Mercure Birmingham West Hotel — Hotel in Sandwell

On the plus side the staff were very friendly and hard working. However there are significant issues with this hotel. It’s a Park Inn that’s being converted to Mercure. Accor management took one look at the pool and health club and condemned it to immediate closure and refurb, but we were not advised before we arrived. Check in queue was long as the staff only had one laptop and strangely a mobile phone to try and check people in as best as they could given the lack of IT. Reception also said there were booking problems with the transition to Accor system causing them problems. The corridor with my room next to the closed health club were both cold and damp smelling; as was my room. Rooms redecorated and refreshed well but the damp needs dealing with. There was vomit left in the corridor from around 3pm to 7pm which stank. The hot water was not working in my section, so my shower in the evening was cold. The heating in my room was also faulty so the room was freezing. The heater promised within 10 minutes from a very stressed out reception did not appear after an hour so I resorted to a hair dryer to heat the room to warm up from the cold shower. Once chased the heater was provided and the shower in the morning was hot, but the water was then scalding as were the two rooms from the other guests I was there with suggesting that the hotel does not have the required safety thermostats, so potentially unsafe for the elderly and children. It was New Year’s Eve, 9am the following morning the corridors were still full of plates and rubbish from the night which the night porters really should have sorted out. There was anti-social behaviour around 9pm with idiots shouting out of the windows to the car park (fourth floor window side open so safety restriction either failty or broken from said idiot) but the hotel did then arrange security to restore order. In fairness the hotel have given me points to compensate as I am an Accor member and gave us drinks and breakfast, but there are a lot of issues that both local and area management need to address in this hotel with both the facilities, organisation and staffing levels on peak times like the new year. Staff are all fantastic, breakfast good other than stale bread as other reviews have commented, but the hotel is poorly managed and maintained despite the good decoration in reception, bar and rooms - which have not addressed the significant issues around hot water, heating...

Staff very friendly. My room 138 . Air con didn’t work. I had to go back to reception on two occasions. I did get a fan eventually after the receptionists was insisting to come to my room to see if it had cool down because I had turned the radiator off. Then blamed the engineer wasn’t here on a Wednesday evening. and wouldn’t be here till Friday. ( that’s when I leave)Then admitted that she had no fans . Then after I walked away in disgust , she found a fan but she was complaining it was a bit dusty. When I arrived in the room first time .There was a portable oil radiator on. Made the room very stuffy. This is what I turned off. There is a lift to go down to the floor but before you get to this room be warned you have to manage approximately 8 steps and two doors with luggage. The room decor was ok .I couldn’t open my window as I was lower than the car park, even though you could open it but I wouldn’t feel safe to do so. .The bed was comfy .It had all the amenities. I wasn’t happy having one of those dual doors so you could go to the room next door. I tried to block this door off with my heavy suitcase in front of it. I was right near the gym and pool. They supply you with a towel when you sign in at the gym . Pool was small but ok. Due to disability I could only use the jacuzzi. The photo of the pool in the hotel web page is deceiving as the reason I booked this hotel I thought it had gradual stepping into the pool with a metal bar but it’s the shallow pool and not the mail pool you have to go down steep steps which I can’t do . The food in the restaurant was very nice , small menu but enough for a few days . Breakfast was too. Staff warned us there were two coach parties in so advised us to eat early as it became a cattle market. Which it did. Price for food was reasonable £16-£26 per meal . I got charged for something I didn’t have so check your bill. They did sort it out for me and apologised. It has a big car park. You have to sign in your car at reception . Location if you need to be close to the M5 or A41 . Receptionist encourages you to sign in to an app to get a free drink but I struggled to get it to work . This was by the same receptionist I had the issues with the fan . It’s an old hotel and needs some TLC. Would I come here again?. No I wouldn’t for the money I paid including drinks £320 . I have stopped in better hotels . It’s...

The hotel has ample chargeable parking although if you are disabled and have a disabled badge, the dedicated spots closest to the hotel are usually preoccupied by workmen and vehicles doing work on the hotel. Thus you may have to drop off and then park further away if you have disabled badge despite spaces which should be available to you. The reception staff are aware of this but they will not do anything about it other than telling you to park where ever you find a spot.

For member of ALL Accor Members that have a status that affords them benefits, unfortunately this hotel fails to honour these so you are unlikely to get a room upgrade or be informed of the benefits you should get. Other Accor hotels we have stayed at, we have found complimentary things in the room like chocolates, cakes, fruits etc due to our member status but nothing with this hotel.

The check in process was slow as there appeared to be mess up on the booking and the prices, what was booked was completely at odds with what we actually booked and on our confirmation. Had we not informed reception they would have overcharged us considerably.

The rooms although not spacious were comfortable and had nice touches such as multiple usb sockets. That being said the rooms were not cleaned to a good standard with stains, marks which could have been wiped away left present. In one of the rooms, the towels had dead spiders when unfurled and rubbish which had not been cleaned in the room.

The bed was comfortable and afforded a nice nights sleep. The pillows were a little awkward to with one being not enough and two being too much.

The leisure facilities were decent including a small swimming pool, steam, sauna and gym. Unfortunately, the jacuzzi was not working had been out for several days. That being said, it was nice to be able to use these facilities complimentary.

The breakfast was replenished very slowly so many of the items would remain empty both on the cooked breakfast and continental sides. You are better off asking for specific items cooked to order as they came out faster than breakfast buffet items being...