Mercure Newbury West Grange Hotel

Stayed 2 nights over the weekend 25-27 July with friends whilst visiting family in the area. In addition to being double charged (which is being taken up separately) the most notable features of our stay were 1. The non-existent customer service with reception often vacant without a call bell or way of contacting staff, (and I do not mean out of hours) . Also best of luck in getting served at the bar after 10pm and 2. The lack of basic maintenance apparent in room fixtures and fittings - see 4 attached photos. More attention is required in fixing these room items. I subsequently read that the Mercure hotel chain were ranked 25th out of 27 in the country and I can now see why they scored so poorly on a national survey.

Our room was excellent, overlooking fields, with everything you would expect - decent shower, comfortable bed, plenty of space in the room etc. (We were on a short break package involving Highclere Castle, so maybe we were upgraded because of this). On the first night, the food in the restaurant was cold - to be fair the waitress did offer to replace the dishes in question, and we were given free drinks on our next visit. Breakfast is fine, given that this is a medium prices "chain" hotel at a corresponding price - so don't expect a vast breakfast menu, or very high quality local ingredients. Staff were friendly/helpful.

I purchased a Groupon voucher for afternoon tea to celebrate my friends birthday. From walking into reception until we finished our tea the staff were very attentive and couldn't do enough to make sure we had a lovely time . The tea it's self consisted of finger sandwiches , little cakes and warm scones all very tasty and well presented with plenty of tea and topped up when asked . All in all it was a lovely experience and one I will gladly book again .... Thank you to all the staff ...

We held our wedding renewal here for 75 guests, & can't thank Shivangi & her team enough! Shivangi was professional, polite, helpful & friendly, ( as was her team) nothing was too much trouble & her & Zoltan accommodated our requests, even some last minute changes. The fantastic team made sure our special day went smoothly. Thanks to Nicola & Laura who were good at organising our guest's rooms, & with last minute early check ins! Food was very good quality, plenty of it, & very well presented. We were able to take beautiful photos in the lovely garden area, beside the pond & stream. Hotel is easy to find with plenty of free parking. Rooms were clean, with a very good shower, & the beds were comfortable.

On arrival only half a toilet roll in the room & 1 bath towel. Stayed as a couple so needed another bath towel. Requested a toilet roll & bath towel from reception before we went out for the evening. Both never arrived! Lukewarm cooked breakfast, so we left it . The kitchen extractor fan woke us up at 7am. Would not return. Stay elsewhere.

We had afternoon tea at the hotel as a family group of 5. The staff were exceptionally considerate to my elderly fathers needs. Shivagni was very attentive and kind,with quick service. The staff deserve 5 stars. The afternoon tea had plenty of sandwiches, and the scones were nice, however, there were no cakes or pastries. It was all savoury bar a scone , and we all know afternoon tea is sandwiches, sweet treats / cakes, and scones . Sadly this makes it 4 stars as I really missed these sweet treats. I love cake, so was somewhat disappointed by the lack of it.