Egyptian Resort Leaves Russian Tourist Feeling Like It Was a Survival Challenge

A Russian woman who spent 210,000 rubles on a 10-day stay at the four-star Mercure Hurghada Hotel in Egypt says the experience felt more like a gritty survival game than a vacation. Writing on the Dzen platform, the traveler, who goes by the handle IceSnow, described the trip as an "engaging quest to survive amid unsanitary conditions and pushy service."

The couple found their room poorly cleaned, with sand crunching underfoot and a shower drain clogged with strangers’ hair. The sink had sticky residues, and the tap water ran a murky gray-yellow, reeking of chlorine and rust. The hotel restaurant, she said, was a "hymn to monotony," serving dry rolls, bland cheese, soy sausages, and eggs every morning. Lunch and dinner offered only dry chicken or bony fish, with the menu unchanged for the entire stay. Tables stayed sticky, napkins were scarce, and waiters, she claimed, only sprang into action when they spotted cash. "Without a baksheesh, they won’t even come to clear your dirty plate," she complained.

A walk through Hurghada only deepened her disappointment. She described the area around the hotel as littered with plastic bottles, bags, and construction debris that seemed to have been there since the pyramids were built. Sidewalks were virtually nonexistent, forcing pedestrians onto roads where they dodged aggressive minibus drivers who honked every few seconds. Back in Moscow, she and her husband spent weeks treating stomach issues and trying to "wash off the smell" of Hurghada. "We’ll never set foot in that area again, and we advise others to skip it too — your nerves and health are worth more," she concluded.