TUI MAGIC LIFE Kalawy

Where to start. We have been to Sharm a couple of times but as that is still a "no go" area we thought we'd try Hurghada. The Tui Magic Life was the "stand out" resort from our research so we chose a one week visit over the easter holiday. SO GLAD WE DID ! Flight times were reasonable from Manchester and we arrived at around 7pm, having booked a private taxi transfer, ( 1 hour travel time). Plenty of time for a welcome drink and to be shown to our room (with our luggage arriving soon after on a golf buggy), before making our way to the main restaurant for dinner. WOW, what a great selection of excellent food. Choose your table, (smoking to the left, non-smoking to the right), order your drinks from the ever friendly waiters, and help yourself to the varied dishes on offer. This was one of the highlights of of the holiday for us, as the quality and variety of dishes available over the week was very very good. Always a good selection of fresh fruit, veg, meats, fish, salads and stunning deserts. We did try one of the four A La Carte restaurants for one evening : the Thai restaurant which gave you a choice from five courses and was very good. There are three other A La Carte restaurants to choose from, (Indian, Egyption, and Street, each of which you can visit once a week during your stay). Rooms : We requested a high floor with a sea view, in a quiet area, (all rooms are either a sea or garden view), and were allocated a second floor, (of 3), with what can best be described as a partial sea view, room 20113. Our main view was one of the wasteland that forms part of the unused land that is next to the complex. If you have the choice, and you enjoy a sea view, then we would suggest you ask for a room in blocks 12 - 17, which enjoy the best views. The room itself was OK for our needs, comprising a double bed with an added single for our daughter. The room was cleaned on a daily basis and towel art was amazing. Pools : There are five pools on the complex, the one nearest us was the "slide pool", which has three waterslides and a pool bar serving drinks and snacks, (excellent cheeseburgers). The slides themselves are quite tame, if you are looking for an adrenalin rush ! Which is probably why this is the one of the quietest areas. The other four pools are close together on the other side of the complex, which include the main pool, activity pool, toddlers pool, and relax pool. Speaking of which the Relax pool, being the only heated pool, is something of an oxymoron as it is situated very close to the activity pool, with it's regular classes accompanied by loud music, (go figure !!! ) One of the main reasons we chose this hotel was the possibility of great snorkelling both in the lagoon and off the jetty, however this turned out to be the only disappointment of the holiday. The only day that it was safe to go into the sea off the jetty, due to high winds, happened to be the same day that we had booked a boat cruise with 3 snorkelling stops. However we were reliably informed by a fellow guest that there are many varieties of fish to be seen when conditions allow. Activities : Although a stand alone hotel, in the middle of a dessert of rock, this does offer the choice of being active or not. You can scuba dive, snorkel, wind surf, canoe, stand up paddle board, beach volleyball, yoga classes, nordic walking, free- weights and station equipped gym, exercise cycles, football, tennis, pool cycling, pool aqua-fit classes, (maybe more ?). All in all we had a great time here and would certainly consider returning again. The best bits were the fantastic food and friendly service from the staff. The only downside to the holiday was the intrusive security at the airport going home, prepare for at least three searches of a personal nature, plus baggage !!! If you are considering Magic Life Kalawy be sure to check out the videos on Youtube, of which there are many. Yes the hotel is slightly geared towards the Germans, which represent approximately 80% of the guests, but we didn't have a problem with that. Payment for any extras and tips for staff can be given in euros, sterling, or preferably Egyptian Pounds.

Reading other reviews I have to agree it really is in the middle of no where, but the hotel was very clean, well laid out and the food was very varied with lots of choices. When we visited the holidaymakers were 98% German, when we spoke to the waiters they were surprised with us being English, the staff were all very friendly and attentive. The one negative for me was the snorkelling as I am not one for just sunbathing so the snorkelling was a big draw, some reviews I read before booking said the snorkelling was very good, It’s not, 5 out of 7 days the jetty was red flagged. When I did get out there were a few fish, the coral looked dead interspersed with a few live coral, compared with Sharm it’s very poor, if I had read an honest review on the snorkelling I would have book somewhere else. Overall a very nice hotel good beach with safe lagoon to swim in.

Visited this hotel during the Easter Holiday everything is high quality. All the staff are so welcoming, great food,entertainment,housekeeping,reception staff etc. Nothing is a problem I cannot walk very well and asked for a ground floor room near the activities and they could not have given me a better room. This hotel is that good I have booked again for next Easter Holiday with my family. My thanks to you All.