Mercure Livingston Hotel 3 stars

Excellent, happy and genuine very welcoming staff , comfortable beds , good food , and real orange juice at breakfast. Big car park suitable for all vehicles. First choice whenever I stay in Edinburgh. Well done !! James K

Well, I am not sure where to start to be honest! Stayed here before pre covid to shop at outlets, it has always been relatively basic but clean and tidy - not any more! On checking in a little early, the Receptionist was rude and very unwelcoming and having spotted the line up of 15 bicycles outside and the rather unkempt fella sprawled over the coach in the foyer I was beginning to get a sense of what had become of this hotel - it was now a hostel! It is being used to house the homeless, quite an alarming 2 night stay and I will never ever stay at this hotel or indeed a Mercure again. Got our room, ground floor sandwiched between 'long term noisy guests' corridor stank of stale food, weed and BO, left to go to outlets and on return, gangs of men smoking and spitting at the front door not happy about having to move to let you pass with a child, men with bags of nuts and bolts and screwdrivers laid out - not sure what their plan was for their use! Foyer couches full of people including kids running about barefoot on the filthy carpet eating out of take away boxes, went to bar two bottle beers £12 and no diet coke or pepsi in stock, back to room which now stank of weed being smoked by the guys at the front door. Next day, out of the place as quickly as possible, back from shopping harassed at door for cigarettes, again loud and lairy men in reception foyer. Room not cleaned and bin not emptied, fella on reception really not interested, but came to empty our bin which appeared to inconvenience him, I asked about the homeless living there which he completely denied was the case! Noise and shouting up and down the corridor until late at night then banging and trying of our door on a few occasions, to say we had a pretty sleepless night is an understatement. Couldn't wait to check out of this cesspit. Greeted by Rebecca on Reception who's smile disappeared when I asked for a manager. She was 'manager' that day and clearly not equipped to accommodate a guests complaints and also informed me there was homeless people living at the hotel but paying guests don't need to be told this - excuse me, yes i do! Eventually I managed to get her to scribble down an email address of a 'manager' who would deal with my concerns and complaints. You would be better in a YMCA hostel than this place at least there are 24 hour security present in these places, do not waste your hard earned cash paying to live in this unsafe hovel of a place. Checking out met a lovely man walking his dog, who told us the Police are frequent visitors to the place, so don't waste your money and go somewhere you are at least SAFE the place quite frankly needs bulldozed. I will update once I receive a reply to my email to management, lets not hold our breath!

Having stayed at Mercure Livingston on several occasions (pre-covid) we did not feel it necessary to do any review searching prior to our trip however that was a big mistake!! Had I known we had paid to stay in a dirty, unsafe doss-house for homeless & refugee communities I would have cancelled and gone elsewhere. I was staying with my Mother and young daughter and felt extremely scared & intimidated during our entire stay. Gangs of men, smoking and shouting obstructing the main entrance door on our arrival with holdalls full of nuts/bolts/screwdrivers/hammers whilst carrying out mechanical work in the carpark on scrap vehicles and countless bikes which were stacked up at the entrance. Not very welcoming!! Then the receptionist was extremely rude when we tried to check in. No Xmas decorations as we had seen previously on our stays here. Swimming pool closed permanently. Could not get a seat in the restaurant to wait for our room as all tables & chairs were occupied with people who were eating from plastic take-away boxes. Bar not well stocked, even soft drinks sold out but charged us a fortune for what they could sell us. All foyer furniture absolutely filthy and an overwhelming disgusting odour throughout the whole building. Our room was situated on the ground floor and sandwiched between 2 "permanent residents" rooms of which they banged and thumped doors, shouting and congregating in corridors and allowing feral children to run & scream about at all hours of the day and night. Our door handle was tried and thumped on more than one occasion and even during the night. The room was extremely outdated and tired with curtains hanging off rail, holes in the carpet, disgusting stench of food bellowing through the extractor fan in our en-suite bathroom continually. No housekeepers serviced or cleaned our room during our stay, no fresh towels given or bins emptied. When we checked out no manager was available onsite to report our concerns and issues to, instead we were given a handwritten name and email address by the receptionist and told to submit complaint if we were not satisfied, which we have and not had any response to. To conclude - ABSOLUTELY AVOID THIS PLACE, we definitely will not be returning and in future will always do review searching prior to visiting anywhere, even if I have visited previously.

We enjoyed our stay. Small glitch on the way out as there had been a charge applied to our room the night before that we hadn't made however this was quickly rectified. Yes rooms are dated but bed was comfy and the room was clean. Staff are really friendly however the music coming from the kitchen when you're trying to enjoy your dinner is not acceptable, I know some people had issues with the refugees at the hotel but we have been coming for years so we knew what to expect. What I do not agree with though is individuals eating take aways in the main reception area. This will not stop us returning but there are issues that need to be addressed.

Fantastic stay with national holidays. Hotel was clean/ friendly / and atmosphere was spot on. We can for my mums 60 th birthday weekend and they have her chocolates / card and bottle in the room on arrival. Food was really nice. Staff always working hard to make your stay enjoyable. Would definitely stay here again Well done Livingston hotel Edinburgh