Casa Cook El Gouna

Every category at Casa Cook El Gouna reads like the hotel in miniature: polished concrete and stone surfaces, furniture in mango, teak and rattan, crisp natural linens and a furnished terrace or balcony facing the gardens, the pools, the desert hills or the sea. Air conditioning, satellite TV, free WiFi, a safe, a minibar, a kettle, a Bluetooth speaker, a hairdryer, bathrobes and slippers come as standard throughout.

What half board includes at Casa Cook El Gouna

We sell this hotel on half board, so breakfast and dinner are taken daily at the Kitchen Club, the signature restaurant. Breakfast is the meal guests write home about, a generous spread of fresh, locally sourced produce with dishes cooked to order, from freshly made eggs to falafel and warm flatbreads; our customers regularly tell us it is among the best they have eaten in Egypt. Dinner is a relaxed, menu led affair built around mezze, grills and slow cooked dishes from across the region. Drinks are payable as taken, as are lunch at the Beach Club and dinner at Arabesque, and we confirm the exact dining arrangements with your quote.

The restaurants

Bars and drinks

• Beach Club bar with resident DJ sets at sunset
• Lobby bar for pre dinner cocktails and Egyptian wines
• Drinks brought to your lounger at the main pool
• Cocktail list majoring on handcrafted serves and local infusions

Water threads through the whole design at Casa Cook El Gouna. The main pool sits at the heart of the beach club, ringed by daybeds, palm shade and that mellow resident soundtrack, and it is heated through the winter months, so a February dip is genuinely inviting. A second, quieter pool near the entrance of the hotel is the readers’ pool, kept deliberately free of music and bustle for slow, undisturbed afternoons.

The spa adds a heated indoor pool alongside its plunge pools, the Deluxe Swim-up Junior Suites share their own terrace pools, and the Two Bedroom Villa has a pool entirely to itself. Depths stay relaxed rather than sporty, around 1.4 m at most, which suits the lounging pace of the place perfectly.

• Main beach club pool, heated in winter
• Quieter second pool for undisturbed afternoons
• Heated indoor pool in the spa
• Shared swim up pools for Junior Suites
• Private pool at the Two Bedroom Villa
• Pool and beach towels provided

The hotel opens onto its own private sweep of pale sand on a usefully breezy stretch of coast at the edge of El Gouna. Loungers and parasols line the shore, towels are provided, and the Beach Club keeps cold drinks and lunch within barefoot reach all day.

Be honest with yourself about the swimming, though. The water off the beach is calm and lagoon shallow, lovely for wading and cooling off. In our view that is no loss, because those same flat shallows and steady winds make this one of the best places anywhere to learn to kitesurf.

That is no accident. The beachfront kitesurfing centre at Casa Cook El Gouna is run in partnership with Duotone and sits right on the sand, with current kit for hire, tuition for complete beginners and coaching for experienced riders, all taking advantage of El Gouna’s reliable cross shore winds and flat water lagoons.

Snorkellers and divers are well served too, just not from the shore. There is no house reef here; El Gouna’s best reefs lie a short boat ride out, and local centres run daily trips to offshore sites, sandbanks and islands, easily arranged through the hotel once you arrive.

• Private sandy beach with loungers, parasols and towels
• Beach Club bar and restaurant on the sand
• Duotone partner kitesurfing centre with lessons and hire
• Boat trips to nearby reefs and islands bookable locally

In our view the spa is a serious reason to choose Casa Cook El Gouna. Conceived as a modern take on the Egyptian bathhouse, it centres on a traditional hammam and builds outwards through two saunas, steam rooms, plunge pools and a heated indoor spa pool, with five treatment rooms, including a couples suite, and an outdoor relaxation area scattered with bean bag seating. Treatments lean on natural ingredients and long practised Egyptian and Eastern techniques rather than a generic menu.

Movement is looked after just as thoughtfully. The yoga shala hosts daily group yoga and Pilates sessions, with aerial hammocks strung ready and private classes bookable, while the gym is open around the clock with elegant wooden NOHrD strength and cardio equipment and personal trainers on hand if you want structure to your week.

• Traditional hammam rituals
• Two saunas and steam rooms
• Plunge pools and a heated spa pool
• Five treatment rooms including a couples suite
• Daily yoga and Pilates in the shala
• 24 hour gym with personal trainers

El Gouna is unlike anywhere else on this coast: a purpose built lagoon town threaded across islands and canals about 25 km north of Hurghada, all low sandstone architecture and bougainvillaea, where electric tuk tuks and shuttle boats do the work of cars. There are three marinas, two 18 hole golf courses and well over a hundred restaurants and bars, yet the town never feels hectic.

Within it, Casa Cook guards a secluded beachfront position on the edge of everything. Abu Tig Marina, around 3 km away, lines its waterfront with restaurants, cocktail bars and boutiques beside the yachts, Downtown El Gouna offers cafes, shops and low key nightlife, and golfers can tee off at El Gouna Golf Club or Ancient Sands. Hurghada makes an easy outing if you fancy a livelier pace for a day.

Distances from Casa Cook El Gouna

Getting around once you are there could not be simpler. Tuk tuks are everywhere and inexpensive, boats shuttle between the lagoons, and bicycle hire is easy to arrange if you would rather pedal between the marina, Downtown and the beach.

Straight answers to the questions our Egypt specialists hear most about this hotel. If yours is not covered here, call us and we will find out for you before you book, not after.