Mercure Blackburn Dunkenhalgh Hotel & Spa

There was an extremely large and unbelievably loud wedding on the night we stayed, so instead of putting other guests in the other side of the hotel away from the noise we were put in a room above the wedding. When we asked how long this was going to go on, the receptionist was frosty and unhelpful. We eventually got them to move us to another room, smaller but blissfully quiet, why did they not do this in the first place? We were not alone, other people were moving rooms but there was no offer of help with the move, The hotel is 4* and we were hoping for a nice meal, so we were astonished at the laminated menu we were given and the choice of food you might expect in a Toby or Harvester. Restaurant was dusty - check the tops of the radiators guys! Disgusting.

upgraded, slept well, left early so speedy checkout a godsend

What a disappointment. First we were given a very basic room instead of the executive room we had paid for. There happened to be a medical conference when we were there so the staff were just interested in these people, this became more obvious at breakfast when my husband and I were left waiting for any sort of attention while three members of staff fawned around a table of three doctors getting them warm milk and room temperature water as one of the party spat grape pips out onto the floor where we were sitting. The breakfast was a shambles. The bacon was undercooked and the scrambled egg was the worst my husband had ever tasted sausage was raw The second night of our stay we went for our evening meal and were quickly seated and ordered our food and then once again we were forgotten about. Other diners around us were served while we waited and waited eventually we caught someone's attention. AsI had only ordered nachos I didn't think there would be a problem but out it came stone cold with unmelted cheese. By this time the restaurant manager was standing in a corner talking to herself with her head in her hands . It was a very surreal experience. The breakfast the next day was no better. What was supposed to be a relaxing weekend turned out to be anything but.

Sat navigation did not locate the hotel, but after driving on the road found the entrance, the hotel is in stunning grounds. The staff were helpful in all areas of the hotel from reception, bar, restaurant. Our room was clean and although some light bulbs did not work in the bath room this did not spoil our experience. We did report this to reception and they offered to send some one to fix it, but we insisted it could be done after we left.

the room, hotel and pool/leisure facilities were lovely the staff were friendly and the food was of a high standard. The one negative was the delays with service of the evening meal which I suspect was due to staff shortage.