La Maison Bleue

La Maison Bleue

On El Gouna's Red Sea shore, a pastel-blue mansion once built as a private guest house for developer Samih Sawiris now holds ten individually decorated suites, furnished with pieces antiques collector Amr Khalil found, from Jules Leleu art deco chairs to a restored ceiling salvaged from an old Alexandria hotel. Architect Olivier Sednaoui, who had just finished the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, drew on Saint Mark's Basilica and Santorini's murals for the interiors, while Louis Benech, the landscape designer the New York Times called France's most revered, laid out gardens with a private lagoon and hideaway corners. That combination, a Michelin key and a place among Relais & Châteaux's collection, is not something found at the resorts lining the rest of Hurghada's coast. Each of the ten rooms opens onto a private balcony with sea or garden views, and comes with a deep soaking tub, minibar, and iPod dock. The greenhouse at the bottom of the garden feeds both Le Restaurant, where chef Vincent Guillou pairs French technique with Egyptian ingredients, and Botanica, the hydroponic newcomer nearby. In the spa, a Turkish bath, sauna, steam room, and hot and cold plunge pools sit alongside treatments using clay and apricot from local partners. This is an adults-only house, no one under 16 admitted, and couples sharing a room are asked for a marriage certificate at check-in, so it suits a couple wanting quiet and craftsmanship over swim-up bars more than a family or a group chasing nightlife. Airport transfers can be arranged for a surcharge, and a private boat along with passing tuk-tuks make El Gouna's marina and lagoons easy to reach. With only ten rooms, it fills quickly. A pastel-blue former guest house on El Gouna's coast, holding a Michelin key, Relais & Châteaux status, and gardens by Louis Benech. Ten suites, a Turkish bath spa, and an adults-only policy make it suited to a couple after craft and quiet, not a family or a party crowd.