“Nice hotel but needs some attention here and there”

We booked two rooms. Both were clean and well equipped, but the air conditioning failed in one of the rooms and the window would not open so our other guests consequently suffered a sleepless night. Otherwise the hotel is well kept and has some beautiful aspects. The leisure center is adequate but the pool area could be improved.

“I'd stay again but . . .”

There were several faults with the room - the air conditioning unit could not be controlled from the controller, the light over the dressing table did not work nor did the light in the en-suite bathroom mirror. The hem of the shower curtain was absolutely filthy - it was changed for us when we complained, and because of the other issues, we were offered a change of room, which we declined.

“pleasant”

lovely hotel sadly we booked up so we could use the swimming pool but it was being refurbished . This was very disappointing but the staff were sympathetic

“Great service, delicious breakfast”

Problem with the room on the first night (dirty sheets) but it was fixed straight away and we were given complimentary breakfast.

“check the pool is open!!”

We were disappointed on arrival to find that the swimming pool, steam room and sauna were being refurbished and would not be open during the length of our stay. No compensation was offered apart from a complimentary breakfast that we had already paid for.

“Letchworth mercure”

Stayed here to watch the chillis at knebworth with my wife 23rd June. Really nice hotel with pleasant and very helpful staff. The only issue I had was the double bed was tiny and extremely uncomfortable. It's probably the most uncomfortable bed I have ever slept on! We had to leave early the next day and we didn't leave there feeling very refreshed. We may have just been unlucky and apart from that everything else was ok.

“Rubbish service- would not recommend”

The hotel itself was perfectly pleasant and clean, however, the customer service was awful. We arrived at the hotel just after 12.30 and told that our room was not ready for check in but if we left our bags behind the desk they would be taken to our room ready for us to check in later. When we returned to the hotel after 6pm, the bags were still sat in reception. When we returned later to the hotel (after 10pm) our room key did not work. We were offered no apology for the fact that we had to trek back to reception in order to get into our room. The fire alarm went off at 6am. We got dressed and again trekked to reception. A number of people were stood waiting in reception to be told by the girl behind the desk that she had only just come on and did not know what was happening but she thought that the fire brigade would probably already be here if it was a real fire. Again, there was no apology. My husband and I decided that we might as well go back to bed. We bumped into the night porter en route, who was shutting down the alarm. He told us that the alarm is sometimes set off by the steam from the showers. Again, no apology was offered for our disturbed night's sleep. At 8am the maid burst into the room and put all the lights on. All of the above would have been forgiveable had forgiveness just been sought but the staff never once apologised for any inconvenience caused. Tellingly, they also did not ask if we had had a pleasant stay when we checked out!

“A disappointing two night stay.”

This was a poor experience. The room was a good size but the desk-top veneer (some kind of wood effect man-made material) had lifted and bubbled. One of the bedside light bulbs was broken. I unscrewed it and put it next to the light so the staff would see it next morning and replace it, but it was ignored. Why would staff think it was normal for a bulb to by lying on a bedside cabinet in their hotel? I tried to tell the maid next morning but she spoke virtually no English. 'Light' was not in her vocabulary. The wardrobe door was broken and disturbingly noisy as a result. Breakfast on Friday morning, 25 May, was appalling and very poor value for money at 16.95 GBPs. Bacon had run out and staff maintained there was none left in the kitchen - they were 'waiting for a delivery'! What hotel of this size only has bacon delivered when it runs out? Frankly I didn't believe the explanation. The rest of the hot buffet food (the only choice for breakfast) was overcooked, tired and dry. Coffee was like British coffee decades ago, clearly the Mercure hasn't moved on, and the tea was stewed. Getting the bill was a performance. Saturday morning's breakfast was a better experience. There was bacon and plenty of the small choice provided. I didn't risk the coffee. Tea was still stewed. The complimentary Telegraph, made much of on check-in, was ordered but not delivered on the first day. Check-out was so slow I only just caught my train.

“Overpriced, scruffy and disappointing”

Despite asking both in person and on the booking web page for a room as far as possible from the wedding which we knew was going on , our room turned out to be directly above the disco and was very noisy. The wood veneer on all the room furnishings was peeling off.

“Awful experience”

Check in was poor, not friendly or helpful. Asked for the phone number of local pub and was told by the receptionist that she did not have it & that she was too busy to find it "better to use your mobile to get it yourself". Had to change rooms at midnight as radiator (even when turned off) was making too much noise. Moved to a room for disabled, no heating just A/C, room was freezing cold. Woken up at 6 am by delivery lorry reversing outside room. Not a good stay, and will not use this hotel again.