Mercure Brighton Seafront Hotel 4 stars

I chose this hotel for its location on the seafront and value for money and have stayed here twice now. It's recently been refurbished and I love the colourful decor in the entrance lobby. Fair enough there is still some upgrading needed (carpets for example) but that's a minor issue. Rooms were spacious and comfortable and well equipped and - a particular issue of mine - teabags were plentiful! Breakfast was excellent and individual ramekins of very fresh fruit salad were a nice touch. I also had dinner one evening - menu was limited which is sensible and the slightly deconstructed fish pie was full of scallops, samphire and other yummy things. Staff were all absolutely lovely. At around £100 a night for a room in November I think this hotel represents outstanding value for money (and the ALL chain has a very good rewards scheme for added value). I will be visiting Brighton regularly for the forseeable future and wouldn't hesitate to stay at the Mercure again.

If I could give this hotel less than 1 star, I would. Firstly, the decor in the hotel is tired, at best. We arrived on a Friday evening. We ordered some draft lager for 5 of us. After pouring 3 of those pints, we were told that they were just going to change the barrel. After about 30 minutes, we were told that there was no more draft lager so we would have to order something else. We were staying for 2 nights and the situation remained the same for the rest of our stay. I checked in and was allocated what was labelled (literally on the door) a “privilege” room. It was most certainly not a “privilege”. There was a lift up one floor (my room was on the third) which I decided not to use as it was for the disabled. Not that it made any real difference given that I would have had to walk the final 2 floors anyway. The room was quite small and there was no fridge. For the price I paid, one would expect a fridge in the room. I had paid just under £280 for 2 nights B&B which I thought to be quite expensive anyway but then I had a shower. Never in my life have I had a shower with so little (almost non existent) pressure - just shocking. All in all, a very disappointing experience and I feel utterly ripped off. In short, stay somewhere else.

This hotel was fab overall. They have amazingly friendly staff who made a fuss of my husband when they found out it was his birthday! The only downside is that although they have clearly spent a lot of money on furnishings for the lobby and public bar area (which looks fab) the design quality falls away when you get into the room, which was a bit underwhelming. We had a Superior room with a sea view balcony, and whilst the bathroom was great the bedroom itself had very utilitarian furniture which had seen better days - not much of a Wow factor. A special mention goes to the bedroom curtains which were excellent black-out thickness and kept out the noise of the wind on a very blustery night. We would come back again, the staff made it fantastic.

The Hotel is good, it will be perfect if it was a minibar in all rooms and the room door didn’t let in the light from outside. But the best of all has been the workers, they are very kind and help us in everything, 10/10. Special thanks to Amir, Marta and the rest of the hotel receptionists.

Barry was amazing and made our stay more welcoming ☺️ Also it was a special family birthday. Brighton is very special to us and felt very special. The hotel it self was spectacular. The deco was superb