Mercure Exeter Southgate Hotel 4 stars

On arrival at the Mercure at 13:20 there was just one person on reception and a queue of people ... lots of staff milling around but no-one helping ... having had a four hour drive we were told we couldnt get a drink of any sort - tea, coffee, wine ... the bar didnt open until 5pm ... room not ready and reception had no idea what rooms had been cleaned - it took 25 minutes (having been told it would be 5) to find out what room we had ... sanitiser dispenser on 3rd floor by the lifts empty for our whole stay ... The "Privilege" room was disgusting - carpet threadbare, finger prints on windows, furniture scratched, phone headset filthy ... we have stayed numerous times before, but never will again ... on check out we werent even asked how our stay had been.

The receptionist gave us a good reduction on our first night's stay as we checked out having booked in for two. Our bathroom had the whiff of a sewer, the dining room had cobwebs and the pool was closed.

I booked an executive suite at this hotel via all accor website, I am a member of the group, for my partner's 70 birthday celebrations. On arrival at the hotel, I was given a key but found it was for the scruffiest "privilege" room I have seen in a long time. On tackling reception, after several comings and goings by the reception staff, I was basically told we had been downgraded and had received an email about this. Not!! I insisted on seeing the person in charge and was told the guest who should have vacated our room had to stay, as they had been taken ill. Seemed reasonable, until you spoke to another gentleman who had also been down graded in the same way. It then became an admin error! He had not received an email either. All in all a catalogue of errors and lies. With noacknowledgement of the distress caused. Despite having visited there at least once a year for several years, we will not be going back there sgain. When I said I would be giving them 1 out of 10, they ask for your evaluation of your experience, they seemed totally unconcerned. The staff either need retraining in customer services or sacking!

My wife and I stayed for one night after taking our daughter back to uni. Hotel billed as 4 star but rooms desperately need refurbishment. Water stain on ceiling, hole in wall (had been filled but not painted over), water outlet in shower tray blocked so it kept filling up, carpet very worn in main traffic areas...to name a few. Didn't use pool, spa or restaurant so can't comment.

Copy of message sent on September 6th direct to the hotel. For the attention of the manager. Mercure Exeter Southgate Hotel From Sep. 01, 2021 to Sep. 04, 2021 Dear Sir/Madam, As former business travellers and now leisure visitors, we know the Mercure brand well in several different countries, Our stay in „privilege“ room 140, was not up to the usual standard for the following reasons: Firstly, the WC flush was incredibly difficult to operate and this fault caused us more trouble than all of the others because of my wife’s arthritis. Then the extractor fan was not functioning at all – someone had a look at both problems without solving them. On the second day of our stay, the hot tap for our sink ceased to have any hot water. Again this fault was reported but not rectified. Only one of the bulbs was working on the bathroom mirror and finally some of the decor had simply been neglected (see photo). Faults were reported but not rectified. We paid in good faith, in advance, for an „upgraded“ room and cannot fathom how your staff can say they will „see what they can do on the bill“. We reported our disappointment immediately instead of giving the hotel a bad review on Tripadvisor but we had to put up with all the inconvenience for the whole of our stay. Please look into this as soon as you can – I have phographs of all the problems should you require them to make a judgement. Yours faithfully, K. Barker

Keys not working, noise throughout the night, pool not open at 8am as scheduled due to "employee" issues, finally open at 10am, but already completely packed, spa & sauna out of order. Covid can be blamed for many things, but ..........

No room service during stay said The staff informed me no rooms cleaned fresh towel or tea coffee refilled Because of covid. No jacuzzi, pool limited hours as staff on holiday. Complained took 3 days to get room cleaned.

I always chose accor for lovely and well maintained properties and friendly staff, but my recent stay at Southgate in Exeter wasn't even close to the hospitality associated with this brand. The room wasn't cleaned properly, the extractor in the bathroom was broken. The curtains looked dirty, the mattresses weren't comfortable. I told this to reception and have been told that maintenance and house keeping have been informed of this issue but things weren't resolved during my 4 night stay. So disappointed!!

Over a two night stay I had many of the poor experiences repeatedly shared in other reviews. Services were limited/suspended, communal areas were neglected (despite resident pets), rooms were overall in poor condition. By the sheer number of problems, it’s as if maintenance wasn’t performed during lockdown. Awful value at £150pn (std, room only). If you are an Accor loyalty card holder, don’t expect any of the standard recognition (I am Platinum).

I have stayed here before in 2020 when problems were put down to COVID-19 but several issues have not been resolved a year on. This hotel is in a fantastic location for Exeter sites, amenities and restaurants. There is plenty of parking for an additional charge and a decent pool. The lobby area is clean and looks ok. Unfortunately, the air conditioning was not working (this was an issue in 2020 so it is not a new problem) and the rooms and furniture look dated. The online check-in facility was not working and when we arrived nearly 1 hour after the check-in time the room was not ready. My family and others were asked to go into town to while away a couple of hours while the room was prepared. This was not helpful after a 4.5 hour journey. I do think that if the hotel is breaching terms and conditions by meeting the agreed check-in then it should offer guests a drink and a place to sit. The staff didn’t phone me to let me know that the room was ready so we took a chance and made our way back. At night we had to keep a window open as the air conditioning was not working. The fan we were given was cheap and noisy so it was difficult to sleep. There was also noise from guests or staff in the car park. Room cleanliness was just about ok but could be much better. There were also issues with my fast check-out. Despite booking to include parking this was not included on the receipt that was emailed to me after we left and I arrived home to receive a penalty notice for parking on day 1 of our stay. This might have been prevented if the hotel would allow people to check-in properly. The reception desk/management team have said they will have the PCN so I’m waiting to see if that issue is resolved.

Have been before and was lovely, but was sorely disappointed with my birthday treat away. The room and floor 3 was in a real state of disrepair. Threadbare carpet, wallpaper peeling off the wall, damp stained pelmet. The phone wasn't working and a bulb was out in the bathroom. I told reception both of these during our trip and nothing was done about them. Really marred mine and my partners trip away.

Hotel advertises Air conditioned rooms. On arrival there was a fan in the room. Reported AC not working on first night and told repair will be prioritised. AC was not looked at and we were asked to use the fan instaed.

Some good and some not so good points with the Southgate hotel. Good; Breakfast, plenty of choice, fresh orange juice and hot food. Pool, good clean pool which was well managed by Jack. Everything was very clean Well positioned hotel short walk to town and quay. Not so good; Broken furniture in first room and no aircon, spoke to reception who said there’s a fan in the cupboard... it’s not aircon is it? Kindly gave us another room, still no aircon but furniture intact. There’s obviously been some investment in the hotel as the bathrooms were new but no extractor means paint peeling already. Restaurant and bar very pleasant but hotel crumbling in many places.

We have stayed at the Mercure for the last few years and enjoyed a relaxing a comfortable stay. Unfortunateley standards have slipped. The room itself was as expected, but the air conditioning was not working, and despite several attempts to rectify, we were left not knowing what was going on and suffering a very warm room. They did make an adjustment on our final bill, but our 3 day stay was spoiled, and we will have to reconsider staying here in the future unless standards improve

Overall our stay was ok. The privilege room we paid £20 extra for didn’t seem much more than a normal room and the bed for us was very uncomfortable! But to be fair, each to their own on what mattress you prefer. The service was ok, the bar seemed under staffed but again with Covid, this could be the truth! The most irritating part of the trip was when I came to leave and had to pay £15 for the privilege of parking my car at their hotel…. They obviously didn’t feel they had charged me enough for one nights stay! To be honest I wouldn’t rush back.