Mercure Oxford Eastgate Hotel

We recently stayed at this most delightful hotel while visiting Oxford for a few days. It was charming in every sense and made our stay incredibly memorable. The hotel staff were so engaging and more than happy to advise us on local places of interest. We will most definitely be staying there again in the future. We are planning a trip to Oxford for a few days leading up to Christmas and cannot wait to see this beautiful little town in all its Christmas glory.

The good: (1) Very helpful staff. Despite being short staffed, they are always willing to help. (2) Check out time of 12 noon is excellent. The bad and ugly: (1) The hotel is short staffed. This is especially problematic during the late morning/midday rush hour when everyone wants to check-in, check-out, and leave or collect their luggage. (2) The hard products are very poor. I arrived in one of the warmest days in the UK this summer (and during their 3rd heatwaves). Many rooms in the hotel do not have air-con (even though I booked one of the 'prestige rooms'. The room was so hot that I can hardly sleep during the first two nights. I managed to switch to a room with a functioning air-con in my third night and finally managed to get a decent rest. Now, I understand that the hotel is located in one of the historic buildings in Oxford and installing a permanent air-con system in every room is probably not feasible. However, given that this was the third heatwaves in the UK this summer, it is not a lot for the hotel to invest in some portable air-con systems. Instead, all I had were two very noisy fans that basically kept circulating hot air around. The room that I paid for is not cheap (over 300 dollars a night). I have also stayed in Mercure throughout the world (NZ, Australia, Thailand, etc) and this experience is significantly short of my expectations especially for the price of the room. (3) My first room located on the third floor was very small and tired. The light above my bed was flickering and the windows can hardly open. The second room which is located on the second floor was much better. I don't think my first room should be classified as a prestige room for the extra cost. The second room is OK.

Terrible Experience – Smelly Room and No Help from Management I had a very unpleasant stay at this hotel. The room I was given had a horrible, musty smell that made me feel physically sick. I immediately contacted the front desk they acknowledged the issue but told me they were fully booked and couldn’t offer a new room that day. They advised us to keep my luggage packed and promised a room change the next day. However, the next day we left early with all our belongings packed, expecting the change would be made while we were out. When we returned in the afternoon, we were shocked to find we were placed in the exact same smelly room—nothing had been done. When I called the reception again, they simply said there was nothing they could do. We are extremely disappointed with how the situation was handled. The manager clearly did not follow through, and the staff had no interest in helping. The smell was unbearable and completely ruined our stay. Be aware before booking this hotel—if you get a smelly room, don’t expect any help. We will not be returning.