As part of a trip to South Africa and while waiting to reach Swaziland, I stayed at theMercure Hotel in Nelspruit. The property, located on the outskirts of the city,was convenient enough for us to leave in the morning for Swaziland.

Booking

I made my reservation on the Accorhotels website a few months ago. No particular problem, except for the impossibility of choosing a room with a double bed. I had to go through my Wiidii concierge to secure a double bed.

Also, at the time of booking, all rooms appeared to be considered suites. To be confirmed on site, of course.

Arrival

We arrived at the hotel by carfrom the north of Krüger Park, in the middle of the afternoon. It was not easy to find the hotel without GPS: there were no signin the city, even on the outskirts. Fortunately, I had pre-loaded the map on my iPhone to follow a route.

Heavy security is present around the hotel, as it is around all buildings in urban areas in South Africa.

The hotel has what I would call an “American-style” layout, meaning it looks more like a motel, with various buildings.

So, we park in front of the main building to do theregistration formalities.

There isno priority counterfor Accorhotels LeClub members, regardless of their status (understandable given the size of the hotel).

I am checked in quickly, and the payment of the roomis done at that moment.

As a Gold member, I am given a voucher for a free drink at the bar. However, no information about a possible upgrade nor about the Wifi.

Room

The room is located in another building than the one where the reception is located. My room is located on the first floor of this building which has only two floors.

Despite its qualification as a suite, it looks quite standard to me.

In the entrance, a kitchenette is present, with a kettle and a fairly complete courtesy tray.

On the right, the access to the bathroom, which offers both a shower and a bath. Note that the state of cleanliness of the room clearly left something to be desired, many hairs of the previous occupant were still present: really disgusting.

The rest of the room was rather well equipped: two desks (for what purpose?), a sofa and a coffee table, a large television (with too few channels and no French channels, not even France 24 or TV5 Monde), and a Queen Size bed.

On the other hand,the trunk was stuck open. On purpose? It was the same in the room of the friend who was with me…

The whole thing really exuded dirt and dust.

La chambre en elle même étaitpeu lumineuse.

Hotel facilities

The hotel is equipped with apleasant swimming pool. Unfortunately, the peaceful atmosphere of this pool was ruined by a party organized by some guests to the detriment of others, and a priori consuming rather little of the hotel’s services. Beyond the obvious lack of education, the hotel should, at the very least, point out that this party should take place elsewhere than at the pool, in one of the lounges for example.

But the most troublesome part is without a doubt the Wifi connection. In addition to the fact that the signal is quite weak in the common areas of the hotel,its limitation to 250 MB is clearly outdated, and especially not in line with the promises of the Accorhotels loyalty program, which provides for free access for all members, regardless of their status. So, I had to buy two one-hour coupons to be able to surf for part of the evening. This pointis still being complained aboutto Accorhotels central services to this day, as I intend to get my money back for these two coupons!

Restaurants

The bar is quite small, and is located between the reception and the pool. Despite the absence of customers,the service is slow:more than 20 minutes to be served 2 glasses of red wine, and a requirement to sign notes (probably to give a tip) while we had coupons to use…

Note also thatmy account had not been opened at the time of check-in:strange practice that I had not seen until then. I had to go back to the reception and hand over my credit card.

The restaurant, also deserted at our arrival, is rather good quality. The prices are affordable, as everywhere in South Africa, and the quality is good. The service is also very good. On the other hand, the layout and decoration of the room are very dated, as if stuck in the 80s.

Departure

The departure formalities were simple, but the wait to access the reception was important. The bill was accurate.

Conclusion

A hotel really not worthy of being part of the Mercure chain, which is currently the subject of a major marketing and experience effort.