I stayed at the Hotel Mercure 4 nights in the spring of 2003. Because of the security situation in Algeria, most international hotels are like fortresses. This one is no exception. This is a very minor inconvenience. Basically, you have to have your luggage checked both by hand and through a scanner. Yep .. just like at an airport. Once you're inside, however, you feel like you're inside a Hilton anywhere in the US. Everything is clean, the place is not crowded, they have a nice piano bar in the middle. I ordered a black russian at the bar. I told the waiter "black russian" in English and he knew exactly what I wanted. That was good, but expensive (about $8). The hotel is very quiet, the rooms spacious, but the beds are on the hard side. The area around the hotel is rather boring. Taking a taxi *from within the hotel* to the city (i.e., Alger Centre) is going to set you back about $6 or $7. If you walk outside and catch one outside the hotel, it will cost you about $2 or $3. They have a very reliable shuttle to the airport. Overall, this is a nice hotel, I would rank it 4 stars easy, but not 5 (I am using US standards, here) , and it is cheaper than other luxury hotels in the Algiers area.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.