Mercure Ballarat - Hotel & Convention Centre 4 estrelas

This is the worst accommodation experience we have had so far in travelling. We booked a lodge room with one king bed for a stopover, and upon check-in, we were given room 78, which turned out to be a small "dungeon" room with tall walls on all sides except for a row of small low windows at the ceiling line along one wall, with absolutely NO view of the outside unless one is over 2m tall, at the end of a damp smelling corridor, and without the chairs and coffee table depicted in the photos of the lodge room. We went back to the reception and demanded for the lodge room with one king bed matching the photos of the lodge room on their website and on our reservation, which we eventually were given room 90, but without any explanations and apology for the earlier "dungeon" room. Nevertheless, room 90 has a large wheelie bin for general waste outside one of its windows beside its door but at least is matching the photos of the lodge room on their website. BUT why would anyone place a large garbage wheelie bin outside a guest room beside the guest room window!!! Upon checkout, I was told the "dungeon" room 78 was meant to be my room upgrade benefit to a Superior Room since I am a gold member of Accor Live Limitless, which is even more shocking. How would anyone classify such a "dungeon" room with less fittings a Superior Room! If such is the standard of a Superior Room at this place, one should really think twice before booking a Superior Room at this place. Absolutely unbelievable treatment for a gold member of Accor Live Limitless, if this is really what they call VIP treatment of Accor Loyalty Member at this motel.

Had a disabled access room. I would advise that it is not truly accessible. Car parking is under cover, however there is not sufficient room for opening car doors and no access for walkers or wheelchairs to get to the room without going over a concrete car stopper. The toilet is not a standard disabled suite and has 2 small grab rails. Shower also has no grable rail, but it has a wall mounted seat, which was sadly mouldy on the wall stoppers. Breakfast was good & ran well most days. Reception staff were at times confused, as I added an additional night to my stay. The room was serviced most days. However there were 3 of us and I had to ask for an additional towel so we could all shower lol . Lovely surroundings and garden paths. Would have been great if they still had there pool for 38 degree days

Unfortunately, the accessible room has inappropriate bathroom modifications. There is no grub rail in the shower, the toilet is low and the grub rail is at shoulder height when sitting. There is no accessible mirror in the unit. The shower taps are not great

See my photos and check other reviews both recent and much older. It indicates that these issues are acknowledged by management with apologies etc but the same issues continue. We did not have any problems with staff. Interesting though, on checkout no feedback was asked for. My wife and I don’t recommend this expensive venue. We stayed n an adjoined apartment with a covered carport. The car space was still minimal and could easily be struck by a car door from the other carport. All outside car parks showed minimal space between cars. Our entrance door mat had tooth floss on it and leaves and dirt imbedded that had not been cleaned in a very long time if ever. The inside entrance was all a hard floor with a small lip to trip over going into the bathroom area immediately to your right. The decor was in need of an upgrade as it looked and felt like it was out of the 70’s. The main room light was the same design as a house I owned in that era. The two hardwood ornate carved chairs would have looked and felt more comfortable if they had been reupholstered. There was very little cushion within the leather covering due to its age. The small stone/marble coffee table had cup stains that obviously had not been wiped clean. The king size bed was very springy with the weight of only 75kg. The small fridge had ice built up in the small freezer area and had one complimentary small uht milk carton. The main area that concerned us both was the bathroom. Fortunately, the toilet itself was clean and dual flush. The outside windows luckily had fly screens which had a great number of spider webs built up. The look was not comfortable. Much of the tile grout (floor,walls, shower recess) needed a very good clean especially in areas that would get more moisture build up. The corroded old metal shower recess plug hole had a broken sharp section. Not good if you dropped your wedding ring or it caught your toe. There were spider webs under the basin area and the door stop which should have been white was filthy. Glad we stayed only the one night for such an exclusive and expensive Mercure. I also had a cursory look at the buffet breakfast on offer at high cost. The range of selection that we’ve experienced at other similar venues are much more generous. Overall not impressed. Obviously, a lot of money needs to be spent on upgrading the venue and apart from what my wife and I experienced there are many reviews that indicate upgrades are not happening. How 4.5 star ratings apply to this venue is very surprising.

Comme français, il est triste de constater que cet hôtel du groupe Accor est le seul a ne pas être au niveau. Il ne faut pas se fier à la classification qui place un MERCURE au-dessus d'un IBIS ce n'est pas vrai. L'IBIS du centre de Melbourne était pour moi bien supérieur au Mercure de Ballarat. Je ne sais pas à quand remonte la dernière rénovation mais ce n'était pas hier... Ce que l'on accepte d'un motel situé dans l'outback n'est pas acceptable ici. J'ai aussi remarqué que les petites structures hôtelières dans le VIC et en NSW sont les plus propres et les plus agréables. Grande déception car il y a un gros potentiel dans cette structure. Je pense que la direction doit se rendre dans les chambres et contrôler. Quels sont les points positifs: > un petit déjeuner parfait certainement le meilleur de notre voyage > un parc très agréable > chambre de grande taille avec douche double et baignoire SPA (mais HS) > draps propres et literie confortable Les points négatifs: la chambre est vétuste et surtout elle est sale! > robinet non fixé correctement > rouille omniprésente > mouches mortes en nombre dans la chambre (aspirateur 1 fois par mois?) > toiles d'araignées sur les vitres > moquette usée et sale (épingle à cheveux et autres vestiges des précédents occupants) > huisseries en fin de vie > mobilier style début 20ème (mais peut être réellement début 20ème) En conclusion: qu'une rénovation ne soit pas possible, je le comprends mais que la moquette ne soit pas aspirée entre 2 clients et que les toiles d'araignées ne soit pas enlevées ce n'est pas digne du groupe Accor. A mon départ, j'ai signalé à la réception que la chambre n'était pas propre mais cela n'a entrainé qu'une simple réaction d'étonnement de la personne présente. Depuis, je n'ai eu aucun retour par mail de la direction. Je pense que l'état des chambres doit être normal pour le directeur (ou la directrice) de cet établissement. La qualité du petit déjeuner évite le 1/5 mais ne permet pas de compenser les manquements.