Mercure Bristol Grand Hotel

“Disappointing but cheap.”

Came on a Sunday for one night only. Close and convenient to where I would have to be. About £6 taxi from Temple Meads. Impressive facade on Guildhall St side. Efficient friendly reception but the first floor room with a view out the back was the smallest I’ve had in a hotel for a long time. Kettle… more

Came on a Sunday for one night only. Close and convenient to where I would have to be. About £6 taxi from Temple Meads. Impressive facade on Guildhall St side. Efficient friendly reception but the first floor room with a view out the back was the smallest I’ve had in a hotel for a long time. Kettle had no nearby plug, TV seemed to have a Spartan selection marked Free View and no reliable rolling news. The hotel WiFi did not kick in as claimed for either mu phone or iPad and when I tried to get help from reception as recommended there was no reply to my seven attempts from mid evening over a couple of hours, eventually I had to resort to using my phone as hot spot but access on my pad was hit and miss. Who ever made the bed and tucked the duvet cover so tightly under the mattress on three sides was heavy going try to slide in under and I had to yank it out all round. Whispered conversation out in the corridor seemed somehow to be amplified. There were a number of loud banging and many gurgling and unseemly plumbing noises late evening, in the early hours and before seven in the morning. The shower worked better than expected. Apart from the distractions I slept well. The view out the window was curious and slightly interesting especially when the late internal church light illuminated the stained glass figures. Breakfast was OK, not many people there from 7.30 till well after 8. I always miss croissants and pain au chocolat. Not clear whether they’d gone before me but were never well. Not tempted by wholesale baked beans, hash browns etc but there were some good sliceb cheeses and cubes of local Brie. The fancy coffee machines produced acceptable Americanos and the the freshly squeezed orange juice was good. I don’t resent the Grand but felt it wasn’t up to par. My evening was lifted by supper in an excellent basement Lebanese restaurant down the road and then a wholly satisfying convivial old pub down and around the corner which claims to be the smallest in the heart of Bristol. I wouldn’t try to put folk off the Grand. You pays your money and takes your choice.

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“Lovely hotel- shame about the staff”

The hotel was lovely. The room was clean and spacious and was in close proximity to the centre of Bristol. The check-in/ check out process however was very confusing and led to problems. On arrival, I was asked to hand over my card to pay a ‘pre authorisation’ which was fine but the card machine wa… more

The hotel was lovely. The room was clean and spacious and was in close proximity to the centre of Bristol. The check-in/ check out process however was very confusing and led to problems. On arrival, I was asked to hand over my card to pay a ‘pre authorisation’ which was fine but the card machine was not contactless and required a pin. I was told that I was unable to pay for the room upfront even though I could have done on booking.com. Upon check out, I was asked how much I had paid for pre-authorisation. I hadn’t been told this and the member of staff then had to search (for quite a while) for the record and receipt of me paying. I realise that the money is only held and hadn’t left my account but neither of us knew how much this was for or whether I had infact paid. I had to then check my own online banking to confirm this. Shouldn’t this be on their system? She then handed me the card machine to put my card in. I entered my PIN number not realising that I didn’t need to. This then meant that where she should have entered the amount, my PIN number was clearly exposed. I quickly put my hand over the screen and said that’s my PIN number. She laughed and took it away and said no it isn’t, that is the amount. I again reiterated no, that’s my pin and explained I thought I had to answer it to which again- now waving the machine around- said no it isn’t. There were a number of people behind me who had a clear view of the screen. I again explained that I had put it in because she had told me to and only at this point did she realise that I was right and she had flashed this around. She then couldn’t get the machine to work and had to get a manager to take over. In the end, it seemed I hadn’t needed to enter my card at all. There was no apology from the manager and we were left feeling very disappointed. I have since changed my card number as a number of people had seen it.

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