A Life Well Travelled

Casa Cook hotels are boutique stylish properties in some sought after locations. I recently stay at the El Gouna Casa Cook on the Red Sea in Egypt and think it’s definitely one of the top hotels to stay at in El Gouna. It’s an adults only resort, with stylish decor, friendly staff and only a short tuk tuk ride away from Abu Tig Marina. Read on for my review of Casa Cook, El Gouna.

Where is El Gouna Casa Cook?

Arabic for “the lagoon”, El Gouna is a town built on the Red Sea Coast of Egypt, about 25 minutes from Hurghada. El Gouna Casa Cook is in the North of El Gouna, in a tranquil area on the beachfront, perfect for kitesurfing, swimming, and playing various beach games like volleyball.

The rooms
The hotel has 100 rooms from standard rooms to villas with private pools. I stayed in a junior suite which had a swim up pool right outside my private terrace, an outdoor shower and a spacious interior. The rooms are stylishly minimal – with raw wooden furniture and earthy tones, meaning that the feel of the hotel is very relaxing.

The rooms have an iron, a safe, larger more sustainable bottles for toiletries, and glass water bottles that are refilled with fresh drinking water every day by housekeeping. The private pool in the junior suites is covered over every evening and uncovered every morning, which helps with cleaning as well as being more sustainable.

My room came with robes and reusable drinking straws as well as some seating areas both outside in the shade of the trees, and inside behind the sliding glass doors.

Entertainment at El Gouna Casa Cook
There’s an app you can download when you arrive at the hotel that gives you all the information as to what’s on during your stay. There is something on almost every evening and huge variety of things to choose from. There’s no obligation to take part in anything if you’re just looking to chill, and equally as the resort is nicely spaced, then you won’t be disturbed by any music or performances during your time.

At the smaller bar area near the reception they have regular musical performances. I enjoyed listening to ‘Chaos Band’, who despite their name, played well known ballads and took requests from the audience, all with good humour. enjoy cocktails, canapés and a saxophone performance, all completely free of charge. I also joined the Bedouin night, which consisted of live entertainment and a brilliant buffet that included a huge lamb shank cooked in a traditional Bedouin way.

On another evening, there was the weekly GM drinks. This is a chance to speak to the manager and enjoy cocktails, canapés and a saxophone performance, all completely free of charge.

The pools
When I arrived at El Gouna Casa Cook I thought the pool next to the reception area was lovely. Its huge captures the sun beautifully and is close to the bar. It wasn’t until I took a hotel tour afterwards that I realised there was an even more lovely pool right by the beach. The beachside pool is stylish, with a neutral and tan colour palette, hammocks, shady areas for dining and a range of sun loungers and bean bag beds.

The staff at the pool are very attentive, coming round regularly for drinks orders, bringing complimentary snacks like fruit skewers and crisps and helping with towels and arranging loungers. There is also a DJ at certain times throughout the week.

What to do at El Gouna Casa Cook?
My intention was to relax, and sure enough I did spend plenty of time reading, swimming in both my private pool and the main pools, but El Gouna has a lot to offer and I did indulge in a few of the activities.

On site, Casa Cook has a lovely spa area. There is yet another swimming pool there with some really cool architecture as well as well equipped gym, yoga area and sauna / plunge pool. I also enjoyed a Thai massage in the spa.

A lot of people visit El Gouna for kitesurfing / kiteboarding and the Duotone pro centre is located at the Casa Cook hotel. It’s right next to the beachside pool and offers classes for beginners/intermediate or equipment hire for more experienced users.

El Gouna is also a brilliant location for scuba diving as well as quad biking and both activities can be booked through the reception at Casa Cook. I dived with Scuba World Divers, El Gouna and did a sunset quad bike safari with Alex Safari El Gouna.

The food at Casa Cook
I stayed on a B&B plan and indulged in the breakfast buffet every morning. There is an air conditioned inside area and a lovely courtyard if you’d prefer to sit outside. There’s a big selection of food from pastries and breads, to fresh fruit, yoghurts and local honey. There is also an egg station, for your daily Eggs Benedict and a chef on hand to make fresh pancakes & waffles. There are also a number of local specialities.

I chose to have lunch at the Casa Cook Beach Club by the beachside pool on a number of days. I loved the fresh salad and mezze selections although the *huge* burger was also delicious.

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Hope this review helped you decide on whether to book Casa Cook El Gouna!

Book here!