Hotel Panorama Bungalow Resort

El Gouna is a very pretty place, seemingly carved out of the desert on the edge of the Red Sea ' Gulf of Suez. All the building seems of a high quality, and astoundlingly for those who arrive via Hurghada, all the buildings seem to have been completed! The Marina obviously has claims to being Egypt's St Tropez or Puerto Banus, and many of the hotels and private villas are very up-market.

The Panorama is not out of place in this company; its site is enviable, the layout very attractive (in the evenings, the palm trees in silhouette reminded me of the cover of "Hotel California", without the neon.

The hotel has its own beach along the lagoon, plus a "private" portion of the nearby Zeytouna Beach, on an island reached by regular ferry from the hotel. All the bungalows have verandahs over the water, with steps down into the lagoon, and the fish are always there for inspection.

The Red Sea beaches are mainly quite deep bays, usually with a jetty out into deep water for snorkellers or kite-surfers.The opposite bank reveals the Siniai Peninsula in the distance.

For those not coming by millionaire's yacht or private jet, the point of entry is usually Hurghada, about 30km away. Hurghada is a large, apparently fairly chaotic town; el Gouna provides a softer version, with plently of shopping opportunities around the Downtown and Marina quarters. As we were All-Inclusive, we never felt the need to eat or drink out, but there was a wide selection of very attractive and enticing restaurants around, seemingly well populated in the evenings. None of the shop-keepers or restauranteers seemed as insistent as their big-town counterparts.

There were numerous excursions on offer, including plane, car or minibus trips to Cairo or Luxor, boat trips to Sharm el Sheikh or to diving reefs or dolphin spotting, as well as dune buggies and camel rides to Bedouin encampments; again, we had everything we wanted in the hotel, and didn't venture further. There were stories of nightlife and themed evenings, again, too lively for us!

This was exceptional throughout. All the staff seemed genuinely friendly, and were very anxious to get everything right - from the guest's point of view. Any matter raised was dealt with immediately, and nothing was too much trouble.

All the staff, from Manager to gardeners, seems to speak some (often a lot) of English, Russian, German, etc, and they all seemed quick to recognise us and remember our preferred places, drinks, etc. This felt good - friendly service, without it becoming overpowering or overfamiliar, nice people trying to ensure that we appreciated their country and their hotel. Nor was there a feeling that they all wanted tips all the time - we did hand some out, in appreciation of the quality services we received, but we didn't feel pressured into this at all.

All meals were served buffet-style, from a huge selection of dishes, all freshly and appeallingly presented at each meal. We spent nearly two weeks there, and it never seemed same-ey or repetitive, it far exceeded our expectation and experience elsewhere.

Only the main restaurant was in use in April, although meals could be served on the terrace outside; there was also a small snack service on the beach.

All the chefs and waiters helped serve the food, and were obviously proud of the display and of the quality. There were as always some guests who tried to pile their plates with everything every time - there was no need, the food was plentiful, varied, well-cooked and beautifully set out, and anyone could eat as much as he wanted, each time.

In the AI package, only local drinks were included, although imported beers, wines and spirits were available à la carte. We (and I suspect most guests) were "managed" superbly in the restaurant by Mahmoud, which meant that I could not finish a drink without its replacement appearing instantly!

The restaurant itself was a bit old-fashioned and "solid", but wonderfully air-condiitioned, and spotlessly laid out throughout, dirty plates disappeared silently while you chose your next course from the wide selection on display.

Obviously, this style of mass catering cannot compare with gourmet restaurant offerings - but the range and quality here was very high, and we never felt the need to eat out. One major plaudit: - for the first time in several visits to Egypt, not a hint of upset tummies!

There is a nice oval swimming pool, and a small connected childrens' pool, which never seemed over-crowded. Some days water-polo got arranged, although there was little evidence (or demand for) at this time of an Animation or Entertainments team other than the DJ and his poolside sound-system.

There was a small children's play area with equipment, a volleyball court, and lots of shaded loungers. As well as TVs in the rooms, there was a large flat-screen TV in the Bar, which seemed to show a lot of football but possibly had other channels as well.

Free wi-fi was available in the lobby, plus wired internet access on a couple of pcs for a small charge.

Our mock "Grass-Hut" style bungalow, although near a road passing the edge of the property, was quiet and calm; it comprised a large bathroom with bath and shower, plenty of storage space as well as a safe and a fridge, and a main room with two large single beds and a large verandah over the water, with sun loungers.

The room was cleaned every day, and most days a different towel-creature would appear, including elephants, peacocks, and the grand-finale crocodile. We suffered initially from mosquitoes at night, but a quick word at Reception got us both technology and sprays, so no more problems there.

Lazing on the verandah was superb, despite having to wave at all the camera-toting boatloads of guests from other, far more expensive, hotels, who obviously found the Panorama as picturesque as we did!

I used a Roaming Sim to keep mobile phone costs down; reception was fine, possibly thanks to the radio masts disguised as very tall palm trees. Internet access was OK, slower than at home but adequate. Plenty of support in town.

This hotel doesn't seem to be handled by many UK agencies or Tour Operators, you have to dig quite deeply to find it. Be careful not to find yourself at its sister hotel in Hurghada by mistake!

We were there at the end of April; the hotels seemed pretty full at Easter, but fell off after that to probably about 50% occupancy, which made it nicer for us. Weather was great, between 28 - 40 degrees every day, but usually with a oooling breeze (also much beloved by all the kite-surfers etc.) We hope to go again, in October or November, mid-summer being far too hot for us.

Although the other rooms looked niice, the Bungalows are very special and a must for us.

There are plenty of activities around el Gouna, particularly Diving and Water Sports, with ideal surroundings and weather conditions. For us, it was a time to just relax, soak up the sun, read our books and do as many Sudoku's as possible. We got exactly what we came for, we've never had such an enyoyable, completely relaxing holiday - and the Panorama is the major cause of that.