Mercure Exeter Southgate Hotel 4 stars

Room was very disappointing. Not 4star

Welcome at reception very cheerful. For some reason one of the two rooms we had booked had already been booked in which took some time to sort out. After that the service went down hill rapidly. Waited 45 minutes for bar staff to get a bottle of white wine from callers as they had run out at 7pm on a Saturday night. Returned to hotel at 11pm to have an Irish coffee in the bar. All they could offer up was a mug of black coffee and a shot of whiskey poured in. Not good enough I’m afraid. Whilst sitting in the bar area, trolleys if warm (smelly) food was continuously wheeled through the bar to a rugby reception in the dinning area. Again, not good enough. Hotel is in a great location, and the room was very pleasant and comfortable. Looking at multiple tripadvisor reviews it would appear we are not alone in noting the very poor service the hotel provides. Something that the management should not simply respond with the standard reply (as is the case with all the reviews we looked at), but should address it - this may actually mean the Managment at the hotel needs replacing or retraining.

The hotel was a beautiful place to stay and found the staff to be very friendly and helpful. I am disabled but found the hotel was easy to navigate in an electric wheelchair.

All the staff were friendly and helpful. Quick response to our request for replacement hairdryer and for fresh milk. The only slight criticism was that the pillows were very hard, there were no softer alternatives in wardrobe.

Hotel stay was adequate. Could do with new carpets, the stairs had hardly any left. It could do with a refresh overall in the bedroom. The whole breakfast was experience was awful. Not greeted very nicely, we weren't shown to a table, as you would expect, we were simply told to "find somewhere". I have stayed in lots of hotels with work and he was quite possibly the worst waiter I have ever come across. There was hardly any utensils for anything. One poor women had to ask for a bread knife and the staff couldn't find one. I asked for eggs Royale with no sauce. Waited 10 minutes for the same awful waiter that greeted us to come over and say "the superfood omlette doesn't come with a sauce". I said, "I know, I ordered the Eggs Royale", to which he replied "that doesn't have any sauce either"... I simply replied with "it comes with hollandaise, which is a sauce".... With no apology as you'd expect, I was simply told "well you have to pay for that now". My wife asked another waiter for more coffee, which never came, so we had to ask someone else. I really think you should give your staff some training.

The room was rather shabby it felt dirty and the carpet was grubby and could do with a good hoover. The bed side table was sticky so I cleaned it with a damp piece of toilet tissue because our tissue box in the bathroom was empty. There was no hair dryer in the room. On the whole we were very dissatisfied with the room and we cancelled breakfast.

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Not bad but our impression was that standards have slipped somewhat (we have stayed each year on the same w/e for some years now and this is how we can measure this impression).

This was our second stay in the Mercure Southgate Hotel in Exeter - primarily for the Christmas Markets and to see our Granddaughter who is at Exeter University. We stayed last year around the same time (end November) and were initially impressed with the Christmas decorations in the hotel foyer and public rooms. This year they were not so good. Our room last year had problems with no aircon/heating (evidenced by the discovery of a portable radiator hiding in a wardrobe). Alas, there does not seem to be any improvement in the standard of room (Privelage Room) we booked this year. Our room this time was superficially okay - but we found that the extractor fan in the bathroom was not working, there was dust around the room which should not have been there. And the carpets had not been hoovered in the time we were there (2 nights) as evidenced by a piece of cotton on the carpet which was there when we arrived, and there when we left. The toilet seat cover was dusty (I cleaned it). Some of the bath towels were small, thin and in cases - threadbare, (not what we expected, especially when we had paid a premium for a 'Privelage' room). Why is it that hotels in the UK cannot get it right? Rooms have to be CLEAN, and the facilities should work. Problems were reported (twice) to reception, and to give the staff their due, we were provided with some compensation for the deficiencies, but it would be nice to arrive at a hotel and feel that we were relaxed and not having to concern ourselves with reporting problems. I doubt if we will stay there again.

WE WERE NOT UPGRADED ON ARRIVAL, WE HAD TO MOVE ROOMS, REQUESTED DIFFERENT COVER AND PILLOWS FOR BED, THESE WERE FORGOTTEN, TV WAS NOT CONNECTED, REMOTE CONTROL DID NOT WORK, NOBODY TO GIVE US TEA OR COFFEE AT BREAKFAST, WE HAD TO ASK, VERY YOUNG STAFF AT BAR, NOBODY HAD HEARD OF A LIQUER COFFEE. STARTING TO RUN OUT OF ROOM.

I would like the option to book a guaranteed car parking space. The Southgate is attractive because of the car park.

Nice to nice day and privilege room breakfast very relaxed poached eggs were lovely everything hot and tasty rooms nice privilege room with extra touches drinks soft in minibar well-stocked with iron and hairdryer ironing board et cetera and good toiletries .

Hotel room was average and not sure what extras we got by paying for privilege room. Small rip in chair covering, bathroom needs a fresh coat of paint, had trouble with both the heating and TV too. Not really what we would expect from a 4 star hotel but nothing so bad as to complain

Nice one night stay to see Xmas Market, ideal location as right next to the Cathedral where the market is held. The room was nice, bed comfortable and breakfast very tasty. We used the leisure facilities which were adequate for a city hotel but smaller than had expected.

We love staying at this hotel. Friendly staff great location Cant wait to come back soon.