We stayed for 7 nights here. The bar and waiting staff were all very friendly and helpful, however we found the Reception staff quite unfriendly, and stand-offish. They barely said hello and goodbye to us on arriving and leaving. The hotel itself is located in a relatively quiet residential part of the city, outside of the centre but literally 5 minutes walk from the Metro which surprisingly was clean, easy to use and not frightening as it is in some other countries. It costs 4 Euros for a day pass and we used it all day long to get about from one site to the next. Much cheaper than taxis. The breakfast at the Mercure was ok - scrambled eggs, fried thinly cut ham, cold ham, salami and cheese and a selection of breads.
The bar always serve food when you order a drink such as olives, ciabatta with ham, pizza, cheeses - a cheap little meal! Useful, seeing as they don't do meals (although you can order a microwaved frozen meal form the bar).
The rooms were spacious enough for all of our stuff, the bathroom lovely and clean. Really good air-con, which is a must as the evenings were warm. They have a small selection of movies you can watch in your room for roughly 10 Euros each. You can use the internet downstairs but it's really expensive, so I wouldn't recommend.
This place was great if you're just looking for a clean, convenient place to sleep and hold your stuff if you are planning to spend your whole day/evening in the city itself. There isn't a great deal to do near Piazza Bologna itself and there's quite a walk to the nearest store for small grocery items (we went to the store at the Metro Termini instead!)
Oh and there's no iron in the room. To loan one, you have to get it from reception and take it to the chambermaid's room. This was really weird especially when the maids found us there ironing - so take a travel iron!