provide a wide programme of activities for adults and children. Again, polite, friendly and entertaining. The beach is a 10 minute walk - across a road. The beach also has an all inclusive bar/snack area for the Hotel and there are umberellas and loungers to use free of charge. There are piers along the reef with the usual boats/submarines etc offering the various excursions. Water sports and diving are also available and very cheap too (if motorised) Transfers, check in and check out were all easily performed with no fuss. The porters insist on transporting all luggage to and from rooms. The Hotel is approximately 40,minutes from airport. Buses were clean and seat belts/arm rest strictly used!! We had a very relaxing, sunny, hot holiday and I can safely say , I will return. Although the Hotel is 'quiet', there is a night club down the road and a free courtesy bus operates from the hotel into the centre of Hurghada which has many more bars/restaurants so really, you can tailor make your holiday to be as busy or as relaxing as you choose. Beach towels are also available from the pool side. I hope I have covered everything, especially the improtant bits BUT feel free to email me if Ive missed something. We loved it and many many people who we met, had been before and one gent in particulate had returned 9 (yes 9) times.. I rest my case !! Hope this helps - I travel alot and always strive to give an honest, realistic review. I travelled with my hubbie, a female friend and my mum (who is in her 70's with a wheelchair). The climate was like a hot sunny day in Uk so very very tolerable, needless to add we all came back with cracking suntans. Also (almost forgot) there ia a GP on sight 24/7, a pharmacy (with English speaking staff) and a small selection of gadget/souvenir shops (you know the type?) and literally 2 mins from the reception is a supermarket in case you forget anything. Very easy going, relaxing, worry free holiday with pretty much something for everyone of any age !! What else can I say ??
Email me chrissy.wrightson@live.com if I can be of further assistance .