‘Flies on the Food, Broken Plumbing’: Russian Tourist Details Her Egyptian Hotel Horror

A Russian tourist has gone public with her scathing review of an Egyptian resort, describing conditions so poor that she and her family couldn’t wait to leave. Elena, whose full name was not disclosed, told the Telegram channel Ostorozhno, Moskva about her stay at the Mirage Bay Resort & Aqua Park in Hurghada. She says the reality fell far short of the brochure.

According to Elena, the room had no hot water, the plumbing was rusty and broken, and the dust and dirt were so bad that they triggered an asthma attack in her child. The problems didn’t stop at the accommodation. On the beach, she found scattered trash and broken loungers. In the hotel restaurant, dirty dishes piled up and flies landed on the food. After one dinner there, Elena’s mother fell ill.

When the family asked to be moved to another hotel without paying extra, the resort offered them a transfer – for a price: $800, or roughly 62,000 rubles. Elena says they also refused to provide documentation for the new room. Attempts to resolve the issue through their travel company went nowhere. The family ended up stuck in a place Elena calls a disappointment from start to finish. This isn’t the first Russian complaint about Egyptian hospitality; another traveler recently griped that locals ‘call any flatbread pizza.’