Serenity Makadi Beach

Aladdin is brilliant, ubiquitous and genuine. A true hospitality legend. Every review will reinforce this and it does make a difference to be cared about genuinely. But don't be disrespectful or rude, there's a tongue like a long knife for those who forget their manners. The hotel is set back from the main highway in the same manner as all the hotels on this part of the coast. Arriving at the gates and the entrance sees a security check before entering the long and well kept approach road. The sister 'Fun City' hotel sits a little higher up to the right, and Serenity approaches from the front. It is very well appointed, calm and cool in the lobby and the hectic nature of arrivaks and departures at all hours never feels like it flusters the team. We were in our room very quickly. The grounds are immaculately kept and so are all communal areas. The joy of the shade as you enter under the arches to the rooms will be of great pleasure in the summer heat. The room was exactly as expected a standard room. Spotless, a balcony with side sea view, TV with all manner of channels and enough space for 3 of us. The bathroom was again clean and the free bottled water in the fridge appreciated (although we kept several litre bottles of our own in there as they were most definitely needed!) Each day the room was cleaned and the room staff left different towel arangements and employed our daughter's teddies as stars in some of these! The food is served in the main building, with a small outside section for grill and pasta options. Each themed night felt like a real difference had been made for that cuisine, and the regular salad and fresh food bar was always well stocked, fresh and delicious. Over ten days we never failed to find something to tuck into, even though we indulged too much on many occassions! Depending on package, the themed a-la-carte options were genuinely a step up and felt worthy of dressing up for an 'evening out'! Each pool on the complex is a little different, ranging from the pools nearest the reception being shallow paddling pools, through the busy middle pool with music and bar, down to the smaller pair of salt-water pools with a swim up bar. This closed once the sun had gone down, which was a lovely end to the day and signalled the start of the vening routine. Alcohol was more than passable for all-inclusive although the temperatures in the height of summer really do need to be respected in terms of consumption. I can hold my liquer, but the addition of 40+ degree heat meant that going slowly was the order of the day; that and a couple of snoozes. The lager was one of the most palatable I've had in all-inclusives and the range of spirits gave rise to a fair few cocktails and long drinks; mojitos and cuba libres being the favourites here. The only negative for the entire stay was the kids club; having holidayed on Francophile hotels across Europe, where kids clubs are a keen focus, this was a real let-down. The club has very few children and the staff were not upbeat or proactive in having children join in with activities. Our daughter (12 yo) has previously fallen in love with animation teams, but stayed an hour twice here, and that was 50 minutes of feeling sorry for the bored team! This was a real let down. I do however wonder if the proximity of Fun City made this a very low priority at Serenity? We did spend a few hours across at Fun City (if you want to avoid the haggling, don't use the underpass!!!!) but, for us, it was all the wrong pace. It may well be ideal for younger families who want constant entertainment. For us it was far too full on an entertainment overload. The slides were fun as was the wave pool, but I felt it was less clean than Serenity, and was happy to return. The use of both hotels a-la-carte resturants was a bonus. I can certianly see people loving Fun City with the right age groups. Transfers, scuba dibing days, dolphin watching trips; we enjoyed them all. The beach is more hard sand than tropical paradise, but that is the nature of this coast with its coral reefs. The peer that juts into the sea here was great as a safe and patrolled place to see the reef just a few metres off shore. I would not hesitate to recommend this hotel to the fullest. One that will live long in our memories and will be fondly remembered.

Where do I start, this hotel is the best hotel I’ve been to in a long time. Friendly staff, the general manager was always around to answer any questions and to help us with nothing we needed! The hotel was clean, beautiful and the food and drinks were amazing. Would defiantly stay there again hope to be back soon.