Mercure Daventry Court Hotel 4 stars

Because our visit to Daventry was to spend two days at a family event nearby we did not use any of the Hotels facilities and services other than to room. Consequently this review is only in respect of the warm and efficient welcome we received at Reception and the bedroom/ensuite.

Attending a nearby wedding, my overnight stay at the Mercure Daventry was very pleasant. The room was clean and comfortable with excellent facilities. Breakfast buffet had plenty selection and food was good and well cooked.

Positives: Spacious, well decorated common areas and bedrooms. Good location and plenty of parking. Negatives: Very poor welcome by a totally uninterested member of staff; no smile and no greeting. On other occasions, the same male receptionist was more interested in the telephone than residents at the desk. For an unknown reason, the restaurant was closed for dinner, but open for breakfast. Dinner was, therefore, served in the small and dark bar area with a large television constantly on. Why was this I asked the receptionist; he was not sure but thought that it was because of ventilation problems in the restaurant. It was evident at breakfast that this was not the case. It was a very spacious area; much more so than the bar. Dinner was unfortunately marred by my first two orders for mains having to be sent back to the kitchen. The requested Ribeye steak was not cooked medium/rare and was well done. It was replaced by a Rump as there were no other Ribeyes (there were few diners!) which was undercooked and gristly. The Fish and Chips that followed was fine. Breakfast was okay, but service and choice had not yet caught up with ‘de -lockdown’. For example, there is no excuse for paper cups or cling film wrapped sliced bread, of poor quality. Most oddly, fried eggs were not available as they were ‘not yet allowed’. I had previously stayed in three other hotels where they were! The very helpful breakfast chef, who was the most customer oriented member of staff I met, cooked me a poached egg. Departure was well handled by a female receptionist, who did smile and corrected my bill where I had been charged for a steak and not fish. I have been staying at Accor hotels for over 30 years and this was one of the most disappointing stays ever.

Lovely hotel. Staff are great. Would of got a 5/5 if the actual restaurant was open for evening meals. Had some trouble with my room key on the last day but that was resolved quickly. Room was quite far away from reception/ restaurants so a bit of a trek with luggage.

We were a little disappointed with this hotel. Given its 4 star rating we expected a bit more. The rooms themselves were nice although our bathroom did have a really unpleasant smell coming from the sink trap. The rooms seem to have been refurbished but they have forgotten about the old skirting boards etc. On the way to our room there was a door with broken glass and it looked like it had been that way for a while, needs some maintenance. When we arrived it was dark and there were no lights when we turned into the hotel or in the carpark, it wasn't very welcoming.