Mercure Hotel Stuttgart Sindelfingen an der Messe — Hotel in Sindelfingen

I'm a member of the Accor/All rewards scheme, so when I was looking for a room and the Accor website gave me a choice of a "Long stay" or "Long stay - bed & breakfast", obviously, I went for the latter. I drove 200km to the hotel, was met with a 10-minute queue at reception (Friday evening check-ins), and was then happily told that my "Bed & breakfast" rate, errr, doesn't include breakfast. And she wanted to know which website I'd booked the hotel with ? Errr, your own website.... And I showed her the confirmation email from "ALL - Accor Live Limitless" which says I have a Bed & Breakfast rate.

I went back later, when reception was quieter, he asked for my booking code, and sure enough, it says my "Bed & Breakfast" rate doesn't include breakfast. And he asked me to email the hotel with my confirmation number (which he'd just looked up on his computer) and send him a copy of the Accor confirmation email... which I did. This is never a good sign of a professional hotel company....

Basically, the Accor website itself is misleading. In the T&Cs popup for the "Stay longer and save - Bed & breakfast" rate, it says "The longer you stay, the more you save, daily breakfast included"... but further down on the same webpage, "** Breakfast not included", and says it would cost 25 Euros per night.

I went for dinner in the bar/restaurant, but it seemed to have a very limited selection. A few flamkuchens, pasta, a speghetti carbonara, or Zürcher Geschnetzeltes (which actually wasn't bad) and that was it. There's a fridge opposite reception with some soft drinks, beers, etc, so you can buy a few bits there. There's a shopping centre 6-7 minutes walk away.

My hotel room itself was soul-less. Immaculately clean, fairly good size, but it was a depressing place to be. It looked like my room used to have a fridge in it, but it was removed, and now just the ventilation holes remain. I did get a bottle of water, a Nespresso coffee machine (and capsules) & a kettle. It's hard to describe, but it's like staying in an office block, rather than spoiling yourself with a hotel stay (does that make sense?) However, it does have air conditioning which seems to work okay, but it's loud. The sound proofing was excellent, I was next to the road, but I heard almost nothing. Just, don't ever bring a date here. You might not get a second date, if you do...

I can't comment on the Pool or Spa area as the place was always full of kids. And, 8.50pm on a Friday evening, reception was packed again, with lots of families waiting to check in. For English readers, this place is more like a Travelodge than a Premier Inn.

Oh, and whilst writing this review, at 10.10pm, all the electricity in my room went off for about 10 minutes. And then it was fine again. Apparently, one of the other rooms on my floor blew their fuse, so all the rooms lost power for a while. Good luck, if you're coming here with children.

Would I recommend this place ?

Short answer: No, never. I actually paid for 2 nights, and checked out after the 1st day. The receptionist didn't even notice, nor tell me that I had 30-Euros of food/drinks on my bill to pay, I had to come back into the hotel, and tell her that.

Oh, and after sending two emails to reception, they did allow me to have breakfast for free. I was there at 6.40am, and even by then, the warm food was miserable and lukewarm. Definitely not worth 25 Euros per day.

I drove home trying to think of anything positive to say about this hotel, but I drew a...

Wasn't sure how to proceed with this review, i wanted to say everything positive because we have fond memories of this place, staying here every year for the past 12 years on our road trip through Germany. Last year (July 2024) was a disappointment, mostly attributed to the restaurant. We had dinner, ordering the spaetzle with steak, medium done. The steaks arrived and when we cut into them we noticed the were actually fully rare, so called the staff to rectify if possible. They took the dishes back, and returned some time later with the same plates containing now cold same spaetzle and now over cooked original steaks cut as we left them. We were shocked by several points, mainly we couldn't believe a restaurant in a hotel of this calibre would cook a steak twice (?! it was destroyed) and be ok to serve it back to you? it was very chewy and unpleasant but we were hungry and exhausted from our trip and couldn't by bothered to trouble them any further. Why did they not prepare a fresh steak after the first failed? not only was this unappetising, it felt like a cheap unprofessional and inexperienced move we felt sorry for them that they had to do this and couldn't do it right, especially for the cost involved which was not cheap. We were also accidentally charged 25Eur for someone else's drinks, which agreed was an honest mistake from them but it did add insult to injury. We told them about our experience but they seemed indifferent, took payment and said good night.

We are genuine, loyal returning guests. We have given positive recommendations about this place in recent years to our friends but this experience truly disappointed and left us in sour pity. Next morning during checkout, the friendly manager (Mustafa?) asked us about our stay, we gave him the above feedback which he was probably not expecting and assured us it was a one-off occurrence probably due to new chefs/staff etc. and apologetically promised to make it up to us on our return trip which was planned weeks later. This was a kind redeeming gesture which felt like the right thing to do, and truly what we would have expected from Mercure, but sadly there was no acknowledgement or any such gesture when we visited weeks later as previously discussed.

Today we thought to give them another chance. during check in they told us we could eat at the restaurant, and when we declined saying we had a bad experience last year, they asked why and we explained as above, they just shrugged their shoulders apologetically with the same indifference we experienced from the restaurant staff last year, which makes me wonder why they asked me about it in the first place?

Arriving in the room noticed the fridge was missing, so went back to reception to see if anything could be done, sadly there was no solution (apparently our room type does not come with mini fridge) apart from them offering to store our food in their refrigerator behind reception, which we gladly accepted. This was our mistake but given the circumstances i wondered if there was anything else that could have been done?

Not pleased, and don't think we'll be returning. Judging by our chat with reception, they are fully booked, so losing us as guests won't make any difference at all to business.

note that we do have fond memories of this place previously, however recent experiences have outweighed this...

Stayed here on business years ago & again last year. Large indoor pool & sauna, comfortable, intimate bar/restaurant with delicious Swaibian favorites, staff that knows your preferences - most of whom are English fluent. Also, small outside seating area.

Rooms have individual thermostats, fridge & stocked coffee makers (or hot pots) and floor to ceiling doors that open to a balcony (tiny-maybe 3'x1'), but open windows are a great feature I wish we had in the US. Elevators are slow for the 7 floors, but there are 2.

Fantastic breakfast buffet every morning with eggs, meats (bacon &/or sausages & usually salmon, too), varieties of cheese & a pancake maker with honey, syrup and fruit jam. Select multiple breads, pastries, yogurts, cut fruits, grains, cereals, whole fresh fruit & sheets with the overnight world headlines printed in multiple languages. 2 relatively simple machines that spit out your espresso, latte, cappuccino, (& more) right on the spot with a well appointed coffee/tea station, stocked with different cups & mugs - feel like a real barista! Not really; machines are simple, position your cup & make your selection. Also, self serve apple, grapefruit & tomato juices, hot teas.

Load up, sit down and you'll quickly be checked on in car you desire an omelette or other "custom" dish. Generous dining area where long-term residents feel comfortable & taken care of. Heavy shining utensils, cloth napkins, so clean & always friendly. The staff here shines at keeping tables cleared & replenished. Tables kept set with napkins, silverware, etc. so you don't have to find those essentials & tote them while you're deciding what to pile on your plate. One caveat: if you're eating alone, don't leave an almost clean plate to fetch a fresh Frappuccino or the table will get bussed before you return.

TV IS in German (go figure) but has a couple news stations in English. Bathrooms are same layout as before but are getting updated flooring & now they usually leave washcloths for Americans. Good water pressure but those darned half-a-glass European shower doors. Rooms that face the parking lot get the sunrise AND sunset with the Sindelfingen Breuningerland over the tree tops which is a short, flat, easy sidewalked-stroll away. This mall has a grocery store, bank, several great restaurants, chocolatiers, electronics superstore, clothes, jewellers, etc. The other rooms overlook the main drag, right off the Autobahn. Parking lot rooms get full sun, road side rooms have traffic sound when the windows open - like the white noise of a fan. Room decor seems a little dated (to Americans), you'll have a desk & chair with table lamp, a floor lamp & attached beside lighting and either a couch-thing or chair with ottoman. Storage is an upper shelf, bench and long rod for hanging clothes, plus a 'dresser' with 3 doors: one has the safe & a cabinet, large door has a shelf, other door hides the fridge. Top of dresser has your coffee-station & TV with USB port. Bedding is European (minimal pillow action & comforter does not cover edge of the mattress). Firm bed but fine for me - not everyone's cup of tea. Clean, older hotel. Internet is not great but OK to check mail. Adequate, incovered parking on-site for a fee. But you're in Germany, why are you hanging out...