JAZ Elite Negma Opens 1 November on Egypt’s Red Sea Coast
The 336-room Marsa Mares Bay resort is the latest addition to JAZ Hotel Group’s new luxury collection, placed in one of the Red Sea’s most reliable spots for green sea turtle and dugong sightings.
There is a particular kind of hush that settles over Marsa Mares Bay at first light, when the water goes glass-flat and something large and ancient surfaces quietly to breathe. It is one of the Red Sea‘s best-known places to see green sea turtles and dugongs, and from 1 November 2026, there is a five-star resort on its shoreline with those animals as its nearest neighbours.
JAZ Elite Negma opens its doors on that date, described by JAZ Hotel Group as offering “the perfect blend of relaxation and adventure,” set in one of the Red Sea’s most famous spots for green sea turtle and dugong sightings. The resort has 336 rooms and suites, exceptional dining experiences and a wide array of activities.
Not Just Another Marsa Alam Opening
Marsa Alam has spent the past decade becoming the answer for travellers who find Hurghada too busy. It is the most southern of Egypt’s resorts, which means sunny weather is the norm, and its beaches are among the most unspoilt along the Red Sea coast. Offshore sit reefs that divers make pilgrimages to: Elphinstone, a 70-metre coral wall where whitetip reef sharks and giant turtles circle overhead, and Samadai Reef, nicknamed Dolphin House for the wild spinner dolphins that congregate there.
The town’s appeal is also terrestrial. The surrounding region is home to Wadi El Gemal-Hamata National Park, an extensive protected area to the south that pulls visitors inland for desert landscapes and Bedouin culture. For a magazine reader weighing up a winter sun itinerary, that combination of reef, desert and wildlife is precisely what makes this corner of Egypt different from anywhere else on the coast.
Inside the JAZ Elite Collection
Negma arrives as part of a deliberate repositioning rather than a land grab. In May 2026, JAZ Hotel Group unveiled JAZ Elite Hotels, a new luxury identity curating its most elevated beachfront resorts across Egypt and Zanzibar, and marking a shift away from scale and expansion towards experience-driven luxury travel.
Alaa Akel, Chairman and CEO of JAZ Hotel Group, framed it simply: “It is not about doing more, but about doing better, refining what already exists and shaping experiences that feel more intentional, more connected and more distinct to each destination.”
Within the collection, two brand pillars do much of the work. JAZ Flavors gives dining a central role, with each property running its own mix of cuisines and concepts, weighted towards Arabian options alongside premium Mediterranean, Asian and Italian cooking. Wellness runs through Mividaspa, whose dedicated spaces and treatments are designed to be complemented by the restorative qualities of the destination itself.
The wider Elite portfolio spans JAZ Elite Crystal in Almaza Bay, JAZ Elite Asteria in Sahl Hasheesh, JAZ Elite Riviera, JAZ Elite Amara and JAZ Elite Maraya in Marsa Alam, JAZ Elite Palace in Sharm El Sheikh, JAZ Elite Casa Del Mar in Hurghada and JAZ Elite Aurora in Zanzibar, with JAZ Elite Cavo in Sokhna also slated for 2026.
A Busy Season on the Southern Red Sea
Negma is not opening into quiet territory. On 1 October 2026, JAZ Elite Adonia reopened on the shores of Uroa in Zanzibar, set along 300 metres of private beach. Closer to home, Jaz Assila on the Marsa Alam–El Quseir road is due to welcome guests by the end of 2026, adding a private sandy beach and diving centre to the same catchment. Two group openings within weeks of each other in one destination suggests real confidence in southern Red Sea demand.
The numbers support it. Egypt welcomed 14.4 million international visitors in the first nine months of 2026, up 4% year on year, as it targets 30 million annual arrivals by 2030. And the Red Sea product itself is evolving: destinations including El Gouna and Marsa Alam have become key nodes for natural Red Sea tourism, linking luxurious accommodation to marine conservation, diving and reef and mangrove-based experiences.
What It Means for Travellers
For readers planning a winter escape, the practical effect of Negma’s arrival is choice. Marsa Alam has historically been thinner on genuinely high-end beds than Hurghada or Sharm El Sheikh, and a 336-suite Elite property changes the calculus for anyone who wants serious reef access without sacrificing the standard of room they expect at home.
