IL Mercato Hotel and Spa

Extremely disappointing stay – definitely NOT a 5-star hotel

We stayed at Il Mercato Hotel & Spa, Om El Sid from 26 July to 9 August 2026, as a family of six — 2 adults, 2 teenagers and 2 children. Unfortunately, what was supposed to be a relaxing family holiday turned into an incredibly frustrating experience.

On arrival at around 10:30pm, we were shown to two interconnected rooms, which was ideal for keeping an eye on the children. However, between the two rooms we had one king-size bed and two single beds for six people. It took approximately two hours for the hotel to provide the additional beds.

We were also given just one bath towel and one hand towel between six people.

We were handed a sheet showing the activity and food-service times, but nobody explained where the different facilities were located. As a family arriving late at night, this was extremely unhelpful.

The rooms

The rooms were far from what we would expect from a 5-star hotel.

Our room, 2103, had no bolt lock and no additional lock on the actual door. The other room, 2102, had broken mirrors, a broken towel rail and sliding doors that did not lock properly. One of the doors did not even fully close.

There was also mould in the bathroom.

Because the rooms were interconnected and we were travelling with children, we were told we could not be moved.

On our first morning, at around 6am, a member of staff simply walked into our room. There was no knock or explanation. Due to the time difference, this was effectively around 4am to us. We found this extremely concerning, particularly when travelling with children.

Towels, water and basic necessities

Getting basic items such as toilet roll, towels and bottled water became an ongoing battle.

When requesting toilet roll, we were repeatedly told it would take “10 minutes” — which frequently turned into two hours or more.

Clean towels and water could take days to arrive.

The pool towel situation was equally frustrating. We would take our towel cards to collect clean towels, only to be told at various pools that there were no clean towels available. This happened repeatedly throughout the holiday.

On one occasion, when trying to exchange pool towels, a member of staff told us that it “wasn't his problem” and that we should simply return them at the end of the day.

The problem was that we were often having to use those same pool towels to shower because we hadn't been provided with adequate towels in our rooms in the first place.

There was a serious lack of communication between staff and departments throughout the hotel.

Food and facilities

The food was average at best. There were plenty of choices, but many dishes were repeated day after day.

For families with children, the evening food options were particularly disappointing. Nuggets and chips appeared to be available at lunchtime, but not during the evening meal, leaving limited child-friendly options.

There is also a snack bar on the rooftop serving burgers and chips. However, we were not told this existed. We only discovered it after speaking to another family around four days into our holiday.

Construction

There was construction taking place across significant parts of the hotel.

This was not advertised to us at the time of booking or explained when we arrived.

To reach certain areas of the hotel, we had to walk past construction areas, including places that felt genuinely unsafe, particularly with young children.

For a hotel selling itself as a 5-star family resort, this was unacceptable.

Cleanliness

The cleanliness of the hotel was poor.

The toilets were frequently disgusting and did not give the impression of a 5-star establishment.

At the aqua park, the nearest toilet was around a five-minute walk each way, which is particularly impractical when you have young children.

Aqua park and pool supervision

Pool activities didn't really begin until the second week of our two-week holiday.

Even then, staff would sometimes simply walk away rather than actively supervising the activities.

Pool supervision at the aqua park was also a major concern. Staff were frequently sitting on their phones rather than actively monitoring the pools.

The exception was Mahmood at the rooftop pool, who was pleasant, attentive and actually monitored the pool properly. He deserves recognition for the way he carried out his job.

Evening entertainment

The entertainment was another major disappointment.

For the first few nights, Sou was responsible for face painting, the children's disco and music later into the evening. This wasn't too bad.

We had been told that there would be live shows every day, but these didn't actually start until 1 August, despite us arriving on 26 July.

Then a new “DJ” took over, and unfortunately the entertainment went downhill dramatically.

The music was far too loud, including during the children's disco. Children were walking around covering their ears while trying to dance.

The DJ would sing over the music, play songs containing inappropriate language for children, and we also witnessed him openly smoking and spending significant amounts of time on his phone while supposedly working.

The evening acts themselves were often 15 minutes or less, which was incredibly disappointing considering the way the entertainment had been advertised.

Promotional photos and misleading advertising

Towards the end of our stay, there were suddenly lots of promotional photographs being taken around the hotel.

We were even offered free gifts in exchange for saying that the hotel was the best in the area.

This left a very bad taste, particularly after the experience we'd had.

The photographs used online also appear to be highly misleading and, in some cases, appear AI-generated or digitally altered.

One particularly obvious example shows two people on a water slide, despite the fact that the slide only permitted one person at a time.

This raises serious questions about how accurately the hotel represents its facilities online.

Is this a 5-star hotel?

For us, absolutely not.

The only things that felt “5-star” were the impressive lobby and the fact that the hotel looks grand from certain areas.

The actual service, cleanliness, maintenance, communication, safety, entertainment and basic provision were nowhere near the standard we would expect from a 5-star resort.

We were not treated with the level of respect you would expect from paying guests on numerous occasions.

We have stayed in hotels of various standards and understand that no holiday is going to be perfect. We are not expecting luxury at every second of the day.

But when a hotel markets itself as 5-star, we expect the basics: clean rooms, working locks, enough towels, toilet roll, water, clear communication, reasonable entertainment, safe access around the resort and staff who treat guests respectfully.

Unfortunately, we experienced problems with almost all of these.

Overall, we are extremely disappointed with our stay and would not return to Il Mercato Hotel & Spa.

If you are considering booking, I would strongly recommend doing your research first and looking beyond the glossy promotional photographs.

Our experience simply did not match the 5-star hotel that was advertised.

Looks lovely on entrance , took 2 hours to get to room with 1 bed had to share single bed with my daughter hubby had to sleep on couch the next night they brought another bed springs hanging out daughter cut her leg took 2 days to be moved cant get towels got to go to reception everyday for towels dont have enough towels for loungers ,staff alot very ignorant there was a few who were so nice n couldnt do enough for you ,broken tiles in rooms handles falling off doors food is terrible defo dont cater for kids we ate out alot even though it was all inclusive staff done nothing when we attacked by a german family who threw a squishy toy full of water at my 4 year old and my 32 week pregant older daughter the foul lanaugue from this family was appauling would defo not recommend anyone to come to this hotel would never come back here defo not a 5 star hotel either lucky if its a 2 and thats me being generious ,Egypt is a lovely place will defo be back to different part or a different hotel will never be back here have pictures of broken tilea and scar now on my daughters leg due to springs on mattress food was horrible and heard loads of other families compain about it also same woth rooms having to track down cleaners for water or toilet roll splash park was terrible let some kids down with arm bands one day next not allowed hard to expain to kids there not allowed next day

My family and I stayed her for 14 night (July/Aug). When we booked the reviews and pictures showed a beautiful hotel. However, it was far from the truth! I would personally rate this hotels 2/3 star at most. When we first arrived they said we had only booked for 3 adults and our child wasn't on the booking, but was told it was fine because children under 12 were free anyway (we paid for them to come), but that it meant our room wasn't ready due to the extra person, so had to wait. Finally being told the room was ready (gone 1am in the morning). When we were taken to the room is was beyond dirty, with lots broken too. We told the staff, who tried to say we had cause the mess in the fridge (we had just got there). The next day we met with the rep who arranged to have the room changed. The second room was cleaner but still not great with damaged items and a dirty bathroom. I could go on about the cleanliness of the hotel, but I'd be writing forever (pics will be added).
Housekeeping was terrible, hardly ever provided towels, toilet roll. When we asked for them we would be told 10 minutes by reception, but would have to keep chasing, sometimes not getting them for 3 or more days! They almost never had clean towels at the pools, probably because people were keeping them to use in their rooms (as we were not the only ones not getting towels). The all inclusive food was bearable but mostly the same options and nothing really suitable for kids. Drinks were mostly served in small plastic cups, if you were lucky you would be offered a drink in the restaurant, otherwise it was water or juice. The cocktails were terrible, nothing like the pics they show, some weren't even made correctly. Beer was ok, served from a can. Some of the staff there were great, but sadly this was let down by the ones who didn't care and treated different nationalities differently. British families seemed to be the minority there, so expect to be push and shoved when quing for food/drinks. There is A LOT of construction work being done, which was dangerous and made the hotel look scruffy. Areas that they show on line look lovely, but in reality aren't even finished (great AI pictures). We saw a lot of pictures being staged while we were there..... Entertainment was awful, lasted about 15 minutes. Then loud music was left playing, with no input from the animation team. We only used the roof top pool and splash park while there and they were ok but as the days went on seemed to have bits floating in them, never saw them get cleaned. We asked for late check out but was initially told there was no room, but after we complained they could accommodate us, with a £45 charge. There was another British family asking the same time, but was refused and told to share our room! We only went to one of the two beaches. The beach itself was ok and drink and snacks were available there, but not enough loungers, we were given bean bags to sit on, they were ok but not ideal. Music was on early doors, 7am until midnight, and unfortunately the room were were in could hear it all the time, so no rest was had. We were above the restaurant, so could hear plates and people chatting from early too. I loved Egypt and would definitely go back there. I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS HOTEL.