The first thing you notice are the rabbits.

White and sandy-brown, dozens of them, grazing freely on immaculate green lawns beneath fairy-lit trees. They barely look up as British families glide past in electric buggies, ferried quietly from reception to rooms.

This is Rixos Premium Magawish Suites and Villas on Egypt’s Red Sea coast – a five-star mega-resort where the details are just unexpected enough to make you pause, and where the arrival is designed to slow you down before you’ve even checked in.

You don’t so much arrive as get absorbed.

The long, palm-fringed drive ends at a glass-walled reception where staff greet guests with cool towels and a welcome drink. From there, electric buggies fan out across the vast site, whisking families and suitcases away in near silence. By the time you reach your room, the outside world already feels distant.

It’s easy to see why more British holidaymakers are swapping Spain, Italy or Greece for the Red Sea coast. Mediterranean prices have soared while winter sunshine is far from guaranteed. In contrast, Egypt offers reliable warmth, eye-popping value, and vast all-inclusive resorts where the luxury-per-pound is hard to beat.

I began my stay in the brand new Rixos Premium Magawish Bay View – a separate hotel with access to shared facilities across both sites. Sleek and contemporary, Bay View offers high-spec tech and tranquil modern design. Curtains sweep open automatically as you enter your room, revealing soft-toned interiors and vast pools beyond. Waiters skate between loungers delivering drinks to order.

Later, I moved to the original Rixos Premium Magawish Suites and Villas – more intimate, tropical and garden-like. My villa opened directly into a heated swim-up pool, and one morning, a floating breakfast arrived: a heart-shaped tray bobbing beside me with smoked salmon, pastries, fruit, eggs and juice, all served right in the water.

In the quiet morning light, it felt hushed and hidden – a breath of desert stillness wrapped in greenery and water.

For even more luxury, Bay View’s Skyline Suites offer private plunge pools, Red Sea views and airy lounges perched above the coastline.

Set between the dazzling turquoise of the Red Sea and long stretches of white-gold sand, the resort unfolds in layers. Over 30 swimming pools are scattered across the grounds, alongside a private beach with luxury cabanas, a diving and surf centre, tennis and beach volleyball courts, and daily fitness classes from yoga to aqua Zumba.

Families are especially well catered for: the Rixy Kids Club is vast, secure and packed with activities, from arts and crafts to treasure hunts and discos. It’s a godsend for parents needing real downtime.

As lunchtime nears, live harp or violin music floats through the lobby or garden terraces. Later, it’s samba, retro disco or open-air DJs under the stars.

And if you’re hungry – you will be, often – food options are endless.

People’s Restaurant is the 24-hour, beachfront buffet spot: breakfast, burgers, grilled fish, salads, pasta, late-night snacks – no booking, no stress.

At Grill Corner, sizzling lamb, chicken and prawns fill the air with smoke and spice. At Salt, the seafood restaurant, I ate grilled seabass so fresh it seemed to have bypassed the kitchen.

There’s a teppanyaki restaurant on the beach, rich Turkish stews served under ruby lights, Mykonos-style Greek dishes in whitewashed courtyards, and an Asian fusion menu. A new Peruvian restaurant is also set to open soon.

Beyond the resort, the sea puts on its own show.

I joined a glass-bottom boat tour where parrotfish, butterflyfish and Moorish idols clustered beneath us, feeding off the vessel’s underside. “This boat is a restaurant for the fish now,” the captain laughed.

Later, I joined a boat trip to Bianca Island – a chalk-white sandbank dubbed the “Egyptian Maldives”. The shallow water was the colour of turquoise glass, fading slowly into deeper navy as we drifted offshore.

We saw no fish in the shallows, only sand and silence. But in open water, dolphins appeared in pairs, then threes, surfacing together like dancers. A few slipped into the sea and swam beside them, following the arcs of their backs as they vanished into blue.

Back on land, the entertainment ramps up at night.

Each evening brings something new – samba dancers, fire shows, DJs. The most memorable is Scary Night.

Every two weeks, giant spiders cling to walls, masked monsters emerge from behind pillars and dancers in ghoulish costumes take over a strobe-lit stage. What began as a Halloween special is now permanent. “Guests kept asking for it,” one animator told me. “So we bring the monsters back.”

And when the night winds down? People’s Bar is still open, still serving, still alive with late-night laughter.

I had one cloudy day – just one – and spent it wisely.

The spa is a haven of low lighting, soft wood and warm oils. After a steam, sauna and almond-oil massage, I emerged recharged. Tika, my therapist, delivered a hand massage that undid years of typing tension.

There are surprises everywhere: an organic garden with figs, mangoes and mint; an equestrian centre offering sunset beach rides for children and adults. Together with the rabbits on the lawn, they speak to a vision of leisure that’s just a little softer, greener, slower.

From waiters to spa staff, chefs to cleaners, the mood is warm and lightly effortless. Names are remembered. Tea arrives before you ask. Kids are treated like royalty.

“They make you feel like they want you here,” a British mother told me by the pool. “It’s not like that everywhere anymore.”

Nearly 19 million international tourists visited Egypt in 2025 – a record high. The country is targeting 30 million a year by the late 2020s.

And if Rixos Premium Magawish is anything to go by, it’s not hard to see why.

You might see rabbits grazing quietly at dusk, monsters dancing past you after dark, and dolphins breaking the surface by morning – possibly all within the same 24 hours.

Somewhere between the spectacle and the stillness, you remember what holidays are meant to feel like.

Where: Rixos Premium Magawish Suites & Villas and Rixos Premium Magawish Bay View, Hurghada, Egypt

Flights: Direct UK flights to Hurghada take just over 5 hours

Packages: From £980pp for a week all-inclusive in low season, rising to ~£1,400+ in peak. That’s often £300–£500 cheaper than similar 5-star packages in Spain or Greece.

Weather: Winter highs average 21–28°C; summer >35°C. Sun shines 10–12 hours daily.

Visa: British passport holders can apply online for a tourist eVisa (~£20)

Currency: Egyptian Pound (EGP); Euros and Dollars accepted in resorts