Where to stay in Hurghada: the 5 neighborhoods to know in 2026
In Hurghada, the day starts on the pontoons of the marina, as the boats head out to the Giftun Islands. For most visitors it ends in a resort hotel on the road south, without having seen the town. So you have to choose: sleep in town, within walking distance of the port and the cafés, or in a gated resort with its own beach, a taxi ride from everything.
A simple room in El Dahar costs around $23* a night, and an all-inclusive stay for two usually goes for between $79 and $210*. Here are three neighbourhoods of the town, then two nearby resorts that are often sold under its name: El Gouna to the north, Sahl Hasheesh and Makadi Bay to the south.
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At a glance: our picks by traveller type
Pick the profile that suits you to head straight to the recommended neighborhood.
The neighborhood map in Hurghada
Get your bearings on the neighborhoods and must-see sights before choosing where to drop your bags. Click a name to jump to its description.
El Dahar, the old town The north of the town: the souk and its shopping streets, the Arabia shoreline, and to the south the port of El Mina
for a tight budget, for everyday Egyptian life, for eating like the locals
This is where Hurghada's residents live. In the souk, spices are sold by weight and dates by the mountain, the cafés put their plastic chairs out on the pavement, and the games of dominoes go on late. Rooms cost less here than elsewhere, in small town hotels. At the southern end of the neighbourhood, the El Mina Mosque and the fish market open onto the port. The downside: the hotels in the souk have no beach, and the sellers call out to you at every shop.
Where to stay in this neighborhood
Hilton Hurghada Plaza Hotel Luxury
The neighbourhood's big hotel, on the Arabia seafront, with its private beach and rooms facing the Red Sea. Its guests praise large, very clean rooms, and regret a buffet that comes back identical from one day to the next. At busy times, some find it short-staffed.
Palm Inn Hotel Hurghada Budget
A small town hotel in the heart of El Dahar, with a pool and a breakfast that includes Egyptian dishes. Its average of 7.6 rests on more than twelve hundred reviews, and it owes its reputation to its staff and its value for money. No beach: the sea is a taxi ride away.
Pros
- Rooms and meals at Egyptian prices
- The souk, the cafés and Egyptian food on your doorstep
Cons
- No beach in front of the hotels in the souk
- Sellers who call out to you at every shop
Sakkala and the marina The centre of town, from Sakkala square to the new marina, where the boats for the Giftun Islands leave
for discovering the town, for the morning boats, for dinner without a taxi
At dawn, the engines are already running along the pontoons of the marina: this is where most boats leave for Giftun, Mahmya and Orange Bay. In the evening, the promenade around the basin fills with terraces and ice-cream parlours facing the yachts, and you can go out without a taxi, which is rare in Hurghada. The beach hotels start just to the south, along Sheraton Street. In return, the music from the marina carries late, and you can hear it from the rooms nearby.
Where to stay in this neighborhood
AJIRA Boutique Hotel Hurghada Marina Mid-range
A small, stylishly decorated hotel right on the marina, with balconies and free access to the beach club next door. It holds an 8.2, from more than two thousand reviews, and people choose it for its address above all. Its guests also point out the flip side of that location: the music and the strollers of the marina can be heard at night.
Seagull Beach Resort Mid-range
One kilometre south of the marina, a beach hotel with several pools, reserved for families and couples. Its location is rated 9.3: shops, restaurants and the marina are close by. The recurring criticism concerns the food, which varies little from one day to the next.
Pros
- The morning boats a few minutes' walk away
- Restaurants and bars on foot in the evening
Cons
- The marina's music can be heard late in the rooms nearby
- Pushy sellers, as everywhere in the centre
The hotel road From the south of Sakkala to beyond the airport: Sheraton Street, Youssef Afifi Road and the Safaga road, lined with resort hotels
with children, on all-inclusive, with no wish to leave the resort
Past Sakkala, the town becomes a string of gated resorts, each with its beach, its pools and its buffets. People stay here more than they stroll. Two places are still worth an outing: the Hurghada Museum, also open in the evening, and the Grand Aquarium, with its tunnel beneath the sharks and rays. The downside is distance: the marina and El Dahar are a taxi ride away, and the further south the hotel, the longer the ride.
Where to stay in this neighborhood
Hurghada Marriott Beach Resort Mid-range
On Sheraton Street, three kilometres south of the marina, rated 8.4 across more than fourteen hundred reviews. Its beach, its staff and its breakfast come up in the praise; its rooms, on the other hand, are waiting for a renovation, several guests say.
Steigenberger Aldau Beach Hotel Luxury
A large, planted and shaded estate, pools, a kids' club, and a beach restaurant where the bread comes out of a wood-fired oven. Its guests rate it 9.5, over nearly fifteen hundred stays, and find only two faults with it: a narrow swimming area, and the entertainment from neighbouring hotels, which can be heard in the evening.
Pickalbatros Jungle Aqua Park Mid-range
Past the airport, on the Safaga road, a resort built around a huge water park: slides for young and old, pool after pool, a show every evening. Rated 9.1 by several thousand guests, it is the address for families who want to keep the children busy from morning to night. Its reviews note that not all the slides run at the same time, and that the crowd packs into the heated pools.
Pros
- Large resorts, with beach, pools and kids' clubs
- The museum and the Grand Aquarium in the same area
Cons
- The marina and El Dahar several kilometres away
- Leaving the resort almost always means a taxi
El Gouna, the lagoon town A new town twenty-five kilometres to the north, built around lagoons and the Abu Tig marina
for more polished surroundings, for going out on foot in the evening, for a quiet stay
Twenty-five kilometres to the north, El Gouna looks nothing like Hurghada: canals, lagoons, and a far more polished atmosphere. Evenings are spent around the Abu Tig marina, where the terraces of bars and restaurants line the quays. It is a place to settle in: from here, the souk and port of Hurghada become an excursion. Some hotels face a lagoon rather than the open sea, which surprises anyone expecting waves.
Where to stay in this neighborhood
Steigenberger Golf Resort El Gouna Luxury
A hotel set between the lagoons and a golf course. Its guests describe modern, spotless rooms, careful cooking, and a hotel better suited to adults than to children. Its beach lines a lagoon, not the open sea: worth knowing before you book.
Captain's Inn Hotel Budget
A small hotel on the Abu Tig marina, rated 8.4 across more than four hundred reviews. People praise the breakfast, the staff and the address, a few steps from the harbour terraces. The complaints come down to three points: small rooms, no lift, and music in the evening.
Pros
- The Abu Tig marina and its restaurants, on foot in the evening
- Surroundings more polished and calmer than Hurghada's
Cons
- Hurghada's souk and port twenty-five kilometres away
- A lagoon rather than the open sea in front of some hotels
Sahl Hasheesh and Makadi Bay Two resorts south of the airport, Sahl Hasheesh nineteen kilometres away and Makadi Bay twenty-six, with their reefs at the foot of the hotels
for peace and quiet, for snorkelling from the beach, for a couple's stay
Further south, the coast empties. Sahl Hasheesh and Makadi Bay are resorts of their own, made of large hotels set on the beach, with no town around them. People travel here for the silence, and for reefs that several hotels have right off their beach, where a mask is enough. In Makadi, several hotels accept only adults, or even only couples. The downside: the nearest restaurant outside the hotel is some twenty kilometres away, by taxi.
Where to stay in this neighborhood
The Oberoi Beach Resort, Sahl Hasheesh Luxury
Suites with terraces, some with a private pool, and a reef very close to the beach. More than four hundred rated stays put it at 9.3, and it appeals to anyone seeking calm and privacy. One reservation in its reviews: the rocky seabed makes swimming unpleasant, and people tend to swim with a mask, over the reef.
The Makadi Spa Hotel Mid-range
Reserved for couples over eighteen, and that is what makes it so calm. Its guests, more than two thousand of whom have rated it, give it 9.4. It owes its reputation to the reef off its beach, rich in fish according to its reviews, and to much-appreciated staff.
Pros
- Reefs off the beach, to explore with a mask
- The calm of resorts with no town around them
Cons
- Hurghada some twenty kilometres away, by taxi
- Several hotels in Makadi turn children away
Our tips for booking the right place
- A town you cross by taxi: Between El Dahar, Sakkala and the hotel road, nobody walks: everything is too far. Taxis do not always have a meter, so agree on the price before getting in; ride-hailing apps show the fare in advance, and the shared minibuses run up and down the main avenue for a few Egyptian pounds. A hotel in the south also costs you in evening rides.
- Giftun, on the first boat: The first departures from the marina reach reefs that are still calm, ahead of the bulk of the fleet. From Sakkala, the pontoon is within walking distance; elsewhere, most excursions pick their guests up at reception. When booking, ask whether the park fee is included in the price.
- Compare all-inclusive deals meal for meal: Many hotels on the coast sell themselves on an all-inclusive basis. A higher rate can therefore cover all three meals, while a cheaper room in El Dahar leaves every dinner for you to pay. Compare two stays with the same meals, not two room prices.
- Luxor deserves a night there: The temples are about 290 kilometres away. The day trip exists, but it means around ten hours on the road there and back. If ancient Egypt matters to you, book a night in Luxor rather than a round trip from the Red Sea.
- Taking a hotel in the souk of El Dahar for a beach holiday: these hotels do not have the sea in front of them, and every swim starts with a taxi.
- Choosing El Gouna, Sahl Hasheesh or Makadi Bay to discover Hurghada: nineteen to twenty-six kilometres separate these resorts from the souk and the port.
- Booking on the marina to get an early night: the bars there play on until late at night.
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El Gouna, Sahl Hasheesh and Makadi Bay: is that still Hurghada?
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