Mercure Leicester The Grand Hotel, Leicester

My mother and I visited Leicester and stayed at the Mercure, because it was close to the King Richard III exhibit. Hotel staff were friendly and the restaurant Marco's had excellent food and service (including gluten free pasta). Though not in a splashy neighbourhood, the lobby was stylish, clean and really cool. Our room was clean and fine, except there was a very stuffy old-cigarette-smoke odour. We had to keep the window open at all times and since it opened onto a small, enclosed area, there wasn't much fresh air movement. I know the building is old, but other old buildings seem to handle this situation, leftover from smoking-permitted days. There was some confusion about putting our friend's phone call through to the room, not much explanation though a malfunctioning phone was suspected, but we received a note under the door that she'd phoned. Room service mistakenly knocked on our door after we'd gone to bed. The direct line to a local taxi resulted in them going to another hotel two blocks away and taking 30 minutes. That was weird, so ask reception to call one instead. All that said, the building has fabulous architecture, is near the train/bus stations, visitor info, the lively farmers market, and lots of fun shops and food stops within a block.

We stayed for 2 nights and booked 2 rooms, 1 of the rooms was ok on both nights , but the 2nd room had an issue with the shower not turning off on the first morning, the room was changed but then the room that was switched too had an issue with water presure, and was told to use a 3rd room to have a shower, did not expect this from a 4 star hotel.

i booked this as a last minute business trip and was very pleased with the room size and comfort and the hotel location for local Amenities which was lucky as when I checked in I tried to book a table for dinner at the hotel reception but was informed it was fully booked. As a solo diner I was surprised I wasn’t offered any time slot until After 9.30 And wasn’t even advised to check for cancellations meaning A trip outside for my evening meal. Breakfast was delicious with porridge and poached eggs cooked to order.

Very nice hotel and room for a great price!!

The room seemed very basic. The actual hotel itself was lovely but the room let it down. Not a lot of light, and no plug next to the kettle. Also the bathroom could do with a bit of rework too.