Mercure York Fairfield Manor Hotel 4 stars

Good barring lack of heating in one room on first night. Room was changed without quibble. Disappointing start none the less.

I booked a room for 2 nights (October 6th & 7th) for my wife and I by phone 28th Sept. I had mentioned I was disabled, didn't need an 'Accessible' room, but after agreeing to upgrade to a 'Superior' room I requested a high floor with lift access. I was told this was available. On arrival there was no Superior with lift access, only ground floor. It required passing through 4 very awkward fire doors to access; not easy with crutches. On entering the room, in an older part of the hotel, it smelled stale and damp. It was cold, the heating was off and was impossible to turn on. The 'hot' water was just above ambient, even after several minutes running. The room was the closest to the very noisy main road. On returning to Reception to complain that the room was completely unacceptable the Manager, Craig, became involved. He came to the room and agreed about the smell and coldness. He tried very hard to find an alternative room that met my requirements but eventually all that was available was a smaller, lower spec. room. As it had lift access I accepted that, with the offer of an appropriate refund. The new room was fine, except that it was very hot and the heating was impossible to turn down or off on the room thermostat! The only way to cool the room was open the window and turn the radiator off manually (no TRV on the rad either). Of course that meant turning it on/off again manually during the evening & night when it became too cold/hot. These were the unacceptable practical issues with rooms. However, Manager Craig and the 2 Receptionists involved in dealing with our issues were extremely appropriate, helpful, professional and friendly. I cannot praise them enough. Thank you for trying! When we originally checked in on Wednesday 6th October we were asked if we wanted the room serviced. We said yes please. On returning to our new room after a day out on Thursday we found it had not been serviced. The Receptionist was apologetic, very helpful and offered to provide the full set of replacement items. However at that stage we only required fresh towels. I assume our original request for room servicing had got lost in the room transfer arrangements. Now to the Restaurant. We had dinner on the first evening. We were advised to eat as late as possible because there was a large party booked into the hotel and it would be quieter if we booked for 8pm. The large party eventually began to leave the Restaurant around 9pm. The first 2 of our 3 courses took a long time to arrive. It was obvious the serving staff were inexperienced. Welcome and service were informal, casual and not what we expected of a hotel of this standard. There were not enough staff that evening, and they obviously struggled with the number of guests. Breakfasts on the other hand were a wonderful experience. The staff were much more appropriate and professional. The range and quality of food available were exemplary for a hotel of this standard. Arrival impressions of Mercure York Fairfield Manor Hotel are very encouraging, but internally it often flatters to deceive. However Welcome and Reception were excellent. Breakfast service and provision were excellent. In summary, both our rooms obviously had housekeeping and maintenance issues. The Restaurant needs more evening service staff with more training. Our visit did not live up to expectations. Not being able to have what we booked, and the stress and delay involved in moving rooms, made a disappointing start to our special birthday treat. But I reiterate, Manager Craig was excellent in his efforts to mitigate the difficulties we experienced. I look forward to your response to the above before posting any online reviews. Kind regards, Peter R.

Lovely staff, friendly and helpful. The room was spotless and well turned out. Bed was really big and comfy.

Everything as was expected friendly staff..

Friendly welcome. Helpful staff. large room but smelt smokey. room tired and needed updating.