Mercure Box Hill Burford Bridge Hotel 4 stars

Dear Mr Bees, I was actually going to write to you about our stay which was most enjoyable. Several members of staff need mentioning as they helped make our stay memorable. Even the young man I spoke to the phone at central reservations was very polite and helpful and not at all pushy as is usually the case with larger hotels. But Karima is the real star. It was one of the best, if not the best, greetings we'd experienced in the UK and we stay away a lot. She was unbelievably helpful with getting me a bath robe so that I could go for a swim in the morning, taking our newspaper request(and getting it spot on) and even taking us to show us the way to our room (322) without getting wet! I had a long chat with her as I wanted to know where she was from and how long she'd been in England and she was just delightful to talk to. Jack was excellent in the restaurant that evening, even going to the trouble of personally making another Irish coffee for Mike as the first one just didn't taste quite right. He was very sweet and so good to know that he's been with you over four years. At breakfast the next day Abbey was brilliant, rushing around and always smiling. and very helpful. Our room was nice enough and good value we felt. Being claustrophobic I am very fussy about rooms in hotels and I have checked in and out immediately of a few! Having that lovely outdoor pool was the reason we chose to stay, apart from coming to see my family, and I managed to have a lovely swim at 7.30 the next morning. The only down side of our whole experience was breakfast. It wasn't worth paying for as the buffet selection was very poor. Mike only ever has a bacon sandwich but the bacon had seen better days and the bread was stale, and I was very disappointed about the condiments being in big pots instead of the more hygienic portion pots or portions. I only have something sweet in the morning but there were no pancakes, or cup cakes or anything sweet, apart from pastry which I'm not keen on, and because I wouldn't touch the jam I ended up just with a small okay but very expensive croissant. The worst thing though was the coffee. Both of us are real coffee drinkers, no milk, no sugar, just pure coffee. That coffee from the urn was pretty awful so we had to pay for two cups on top of our breakfast cost which was annoying. But I did like the shortbread that came with the coffees and had we known we would have just come down for coffee and the shortbread and not paid for the breakfast. Alternatively why don't you put coffee machines in the superior rooms as you do have them in the Privilege rooms and we would have taken one of those but there was no balcony which was the other attraction for us. It won't stop us coming back though as we really did have a lovely stay and the grounds reminded me of the Caribbean for some reason which was no doubt why I felt so relaxed. I am only giving you feedback and this is not in any way a complaint and I hope the weather stays warm enough for us to stay again before you close the pool for the winter. Rowena S.

Nice hotel, very helpful staff

Pleased with the staff, food and accommodation.

Chilled, staff helpful, relaxed atmosphere.

Very good. Helpful staff. Good food.

We joined friends for their golden wedding celebration. The food was excellent, the staff responsive to the way the celebration was run. The room was comfortable and clean. No complaints at all. It was a great stay. I left my iphone charger and plug in room 323 in the plug behind the table, and it has not been found. My hostess contacted you at the time. That's sad.

I treated my son and family including dog to a night at the hotel they had a room overlooking the lovely grounds and enjoyed an excellent breakfast before hiking up Box Hill ! They thoroughly enjoyed their stay

Great service. Hotel has many accommodations including restaurant with great food, bar, meeting rooms, and internet access.

Room appeared to be well presented, and bed was comfortable. Liked outdoor space, but the decor was dated and there appeared to be a chip out of the bottom of the bathroom door. Breakfast service lacked direction and our daughter was disappointed that there were no hash browns on Sunday morning

What could be better on a hot summer afternoon than a swim in this good size pool surrounded by attractive gardens and the lovely Surrey hills. And then enjoy all the comforts of the hotel. I loved it.

very comfortable

Great experience from checking in to checkout. Lovely room looking over garden. We had an evening meal in the lounge bar which was good. Will stay again.

The staff were all very pleasant and helpful and polite. The room was very nice with every thing in it we needed. The food was very good as was the barbecue we had on the Sunday.

our experience of your hotel room was horrendous. Someone had vomited just beside the bedside table and it had not been appropriately cleaned. I called the front desk and they sent over some extra towels to absorb the wet dirty patch. There was no offer to move us to another room, which must surely be the hotel’s automatic response in this situation. Cleanliness in any hotel room should be a given. In this instance, there was also a significant risk in terms of health and safety. My husband has recently been seriously ill and the state of the room caused us great anxiety and a sleepless night. It has ruined our memories of the day. It also ruined a pair of my leather sandals which came into contact with the vomit. The following morning, the operations manager came to the room at my request and could not enter the room because of the smell. He authorised a refund for the cost of the stay, but said he was not authorised to compensate for replacing the sandals, which has caused me further distress. I request that you cover the cost of that replacement and I expect further compensation for this deeply upsetting and unpleasant experience at your hotel. I also recommend that this appalling customer service be used as a training exercise for your hotel staff and for the cleaners. Burford Bridge Hotel was highly recommended by Denbies, and was therefore listed top by the bride and groom in their suggestions of places to stay. The standards we experienced fell far short of all expectations and are completely unacceptable for a hotel of your reputation. I look forward to your response at your earliest convenience.

Very enjoyable. Good weather helped to maximise use of pool.