Mercure Southampton Trip Reports and Reviews:

Mostly pictorial review of the Mercure Southampton (also called Dolphin)

I thought it might be useful to others to show what a typical UK Mercure hotel is like and hope that this inspires others to also post more extensive reviews of hotels they stay in (around the world with Accor).


nice wooden revolving door to reception by BA_pics, on Flickr

I tend to stay here quite a bit as it is convenient to one of our offices and allows me to walk to most places in the evening without needing a car (so one can have a few pints instead of just one!) Hope the review helps others considering this hotel in future.

Anyway, on to the review:

Location and Getting here:

General Location:


relative position in Southampton by BA_pics, on Flickr

The Mercure is more central than the Novotel/Ibis/Ibis Budget hotels in Southampton (which I have reviewed on a separate thread). Once you have reached the high street of Southampton, (if you are driving) then you need to do a bit of detour to get to the car park as there are quite a few one way streets here. See the below map (image borrowed courtesy of Google Maps 2015) for the general way to reach this hotel’s car park located on the street called ‘back of the walls’. You cannot reach the car park from the front entrance, nor from Bernard street.

Parking directions:


driving route by BA_pics, on Flickr

The car park does get quite full due to many people using this hotel for cruise ship park and stay rates…but it is convenient and generally one can find a space. There is an overnight charge to park here of £ 5 which is still cheaper than the local NCP car park (also located on the same street).

From the car park it is only a 100m walk to the entrance and reception. You can see the outside path between the two halves of the hotel in the below picture. There are some benches for outdoor seating if the weather is nice and these are usually used by anyone that does smoke and can be quite nice as you don’t hear the traffic too much.

View from entrance back towards the car park:


view from hotel entrance towards car park and outdoor seating area by BA_pics, on Flickr

Looking the other way (towards the high street) you can see the reason you can’t drive through to the car park (it is too narrow and blocked off with the plants and carpet). It does offer a nice respite from the wind and rain on bad weather days though if you are arriving at the hotel.

View towards high street from hotel entrance:


view from hotel entrance towards high street by BA_pics, on Flickr

Check-In:

One enters the hotel through the lovely wooden revolving door (although not good for really big bags) into the main reception area with the restaurant straight ahead, the bar to the left and check in desks to the right .

There is always one person available at the desk (which is quite small for a hotel and one with so many rooms) and sometimes you will see two people here but never more than that. Although this sounds like it could be a problem at peak times, I have never waited for more than 2-3 minutes maximum. It just seems that there is enough time between guests arriving or leaving to work out somehow here.


nice fireplace detail reception area by BA_pics, on Flickr

The staff are always very friendly and helpful at check in and I have never had to mention my membership or ask for any benefits (they do say welcome back, we have your number on file and have upgraded you (or not if the hotel is full already as the case may be) as well as offering the drinks voucher (of late, this seems to be better here now compared to last year).

The hotel is a mixture of buildings and rooms so there is no easy way to describe the layout except it is a rabbits warren. The only consistency is that level 1 is bottom floor and level 4 is top floor IIRC (there may be a few rooms on level 5 along one of the loft areas I can’t remember but will try to check next time I stay and update this). In any case, the rooms are generally much of a muchness but there can be some surprising differences in layout and space. Some rooms are cavernous and others are just standard UK hotel room size (around 18-20 m2). I tend to get a bit bigger rooms here as a plat. member with a double bed (not sure if they even have singles). If you want consistency then the hotel is not for you…best to go to the Ibis/Ibis Budget or Novotel, however, if you like a bit of a change and like older buildings and quirkiness…this is a great place.

I have attached a floor plan for a part of the building below and hope that it helps some people looking at the hotel. I have sometimes asked for specific rooms in the past which I liked but have never had the same room given when asked for (and indeed rarely do get the same room again within a few months…)


floor plan (partial) by BA_pics, on Flickr

Getting around the hotel is fun as there are stairs everywhere and corridors leading down and around corners, etc…of course there is also a single elevator just after reception but that likely doesn’t serve all rooms.

Some examples of the stairs around the hotel:

Main staircase (just in front of reception and the restaurant):


grand old staircase in entrance of hotel by BA_pics, on Flickr

View from first floor landing down to the bar area:


View down from first floor stairs towards bar area by BA_pics, on Flickr

Stairs from landing of level 2 down or up to the rooms on that level:


steps everywhere by BA_pics, on Flickr

Beside room 204:


rabbit warren stairs near 204 by BA_pics, on Flickr

There are some interesting niches in the hotel, for example some of the design elements on the ceilings here are:

Round Glass ceiling above 204 stairway:


quirky dome ceiling above stairs at 204 by BA_pics, on Flickr

Detail of a ceiling around the conference rooms in one wing:


nice ceiling detail conference rooms by BA_pics, on Flickr

Stonework around windows reminiscent of days gone by:


long hallways and original stone work around window by BA_pics, on Flickr

Being a meteorologist, hard not to like the interior design:


like the interior design by BA_pics, on Flickr

The room:

Mostly, I get a standard double bed room that has a bit more floor space but at least the bathrooms are quite modern and renovated (there are some rooms that are exceptions). This latest check in however, I was given room 204 and not told I had been upgraded. When I went to the room, I initially wasn’t pleased as the entrance door is right between two hallway doors and beside a set of stairs so was expecting to hear people coming and going all night…however, I was always curious about the room and now know it is a suite. You can see the pictures below of the suite which is nestled up in the attic space of some previous building with some character and plenty of space for a few days stay. The only downside to the suite upgrade was the bathroom, it was quite old and hadn’t been renovated in some time with fairly dim lighting.

View into room from entrance to room 204:

A long corridor to the entrance to the room with no place to hang up jackets, put shoes…quirky…


view back to entrance by BA_pics, on Flickr


view from entrance by BA_pics, on Flickr

View around that corner towards the rooms:


view from corner to hallway by BA_pics, on Flickr

I also had an experience I haven’t come across in 23 years…sorry if this is a bit disjointed from the review…but it is relevant…I couldn’t get the shower to work, end of. I tried everything, twisting, pushing, pulling, taps on, closing doors, you name it…but no dice. So I took a bath, which I like to do from time to time but not when time is pressing and you have already spent about 10 minutes early in the morning trying to work out how to make something work. I am a veteran of European washrooms and feel very competent in working the various water controls, baths, showers, and WC’s. From buttons one depresses on the floor of a cubicle to having to close a door to get something to work to push / pull combinations I thought I had come across most variations…but apparently not. I have even had the baptism of Japanese toilets during trips over there and survived. I had to admit defeat to this shower. I told the front desk upon check out that I thought the shower didn’t work but if it did, could they please show me how next time I am in the hotel as I am curious by nature and would like to add to my library of loo knowledge

The shower that beat BotB:


shower and bath controls by BA_pics, on Flickr

Post 1 due to image limitations...continues in following posts...

Post 2 of 2 due to image limitations: (Mercure Southampton review)

Anyway, coming back to the review…the rest of the suite was lovely and spacious and a privilege room it turns out. So a newspaper, bathrobes, slippers, mini bar and Nespresso machine were available to use free of charge.


mini bar contents free by BA_pics, on Flickr

There isn’t much to say about the rooms that the pictures can’t say so I’ll try to be brief with the following points:

There are a few windows in the living room that look out towards the back of the hotel and one that is in the bedroom looking out at some rather unattractive outlets for fans and such (better to leave it closed).

View from Dining area windows:


view out living room window to back of hotel area by BA_pics, on Flickr

Wifi didn’t work from the bedroom unfortunately, not sure if it worked from the living room as I didn’t try it there. It does tend to work throughout the rest of the hotel so maybe just bad luck in that (bed)room.

In some of the older rooms, the bathroom sinks are quite modern glass sinks as you can see in this room. In most rooms the bathroom is renovated and has a better shower / bath but then a standard sink…


design sink and amenities by BA_pics, on Flickr

There is a small room safe located in most rooms in the wardrobe, here it was in the closet on the floor!

Closet with bathrobes, slippers, iron and ironing board as well as safe:


bathrobe iron safe by BA_pics, on Flickr

The heaters worked well as it was a cold (for the UK) night and this is not always the case in this hotel, there are some rooms that can be quite cool depending on insulation/entrance doors/heaters.

The room was quiet and I didn’t hear anyone coming or going to be honest which surprised me as the headboard of the bed is against the wall that borders the hallway outside.

The Entrance:

The Bedroom:

View from Entrance:


view into bedroom by BA_pics, on Flickr

View towards the door, TV and heater:


TV heater in bedroom by BA_pics, on Flickr

The main attraction:


King Bed by BA_pics, on Flickr

The Bathroom:


Bathroom by BA_pics, on Flickr

The Living Room:

View from Entrance to living room:


view into living room by BA_pics, on Flickr

View back to Bedroom:


view from living room towards bedroom by BA_pics, on Flickr

Work Desk / Mini Bar area:


work desk coffee mini bar by BA_pics, on Flickr

The seating areas in the living room:


view back to living room entrance by BA_pics, on Flickr

Sloped ceiling towards the TV:


TV in living room by BA_pics, on Flickr

Breakfast (or the ‘morning after’):

Pictures below were taken during the evening just before the restaurant opened and although it seems dark they do light it well appropriate to the time of day:


restaurant entrance area by BA_pics, on Flickr


restaurant seating by BA_pics, on Flickr

Check out in the morning is always quick and efficient and done with a friendly smile. (especially after my story above about the shower).

Breakfast is nice here but not as extensive as maybe some other hotels, you can get a full cooked breakfast and it tastes good but the variety is not as large as with some other hotels in the area. There are items to order on the menu at each table but I have never tried that as usually have limited time for breakfast so just get something from the hot buffet. There are plenty of cold buffet items as well for those that like continental breakfasts with cereal, breads, fruit and such. The tea here is quite good and I tend to take that as the coffee is not to my liking.

I like the fact that the restaurant tends to play older 50-60’s classic songs such as those from Frank Sinatra or Bing Crosby or traditional Christmas songs at that time of year which does help to feel festive without feeling cheesy.

I have not tried the evening meals here but they do seem to have guests each time I look so it must be good enough.

The bar area is quite small (seating only around 16 people maximum IIRC) but cosy and without any pressure to buy more drinks. There are some TVs for those so inclined or you can talk and look out the windows and watch people passing by.

There is also a small seating area to the right beside the reception but this tends to be for people just waiting for taxis or others to arrive. (I think you could get drinks or food here though if you wanted to).

General/Summary:

I like the hotel, it is not the most modern but it is friendly, quirky and convenient. If you want to stay downtown Southampton and not have to drive around to get some food or drinks this is a better spot than the Novotel or Ibis hotels but it can be more hit and miss with the hotel rooms.

For food choices, there is the outstandingly good Indian just across the road called the ‘coriander lounge’ which is always busy so you really do need to reserve to have a chance between 7 and 9 PM.

You can also head down to Oxford street which is only about 500 meters away for decent bars and other food choices including some independent and some chain food venues.

Directions to Oxford St: (courtesy of Google Maps again):


way to oxford street by BA_pics, on Flickr

West Quay mall is also only a few hundred meters away up the high street for those that do want to shop.

If the weather is nice or you like character properties and can handle non cookie cutter rooms then this is the place to stay. If you prefer exacting standards and having the same style room each time then the Ibis or Novotel are better suited.

Hope this review is of use and interest, any questions please do post and I’ll try to answer. This Mercure is not the same as another UK mercure as they are quite different but they do tend to be character properties with a bit of heart rather than the cooler, more modern, sleek hotel chains.

A last note: The hotel used to be called the Dolphin, and this still is written on the front facade…so you may hear it called the Mercure Dolphin.