Mercure Dartford Brands Hatch Hotel & Spa 4 stars

I love this hotel, Reception and restaurant staffs are amazing. It became tradition for us to visit there for short break and never get bored of it.

A good start.... This trip was a gift from my mother in law for my husband and I to have a spa day and afternoon tea. When I booked the spa I decided to book a room for that night so we could enjoy the facilities and dinner in the evening. Booking was done all via email and the staff where extremely helpful. On our way to the hotel I had a missed call from the hotels number, I tried to call it back, but as there was no voicemail left I didnt know which department had called, we were 30mins away - so we would find out upon our arrival who called. When we arrived the reception team where very nice and knowledgeable. We left our things in our room and went to the spa for our 14:00pm appointment. The Spa we couldn't use... We were given our robes and towels and brought to a room to wait for our therapists. About 10 minutes later the manager comes in and tells us that our 14:00pm appointment had actually been changed to 12.30pm due to being a member of staff short. I was told that an email had been sent to me on the 5th of February with my new booking time (12:30pm). I referred to the emailed sent on the 5th of February - the booking STILL said 14:00pm. This was shown to the manager. She is adamant that this was sent by mistake and the revised booking should have said 12.30pm, but nobody thought to call/email me again to check i received the email and the revised time was ok... She said she called me at 12.38pm to see where we were (she was my missed call), however she left no voicemail. She informed us there was nothing she could do as it's Valentines day and they are fully booked. This was very insensitive as we had also booked this for OUR Valentine's celebration. She gave us a voucher to rebook and come back another day as we couldn't commit to a day/time on the spot. I was really quite upset. She escorted us out of the spa area and we went to reception to ask for our afternoon tea earlier than scheduled. She directed us to the bar and the member of staff that would assist us. The worst "afternoon tea"... This member of staff (bar) was not friendly, polite or helpful. She told us where to go and sit - in a corridor with a few tables - and asked for our drink order. I had a pot of tea, my husband ordered a cappuccino - he was only allowed one drink! We sat and waited for 20 minutes with no drink or food before I went back to the bar to see when our "afternoon tea" was coming. She had forgotten - and her explanation? She was on her own and snowed under. Again, we were not IMPORTANT enough for our experience at the hotel to be a good one like everyone else. 10 minutes after I had gone to the bar, she brought our sandwich and cake tower, it looked presentable - but was not an enjoyable experience. The bread on the sandwiches were all hard, they were obviously prepared in the morning and not wrapped in cling film. We had a few fish type sandwiches in the mix and they were not chilled, they were of room temperature - hadn't been kept in the fridge. The cakes were fine. A waiter came and asked if our food was ok, we told him that the sandwiches were stale/not wrapped/refrigerated. He apologised and asked if we wanted to talk to someone about it, at this point I am annoyed with all the mishaps and declined. We left the food - and went to our room. For the rest of the afternoon we enjoyed the pool and steam room, got changed and came down for dinner. The dinner was even worse... We were seated by a lovely host - the manager - and he pointed out the specific items we could have with our booked stay. A 3 course meal. All of the options were Indian cuisine, with the exception of desert. I have a Chronic illness (IBD) called Ulcerative Colitis and I told him that I could not have anything spicey as this would trigger a flare. He recommended the 'Korma' or 'Butter Chicken' which he excitedly said was his favourite. I have had/cooked Korma many times, so I ordered the Korma. My husband asked for the Butter Chicken and requested that more chilli pepper was added to the dish to make it spicy for him. The host said this was no problem and went in his way. Food took a long time and again we were told that it's because the restaurant is busy. Its Valentines day! Its obviously going to be busy - and this should have been prepared for! When our main meal arrived, our meals appearances were very similar. Every restaurant/takeaway I have ever had Korma, it is very light yellow in colour. This was a very dark brown/red in colour. My husband's Butter Chicken was the same but less red. I asked a waiter "do the Kormas always look this way" he said "yes". I tasted it and it was not Korma, there were no coconut flavours, no herbs and mild spices. Frankly it didnt even taste like it was freshly made in house. My husbands Butter chicken was slightly spicier than mine (he tasted my dish) but not at all spicy as he had requested. We asked the manager over and he said the chef must have forgotten to add the extra chilli's, he scurried away and came back with a bowl of dried chilli flakes - a seasoning that you would add whilst cooking, not stir into a dish already served. My husband said to the manager "this is your favourite dish here? It is not nice, the chicken is overcooked and the sauce is clearly from a basic curry jar, not fresh" to which the manager replied. "I wouldn't know, I have NEVER eaten here" He JUST told us it was his favourite dish in this restaurant! As we were talking to him we noticed everyone around us had burgers, fish and chips, steaks. I asked "why didnt we have the menu with those options?" To which he told us that those options were on the bottom of the main menu and we could have had those options if we wanted them. I was really upset. I told him - "you told us we could only choose from specific options!" He retorted that he thought we wanted a 3 course meal so that's what he pointed out. His explanation and logic made no sense at all! We didnt eat our main courses as they were inedible. He offered to bring us desert. We said we do not want anything with fresh or whipped cream.... Another waiter returned with a "Valentines share cake" beautifully adorned with gold and roses..... and layers of cream. The one thing we said we didnt want! We returned the cake, my husband was then given a brownie. There was no option for me - so I was brought a bowl of fruit. When our "deserts" were finished the manager came over and apologised as we were unhappy with our meal. By this time and the failings again and again I am brought to tears. He makes our (2) drinks on the house and we leave. Our night... We went back to our room, and started watching a movie. Within 15 minutes of being back in our room I had painful vomitting and dizziness (partly due to my chronic illness being triggered by the food, I get nausea - but I NEVER vomitting like this) My husband had diarrhoea. We were both ill. My vomitting continued until about 4am when I was finally able to get some sleep. I manage my diet well and I have NEVER had a flare this bad. Sunday morning we went down to breakfast and I couldn't eat, I grabbed some toast and beans - took one mouthful and had to vomit. I went back to bed until checkout. I was so nauseous my husband had to help me shower and get dressed. When we checked out we told the ladies at reception of our illnesses and they did request we fill in a report. However I was so sick we had to get out of there so I could rest. Today is Friday - on Monday my GP put me on a saline drip, due to dehydration because of all the vomitting, and on bedrest for a week. Staying at your hotel, afternoon tea, our evening meal was the worst experience we have ever had for a short break. All we wanted was i little time together for Valentines as life gets so busy. Instead we paid £200 (plus the voucher) to be sick. With my condition - these failings could have landed me in hospital much worse than I was. Very upset and disappointed.

Bissnes stay, long time for the check in even I had done it already online. Room comfortable. There was a leak on my room from the ceiling. On the bathroom an din the room. No-one at the reception could help me. The waiter/mahager of restaurant very kindly take care of it. Thanks Y change my room and my new room window could be close properly so the breeze wad horrible all trough the nigh. Nice pool and sauna area.

Great stay, welcoming happy staff,nice comftable rooms

Great experience at this hotel! Exceeded my expectations. Sam decorated our room upon request, and the room was warm during our entire stay. Bed was big and comfortable. The pool space was clean and a great space, i found the 2 times we went during our stay it was not at all crowded. The only negative thing I can mention is their food at the racing bar, it took a while to come - I had ordered a greek salad, which arrived with no olives and contained leaves which was not mentioned in the description, although this was kindly taken back and I was able to order something else as a replacement. Good experience otherwise, especially with the great deal with Groupon