i have just returned from a 2 week stay at the mexicana with my boyfriend and before i went i read the reviews and thought people were just bein fussy and moaning but now ive been there i know all the comments are true,
when we arrived at the hotel we hadnt got our suitcases as they got left at luton aiport so that put us in a bad mood to start off with but then arriving at the hotel and not having anyone who spoke english to speak to to help sort out the problem didnt help so we rang the xl rep from the hotel and told him the situation and all he said was there was nothing he could do completley useless and then from then on we only seen our rep once he never turned up.the reception staff were ffriendly especially mohammad.my boyfriend also had the doctor out as he gotrealy bad sicness and diarreah which alot of other people had down to the food and how bad it was and all the salad is washed in tap water so make sure u dont eat that.the food was the same everynyte and we was all incluive which was had as we only had that as a choice instead we ended up spending lots of money eating out in naama bay.also they dont provide you with botted water you have to pay for it and all inclusive stops at 11 which is when the entertainment starts at night mind you the entertainment was terible only karaoke on thursdays and belly dancing sunday so nothing to exciting.me and my boyfriend spent nearly everynyte in bed at 10 watching a movie as there was nothing to do.this is proably the most expensive,stressful and worst hotel i have been to and would definatley not go back.

My Family of 6 just returned from the hotel, staying all inclusive for 7 nights. Firstly my room was not avaialbe till 19.30 as there was a late check out (not my problem). We then found out only 1 of the 4 resaurants can be used with the all inclusive, the rest you had to pay for. Drinks from 8 till 18.00 can only be obtained from the poolside bar. And from 18.00 till 23.00 at the main upstairs bar. The other bars you have to pay at. If you want a drink, you can only get one drink at a time and you have to take your glass back or they won't serve you. I went with my elderly parents who cant get up every five minutes for a drink and i kept on having to argue with the staff to get them a drink. Its not 24 hr all inclusive ( finishes at 23.00).
The food is awful, the same every day, salad bar, rice, chicken wings, pasta and veal sausages. (pancakes and eggs for breakfast).
It takes about 10 minutes to get served each time you go the bar, russians seem to have priority. You might as well cut your band off as its completely useless. Reception is dodgy too.
The cleaners are the only good thing but hey they do rely on tips.

we have just returned after a two week holiday at this hotel, and i can honestley say [never again ], the food was terrible, we were half board and had to eat out all the time so thats what most of our money went on , there was for breakfast something called mashed [fowl ]beans it looked foul as well. We stopped going in there after third day. The pool was nice, big enough but there was a problem one day it was very dirty and cloudy but they sorted it out eventually. Theres a egpytian man selling newspapers for £3.50 a bit dear, but later when you have read it he wants it back then sells it again FOR THE SAME PRICE , i was looking at a paper from the man on the next sunbed to me the next thing the paper man asked me if i finished with it [ he wants it back ] he was not happy with me because i never paid for it what a[ ripe off] most of the waiters are polite i think thats because we were paying for the drinks, the best thing was the snorkeling the fish are lovely . our room was basic they do put clean towels and sheets in overrall would not stay here again

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I realise that these reviews are relative. It depends what you are used to and therefore expect, and if you believe you got value for money – which obviously depends on how much you paid. However, I have just returned from 12 days at the Mexicana and yes, the food wasn’t great, but overall it was OK.

Quick overview of hotel amenities:
• Large pool with a music centre playing quite chilled out music (most of the time) all day,
• Smaller pool which is generally a lot quieter and has no music but can attract the kids as it’s easier for parents to keep track of them in this area,
• All inclusive restaurant (more like a school dinner hall)
• An Italian restaurant (we never ate their but it was usually busy)
• A steak house (which we never saw anyone in at all)
• The grounds are pretty
• A masseur (at the large pool)
• Three bars – pool bar during the day, evening bar and another all-day one by reception
• Table tennis, basketball court

We got a free transfer to the hotel and were the first to be dropped off so didn’t see any of the other hotels provided by our travel company. Our impression was ‘simple but effective’.

Hotel Room
I phoned ahead to say it was my birthday whilst we were there and I would like a nice room. I didn’t see any other rooms but ours was large (more like an apartment) and very clean with everything you could want – lounge with 2 sofa’s and TV, a kitchen with glasses, plates, cutlery, and most importantly a fridge/freezer, large bedroom with fitted wardrobes and another TV and large bathroom (no bath but the shower was great – constant temperature and very powerful)

Cleanliness
Our room was cleaned daily by a very friendly guy who always left us flower petals on the bed and most days did a design with the towels. We always made sure all valuables were hidden away but it was more of a precaution than anything I felt necessary. We also read that if you leave anything on the bed the cleaner assumes it is a tip for him – this includes Mp3 players, sunglasses etc so be careful.

Staff
We found most of the staff to be very friendly – especially with the ladies! I think if you are going to go to Sharm you have to except that all the men will stare at the ladies. I lost count of the times I was told I was a “lucky man”. There was only one member of staff that I didn’t like and I think he was the hotel Manager – he never cracked a smile and was quite rude. The guys you saw most of served you breakfast, lunch, dinner and worked at the bar between meals They start at 8am and finish at 11:30pm with a 30 minute lunch break. Understandably they got tired and weren’t always full of the joys of spring but most of the time they were a good laugh and polite.

Facilities
For the first week we spent most of our time at the hotel sitting round the pool. There was no shortage of sun-beds the pool was clean and the atmosphere was peaceful. I had a massage one evening and had agreed/negotiated 60 minutes for me and 30 mins free for my partner. This was one of my few complaints. I didn’t like the guy doing the massage, it seemed like he had learnt from a dvd and after 40 minutes he thought I was asleep so walked off. I realised that he had stepped away and got up but he had disappeared. He came back 10 minutes later and told me that my massage was over. I asked him to check his watch and he agreed that it was now 50 minutes since he started the massage but didn’t offer any apology or resolution. He gave my girlfriend her massage and then I told him I would pay him two-thirds the price we had agreed as he had only given me two-thirds the time we agreed. He tried arguing but in the end I just gave him the amount I wanted to pay and walked off – determined that his attitude wasn’t going to ruin my birthday.

The second week we were there was a lot busier and I think the filter in the pool had difficulty coping as the water went very cloudy, to the extent that you couldn’t see the bottom of the pool. We simply spent our remaining days round the smaller pool which was much cleaner.

The evening bar was also quite naff. It reminded me of Butlins. It was the same every night...a cheesy disco and not much atmosphere.

Food
As you have probably gathered from all the other reviews, the food isn’t great. It is very much like a school dinner hall. There is always a lot of bread, including loaves that you cut yourself. Pudding was the same everyday – I never had any as it didn’t look appealing. Always has a salad bar although I was warned to stay away from the salad as it is washed in tap water which can make you ill. The soup in the evening was always quite nice. There was always rice, potatoes and a fresh pasta bar. The pasts is cooked in front of you but it is the same source every day with no meat in it. They had a BBQ some days and the steak was OK – quite dry and thin but edible. I think it was an extra £100 to go All Inclusive so we ate there most of the first week but for the second week we ate out which was never more than £10 for the two of us.

We went All Inclusive and, as some people have suggested, we didn’t feel we were treated any differently from others who went Half Board. The hotel was clean, everything in the room worked fine, the staff were pleasant and the food was bearable. If you want a 4* or 5* and want to spend your whole holiday at the hotel and not experience any of the culture outside then this probably isn’t the place. But, if you are looking for somewhere to chill out a bit without having to worry about filth between your visits to the beach, or Old Market, or Na’ama Bay or whatever tickles your fancy then the Mexicana is fine.