Good location, comfortable, reasonable room rate

By London standards, this hotel seemed like value for money to us. The room was on the small side, but it was clean, the beds were firm, the bathroom was well-appointed and (a real blessing) the double-glazing kept out all street noise. The staff were courteous and responsive. There was a good continental breakfast. The only dinner we had there was overpriced and the food wasn't that great but there are restaurants about ten minutes' walk away. And of course it is also within ten minutes of Southwark Tube and (in the other direction) ten minutes from the Tate Modern and the South Bank. The only slightly bizarre experience was to arrive on Sunday morning to find an extremely noisy church service going on in one of the conference rooms! We would certainly stay there again.

Fine, not exciting at all.

The hotel was clean. The gym was nice. The breakfast was more than adequate. The room was small and dark. The staff was largely unresponsive and disinterested. A good spot from which to explore the Bankside area, especially the Tate Modern. A little off the beaten track though.

Not bad, better than expected

I stayed at the Mercure for one night on business. I wasn't expecting much but the hotel wasn't actually too bad. The location is convenient, and hotel ok, not the best I have stayed at but perfectly fine for one night stay.

Some room for improvement:

1) The pillows could do replacing, they were all quite flat.

2) Some of the telly channels had a bad picture (the staff explained that it was normal).

3) I ate at the restaurant which was a mistake. I had to wait an hour for my food (due to an accident in the kitchen! Never managed to found out what had actually happened).

Very good!

We spent two nights at the Mercure on Dec 2005. As we spent most of both days in the city, we only made use of the room and bathroom (we didn't go to the bar/restaurant or similars...). Our room was very nice and clean, and the same can be said of the bathroom. The staff was very nice and helpful every time we asked for their help.

And if the Tate Modern is one of your targets when visiting London, this hotel is just 5 minutes walking from it, and also close to Southwark and London Brige underground stations. The only con I would remark is the price, but it is the same for almost every hotel in London (this city IS expensive!).

Wonderful

I have just sent a lovely weekend at the above hotel with my family. The hotel is very clean and the staff are very friendly. As we had never used this hotel before we did not know what the usual procedure was for breakfast. We were shown to our seats then everything was shown to us explaining where everything was. We would definately stay at this hotel again.

Modern, comfy, good location

We stayed in the Mercure for one night, mid week in January 2005. The hotel was modern, very clean and the staff friendly. The room was far bigger then I imagined for the price we paid (44 each). It was very modern and immaculately clean as was the bathroom which was well equiped and spacious. Our room overlooked the back street which was quiet and peaceful in the evening. The main street was busy during the day but far quieter by night.

The hotel is only 10 minutes walk from Southwark tube station and 20 minutes from Waterloo train station. It was an ideal location for the nearby Tate Modern, Shakespeare's Globe theatre and The Old Vic theatre. Breakfast was plentiful- great choice of cereals, bread, fruit and hot alternatives.

I would definitely stay there again if I was looking to explore the south side of the Thames.

Understaffed

Very pleasant room and bathroom, but window looked out onto a concrete wall just a metre away, making it very dark. Rooms clean but not so the public areas. Otherwise pleasant bar had crisps etc. on the floor (and rowdy clientele). Restaurant food good and prices reasonable, but not enough staff so long waits between courses (we gave up waiting after our main course). Seats and carpet needed cleaned, and tables were not cleared promptly once diners had left. Don't waste your money on the breakfast; the food is OK but the restaurant is very under-staffed and just getting a cup of coffee took a long time. Hot coffee and hot breakfast at the same time seemed hard to achieve, there's better to be had elsewhere. I don't think we'll be back.

Adequate

I stayed at this hotel with my Fiance for 2 nights in September 2004. The first thing I will tell you is that the nearest tube, Southwark Station, is a 15-20 minute walk. This wasnt a big deal, but we had a lot of luggage/shopping which made it a bit difficult, so I'd bear that in mind.

Check in was average, receptionist pleasant enough. The room was nice and clean. There was a mini-bar (extortionate prices - beware!), an ironing board & iron, safe, tea & coffee making facilites with shortbreads!, satellite TV etc. The bathroom was nice and clean too, and had tissues, shower gel, shampoo and soap mini's etc. The shower head was fixed to the wall and despite being VERY careful and having the curtain drawn, we still managed to flood the room every time we showered! There was a hairdryer in the bathroom too. Our view wasnt great - it was an office block, but it was quiet at night. We had a mirror by the dresser and also a full length mirror by the door.

The restaurant was a problem however. We only had breakfast, as we ate out in the evenings. Again, very clean BUT not enough staff to cope with high demand at breakfast. We had to wait a very long time before a space became available, and even then we were squeezed onto the end of a larger table with other people. Personally, I like to have my breakfast in peace, without conversing with the neighbours. The food ran out often and poor members of staff (credit to them - they were very hard working) rushed around to replace the trays, drinks machine and cutlery etc. At one point, a waitress was so rushed off her feet that she knocked into me and dropped everything on the floor and a glass got smashed. I felt sorry for her, and just got out the way as the room was chocka!

BIG LET DOWN: 'Marc' on reception. This weekend break was based around a very expensive dinner cruise I booked for my Fiance's birthday. It was the one thing that had to be just right. So, dressed up in tux and evening gown we naturally didnt want to go to the meal by tube. So we phoned Marc almost 2 hours before we wanted to leave, and asked him to book us a taxi (part of the hotel advertised service). He got us a quote and booked it for us, and phoned us in the room to confirm. He even said we could wait in reception and he would look out for it. So you can imagine our disbelief when we arrived at reception asking if the taxi was there, only to be told by Marc that the taxi firm had called back to say they couldnt do it afterall - they were too busy. It was clear that he had known for some time and didnt have the decency to let us know. What really got me was his delivery, and the way he shrugged his shoulders as if to say 'I dont care.' By this time we had 20 minutes to get to our destination and had no choice but to go by tube (dont forget that the station is 15 minutes walk AND we are dressed up and I am wearing heels). It was a complete nightmare. So embarrassing-we got some funny looks as we rushed through the underground. We had to run like never before, and make the necessary changes at various stations before arriving just in time (all hot, bothered and sweaty) for our dinner. We still managed to have a great evening despite this idiot's mistake.

Check out was OK too. All the staff appear to be foreign, and at times it was difficult to understand what they were saying!

The hotel overall wasnt too bad, but I just felt very let down by the above incident. If you are staying for more than a weekend like us, and you arent in a rush to get anywhere or maybe just want to view London at leisure then I would think you'd be fine here. Not ideal location for shopping due to being in the middle of nowhere and time consuming walking to tub etc.

Nice hotel

We stayed at this hotel in July 2004. The room was clean if a little dowdy. The bathroom was up to date and very clean. The food in the cafe on the ground floor was very nice indeed. Although it was sometimes difficult to understand the staff's many accents, they were all very helpful and made us very welcome. The hotel is 15 minutes walk from Waterloo Eurostar station and 5 minutes walk from The Tate and the London Eye. 10 minutes to Big Ben. A very well located hotel in a relatively quiet part of London. Very peaceful at night, no traffic noise at all and lovely views of London at night. There is a major building project on the other side of the road but any noise from it was minimal. I would certainly use this hotel again, especially if using Eurostar.