Stayed here on a work trip. On the positive side the service was great, location great, and rooms well cleaned. However, the room was small and marks on the wall and cracked basin suggested a bit of a makeover is required. Ideal for those on holiday not wanting to spend too much time in their room. Business travellers would suit a larger room.

We booked a room for one night, basically to escape the heat wave. Online, we found a room at this hotel for $129. I arrived before my gf (we both work in the city) and checked in. Upon entering the room (and checking out the bathroom) I simply turned around and walked back out. It was tiny, dingy (the bath had two little 'cracks' in it that obviously weren't - but reminded me of - bulletholes) and overall it just had a bit of a unpleasant feel about it. I know it was only $129 for a CBD stay, but - just for fun - my gf and I do try a different Melbourne hotel about once a month and this was easily the least attractive room I have seen. I immediately went back and upgraded to a $219 per night king size room. Maybe my expectations were too high, but this room was massively underwhelming. I have stayed in much bigger, better laid out, 'suites' at far cheaper rates. The main problem though, was that we were there to avoid the heatwave, and by the time my gf arrived, an hour later, the air con still hadn't cooled down the main area properly, and (although there appeared to be a vent in the bedroom) hadn't reached into the bedroom AT ALL. I found it totally unnacceptable that you can charge $219 per night for a king size room with essentially no effective airconditioning in the sleeping area. After waiting for another hour or so and having nothing change temperature-wise, we rang reception and requested to be downsized to a queen room ($189), where the air-cnditioning was in the same room as the bed. We were obliged and this room was very good. We were actually given a room for people with disabilities (as it was the only queen room left, I was told) which meant having modified shower facilities. No problems at all with that - except the shower connection was faulty and kept stopping and starting like a kinked hose. I finally worked out how to keep it flowing (holding it at a certain angle) but I did wonder how someone with restricted movement might cope. Anyway, the room was VERY cool, clean and comfortable. We ordered a little bit of food which was good. Went upstairs and had a swim, which was also good - I liked the fact that towels were provided poolside which is not always the case. At all times the staff were excellent - friendly, efficient and keen to help. No problems there whatsoever. If planning staying here though, I would recommend only the queen room, but even then, there are nicer places around the city for less money if that is a factor for you.

Chose the hotel because it was close to the theatre where we had booked tickets (had also stayed there 4 years before). When entering the room my husband noticed that the ceiling was full of dust / dirt from the air conditioner. The basin in the bathroom was that old that a multitude of cracks were showing through the ceramic (or whatever it is made from). The door in the bathroom also needed a good paint (paint at bottom completely worn off) as well as the walls in the main room. The carpets had obviously not been washed for a long time. There was no TV/movie guide or hotel information in the room. it may be that this room is only used when the hotel is at capacity, but for the $169 we had to pay for the first night I believe it was extremely poor value and pushing it for even the $139 we paid for the 2nd night. When remarking on this to the team member at check-out the only comment we got was "Did you report it when you first went into your room" and that "the rooms are old and we're doing them up". Well, next time, perhaps they might charge more appropriately for the condition of their rooms, though for us there will not be a 'next time'.

We only stayed in this hotel as we needed a place to stay for 1 night and it was in the middle of the Grand Prix, we were not disappointed with the Mercure welcome at all. The location was excellent on Little Bourke Street close to Swanston St, so in walking distance to everything but very quiet compared to others I have stayed in inner Melbourne. The shower would have to be one of the best I have had in a hotel anywhere, instant hot water and great pressure. Bed comfy but suffered the line breakdown the middle as 2 beds pushed together. Staff were friendly and helpful which was good in one of their busiest weekends of the accommodation year. I would definitely stay there again.