Mercure Hunter Valley Gardens — Hotel in Pokolbin

I’ve averaged 200 nights per year in hotels each year for the last 3 years - and this was by far the worst experience at a hotel ever. Bar none. $400 per night to stay in a connectionless, semi-abusive, rundown wannabe motel.

The hotel wifi went down the first night I was there - potentially just an inconvenience, except that the mobile data towers were also down. My first conversation with a receptionist regarding this was bizarrely aggressive - I genuinely started to wonder if I had accidentally requested some sort of service for masochists who like to be treated badly by customers service teams. Inexplicably the treatment I received wasn’t just rude, it ventured into aggressive territory.

Then the wifi remained down for the next two nights! Apparently the hotel staff couldn’t get IT to respond, so just advised me to drive down the road for 10 minutes if I ever needed reception for work purposes or keeping in touch with family. 4 days and 3 nights of heading off to neighbouring villages to send emails and check for messages.

At first glance the facility was fine. But after the treatment detailed above and the lack of connectivity, it’s hard to overlook the huntsman spider on the wall, the cockroach in the bathroom, the mouldy smell from the weird wire grill functioning as a shower drain or the 10 budget TV channels functioning as the only form of entertainment in lieu of internet or data availability.

I would never have stayed at that hotel if I’d known there would be no connectivity, so I feel ripped off. The closest thing I got to an apology from staff was when I asked for one and was told “I’ve already apologised, and now I’ve apologised twice”. Do they consider “I’ve already apologised” as an apology in Australia? If a customer is sincerely disgruntled, wouldn’t even the worst of customer representatives just offer another apology if they were asked for one? I genuinely thought the unexpected lack of amenities would have warranted an offer of some other free benefit - perhaps a breakfast or even a drink for the inconvenience - turns out the front desk wasn’t even willing to offer an apology. And the IT team weren’t even willing to get out of bed and fix the issue. I presume this was because the issue started on a Friday night after 5pm.

Besides outlets that are located on the hotel’s premises, literally nothing is walking distance from this hotel. And it’s rural, so Ubers are not exactly plentiful. Literally nothing was convenient about this hotel.

I couldn’t feel more cheated at this point. I’ve never left a negative review - I’ve stayed at enough Accor hotels to retain good status for years now - this is the first time I’ve left a bad review. I only hope it can go some small way towards convincing this hotel to improve its customer service and facilities, if not I hope I’ve helped other travellers avoid the same mistake I made in...

My wife had a life threating fall as she was stepping out of the spa due to inadequate/missing nonslip safety strips on the steps. As she put her foot down, she slipped and fell headfirst on the concrete floor. This resulted in my wife slipping and falling head back on the 1st and 2nd step causing her excruciating pain behind the back of the head and a huge bulge on the lower back instantly. I would also like to emphasize here that no trained personnel or pool operator was there around the swimming pool area which is a mandatory requirement as per the NSW Pool Safety Law. I had to resort to asking for immediate medical help from the reception staff – who in turn guided me to the restaurant buffet staff as they were the only people trained in First Aid. My wife and I were in a shock along with our 5-year-old son. My wife could have been paralyzed. This incident happened right in the busy time around 10am with other families also around the swim area. The hotel staff called an ambulance, and my wife was medically attended. This could potentially turn into a permanent life threating incident which has shaken our belief in the safety and management of the Mercure Hotel. My wife is now trying to recover from this horrific fall and we as a family are praying for her early recovery. Our stay was supposed to be a celebration of our recently concluded wedding anniversary along with enjoying the Hunter Valley Christmas Lights Spectacular which in the end turned out to be a bitter experience. I have taken photos of the steps that have the missing nonslip strips & there were loose tiles as well in the spa area. Even the first aid person acknowledges the missing anti slip & no signage display around the spa & swimming pool area. I urge Mercure Hotel to take responsibility for this horrific incident and ensure that pool safety and compliance is always met, which is a negligence in the maintenance ad upkeep of your facilities. We have also received the NSW Ambulance payment – attached for your perusal – which is a total shock to us. At no point we were told or made aware that the ambulance was an additional cost to us. The staff who attended my wife insisted on calling the ambulance even when my wife indicated that she rather visits her family doctor. The First Aid person who attended us called the ambulance on the behalf of the Mercure Hotel. We believe that it was all done in goodwill and under obligation to look after your hotel guests. I urge Mercure management to compensate us not only for the NSW ambulance payment but also for the pain and suffering we are going through. Failure to acknowledge will result in us escalating to relevant...

Booked into the Mercure as wanted a last minute Easter getaway and despite high prices was able to redeem a free Accor night, which brought the cost down. Having stayed in big chain hotels outside the major cities, I wasn't expecting the Earth and other reviews were not exactly glowing. Things didn't get off to a great start when we attempted to check in and despite being an Accor customer and booking via their website, the hotel didn't appear to know anything about me and tried to charge me the full rate for my free night until I questioned it! Also, tried to get an early check-in, which I know is never guaranteed, but ended up going off and coming back after the advertised 2pm but still had to wait around for 10 minutes for reception to confirm our room had been cleaned! Staff were friendly enough but it wasn't a seamless experience. Hotel is obviously quite old and rooms are accessed via the car park (like a motel) but not without country charm. The rooms looked like they had last been decorated in the early 2000s in traditional style, but not too shabby. We had a nice comfortable king bed with a spa bath, which worked fine and a big smart TV with Netflix and all the apps, which was good. The room was clean but we did find several long hairs in the shower. Breakfast was included in our rate and was pretty good, with a full cooked and continental selection. Coffee machine was super slow and kept breaking down causing big queues on the first morning. Also most of the tables appeared to have bits of cutlery missing. Booked into hotel restaurant for the first night, it was convenient and okay but nothing to write home about. The Hunter Valley is full of much better places to eat for not much more money, so give it a miss unless you're really tired! Room was quiet and comfortable but on one day we returned late afternoon to find our room hadn't been cleaned, so called reception and they sent someone over to do a basic changeover and bring some more supplies. I got the impression staff were trying their best but perhaps short-staffed. Location is great for the nearby Brokenwood and Mcguigans wineries, as well as the Hunter Valley Gardens next door and plenty to do in the vicinity. All in all not bad but didn't feel like a 4.5...