"We came to Jaz Makadi Aquaviva on the 19th August 2026 as a family of 5.
Although we had serious worries about coming due to recent stories that we had heard and almost changed our holiday we were so pleased that we didn't.
We arrived very late around midnight and luckily we were the only family checking in at that time. Check in was very easy and the staff were so friendly and helpful, then our suitcases were taken to our rooms for us and we were left to settle in.
The rooms were lovely, very clean, spacious and light and bright and we had a lovely view of the gardens and part of the main pool. The mini bar had some lovely things to eat and drink but we chose to stick to the free filtered bottled waters that were provided and tea/coffee/sugar sachets. During our stay the bottles of water were changed everyday and housekeeping gave us more bottles of water everyday and more tea/coffee/sugar as they could see we used them alot. The only negative was that only creamer was provided for the coffee drink and there was no milk for making a cup of tea so I had to take back a glass of milk from the restaurant everyday to put in our mini bar fridge. Not a massive pain but would have been better if milk sachets were supplied.
Plenty of white crisp towels/face cloths were provided aswell as a Jaz Aquaviva beach bag with beige beach towels which came in handy. Also suppplied was hand gel/wash and body wash and shampoo and conditioner which smelt lovely and was a life saver as we did not bring enough with us.
We never touched the aircon as we were advised to leave it as it was at 24. We however found the room to be very cold and we're a bit concerned that there was only a thin sheet on the bed luckily we found a quilt in the cupboard which was great but was still very cold so we ended up leaving the balcony door open at night as it was a bit warmer with the balcony door open.
During our stay we came back daily to a cleaned room and fantastic towel art left for us which my children loved, the bed was always made, towels changed, clean wine/tumbler glasses, honestly I couldn't fault the housekeeping they were great, I wish I could of thanked them personally but never got around to bumping into them but always left a tip.
The main restaurant was great always something new to try, always cooked lovely, different sections all cooking something different. But the big praise has to go to Hesham our server. He met us on the 1st day we went to the restaurant and was there everyday breakfast and tea time. As we didn't eat at the restaurant at lunch times. He was so friendly and couldn't do enough for us always finding us a table and pushing tables together for us, getting all of our many drinks to the point he even managed to mid stay anticipate which drinks we were going to ask for. Now I am disabled and walk with a crutch so not having to go back and forth was a god send. Even when it was very busy in the restaurant he still managed to bring us our drinks. We tipped him everyday as he works so hard and left him a nice big tip at the end. Honestly he made our stay so comfortable in a situation that would get very busy and hectic. Not to say that they don't all work incredibly hard, they were all constantly here there and everywhere making people's holidays less stressful and comfortable but for our family Hesham was definitely the man.
The waterpark was great my children loved it even my husband and 23yr old daughter loved going down the slides & they said that the waterpark staff were very friendly.
We did find that alot of people tend to go down very early and put towels on the deck chairs even tho they don't go and sit in them for many hours, on one occasion we found a few chairs that had only beige towels left but no handbags or beach bag no shoes or valuables just towels so we took up the space only to be confronted by a very pissed off woman saying they were her seats a little later on in the day and we were asked to move which made me feel very uncomfortable as my whole family were on the slides at the time and I being disabled couldnt carry all our own belongings to somewhere else. Obviously rude guests are not Jaz Aquavivas fault but I would go around in the early morning and remove all the pre laid towels that are already placed to give chance for everyone to get a decent spot by the pool areas. I would like to thank one of the life guards that stood at the bottom of one of the slides, my family were going down a slide and I went to take a video of them and I was stood for a long time on my crutch in the very hot sun and that lifegaurd came over and gave me his chair to sit on. I wish I had got his name and didn't have any tip money on me at the time but just know that if your reading this you were so helpful to me in that moment & because of you I was able to sit and film my children having fun 😊
We found that whilst you sat around the pool you did get alot of people offering trips out of the hotel, pampering sessions, horse riding, quad bikes, family photos etc etc but they were all very friendly and just a no thankyou would be enough for them to happily move on.
The pool bars were also great serving pizza, shawarma, burgers, chips, ice creams & of course all your drinks my favourite was the slushies after being in the heat a slushie was perfect, all there drinks were lovely Including there fizzy which was never flat and always tasted great, I don't drink alcohol but the mock tails were nice especially the Aswan mule which I had often. I do think the list of mocktails could be increased as there was only a small list. My Husband and daughter tried some of the alcholic cocktails and seemed to like them and liked there beer.
We also had some inflatables which we bought from home and the lifeguards took them and blew them up for us which was helpful.
Now entertainment, I can't fault the amount of entertainment that went on at Jaz Aquaviva. There was always something going on, my children are a little to grown up for the children's entertainment but from what I saw the kids had great fun. There were things like different singers, casino nights, giant jenga, yoga, football, volleyball, lots of stuff to do by the main pool during the day, you had a pink party, a white party lots and lots all going on all throughout the day and night... But the evening entertainment after the kids party finishes needs to be improved the shows although I'm sure they work very hard were very pontins and we would usually head back to our rooms around that time of an evening but I do applaud Jaz Aquaviva for the amount of entertainment that goes on there like I said there was always something happening.
I was pleasantly surprised with the little gift shop by the main stage it had lovely holiday souvenirs and I struggled to not walk out with the whole shop, I thought I would half to haggle but I found there prices reasonable and the man was always friendly and if I asked for something to be converted into English he would always do it for me.
Whilst I was away I ran out of pain medication and was told if I asked at reception they would phone the pharmacy, which I did and I spoke to the pharmacy he asked what I needed and in what dosage and within 15 minutes my medication was at reception I couldn't believe the efficiency it was better service than you would get in the UK.
I would like to shout out to our TUI rep Makram (mac for short) he was very friendly told us all about the hotel and trips we could go on, dos and don'ts in Egypt, not to drink the water etc etc, we found him very helpful which is why we ended up booking an excursion trip to Mahmya Giftun Island, he also changed up some English money for us aswell so very helpful.
We went on an excursion to Mahmya Giftun Island on the Monday of our stay. Totally out of our comfort zone travelling around Egypt but our guide Mina put all our minds at ease. He was funny friendly and professional and made our trip a day to remember and this made us feel safe and well taken care of. The island was crazy beautiful, you really can't comment honestly unless you have been there and I saw so many giant dorys it was unreal. Now as a crutch user I did find the trip very tiring, getting on and off the boat although I was helped by the staff on the boat everytime. But even walking along the island itself was very testing and then you had quite alot of steps that went up to the restaurant and toilets so I tried to only go once for dinnertime. The restaurant was also very pretty and the views were gorgeous. Now the food was okay I wouldn't say it was great just okay and there needed to be more variety but for a quick lunch it wasn't bad.
I was a bit put off by the flies that were hanging around as you ate.
I did get up to go to the toilet and a man thought he was going to get a tip for opening the toilet door for me which I found abit rude.
We did have a little misunderstanding which is probably partly our own faults but we ordered some very expensive drinks to our little canopy on the beach and when they came we tried to pay by card but the man insisted that we could only pay with Egyptian, luckily we had just the right amount to pay him but took all of ours and our daughters egyptian money and left us with nothing to tip with for the rest of the day, we then found people at the beach bar ordering drinks using there bank cards so we were a little confused and bit narked off. The beach itself is stunning and the coral is magnificent. My Husband and Daughter did go out on the boat for a 2nd snorkeling spot during our stay on the island and they said that although they saw many fish the snorkeling session was very gruelling and you were not aloud to stop swimming the whole time to the point my husband had to stop and be dragged back to the boat and my daughter tore a muscle in her calf, by the time they got back to the island they were exhausted. Coming back on the boat in the early evening was stunning as the sun was setting and was a truly beautiful sight and to top the end of the trip off we saw dolphins on the way home which was absolutely fabulous.
The trip overall was great and I would highly recommend it to anyone even tho I'm a crutch user I'm still so glad I went and experienced the day on the island and I got some fab photos.
I have to hand it to the grounds keepers they don't stop they are always mopping and drying the floors sweeping the pool water into the drains or tree/flowers sections, changing the pool filters, cleaning the pools, trimming the bushes, sweeping watering the grass etc etc constantly cleaning and keeping the hotel beautifully clean.
Now let's talk illness I was so worried before coming after stories I'd heard and I can say that my youngest did come down with a virus the 2nd day we were there and spent the majority of the day in bed with a high temperature. Now I could blame the hotel but my son is prone to having 24 hr high temp viruses at home so I just put this down as one of those times, the following day after some calpol and some rehydration sachets he was absolutely fine, it was a bit if a bummer that he came down ill but he could have picked it up anywhere. Also out of the 5 of us 3 came down with Egypt belly now i don't mean ecoli which I had when I went to Egypt on my honeymoon years before this trip I mean Egypt belly, slight cramping with diarrhoea. But although we had this we still very much enjoyed our holiday and so you know we took every precaution going, washing our hands after the toilet, antibacterial handwash, we started taking travel optibac probiotics a week before we went abroad and whilst we were away during the trip, kept the room temperature the same, didn't drink the tap water or use the water to brush our teeth, antibacterial hand wash before eating,stay hydrated and don't touch the food with your hands only with the tongs, if anything we were over cautious and we still had Egypt belly. I think it comes down to alot of things, different climate, heat exhaustion, new foods cooked different ways to the UK like oils etc, lots of fizzy/alcohol that you wouldn't usually drink at home, jet lag and then you have other customers on the holiday that are not very hygienic and then you have the plane all those people sitting in a tin can spreading germs. It could also happen anywhere you go on holiday not just Egypt but what I can say is that the hotel is spotlessly clean.
So to conclude we would highly recommend Jaz Makadi Aquaviva to a friend we thoroughly enjoyed our stay and thankyou for a great family holiday and a fabulous experience. We've made forever memories and look forward to travelling to Egypt again in the future 😊"
