Stella Makadi Hotels & Resorts — Hotel in Makadi Bay

I so wanted to write a good review - if I had written this whilst we were still at the hotel, I would be rewarding it 3/4 stars instead of 1..... but on our last day at this hotel, me and my husband both came down with what we thought at the time was food poisoning (it made our flight back interesting….). We normally have ironclad stomachs and are both very well-travelled. I think it's in the back of everyone's mind that you may pick up a little tummy something when at a huge all-inclusive hotel that isn't top brand/ in this part of the world, so we thought this would clear up after a few days. But here we are, nearly 2 weeks post-holiday both still feeling AWFUL. For context: we’re both in our 30’s, very fit and otherwise healthy. We went to the GP, gave a 'sample' and the results have come back as Shigella aka dysentery! We're now on antibiotics and to say we're unhappy is an understatement; we ONLY ate/ drank at this hotel, so make of that what you will. ||If you put aside the above, here’s our review of the hotel: ||- There’s loads of sun loungers on the beach. One of the beach could be classed as the ‘party’ end as it’s near the live music, but the other end is quiet. A note about the beach DJ – if you have kids who understand English, you may want to consider not being near the music as they were playing some VERY questionable songs with wildly inappropriate language/ lyrics. ||- The beach music also flows over into the main pool area; once again, lots of sun loungers. If you want a quieter pool vibe, the smaller pool (with it’s on pool bar) was a lot more chilled. But it appeared that some people were paying the staff to reserve some loungers for them…. By 7am most of the loungers were already ‘taken’, but then not arriving until midday. Not cool but very British. ||- The beach is clean and long. You can’t swim from the beach itself due to the coral (bring shoes to wear in the water) but it was nice to paddle in (amazing temperature). If you walk along the pier, there is a swimming site on the far right and also at the end. A word of caution: the site on the right was often surrounded by kite surfers showboating. The site at the end is next to the boat mooring…. The snorkelling at the end is AMAZING (so many fish, and rays too) but we were a little on edge with the boats being around us – and jellyfish. Hundreds of jellyfish! These one’s don’t sting, but it still wasn’t the most relaxing of experiences being surrounded by them. I think that was the wind bringing them in.| |- The pools were clean and had lifeguards. They close at 6pm for swimming – which was frustrating when it was still 35c and sunny; you weren’t even allowed to dangle your feet in after 6pm! It might be worth the hotel considering extending the opening times to allow their guests to enjoy the amenities they’ve paid for….. The pier also closed at 6pm and you shooed off of it by the lifeguards – you weren’t even allowed to walk along it after 6pm, which was disappointing as a nighttime post-dinner walk along the pier would’ve been lovely. The hotel need to have faith in their guests that common sense will hopefully prevail and people won’t jump in the water after dark. ||- The cocktail menu is super limited: it’s essentially the same 4 spirits and 3 juices, just in a few varieties. The least all-inclusive cocktail menu we’ve ever seen but the drinks were often quite punchy so they served their purpose if that’s what you were wanting. The local beer on tap was decent! There’s 4 ‘bars’; one for the beach, one for the quiet pool, one for the ‘busy’ main pool, and one at the lobby/ restaurant. There were a lot of staff at the lobby bar (ideal for the evening as it’s the only bar open after 6pm….) but the other 3 bars didn’t have too many people working there so there were often long waits if you were expecting service at your lounger; going directly the bar was always the easiest, quickest option. The poor staff were friendly, hard-working and remembered your order! They work crazy long days, so give a tip at the end of your stay as it goes a long way for them. ||- There’s chilled bottled water on dispenser, and juices too, at various locations around the hotel. You only get two small bottles of free bottled water in the room everyday so keep the bottles and refill them. On that note: this the first all inclusive we’ve been to where the fridge in the room is not included in the price! It came across during our week at this hotel at ‘all inclusive’ does not mean all inclusive here unless you’re willing to pay more money for things that at other hotels are included in the cost – I guess that’s what you get though when you pay for a cheap hotel! ||- Luckily the WIFI is now free to use. It’s super patchy throughout the hotel; touch-and-go in the room/ pool/ restaurant area but worked perfectly in the lobby. This didn’t really other us but I could see it being a hinderance for others. ||- The evening entertainment was so-so. There’s a free table tennis table, and a poll table (but you have to pay! Once again, how is this not included in an all-inclusive??). There’s a little library in the lobby to pick from. Otherwise this is it! We just went back to the room and chilled there. ||- Room: we had a garden view room and it was lovely. Ground floor with a view of the quiet pool, nice and sunny in the morning. The room was spacious and clean – decent shower with consistent hot water/ water pressure. Housekeeping came every day to make up the bed, give bottled water, and sort out the towels.||- Food. It was quantity over quality. The main buffet had a themed night every night with the best being the Egyptian themed night; it begs the question why an Egyptian hotel doesn’t just make every night Egyptian food night! Guess they are catering to the mixed European audience…. the other themed nights were very loose/ lacking, with consistent food being served on all the nights (i.e always a pasta bar, fresh bread, chips, some kind of meat carvery). ||- Food. There’s a HUGE salad area with an abundance of sauces and condiments, and lots of extra sides to pick from. There’s also a lovely lady who sits outside next to a coal over making fresh pitta breads that are a delight to eat! ||- Food. There’s an abundance of puddings to pick from but it’s a case of Russian roulette as there’s absolutely no signage AT ALL. Luckily, we are not allergic to anything so just threw ourselves into trying all the puddings (so many wonderful baklavas to try), but I wont be surprised if the hotel has a lawsuit on it’s hands in the future with someone who has a nut allergy accidentally eating something they shouldn’t…. ||- The hotel has 2 on-site ‘speciality’ restaurants you can reserve (for free) in the lobby. There’s an Italian and Indian. We only went to the Italian; it was something of nothing – 4 pizzas (3 essentially the same), and a load of non-inspiring pasta dishes. ||So, this is my honest review of the hotel. You get what you pay for! We booked knowing it was a cheap and cheerful holiday to just relax in the sun; in that respect, the trip served it’s purpose. The hotel is clean, the food and drink is fine, the weather was stunning and snorkelling was decent. We booked via TUI and flew from Gatwick. The cost for us (in early Matu 2025) was only £650 per person for 7 nights (including transfers to/from the airport), so it was a steal. The hotel limitations were fine for us considering the price – that’s not our criticism. All of the holiday has been drastically tainted by how unwell we’ve been since coming home. Reading hotel reviews over the last year, the hotel gets mixed reviews for a reason, so please book this hotel with...

Review ||So we arrived at Stella Resort & Spa on the 22nd June 2025 for a week stay. Check in was smooth and the bell boy took us to our room. Along the way the bell boy gave us all the information on where the main features of the hotel were such as the main dining court, the “Al a Carte” restaurants & beach snack bar. This in my opinion was amazing because we knew the layout due to this information.||The hotel complex is very large boasting a number of pools and also a lovely pool bar. The hotel is spotless and the staff work very hard in blistering heat to maintain this.||There are a vast amount of beds around the various pools and we found no issues in getting beds, even late in the morning. There are large parasols with every two beds which also great as it was very hot.||Food.|Breakfast- So as you would expect the food is catered along the lines of most hotels around Europe boasting a large amount of fresh fruit, cheese and cold meats. Hot food is also available and you can have your fried eggs freshly made and also omelettes made fresh to your liking. There are two hot plates where you can get these. We always went to Gedo as he is so welcoming and always has a smile and joke with you while he makes your order for you. We love you Gedo, please never change.||Lunch- Now you can either go to the snack bar located on the beach end of the resort where you can have chips, pizza, burgers and fresh fruit. We found the food here very good.|You can also go to the main dining area where there is more of a selection such as freshly cooked meats both warm and cold on offer. The dining area is air conditioned which offers a lovely break from the heat while you dine. ||Evening Meal- Again plenty to choose from at the main dining court and we had no complaints regarding the food, it was all lovely. |As we were staying for a week we had the ability to choose to dine in one of the four |“Al a Carte” restaurants:- Italian,Indian, Lebanese or Chinese. Now the Italian and the Indian are situated on the Resort & Spa side of the complex and the Lebanese & Chinese are on the Stella Gardens side of the complex. You get to dine at two of these restaurants during your week stay and you simply book through reception. We chose the Italian and the Indian and both visits were 10 out of 10. The food and service were fantastic. If you do want to go to the Gardens side of the complex there is a regular shuttle bus you can use. Although we never went to the Gardens side of the complex we did have good reviews from other people we met. ||Hotel Pool Side Staff.|Amazing is all I can say! We got to know many of the staff who are very courteous and welcoming. We particularly got to know “Shady & John” who were the two that were allocated our area of the pool. They were brilliant and regularly came past asking if we needed fresh drinks of which they would bring to you. Thankyou both so very much, you really enhanced our holiday experience.||Entertainment Staff.|Again wow!!! These guys are just amazing through and through. Jazmin and Abdula were outstanding. Very welcoming funny and energetic, offering many activities you can join in with throughout the day. Again a massive thankyou to all the entertainment staff, but a big shout out to Jazmin & Abdula, top drawer people. 👌||Cleaner.|Our cleaner was Ahmed. He was very courteous and welcoming and done an amazing job keeping our room freshly cleaned and tidy. He made a number of towel animals during our stay which were a pleasure to walk in and see. My wife celebrated her birthday whilst at resort and on the day of her birthday we returned to our room at end of a day of sunbathing by the pool to find he had created an amazing display on our bed. (Please see video and pics attached to post)|Ahmed you are a credit you your team and you really did add to what was a very memorable and magical holiday. ||Evening Entertainment.|Now this is where I think improvements can be made. Although the entertainment was great, it wasn’t long enough in our opinion. It starts around 8.30pm and is generally finished by 10.00pm. The hotel would do good by their guests by offering more hours of evening entertainment.||Spa & Massage|We paid for a Hammam (Turkish Bath) and full body massage. It was spread over two different days. The first was the Hammam consisting of full body massage and also the traditional Turkish Bath all over body scrub followed by Sauna, Steam Room and Jacuzzi. Second day was a full body massage. |I would highly reccomend the spa, to say it was an amazing experience would be an understatement. Was worth every penny.||Overall.|To anyone wanting an amazing resort to holiday to, you wouldn’t go far wrong with Stella Beach Resort & Spa. We will definitely be returning in the future. Everything was amazing, even though the evening entertainment wasn’t long enough, and that being our only gripe, our stay was very very good.|I would give this hotel a very very strong 9.5 out of 10 score.||I would highly recommend tipping the staff as this definitely enhanced the service we received and baring in mind these people work in really hot conditions for up to 15 hrs a day and are paid very little for it. Your tips will go along way to them and their families.||We took British sterling, but be aware that Egypt do not bank with any kind of coins and the staff are tipped generally with a couple of pound coins here and there and they may ask you to change the coins to notes for them. We had no issue in doing this at all even though we did come back with £40 worth of pound coins 😂. For future visits we will take US Dollars as they can be given out in One Dollar notes. They accept British Sterling, Euro and US Dollars.||Make sure you take mozzy repellent as the mosquitos do bite you quite a lot.||Thankyou again to all the staff for making our holiday...

Rooms Functional and very basic, Furniture is worn down and outdated with a functional bathroom, bathroom (shower, sink, toilet) has seen better days. Tiles are cracked and patched, mould stains along the edges, no ventilation and towel/toilet paper holder are not properly attached. Beds & pillow are hard and lain through. In case you have back pain beware. The beach is uncomfortable to walk barefoot on - bring shoes. There are also quite nice grass areas in the shades of palm trees (I recommend those as they are not frequented by people to sell you spa treatments/ animation /diving/surfing/boat tours etc). There are enough sun beds, Towels are clean but overused/frayed... oh and in case you'd like to swap a towel for a fresh one "you get only one towel a day" (we tried on 3 days cause they were soaking wet) The water is quite shallowand the hotel has a reef accessible via a wooden pier: nice for snorkeling and lots of fishes around. 2 kids pools and 3 pools. Nevertheless the chlorine was quite stingy/agressive. 2 a la cartes (Indian & Italian) Restaurants +1 buffet+ 1 beach (snacks, lunch) The food is monotone and lacks variety. Quality is ok. Coffe machines (be careful... some seem to have a malfunction and leave you with a mess of grounded coffee in & around your cup - service couldn't have cared less). Juices are overly sweet (concentrate), water (hot/cold) from a dispenser. In the buffet restautant is a lack of ventilation and clothes tend to smell like a fried donut. It's also quite dark. The Indian a la carte : Mediocre food and half of the drinks mentioned on the menu weren't available (mineral water, orange juice (or any other non concentrate), wine knowledge not existent - yes we were willing to pay). Waiters are not trained and service is poor. Yes all inclusive means local alcoholics of lesser quality. But from all vacations this was the worst. Soft drinks are overly sweet and the local stuff tastes uhm.... Alternatives (paid) are as limited and poor as the fruits at the buffet. Worst selection ever and this was my 6th time in egypt with AI. Water out of dispensers, no bottles available but plenty of one use plastic cups. Public wifi in the lobby or buy a pass for a week (2 devices - 1 week - 25 Euro) don't even think of buying it. The connection is poor (I speed tested it) and if I pay for wifi at this rate I'd expect a decent quality. There is an on site clinic with very nice staff and prompt service in case of an emergency (we had one). The doctor spoke english but there is always someone speaking german as well. Very friendly, knowledgeable and extremly helpful. They also offer to deal with your travel insurance directly. Service... or the lack of it. Starting with the front desk: understaffed, unable to deal with complains, not customer oriented (when booking I booked a king size bed and was told there is none available and that it's the fault of the travel agent... by the way: just be persistent... chances are quite high the staff just lied cause we moved after 10min discussions). In the restaurant (buffet) take care of your plate. They take it without asking and if you object they just drop it and ask "What!?" In an annoyed tone. Oh and the staff does not care if it's right in front of you and you have a conversation/eat/drink/hold a piece of cuttlery they just reach out and even it's right in front of your face (I am talking 5 cm from my nose while holding a glass). And it's not any better in the a la carte restaurants. Beach Towels are another matter: you get one per day. So if you'dlike to swap for a dry one forget it. Your loss. (Yep we were told exactly that). Thank you very much. Housekeeping wants in return some tips. If you haven't provided any during your stay be assured there will be a knock on the door the night before your departure and/or the moment you step out of the room with your luggage. As for us we tend to leave tips when we leave a place and in this case it was highly unprofessional. Staff will also approach you for smokes, chocolates or such at...