IL Mercato Hotel and Spa

Do not book this hotel! I have recently stayed at this hotel with my young daughter. To say this is below par of a five star hotel is an understatement.
Once you get past the grandeur of the lobby it all goes down hill.
Rooms - The rooms are very tired and are not the immaculate rooms that the web site shows. There where chunks (not chips) of marble missing from the bedside tables. The bathroom had dirt on the walls and the cleanliness of the shower was shocking. Towels - These are not a given! You have to call reception every day to get towels and on 3 occasions in our 10 day stay, we did not receive towels as they had not been returned from the launderette. Towels are not always available at the pool as people are keeping hold of these so they can shower. Food - The food is not great, very repetitive and does not accommodate for small children who may be fussy eaters. Snacks are only available on the roof from 3.30 to 5.30 and limited to burgers, hot dogs and chips. Ice cream is not included on the All Inclusive. Drinks - All served in small (less than half pint) plastic cups. Wine is not available on the all inclusive and the local spirits are like paint stripper. In the restaurant, the drinks are not self serve, waiters walk round with trays of drinks and if your lucky enough to catch their eye, you will get a drink with your meal. Entertainment - Shocking!! No activities take place at the Activity Pool during the day. The 'Shows' for the evening entertainment only last 15 to 20 minutes and then its music favored to Russian clientele.

Avoid at all cost. 2*/3* Hotel We stayed for 2 weeks as a family in 2 rooms so not down before reading this. Hotel: mixed The hotel looks amazing when we arrived at night all lit up and reception seemed luxurious but unfortunately thats where the luxuries ended. Every other part of the hotel needs a revamp apart from the pools. They are building more rooms so half of the hotel is a building site which is dangerous and left dust all over our belongings, maybe improving the rooms they already have would make more sense as everyone we spoke to seemed to have issues with either rooms or the cleanliness Location: Poor Not in the middle of nowhere but also bit close to anything, I would advise staying in or around naama bay. Rooms: horrendous Far from adequate for a 5*. Broken tiles in both bathrooms, broken locks on doors and balcony door would close fully or lock which led to bugs in our room. We was provided 1 bath towel for a family of 6 and this was also a familiar story after speaking to other guest. Spoke to reception countless times and they tell you 10 mins, we waiting DAYS and a holiday shouldn't be taken by visiting reception everyday for towels , toilet paper or water. Food/drinks: Average I didnt mind the food but it was very repetitive for 2 weeks but food was left from lunch until evening meals so not fresh. We had 4 kids with us and all of them struggled to find something to eat most meals apart from lunch where they did have chicken nuggets and chips. Tables are dirty and getting cutlery was a night mare. There was a few times I had waited 10+mins for a knife and fork while my room temp food went even colder. Soft drinks were served out of 2L bottles. Countless times I had been served warm soft drinks as once the bottle is opened its left on the side in 30/40 degree heat until the next customer comes along. Spirits(paint stripper) all tasted the same once mixed with a warm coke or sprite. Entertainment/animation team: poor Pretty none existent during our 1st week, 30 mins face painting and 3p mins moni disco butbthe music was that load most kids was covering there ears or leaving early and not what we was promised when bookingthis hotel, Our 2nd week was slightly better, a few 15 min shows but the team was smoking while doing mini disco and once that had finished, Songs were played with swearing and inappropriate language for the clientele (mainly kids/families) Overall: we were massively disappointed in this hotel and we have staying in loads of 3* hotels better than this. Some staff care some couldn't care less. Almost all staff are sat on there phones from reception to lifeguards and can be very rude when you challenge the service they are providing. This stay will probably be our last in Egypt due tk a nightmare 2 weeks at il mercarto. We stayed in late July until early August.

First arriving at the hotel, you are under the impression that this is a five-star establishment: a glamorous reception area features TV screens showing video packages of what the hotel has to offer. Unfortunately, this is where it ends.

​Once you leave the glitz and glamour of reception, you are met with a construction site and a very worn-out hotel that was last renovated ten years ago (possibly). Even the paving around the grounds is coming apart, which is a far cry from the well-kept gardens and lit-up main entrance.

​The construction work is centered predominantly around the aquapark area; I feel that most of the hotel's money went into this feature and they simply ran out of funds.

​Most of the restaurants and shops advertised by the hotel are boarded up and no longer operational.

​The aquapark itself is good for the kids, aside from the ridiculously loud music and lack of sunbeds. Additionally, the bar in this area only serves soft drinks and water. The toilets are about a five-minute walk away, situated next to an active building site—a fairly dangerous setup for guests with young children.

​The rooms resemble something out of the early nineties. They are dirty and poorly maintained, featuring broken tiles, damaged furniture, and even cracked bathtubs. The toiletries consist of cheap dispensers you would expect in a public restroom—certainly not the products shown in the promo pictures.

​The family room we were originally assigned was not actually a family room at all; despite arriving at 11:00 PM, there were no beds for my two young children. I managed to track down one extra bed by 2:00 AM, but I got no sleep on the first night.

​After much haggling and back-and-forth with reception the next day, we moved to a satisfactory room. Still, the pristine rooms pictured on travel sites must not exist. The replacement was still poor quality.

​Fresh towels were not provided regularly, and the "cleaning" consisted of simply remaking the beds and a quick pass with a mop.

​The hotel seems to instruct staff to give preferential treatment to guests from a certain region. Expect a lot of pushing and shoving during mealtimes, with zero intervention from the staff.

​The food was terrible. I wasn't expecting Michelin-star quality, but I also didn't expect re-served dishes from earlier in the day that resembled a cross between school dinners and prison rations. We ate out a lot.

​We spent most days at the rooftop "activity pool," which was also run-down and not cleaned as often as it should be. Furthermore, none of the advertised activities took place—more lies.

​There is a rooftop bar, but the advertised cocktails are not what you get. Instead, you are served unmeasured imitations that taste like paint stripper (though the local beer is actually okay). Everything is served in tiny plastic cups.

​The evening "entertainment" was dire: a bit of face painting and dancing for the children, though almost all the songs were tailored to the preferred clientele. Later in the evening, the show devolved into random noise or a brief fifteen-minute dance performance.

​The kids' club is equally mismanaged. We tested it for a day by sitting around the pool just outside. The door was left open, and the staff member did not notice children wandering out. At one point, another guest's six-year-old child was left wandering around crying, looking for their parents. Our children walked out on numerous occasions, but luckily we were right outside. We quickly realized it was unsafe. This negligence makes it impossible to use the spa or gym as a couple, rendering yet another advertised facility useless.

​Many of the staff work hard and do their best, but they are limited by a hotel that is poorly run and built on false advertising.

​Ironically, if it weren't for the other families we met who experienced the exact same atrocious issues, our holiday would have been much worse. We met lovely people and enjoyed trading "war stories" about the hotel and more importantly, their company as a whole.

​This hotel is not a five-star establishment; I would rate it somewhere between two and three stars (two being slightly harsh and three being far too generous). ​Would I return to Egypt? Possibly. But if I do, I certainly won't be staying here.