Mercure Box Hill Burford Bridge Hotel 4 stars

Extremely disappointed with the hotel. No cleaning of the outside area’s. Hand rails didn’t look as if they had been cleaned since before lock Down. Was not informed that there was only continental breakfast available. You can’t blame everything on COVID. Shouldn’t be open if you can’t deliver at least a descent service. Was booked as a 50th anniversary surprise.

The hotels location was central to where we wanted to go. We had a superior room however we feel that some simple things would have improved the stay. For example on arrival and throughout our stay there was mud on the pavement and on the road immediately outside the hotel. On first impressions this was not good. My husband actually slipped on the mud when getting in the taxi. The mud didn't appear to be anywhere else and could easily in our opinion be washed away. On entering our room the windows of the patio door and balcony were covered in smears and hand prints and could easily of been cleaned and this would give a cleaner and fresher appearance. There was mud also on the floor in the balcony area. There was no soap in the bathroom on arrival except for x 1 small shower gel and shampoo. We feel that soap should be supplied seperately (this we feel is surely a basic requirement?). There were no biscuits supplied with tea/coffee cups (not sure if this was suppose to be supplied? Normally we would of had a cooked breakfast during our stay. There were reduced facilities for which we understand due to COVID 19 were not available. Overall we felt the hotel needed updating. A lot of the things mentioned above are simple changes but they leave lasting impressions. Because of this experience we would not go out of our way to return or recommend the hotel to family and friends. I hope this feedback is beneficial to you.

Dear Andrew Oxley, Less than a week before our stay, I was informed that there was no restaurant and no swimming pool, and that in lieu of this a complimentary dinner would be provided and continental breakfast. Firstly, may I say that this complaint does not extend to your two members of staff who were working the evening we checked in, they were doing the best they could and were clearly struggling with zero help or management presence. We checked in at 6pm on the Saturday (Not the Sunday, you have got this wrong) after a long day, we were greeted by an excessive amount of signage of how to ‘stay well’ with Mercure, this along with the confirmation email which states as below: (please note the below text is a copy and paste from my email confirmation of the booking) We at the hotel would like to inform you about the extra measures we have taken to increase your safety during your stay with us. - Our hotel has been independently verified with Safe to Trade Accreditation. ( we can add a hyperlink to the Shield site) - Hand sanitizers are available in all public spaces. - Increased hygiene measures are in place both in public spaces and guest accommodation. - Our staff have been given specific health and safety training about covid-19. The above promises are laughable. Upon entering our room (117 - please go and see for yourself) we were greeted with a strong stench of damp, after looking around the room it was clear that it had also not been cleaned thoroughly at all, at a time when increased hygiene is important this was very concerning (images sent on complaint feedback form) . We called reception to see if we could get another room but there were none available, we had no choice but to stay in a damp, unclean room. In addition, there were no bottles of water in the room (we did not feel comfortable drinking from the tap in this room). Further to this the mattress on the bed had broken springs, the pillows were old and lumpy and overall it was extremely uncomfortable. This is a 4* hotel??? As it was getting late, we decided to order some food. After a 45 minute wait, our food arrived – two burgers that were verging on inedible, which we had to eat with cheap plastic cutlery. The burger buns were stale, the ‘meat’ was clearly the cheapest frozen burgers available. It was simply disgusting and we didn’t eat them. For breakfast we were given a bag containing a pre-packaged stale croissant, a yoghurt, a porridge pot and a carton of juice, this was with plastic cutlery. Again, this is a 4* hotel??? Around our walk from the room to the lobby was littered with sunloungers and cushions thrown all over the place, a massive health and safety trip hazzard. Tables outside had just been left with dirty plates and glasses on them, some were just left overnight. The level of care given, as apposed to the level of care promised, was shocking. (Again images of this were attached to the complaint feedback form) Please, DO NOT insult my intelligence by blaming ANY of my complaints on Covid-19. For your reference, On Friday 21st we stayed in another 4* hotel a 5 minute drive from Mercure. These hotels are both 4*, within 5 minutes of each other and both dealing with the same Covid-19 procedures as every other hotel in the country. Denbies 4* hotel had: - Thoroughly clean and comfortable rooms - Enough staff - A fully staffed and stocked bar - A fully staffed and open restaurant - A proper breakfast, fresh hot food and fresh pastries - Proper silverware and wooden cutlery for any takeaway food. - bottled water in the room - Clean and safe surroundings - Management presence Mercure 4* hotel had: - Dirty rooms, old mattresses and pillows - No restaurant - No bar - Nowhere near enough staff - Zero management presence - Plastic cutlery (this must go against your environmental credential claims??) - No bottled water in the room - Truly inedible, disgusting food (this must go against your claims of serving locally sourced, fresh food??) - Unsafe and unclean surroundings I really am hard pressed to think of a worse hotel stay than the one at Mercure Boxhill. The hotel is a 2* hotel at best, it is absolutely disgusting that it is being advertised as a 4* hotel. To be clear, I would like a FULL refund for my stay of £120, I will not accept vouchers or anything less than a full refund. Accor group is a multi-million pound operation, to charge £120 for a filthy hotel room in an unsafe environment is completely and utterly unacceptable. I made an official complaint via the Mercure website 8 DAYS AGO and have not heard back, again this is completely unacceptable, as the GM of the hotel I fully expect you to follow up on my complaint and ensure that I get my full refund. Thank you. Jenny

Very welcoming and thought through procedures in the circumstances

Booked a Day Use stat at the agreed fee and was then told there was no Day Use offer applicable by hotel. Attempt to charge me for overnight which was reduced on my protest. Was told prior to arrival that while restaurant would be closed there would be room servicee available. There was not at lunchtime as chef not scheduled to arrive till 3 Pm...

I was very pleased with my room which was very comfortable and included a settee, balcony and small fridge. The disappointing factor was the restaurant being closed and as I'm not fond of takeaways and a lack of much in the immediate area, resorted to stocking up from supermarkets in Dorking. The fridge was a boon, but of course all meals were cold.

shame about the weather - understand that the gardens are not a high priority but they did look rather sad - with empty urns etc

Swimming pool was closed due to needing repairs, we paid for a cold breakfast but some days was not delivered to our room, when we checked they told you have to request it everyday? Rooms were also not been cleaned due to Covid so the was rubbish left out in the hallways.

Awesome

I was well looked afrter and easy to locate hotel with free parking.

On arrival we was greeted by a lovely receptionist. We when to our room which we found to be satisfactory. We then went to the bar and was very disappointed to find out there was very limited drink available to purchase. No spirits or mixers no draft beers. We was not told about this on booking or arrival. We decided to have a continental break brought to the room at 9.30. I had to ring reception because it had got to 10 and it still hadn't arrive. Once it arrived it was brought to the room by the decorator in the hotel. To find brown paper bags filled with a packed lunch style breakfast very disappointed. Overall not very impressed with this 4* hotel

Absolutely dreadful. Was advised after booking that the restaurant and pool were not in use. Also then advised that no breakfast was available but would be a dried up croissant in a bag, orange carton and yoghurt. Had to purchase breakfast elsewhere for the 3 nights that we stayed! Room dirty and guests drinks and bottles left around hotel and tables outside for more than 24 hours!

The staff were very friendly and polite, and given the current circumstances were able to assist timely and efficiently whilst staff numbers were reduced. Unfortunately, we were disappointed with the state of our room. It seemed that we had been given one of the better rooms in terms of view and size. However, we were dissatisfied with our overall cleanliness. Our bed linen didn't appear clean as it had a couple of stains on it, we only had one towel in the room which wasn't much of an issue but once we were given more towels they were marked with black stains across them, the amenities were left in a cupboard collecting dust and needed to be wiped down, along with the fridge which wasn't plugged in and then didn't work once plugged in. Lastly, the balcony doors were not very secure, only one of the four bolts would actually lock which meant both nights the doors were blown open and had to be shut again. Similarly whilst we had been out, the balcony doors had been blown open leaving our room unlocked and our belongings at risk. Overall it seems the hotel could do with a glow up and more attention paid to cleanliness.

Disappointing

The staff were polite, thoughtful and helpful. The hotel looks tired and in need of refreshing before a full reopening. The room (309) looked as though it was missing a major item of furniture. All of this is unfortunate as the property has a lovely aspect despite the proximity of the main road. The breakfast was frankly disappointing. For a French brand to serve a "continental" breakfast in a bag that looked like it had been collected from the local cash and carry was a real let down. This is not a criticism of the hotel or the staff but more corporate policy that has decided against opening the kitchens. I wasn't expecting a full service offer, but freshly squeezed orange juice, freshly ground and brewed coffee and freshly baked croissants seems a more than reasonable compromise, and could easily be served in a socially distanced fashion. To all intents and purposes the experience within the hotel was more akin to a hotelF1 but the rate charged did not reflect this.