Essentially here is my experience at The mercur hotel in Inverness Scotland on 10/2/2012.

We booked the hotel through the Scotland tourist board. The web site for the hotel initially appeared to meet our needs. We were traveling through Scotland and Inverness was on our agenda.

The car park was completely full with several spaces being used by hotel cars and many spaces were blocked by a tour bus. We were able to get a space after waiting about 30 minutes. There was no offer by the staff to assist with finding a space or alternative parking, we were told to wait.

The lobby was shabby with very worn furniture, the carpet was old and stained, the windows also dirty

When we checked in we were given a twin room. The staff was efficient but lacked any warmth or welcoming.

The elevator was dirty, the tracks of the doors were caked with dirt. The mirrors required cleaning.

Upstairs a fire door leading to our room was held open with a fire extinguisher. Again the carpets in the halls were stained and worn. The walls were scuffed and damaged.

The room was small with 2 twin beds. The mattresses were old and very poor quality, the room was exceptionally hot. When we sat on the beds they rolled away from us.
The bedside lights did not work.

The room was noisy, when I called and asked for a room overlooking the river, I was told they would check it out and call me back, no-one did. I enquired later and was told the hotel was full. It was very quiet for a full hotel. We were tired from traveling and did not pursue it any further.

The plumbing was noisy and sounded like it would explode when used. The room was stuffy requiring the window to be kept open all night, with the noise of the street below it was not a restful night.

We stopped for a drink in the bar before going out to dinner we overheard a wait person respond to a guest very rudely when she enquired about the wait time for her dinner.

When we checked out we were charged 12 GPB for use of the internet. The hotel staff again did not inquire about our stay and were indifferent to our dissatisfaction. We did not complain further we were happy to leave.

Just returned after 2days with family. The staff were great, verypolite and always acknowledged you even when they were busy. We were on a half board basis and found the menu choice good and value for money, nothing was overly priced. They also did a set menu for £22. Our rooms were spacious and facing the river, therefore we were not affected with any street noise.My 83yr old mum enjoyed the views and the easy access from the car park to hotel and access onto the main shopping area from the front of the hotel. We enjoyed the pool and Steam/Sauna all to ourselves and the leisure staff were very helpful. Overall a great hotel if you want to be central for shopping or sightseeing. One wee word of warning, watch the lift, the doors close very quickly and it takes off, my hubby never got out by the time me and mum got out the doors had shut..we found it funny but not so if it had been a child in there. Also watch if you order the Tagatelli, for some strange reason they put balsamic vinegar at the bottom, it just does'nt go with cream sauce, it spolied it .