Mercure Banbury Whately Hall Hotel 3 stars

I was pleasantly surprised at how this hotel exceeded expectations over and over. The room was dated but comfortable with everything one could need. Staff were amazing, breakfast was fantastic. Everywhere was immaculately clean.

The room needs some attention, it's outdated and maintenance should look at the heater that was permanently on max and couldn't be lowered (had to sleep with the window open). What saved the day was the staff that are very friendly and helpful.

Quickly booked in and our room exceeded expectations facing the garden. Staff were friendly and helpful.

I was coming to Banbury for a course that got postponed due to coronavirus a few days before travel restrictions were imposed generally in Europe. The airline refunded my non refundable ticket outright, but this hotel refused even to let me change the dates of my stay...because they weren't legally obligated to. I contacted Accor customer service, who were also surprised by their inflexibility and contacted them on my behalf. No, they refused to budge. It was their right. *stomps foot petulantly* I wasn't seeking a refund, mind you, just a chance to move the dates when my course got rescheduled. Given the extraordinary circumstances, if they felt that moving the dates was unfair to them or to someone who paid for flexible dates, they could have offered me a partial credit on my next stay, or at least offered to cancel the dinner reservations I'd paid for in advance. I understand that they were within their legal rights to inflexibly enforce our contract, but they also have the power to make an exception when there's an international crisis afoot. I love Accor hotels and was really, really looking forward to staying in this hotel for a few nights, so it pains me to say that I almost certainly will not be staying with them when my course in Banbury is rescheduled.... unless they somehow come to their senses and try to fix this customer service blunder.

I haven't stayed at the hotel for a number of years and forgot the wonderful facade facing the road belies a modern block behind. The carpets in the public areas were threadbare and whilst the staff were pleasant enough the hotel is urgently in need of some investment.

We arrived late in the evening 9:30 p.m. as arranged with reception earlier in the day and was allocated room 81 for my daughter and 82 for myself and my wife. Room 81 was completely satisfactory and I have no complaints, however, room 82 was cold, in the room there was a small electric heater which barely took the chill off the room. There was a radiator in the room that was turned off but when I turned it on the noise created by the water moving through was unbearable to the extent that I had to turn it back off, both myself and my wife had to cover ourselves with our overcoats to keep warm in the early hours of the morning as there was only a thin cover on the bed. The cistern in the en-suite was dripping throughout the night and was audible even with the bathroom door closed. As we'd had a very long drive, nearly three hours, and was to be up early the next day to attend a funeral at 10 o'clock we really didn't want to start complaining and relocating in the early hours and also we had requested adjoining rooms. I was born in Banbury and lived there for 44 years until I moved to Kent 23 years ago, I chose the Whateley Hall Hotel as I always regarded this as a top class hotel, sadly on this occasion I was disappointed. I must however say that it was just this room and my daughter said that she was comfortable in room 81.

Stayed while attending Bloxham festival. It is very handy for Banbury especially the cinema. The staff seemed very friendly and coped well with the power cut.

We were a family staying while attending a funeral. First impression was of a rather old-fashioned building which needed some care and attention. Beds were hard and not all rooms had modern showers. However, the staff were very friendly and helpful and went out of their way to make us welcome - especially the kitchen and restaurant staff who provided us with an excellent evening meal.

I came with my elderly parents as we were attending a funeral the next day. We arrived after a wedding event at the hotel and it looked shook, the staffing was sparse and they seemed unprepared for us despite arriving at our suggested time. No one showed us where things were and we had to work it out ourselves. Our rooms were cold especially my parents room which also smelt stale and damp and the hotel was unstaffed in the lounge. We struggled to get drinks and information about dinner. There were guests in the lounge who would have had drinks and food and made the hotel money but no staff to take orders. The receptionist was chatting inappropriately in a loud voice with a woman nursing a bottle of wine in reception for the evening.

One night stay for business meeting. Convenient and cost effective

We had a lovely stay here, the hotel is clean & tidy. Love the quirkiness of the corridors & rooms spread about. The room itself was spacious, clean & had everything we needed. The added bonus of free parking was great as not many hotels have this anymore.

Decided to go away at last minute for a bit of a rest. It was exactly what we needed.

The staff were awesome.. very friendly. The food was really good, ambience perfect. Although a bit old and dated in places, it has been one of my favourite breaks ever

Staff are a credit to the hotel - very good. Breakfast very good too. Enjoyed our stay.

Staff were very good - all of them; food was excellent. Organisation and staff management seem poor - there was never anyone at the bar; always a long wait for drinks / coffee if a staff member could be found. First day - we had a late lunch in the bar - staff member was unaware of the menu and we only discovered later there was a bar food menu. Early evening we went to the bar for a drink after being out all afternoon - our lunch dishes had not been collected. There were continual issues about charging items to our room. When we were settling the bill items - including dinner and drinks on Friday night had not been charged. I had signed the bill in the restaurant but it had not found its way to the room bill. Dinner Friday night was very good; the first bottle of wine we selected was not available and neither was the second and so we had our 3rd choice. Surprising as the wine list is not long.