Photos show inside the brand new hotels that Thomas Cook customers will never get to enjoy.
The historic travel operator owned a worldwide collections of hotels and resorts and left some 150,000 Brit tourists stranded around the world when it went into liquidation last week.
Incredible pictures show some of the latest hotel brands and re-brandings of existing resorts which the company had only just undertaken – but which came too late to save it.
Resorts appeared to be moving away from hedonism and towards a focus on health, with tasteful, peaceful layouts, decor and interiors.
Instagram-friendly hotel spaces and a sense of peace, relaxation and luxury became the order of the day as the 178-year-old firm sensed a change in the appetites of millennial holidaymakers.
Among the resorts and brands owned by Thomas Cook are Sentido, Sunwing, Sunprime and Smartline.
The latest hotel brand to open under the same umbrella was Cook's Club, a design-led but affordable hotel group aimed at the millennial generation.
Recognising a change among young people, Thomas Cook retired its Club 18-30 brand late last year and switched the focus.
Gone are fishbowl cocktails and all-night parties, replaced with vegetable smoothies and properly crafted drinks.
Hotel spaces are designed to be as beautiful, and as social media-friendly, as possible, down to the unicorn inflatables scattered across the surface of the swimming pools.
It was a huge overhaul and, on the surface of things, seemed to be successful, reports The Manchester Evening News.
But all future flights and package holidays with Thomas Cook have been cancelled – and it's not looking good for the worldwide collection of hotels or the new brands.
The first to open under the new Cook's Club brand was Cook’s Club Hersonissos, on the Greek island of Crete, in June 2018, with seven new hotels opening under the brand in little more than a year.
The latest was Cook's Club El Gouna, located on the water's edge of a luxurious man-made lagoon just north of Hurghada.
This hotel, on Egypt's Red Sea coast, only opened its doors in August, and only had its launch party two weeks ago – the Thomas Cook yellow heart above the door got to oversee that, but won't see the hotel filled with guests.
The muted grey and brown colours chosen for the hotel contrasted sharply against the piercing blue of the swimming pool, and the murky blue-green of the lagoon beyond.
Grey sunbeds around the water's edge were as comfortable as real beds, with matching bean bag chairs scattered beneath the shade of umbrellas.
A variety of food stations, from wood-fired pizzas to fresh grilled meats to salads and burgers, were built into the 'Cantina' to feed guests on either a bed and breakfast or half-board basis.
Even the fitness facilities were gorgeous, dumbbells and benches carved from polished wood and presented beneath a bamboo canopy.
It's a real looker of a hotel, and as someone sitting nicely within the target demographic of 20 to 35 years old, the appeal was obvious.
With virtually round-the-clock DJs stationed at the poolside, it was common on my trip to see the young and beautiful people of Egypt (as well as holidaymakers mostly from Germany) draped over fruit-shaped inflatables sipping on Aperol spritzes.
A huge sign at the poolside had light-hearted messages such as: "Keep your fluids – in certain circumstances, the exchange of body fluids may be a good idea but… spit, snot and pee do not belong in the pool!"
El Gouna itself is a network of 36 twisting and interconnected islands, all made by hand only three decades ago by construction company Orascom.
The desert was carved away to entice the ocean in, and now the resort boasts three huge marinas, two golf courses, 11 spas and around 2600 hotel rooms – all under a blanket of year-round sunshine.
Tuk tuks crawl over the resort like colourful bugs, whisking visitors around for a mere 15 Egyptian pounds (around £1 sterling) per person per trip.
Popular restaurants include Morgan's Beach Restaurant, where all-you-can-eat seafood buffets showcase some of the best seafood in the region, and Captain's Inn Steak House, where dishes are presented sizzling.
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