Hôtel Mercure Paris La Defense — Hotel in Arrondissement of Nanterre

We arrived at the hotel only to be greeted by an unpleasant and unwelcoming reception experience. The staff member at the front desk, Jacque, seemed disgruntled and was dismissive when I inquired about our booking. We had reserved two rooms under a family rate, but were told that one of the rooms was not yet ready — despite it being past the 2:00pm check-in time.

When I politely asked how long the wait might be, I was met with an indifferent and unhelpful response: “Who knows? It could be 10 minutes, it could be an hour.” This lack of professionalism and customer care was not only disappointing but unacceptable. When I further questioned why the rooms were on different floors — given that we booked them under a family rate — I was told they had been moved “to the same floor but on opposite sides.” This arrangement was completely unsuitable, especially as we were travelling with children.

Upon finally receiving access to our rooms on the 7th floor, we were greeted by a strong odour of fried food in the corridor and found a housekeeping staff member sitting on the floor eating, looking as though they had passed out. This was extremely unprofessional and frankly shocking to witness.

The rooms themselves were in poor condition. Although the walls may have been repainted and beds replaced, the rest of the furnishings were clearly outdated, worn, and dirty. There was visible mould beneath the bathroom sinks and an unpleasant odour throughout the room. The overall cleanliness and upkeep of the facilities were entirely unacceptable for a hotel of this supposed standard.

Additionally, the car park experience was deeply concerning. It felt unsafe and disconnected from the hotel. Accessing the hotel via a cramped, outdated two-person lift through a gated and cage-like structure was both unsettling and confusing.

Although your staff, Azzedine (and please reward him) did his best and moved our rooms to the 9th floor, the rooms however were not in good standards. Room 965 had one of the skirting boards coming off the wall - the carpets im both rooms were stained and also the wall in 967 (next to the bathroom) seemed to have a damp problem and that it was only covered up with a lock of paint. There is also an unfinished patch of paint on the wall by toilet and room door.

Every room we were in fell short of a good Mercure hotel standards. The shuttle was also out of service so took us almost 20mins walk to the metro station which was inconvenient!

The shuttle was out of service so we had to walk for almost 20 mins to the nearest metro station! When checking out, the reception staff told us that our bill was over €100 more than the confirmed booked rate as apparently we had breakfast at the restaurant ok the day we arrived - we arrived after 2pm!! Then he took my phone to show the confirmed booked rate to his manager who is in the back office which I thought was out of order. That’s intrusive and violation of privacy.

This whole experience seriously been detrimental to our trip....

I rarely write reviews, but this experience left me so shaken and disappointed that I felt compelled to share it.

After a long international flight, completely jet-lagged, exhausted, and dehydrated, I arrived at this hotel hoping for some rest and basic care. Instead, I was met with what can only be described as a total absence of hospitality, warmth, or even basic human decency.

There was no water in the room. I was lightheaded, dry-mouthed, and barely able to stay upright. I tried calling reception multiple times, hoping someone could help—but no one ever answered. Feeling physically weak and mentally drained, I finally forced myself downstairs in search of water.

At the front desk was a single staff member, casually chatting with two other guests. I waited patiently, then quietly asked if I could please have a bottle of water. He ignored me completely, as if I didn’t exist. I had to ask again, this time more firmly. That’s when he turned to me sharply and snapped: “Can’t you see I’m busy with two gentlemen here?” His tone was loud, aggressive, and completely humiliating. I felt small, embarrassed, and completely dismissed—as if my need for water, my pain, my presence didn’t matter.

Trying to hold back tears, I went back to my room—only to find that my keycard no longer worked. I had to return to the front desk once again, even though I could barely stand on my feet. When I quietly said, “Excuse me,” hoping for just a shred of empathy, he turned to me and said with clear irritation, “You want me to stop the other work and take care of you??” It was degrading. I don’t know what was worse: the way he said it, or the fact that I was so weak I had no energy left to defend myself.

This wasn’t just poor service—it was dehumanizing. I have stayed at many Mercure hotels and have come to trust the brand for its quality and service. But this particular hotel was a cruel exception. It’s heartbreaking when you arrive somewhere vulnerable and exhausted, and are treated not just with indifference, but outright hostility.

If you are considering booking this hotel, I urge you to think twice. A hotel should be a place of comfort, safety, and care—not a place where you are made to feel invisible, inconvenient, or unwelcome.

I sincerely hope no one else has to go through what I did. There are far better places out there—places where humanity and kindness still...

Beware of this Hotel. I booked this hotel last spring for my husbands birthday, We arrived on the day for check in with excitement. Only to be completely in awe of the unprofessionalism that the front desk and its hotel manager had presented. As we write travel blogs, we are quite keen to read the google reviews prior to booking accommodations. We researched both this Mecure La Dèfense property as well as the "Residence" - (which had very bad reviews). So we decided to spend the extra amount to book the Mecure Paris La Dèfense Specifically. We booked this through an online travel platform - as we usually do as we accumulate points or what have you depending on the platform. Upon checking in, the representative (Who was the hotel manager on site) took our documents and then was beginning to explain the walking directions on how to get to the "Residence" side. We explained how we specifically booked the hotel side, and even provided screen shots of the 2- separate listings and our reservation matching the hotel accommodation with the address to the T. The manager became very angry, frustrated and his professionalism had escaped him. All we had wanted was to check in to the hotel in which we had booked? Rather than being forced into the residence side. Again we paid the extra amount to avoid a bad experience. After going back and forth for awhile, the manager then advised if we had liked to pay an additional $100 we could be accommodated into the hotel. Our reservation on the travel platform invoice clearly explained we would not have to pay anything additional to the hotel. It read clearly stated "There will be No additional charges or fees for the room"..Yet here the manager was giving us no option and an ultimatum to either pay up, or settle for the lower end property. The lack of principle and poor commerce that was displayed was shocking. This ruined my husbands 30th birthday. We decided to leave the property and would not settle for being scammed and forced into staying in a lower quality property that we did NOT book. Ended up booking a last minute reservation at a more respectable hotel. Since then I have a very bad impression about Mecure and refuse to stay at any of there properties world wide. I do hope they choose to honour future guests reservations and provide the accommodation that they had...