La Maison Bleue is a pastel-blue house on Egypt's Red Sea coast at El Gouna, built as a dock and guest house where the developer Samih Sawiris could host friends and family. The antiques collector Amr Khalil and the architect Olivier Sednaoui designed it, mixing Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and Venetian influences, and the house is filled with antiques, period furniture, murals by local artists, parquet floors and marble stairs. It is for adults only and has 13 suites: six Garden View Suites of up to 85 square metres, four Sea View Suites with balconies on the first floor, two Beach Front Suites opening onto the private lagoon and garden, and the Tower Suite, whose rooftop terrace looks over the town, the sea and the Eastern Desert mountains. Chef Vincent Guillou cooks European and Egyptian dishes at Le Restaurant, using the sea, local farms and the greenhouse at the bottom of the garden, and Botanica is the newer garden restaurant. The spa has a Turkish bath, a sauna, a steam room and hot and cold plunge pools, with movement and mindfulness classes through the day. Golf, kitesurfing, riding and desert hikes are close at hand.
- Rooms
- 13 suites
Insider tip Ask the concierge about Tee, the house motorboat, which can be hired privately for picnics, snorkelling over the coral and dolphin spotting.
Why I choose it An adults-only house of 13 suites on an El Gouna lagoon, full of antiques, with a French kitchen and a Turkish bath.