All inclusive resorts are not our usual style of travel but we ended up in Hurghada, full of resort complexes, due to it being the cheapest flight out of Istanbul and took the opportunity to have a couple of days R&R before travelling to Luxor. We chose Grand Waterworld for the onsite waterpark and swimming pools. The trip was booked through Booking.com where we also booked a taxi transfer for $9.

We arrived after midnight and were pleased with our large room with a massive king sized bed and 2 single sofa beds, which was the perfect bed situation for our family. Craig went to reception to ask how to log in to the ‘free’ wifi to be told it was 25 euros per device, which he begrudgingly paid and the rest of us went wifi free for a few days.

We woke up to a view from our balcony of waterslides and the flow rider – a surfing simulator. The girls were very happy with this and were raring to get going! The waterslides were only open at set times (like 2-3 hours in the morning then again in the afternoon) and they were all slightly different which created the need for annoying clock watching and planning. There was also a wave pool which was great fun and felt like being back in Magaluf in the 90s with loud euro pop music but this was only open for half an hour in the morning and afternoon so was hard to time.

The whole complex was big and took a while to walk around, there were many pools and sunbeds, including some bed style cabanas. Unfortunately by the time we’d eaten breakfast most of the sunbeds had been reserved by the early sunbed stealers with their expertly placed towels. We found an empty cabana hidden in a shady area near the lazy river which we were happy with.

We ate in the buffet restaurant for breakfast and dinner both days. There are other restaurants that you need to book the day before but we didn’t get round to doing this. The food was pretty bad from my experience of all-inclusive buffets. Breakfast consisted of mainly continental style foods with an egg cooking station and pancakes, not terrible but mediocre offerings at best. Dinner options included some serving stations outside with various meat dishes with some salads, vegetables and desserts inside. One night we spotted people walking around with fresh mango only to find a very long constant queue for the mango serving man which we were too impatient for! The girls mainly survived on white carbs and ice creams, which they were more than happy with.

For lunch one day we ate at the Africa bar, which was nice. We had falafel wraps and the girls had chicken nuggets and chips. The rest of the time we fuelled ourselves up from the snack bar, the girls ate pancakes and ice creams by the handful.

We worked our way through the bar menu and I concluded that the only passable alcoholic drink was beer. The mojito I tried resembled cheap mouthwash! But to be fair on the Egyptians they obviously do not drink alcohol so I doubt they had tasted their own concoctions.

The beach was a great experience and we loved ‘snorkelling’ (with normal goggles!) to see the amazing world under the red sea. The sea was shallow for a long way out so it is perfect for small children.

Sophie loved the kids disco (mainly in German) and the evening entertainment. We watched a bubble show which the kids loved and we found hilariously comedic.

On leaving the resort a hotel manager hunted us down to politely but forcefully tell us to write a Booking.com review in front of her. We were in the middle of trying to arrange a taxi to Luxor so we ignored her request, much to her annoyance.

In conclusion, for the girls this resort ticked all of their boxes and they were sad to leave. For us the food and drink and the annoying timings made the trip not as enjoyable as it could have been. It was not all terrible though – I did enjoy the waterslides, pools and the sea. Not so much rest was had in between the slides, swimming, eating and drinking after all!