Doubletree By Hilton Mangroovy El Gouna Resort

We came for kitesurfing, and the location worked really well. We rented a car but didn’t need to, since it’s easy to walk or take a tuk-tuk. I’d give the stay 7.5 out of 10. The staff were friendly, patient, and service-minded, even with rude guests, though some could improve their English. As a woman, I felt more comfortable once I saw some female staff after a few days. Applaus! The local food was the best part, especially the lamb, hummus varieties, and tajine vegetables. We were confused about drinks: one night we were asked to pay, while on other nights we weren’t. The room is spacious and laid out nicely, but some areas needed a better clean, and maintenance needs attention, including silicone seams coming loose. The toilet was installed at a very crooked angle, which felt strange to sit on. We also had two serious sewage overflows into the hallway during our five-day stay, which was unpleasant. For a hotel this size, the food was quite good overall. There’s only one small heated pool, so guests ended up sitting too close together. I don’t think people should be allowed to reserve pool chairs with towels. The gym is far too small to work out properly. Compared with other hotels nearby, there are clear things to improve, but we still had a good stay.

The Kids Club was a big bonus for us. The indoor space was pristine, the heated pool was a lifesaver in winter, and Rawan went out of her way to keep my son engaged with fun activities. We also enjoyed the private beach, just a five-minute walk away, with towels and drinks and snacks right on the sand. The resort is near the New Marina, an easy walk, and tuk-tuks outside are cheap and easy to find. The all-inclusive food was fantastic, with a buffet that changed daily, plus a great À La Carte restaurant and a refreshing range of mocktails. Chef Marwa always greeted us with a smile and made sure our 3-year-old was happy. Mohammed Helmey took excellent care of us and arranged a late checkout when he learned we had an evening departure. Khalid’s towel art, especially the elephant, delighted our little one. Everyone was welcoming and cheerful. Our room was spacious, nicely decorated, and very tidy. We were lucky to be right by the pool, which made getting our 3-year-old into the water easy. The DoubleTree by Hilton Mangroovy is beautiful, spotless, and a brilliant place to relax in the sun. We can’t wait to come back.

The area around the hotel is lovely and there is potential here, but our stay fell well short of what I expect from a Hilton, let alone a five-star hotel. Some parts of the hotel and the surrounding area are still construction sites. Building noise, including grinding and concrete breaking, began outside at 8am and continued all day. Inside, cleaning and maintenance staff sometimes started around 6am, shouted to one another, and repeatedly used a room near ours as storage. There was constant traffic in and out. Our room had no soundproofing from neighbouring rooms, and we heard evening entertainment from it twice. The hotel was not at full capacity, with many rooms under maintenance, yet the shared areas were already overcrowded and unbearable. Facilities don’t seem sufficient for the number of rooms. There weren’t enough loungers or umbrellas, and only one side gets sun, so everyone crowded there. The beach requires walking or taking a golf cart through a construction site and wasn’t pleasant. The pool bar has room for only a handful of tables and often had long queues. We booked a room with plunge pool access, but about eight rooms shared that pool and there were only eight loungers, with no umbrellas. We had to ask repeatedly before one stayed put. There are seven plunge pools, but some don’t get sun and some face construction sites. They aren’t truly private, since other guests can use them, so they could get crowded too. Breakfast was chaotic. Nobody managed the room well, tables went uncleared, no one showed us to a clean table, and drinks orders were handled inefficiently. Dinner had the same busy buffet setup, with no a la carte choices or table service. The buffet started at 7pm, which is hard for families and caused a rush. The hours later changed to 6:30pm-10:30pm, but by then we’d stopped eating there. It should be clear that the “restaurant” serves buffet only for dinner. After a few nights of poor buffet food, we gave up and went to the marinas instead. Hilton’s website made booking directly seem like a relaxing five-star break, but we felt we overpaid in a crowded hotel while other guests had all-inclusive packages for much less. Through Hilton’s website or app, we could only book bed and breakfast or half board. We couldn’t find any dates for all-inclusive direct, and it didn’t seem to be on their all-inclusive resort list. That left us paying inflated prices for food and drinks that others got as part of packages. A glass of wine cost about as much as a tuk-tuk ride to the marina, where we could get several glasses of the same local wine. We also had an uncomfortable experience with staff who showed little respect for women and addressed only my boyfriend. At check-in, the hotel tried to tell us our half-board rate was for a future stay and offered only bed and breakfast, despite our booking. As a diamond member, my status wasn’t recognized, and the usual Hilton standards weren’t there. El Gouna is lovely, but this hotel needs stronger brand standards and a more consistent guest experience. It wasn’t worth five stars and didn’t meet expectations.

The rest of the staff were lovely, especially the restaurant team, who were kind and accommodating. The director of food and beverage checked in often to see if anyone needed anything. They made my birthday feel special: staff decorated our bed during daily service, helped my partner book a birthday meal with a surprise cake, and played my favourite music in the courtyard as a serenade. The hotel is very new, fresh, and well maintained, with clean pool areas and landscaping. Ongoing construction on-site didn’t bother us with noise. The main service disappointment happened at check-in. We’d booked through Voyage Prive for a room with a plunge pool view, but were given a different room. The evening manager insisted their system showed the right room even after we showed the booking confirmation. She offered to move us to a plunge pool-view room farther from the main area, which felt like an inconvenience rather than an upgrade, so we stayed put. The area is still fairly new, and the WIFI was poor; the TV also had no streaming apps.