MERCURE BURFORD BRIDGE

We recently stayed at the Burford Bridge Hotel after reading the reviews on TripAdvisor we were extremely apprehensive When we arrived, we were greeted by somebody at reception and shown to our room. The room was clean and the bathroom also the only fact was the air-conditioning wasn’t working. They had placed a fan in the room to compensate but we did also ask for another one which they put in the room within 30 minutes.. The bathroom had shower gel shampoo, and conditioner. The room had a kettle and tea, coffee and a complimentary biscuit a fridge in the cupboard with two complementary bottles of water and an iron, ironing board and a safe. The grounds unfortunately were a little bit dry but this is due to weather and not down to the fact of the hotel there was aLido which you could use, but it was extremely busy as it is open to the public as well. We had an evening meal which was very pleasant, although the service was a little bit slow, but we were in no rush to go anywhere. The morning breakfast was plenty full and very tasty and at a request you could ask for poached eggs or fried eggs. The car park is opposite and you must put your registration into the iPad on arrival charged locally £10. The staff were pleasant, but a little under pressure as they seem to be multitasking. It’s located just at the bottom of the box, Hill National Trust Park extremely good for hikers as this includes the stepping stones walk. Also two minutes walk and you’ll be at the biggest bikers café meeting point. All in all it was a more pleasant stay than we were expecting going on the recent reviews .

We do not normally write reviews this detailed, but our experience was so disappointing that we feel compelled to share it. This hotel is in a wonderful location and could be genuinely fantastic. Instead, it was one of the most unloved and poorly managed hotels we have ever stayed in. The common areas were filthy, carpets were stained in more places than we could count, windows were dirty, curtains were falling down and lamps were damaged. Our room was awful and clearly had not been properly checked before arrival. The fridge still contained someone else’s curdled milk and partly used bottles of water. The pool area was similarly neglected. At the end of each day, tables and chairs were left dishevelled and covered with used glasses and beer bottles. These were often still there the following morning as guests walked past on the way to breakfast. Glasses around the bar also remained uncleared until around midday. One evening, the bar closed early and the staff simply disappeared, quite literally leaving us sitting in the dark without explanation. Staffing was very hit and miss. We met a few genuinely excellent members of staff, but their efforts were completely undermined by the wider lack of management, consistency and basic standards. Even booking the hotel was unnecessarily difficult. We first visited in person to book three nights but were told by a cleaner there was no one on reception and that we should book online. The hotel’s official website showed a price of £234, but the booking portal repeatedly crashed. We therefore called reservations, spent around 45 minutes on the phone and were charged £278. During the call, we were told the stay would normally have cost more than £600 but that we were being offered a “special deal”, despite the hotel’s own website showing a lower price. We were promised that the £44 difference would be refunded once management confirmed the discrepancy. We supplied screenshots and followed up repeatedly, but nobody took ownership and the refund was never processed. We have now had to refer the matter to American Express. The £44 is almost beside the point. The real issue is the complete absence of care, accountability and pride in the guest experience. This could be an exceptional hotel. Instead, it felt tired, dirty, badly run and deeply neglected. A beautiful property sadly squandered through indifference.

AVOID. We’d booked and prepaid (non cancellable) for a stay in July 2026 whilst walking the NDW. They cancelled us (“overbooking”) with 3 hrs notice, left scrabbling for alternatives . Buyer beware with this lot.