Mercure Southampton Centre Dolphin Hotel 4 stars

Close to all restaurants and bars. Really nice hotel but not maintain properly and dirty.

Covid precautions in place, but disappointing that this seemed to extend to housekeeping (room not made up after first night; corridors needing hoovering; bathroom not properly cleaned) and catering (brown bag breakfast). Nearby cafes were providing cooked breakfasts - why couldn't the hotel?

Hotel dirty , tired decor, short staffed,

Very good,friendly staff

Never had to make a hotel bed up in my own room in my whole life. The décor was shabby and dirty with cobwebs hanging from light fittings, massive stain on the carpets, broken window panes (in both rooms 27 and 31). The underside of the bath hand rail in room 27 was disgusting. We were given information that no-one would enter the rooms if staying over one night. We had WhatsApp communication which in all fairness did work well, we asked the hotel team to check for a parcel shelf which we had mistakenly left in the carpark, they messaged back to say they'd found it and were keeping it in reception for us. Messaged again asking for more tea/coffee supplies and clean towels, all were delivered but the dirty towels were left in the room and no change of dirty mugs. The water was barely warm, I had to boil kettles for my daughters bath (she is a wheelchair user and warm water is essential for her well being), my husband had to boil water to shave. One evening we returned to the hotel at 11.16pm, the large outside doors were locked and we rang the bell for approximately 10 minutes, before seeing the sign to ring, luckily we had phones which were charged - the doorman gave all sorts of excuses but no offered of apology. Went to the bar and ordered a large wine and diet coke, when given to me I noticed the rim of the glass was dirty, pointed it out to the member of staff who thoroughly inspected it before pouring me another in a clean glass. Not a good example of a Mecure hotel, in fact a disgrace to the chain, also heard other customers complaining of similar issues. Also the positioning of the rooms allowed the smell of the smokers to saturate the rooms, very unpleasant to sleep in, also when we arrived a workman was gloss painting the doors and the smell in the rooms and wing was not acceptable. We have stayed in 3 other hotels since lock down and their policy was to clean, clean, clean, clean bedding each day, clean towels each day and thorough clean of the room each day - much closer to the level of service I would expect and a far more reassuring approach to keeping Covid-19 under control - we will not be staying here again!!

Stay was very friendly & relaxed & very welcoming, apart from a old chap workin in the bar who just looked down his nose at me & my daughter, very unpleasant, but possibly he was haven a bad day, still very unprofessional, I’d possibly stay again

perfect hotel, great location ,spotless always friendly staff will return soon...

I have stayed in a few mercures and expected a far better standard or cleanliness and comfort.. the room( 133) carpets were stained, discoloured and looked old, there were finger marks and muck all.over the walls near light switches and next to the beds( even hairs on the wall) the sofa bed mattress was appalling, you could feel every spring in there, we had to put towels a and lay the duvet sideways for our child to lay in comfortably. The price we paid for this room I was disgusted. The breakfast option was also very dissapointing ( while I understand covid restrictions are in place) I am sure you can have some make toast or serve breakfast like very other restaurant and cafe already open...I will not be using this hotel again and will discourage other people from using it and probably will try other hotel companies instead despite using your company through work for the last 5 years..

Location was good and room was large, however there was only one pillow per person in the room and the bed dipped in the middle - meaning we both kept rolling into the centre. Shower was hard to use as the wall was sloped and pressure poor, glad I didn’t need to wash my hair! Hotel seemed clean overall and masks worn in communal areas. Took a while to check in as there was no one on the desk upon arrival and we were unable to find anyone anywhere for 10 minutes. Hand sanitizer readily available and one way system in and out. Overall an ok stay for what we paid.

I stayed for two nights and paid for a privilege room. Firstly, the room looked nothing like what was advertised on the website, I understand all rooms do not look the same however I was under the impression it would be bigger. Secondly, when I arrived, I found that the privilege package which included bathrobes, a nespresso coffee machine and complimentary soft drinks wasn’t in the room. My partner went to reception and asked if we could have them, they told him they don’t put them in the rooms in case they aren’t used. If you are paying extra for these items then I believe they should already be in your room upon arrival. The receptionist said she would ask someone to bring them up. So my partner and I went out for the evening and expected them to be there when we returned but they weren’t. I messaged the new WhatsApp procedure expecting a reply, however my partner then had to go to reception again to request the items. He came back and said that the receptionist had the phone right in front of her but somehow failed to read my message, the receptionist’s reply to our query was ‘You’re staying another night though aren’t you?’ I thought this way of thinking and customer service was disgraceful as I believe if I have paid extra for extra items then those items should be available throughout our whole stay, otherwise I might as well have paid for a standard room the first night and saved some money. He was told again that someone would bring them up to us. We waited another 2 hours and still nothing. So I sent another message over WhatsApp as I was beginning to get quite frustrated after waiting 24 hours overall since check-in for the items which should have been included in our room. My partner and I ended up going outside for a cigarette sometime after I sent the last message and on our way back in we realised a bag with some things in to the right of the main building entrance, not knowing who the bag belonged to we were reluctant to look in it but did in the end. In the bag were the items we requested. I understand staff not being able to enter rooms when there are people in there due to COVID-19, however the bag could have been left outside our room instead of the main hallway (where anyone could have picked it up) or at least have a note left on it. Also, a message could have been sent back to me just to let us know that the items had been brought over to us. After this I was in contact with someone from reception on WhatsApp who seemed more competent and attentive, I asked for some more milk and they managed to get it sent to us straight away. This just leads me to believe that whoever was on reception before this person was just lazy and had no regard for the customers’ satisfaction or the reputation of the hotel as a whole. I would never employ someone who would leave my customers feeling frustrated or unhappy without a care in the world on how this would impact the business as a whole. I can imagine I am not the first person to be unhappy with the service provided. Overall, I wouldn’t stay here again due to lack of attention to details, customer service and wasting money. This situation just put a downer on my partners and I time away and I left extremely dissatisfied.

Waited 20 mins for reception Carpark full of people using local establishments , which meant parking in NCP Issued a room card and then when entered room disturbed another guest already in the room No one working behind the bar area to attract attention Pizza only on the menu No breakfast clarity as others are dropping a bag at rooms or serving breakfast Requested the new rooms not adhered too PA rang hotel to request and no answer on 4 attempts We have staff asking not to be booked in the Dolphin Consideration to strike of from suppliers listing

No staff anywhere. Waited 45 minutes to check in

Badly in need of a refurbishment. Holes in doors, loose door handles, peeling paint the list goes on. No phone, only 1 set of towels, no shower gel , no hook on the door for dressing gown, couldn't shut the wardrobe doors maids coming in even though I put the do not disturb on. I've stayed in all of Accors hotels in Southampton and this was the worst by far would not recommend.

Room had no phone, air conditioning, body wash, hair dryer. Rooms are clean but old, (other facilities within the hotel are not well maintained). Water from tap had really bad smell. Room service entered the room without knocking at the door (while I was getting Changed). Informed the front desk about this and they said they will speak to the staff but no apologies.

Last minute booking, staff very helpful