Mercure Wessex

I was with a group. The first night the food was poor. Each morning the breakfast food was running out by 8 15 am. One morning no.coffee no cups. Waiters rushed in with cups. Fruit water melon and orange with peel on. Grapes disappeared and even though requested were not available. Croissants etc ran out one day another had to wait for them being defrosted. Sausages were good. Moral have an early breakfast Evening meals best avoided. No choice on 2nd or 3rd night set menu.. The sweet course was on the 2 nights I ate it Cheesecake and lemon something bought from the whilesaler Rooms were clean beds comfortable it took 2 requests to have a working bedside light. The water pressure iny room was poor usually the hot was very hot and the cold intermittent. Eventually this was corrected and I had a good shower Good wine. Good location and car parking pity about the food..

I booked into this hotel from 10th - 13th July 2026. It advertises itself as a four-star hotel. I found it to be anything but a four star hotel. It appears to be run on a shoe-string for both facilities and staff. The hotel is very tired, poorly decorated and staffed. We found the public areas to be dirty and clearly not cleaned on a regular basis. The housekeeping staff were still 'cleaning' rooms well into the evening. Having said that, during the time we were there and despite putting a sign up to 'Reset our Room' not one member of staff came into our room to make beds or clean for the whole time we were there. The outside temperature was in the 30's. Trying to take a cool shower was impossible, the temperature control on the shower would not allow us to lower the temperature at all, it was far too hot. My wife complained to the reception on Saturday morning. She was told by the male receptionist that he would arrange for maintenance to come up and deal with it. The next time we tried to use it, it was very clear nothing had been done. Once again we complained to reception. This time we were told that nothing could be done until Monday because there are no maintenance staff on site until Monday. We pointed out that the hotel advertises itself as four-star and should therefore provide a twenty-four hour service. We were told again nothing could be done until Monday. We explained that it was dangerous, particularly if a child used it. The answer was the same. In fairness the receptionist did offer to change our room. However we were on our way out to dinner and we had a very full day the next day. Cleanliness was something else that seems to have passed this hotel by. The public areas were filthy to the point of smelling dusty. Litter and dirt was left on the floor throughout the time we were there, surfaces were never dusted. We tried using the bar once, we found the bar-man in another room on his phone. The choice of draft beers was down to one beer. The bar had absolutely no atmosphere which is probably why there were only four other people using the bar. For a hotel that charges a lot plus £15 per night parking it needs a great deal of attention. Winchester is a great place to visit and this hotel is ideally situated for tourists. My advice is avoid it and look for another hotel. This hotel in my opinion only warrants two stars at most. Perhaps the new owners should visit a proper four-star hotel and see how they are run. It was so bad we left a day early even though we had already paid. We would never use this hotel again nor could we recommend it to others.

Great location but the Hotel is well past its prime. Very very dirty in the rooms and in the communal areas. We were booked in for 3 x nights, made the reservation last October. The rooms were classed as an upgraded room and we had to pay £10 extra per room per night plus on top of that £15 parking per car per night. We did not eat in the hotel as it was so dirty, For the 2 x nights we stayed, we departed a night early, there was no cleaning done in the hallways, stairs and when we requested the room to be cleaned even on returning at 4pm the room had not been serviced. We complained about the water being far too hot , in fact very dangerous, and was told that it could not be rectified till Monday as there was no one who worked weekends…..sorry this is classed as a 4 star hotel and no maintenance workers on duty, what would they do if there was a major incident? The staff also failed to make a note of the names of the persons in the rooms, they only took the booking names , therefore if there had been a major incident I would have been show to have been in 3 x rooms. The hotel was inadequately staffed and those that were on duty were obviously doing their best. Manangement/owners please take note that your hotel is way way below a 4 star classification, many people there were complaining, you need to look at the reviews. Your prices are way too expensive for what is offered. The hotel need to be refurbished and upgraded, the last time the electrics were checked must have been in the 50”s..3 pin round plugs, no USB sockets, fridges that were nor working…the list goes on. Stay away from this hotel…please read the reviews.