Hotel Merce

Normally I would book holidays with an other well known company but as it was peak season they didnt have anything available for the dates I wanted to go. When I saw Teletext advertising this holiday to Costa Brava for a reasonable price (esp being peak season) I snapped it up. We went half board at Hotel merce - which was advertised as 3+ star for one week. We were told we would also have a double room with air conditioning. When we arrived at our destination, the hotel itself wasnt in a very good location, it was a 15 - 20 min walk from the beach, however the market stalls and shops on the way to the beach were good so this made up for it. The first room that we were given was a tiny room, definately not suitable for two adults and a child. Although it had air conditioning, it definatley was not a double room, and the balcony door was broken. When we reported this the staff said it could take days for the locks to be repaired so we would have to stay there until the mean time. We insisted that we wanted to be moved to another room - which we were eventually given. When we moved into that room it ws bigger than the first (twin size) but it had no air conditioning and I found toilet roll stained with urine and covered in small flies on the hanger by the toilet (was that meant for our use?!) but worse still it was situated directly next to a church. And yes.. the bells chimed every 15 minutes and on the hour from 6am until 12am every day!! sometimes it would randomly chime up to 85 times for no reason (yes we counted!) so as you can imagine we had little rest time and spent most of our time out to get away from the noise.. cleanlines was ok, walls in the bedrooms were a bit grubby and thin so you can hear everything, and towels were only changed once in the week but other than that, the reception area and dining area seemed tidy and clean. breakfast was ok, if you like bacon and beans every day and tea times were pretty standard. I think the poor quality of the food and lack of selection let this hotel down even more. As for staff, there were a few friendly people but most of them seemed miserable to be there. There is no childrens club or rep to visit if you have any problems so your left pretty much to your own devices and spending all your time occupying the youngsters. On a whole, the holiday in the hotel was pretty average but i'd advise anyone to not spend anymore than £400 on a holiday like this (I have been to much better for this price with Portland Direct) and certainly dont travel with Capell Travel Agents - their customer service and attitude leaves a lot to be desired! they MAY consider a complaint but only when you get back from your holiday! I would have been better off going self catering to a better resort. If anyone says its more like a 3+ - 4 star, do not believe them. I have stayed in many 3 and 4 star hotels on my travels.. It is most definatly a 2. If you do decide to go though, be sure to check out the wide beaches and excursions. The Salvador Dali museum is out of this world and they have a train station nearby, situated next to the beach which takes you to Barcelona in an hour.

"Merce" is a nice budget hotel for decent people who do not expect 2-stars to be 4. Hotel's location is what I love the most: it is situated in the ancient part of the town, very next to the church of 18th century, only 10 minutes on foot to the excellent (always half-empty because very wide) beach and the railway station (a train to Barcelona - every 20 minutes, and you spend around 45 minutes to get to the center of the city). The food is good. The staff is friendly. The swimming pool is small, and always preoccupied by kids...Well, swim in the sea! I personally travel for that to Costa Brava. Do not expect lot's of entertaimnent in Pineda De Mar, but intelligent relaxing atmosphere is what you definitely can find there. I have been to Pineda 4 times, and in September am going to spend there a week again. Enjoy :-)! Maria Feel free to contact through energynpf@yahoo.com for further information.

The Merce is in a great location, just a ten minute level walk to the beach and a two minute walk from the main square surrounded by places to eat and drink and leading onto the main shopping street which goes straight down to the sea. We thought it was great value for money - we were only there for bed and breakfast but the rooms were very clean and comfortable and there was a good choice of food for breakfast (bacon, eggs, sausages, bread with toasting machine, cereals, cakes and croissants, cheese and meats, jam/marmalade plus tea/coffee/juice). Our rooms looked out towards a church with bells chiming every 15 mins up until midnight and then the road beyond that so it could be noisy at night, but as the week went on we got used to it and it certainly didn't keep us awake. Our three kids (15,11 and 8) loved the swimming pool on the roof and there were plenty of sun loungers, some around the pool and then others on sun terraces. The snack bar was open all the time and served sandwiches, salads, burgers and drinks which were all reasonably priced. The reception staff were always very helpful and spoke good english and there was entertainment every night in the bar at 10pm which we didn't often go to as we ate out every night out but it looked good and varied (flamenco/spanish guitar/belly dancing etc). Our favourite place to eat out was Els Pescadores on the beach, but there are lots of nice restaurants - they all offer similar menus, pasta, pizza, chicken, paella etc. One of our kids is quite a fussy eater and ended up having Spaghetti Bolognese nearly every night wherever we went to eat! Its an easy trip into Barcelona for the day and the return train fare is only 6 euros. There are also free buses which will take you to Waterworld at Lloret and Marineland at Blanes. Really cannot think of anything to complain about, certainly at the price we paid which was about £575 for two bedrooms for 8 nights in peak season. Would certainly go again.

Stayed here in July 2007 with a group of 6 relatives. Hotel seemed OK on check in, and after all it is only a two star hotel. didn't expect any miracles for a budget hotel, but even so it was poor. The hotel was swimming with large groups of teenage boys and girls from seemed to be french or belgian schools, with a spattering of carribean (?). This seemed to be some sort of international football or hockey tournament. No problems with this, although they were very noisy late on a night. This was only up to approx 12:30 am, when a silence seemed to descend as they all went to their rooms. Obviously this had been preordained by the teaching staff. Only problem was, some of them decided to play music quite loudly, disturbing other residents. When they were asked to turn it down there was no argument, but it was still a small problem which the hotel should control. I suppose with so much hormones about, some boisterousness is to be expected. One of the teenagers staying next door to one of our rooms found himself locked out. and did not hesitate to bang loudly on the door to gain entry, without a thought about disturding other guests, until he was admitted. When asked to keep the noise down he claimed to be English! When we said he was not english as we could clearly hear his accent, he then claimed that was because he came from the Isle of Man. So obviously he thought it OK to claim British nationality rather than shame his own birthright! The breakfast was quite a large and varied selection, if you get there quickly enough. If your idea of a proper breakfast is full english, expect to find greasy bacon which seems to deteriorate as the week goes on, hot dog sausages, eggs like dry stone walling, and nondescript baked beans. All of this is kept just above freezing point by the inadequate warming bulbs. If you want orange juice with that you are liable to be dissapointed as they have either run out or watered down this breakfast juice. You may not be able to find cutlery for your breakfast, unless you ask a member of staff, and you may have to make a coffee in a breakfast bowl as cups appered to be constantly in demand and also in short supply! The conveyer style toaster seemed to work OK, but may need two cycles if your ideal toast is brown in colour, but the butter flavoured ice cubes are difficult to spread. There is a constant noise of slamming doors throughout the night, and if you have room at the front the busy main road is very loud. We returned one night to find that 2 of the 3 room keys we had left at the desk had mysteriously dissapeared, although I do think this was due to high spirits from some of the teenage guests seeing an opportunity for a joke when the desk was unattended. No damage done but the consequences are quite alarming if you do not have the foresight to get a safe. The hotel itself was in a good location with the town square just two minutes away with a good selection of restaurants & tavernas. The seafront is only 10-15 minutes walk with even more hostelrys. The train station is on the seafront, and fares are very reasonable. If you want a superb meal at reasonable cost (approx 25 -30 euros per person including wine) I can highly recommend Safra restaurant. Head towards the square, and when you see the gallery with letters all over the front (see my photos), go down the street on the left to just before the crossroads, and the restaurant is on the left. As I said at the beginning, this hotel is only a 2 star budget, but expect all the problems listed as they were all on a daily basis.

We were met cheerfully, in a spacious reception area, offered 2 room keys and asked to view the rooms and choose. There are two lifts. the rooms are a little tired, but clean, the towels were changed daily, the sheets every 3days (beware they do not iron the sheets, you will get used to the crinkle effect). The food is plentiful but not very adventurous, the dining room is plain and a little regimental, a little like school dining rooms. The staff are very pleasant and attentive. There is a nice pool on the 5th floor with sun beds, but we liked the sun terrace best, around 50 sun beds on an astro turf, the bar is manned all day and the staff are very friendly and snacks great, and freshly cooked. The hotel is about 1km from the sea, but it is a nice walk down the only shopping street we could find. There is a huge Carrefour, just go back up to the main road and turn right. Best place to buy your water. The market was on the promenade and for such a small town amazing big and worth a walk round. Remember you get what you pay for, basic and budget, we had a great time, and met some lovely people.

I've been going there for 4 years now and we've had no problems!! The food is fine. Its better then nothing so people shouldnt be ungreatful. The owners always take care and help you out if theres any problems. They have entertainment at night in which everyone seems to enjoy themselves. I love it here and cant wait to go back again this year :D

As soon as we arrived there were no English speaking staff available. When we left our documents at the reception no one could understand what we were asking for so it took us till the next day to get them back. The food was so bad we had to eat out everynight. It was always cold and if you got to the restaurant any time after 8 the staff were clearing things away. Breakfast was also pretty bad, same dry cakes every morning and cooked breakfast too greasy to eat. The rooms were totally undersized there was no room at all to move past. Road works going on outside from very early. All in all a terrible experience. Avoid at all costs!

The hotel is 2-star, which was a not pleasant surprise for my husband and me – I was booking 3-star hotel on intetnet site. Somewhere in the middle of booking process it was downgraded… We arrived to the hotel about midnight. At the reception an old man was on duty, but he was not speaking English at all. We were given twin room without AC, which we not happy with. After talks with old man and barmen we spoke over phone with a lady, owner of this hotel, who authorized change of room to the one with double bed and AC. The room had balcony door with not working lock, balcony was facing inner restaurant roof (you can imagine smell and noise) and corridor window overlooking the balcony. So anyone can easily get into our room. The AC was not cooling at all, which we complain about to the hotel owners (mother and son) in the morning. The owners said that AC is working 24 hours in public areas only and couple of hours at night in rooms. As they were not able to provide us with double room with 24 hours working AC, son of the hotel owner "gently" proposed us either take a double room with working lock of balcony door or get out of the hotel, which we did. Instead of planned 5 nights at this hotel, we spent one 1 night. Although they position the hotel as 2-star tourist hotel (means cheap of the cheapest, so you have not right ot compaint about anything), you can find 3-star hotel for the same money. I shall mention that was my 3-d visit to Spain and the last, as Spanish hotel staff became very rude and not customer oriented.

This is a budget hotel, why do think you got it so cheap? Anyway, We, (Myself, Wife and 2 children) flew into Barcelona airport, had a car booked and a route planned. Arrived after an hour and a few wrong turns later. It is possible and quiet easy to get a train to Pineda De Mar, they run every half hour. The quad room was clean, 2 bedrooms with 4 single beds and a bathroom. We didn't have a balcony or aircon. Opposite our room was a bakery, this was a little bit noisey early morning as being august we had the windows wide open and so did they, banging their pots! The food was typical spanish hotel food, in that I mean, cooked breakfast, some sort of dodgy sausages, very thin bacon, bread rolls, lunch was normaly choice of meat or fish, veg, salad and bread rolls. Dinner was about the same as lunch, we never went hungry tho! A good thing was a packed lunch if you intend to be out for the day, and if you were heading for the beach then this is a very good option as its about a mile walk through the town. The pool is on the roof, not many sunbeds so get out early with your towel. There is also a rooftop bar serving snacks and drinks. There is a bar off the lobby, has entertainment few nights a week in high season. The town of Pineda De Mar is very Spanish and it is like staying in a town rather than some tacky tourist resort! nice place to stay. The trainline runs along the front but can be crossed in many places to access the beach. trains run regular to and from Barcelona, very modern and cheap.

Hotel Merce says it is "near" the Girona Airport, but actually it is NOT! If you don't mind driving 45 min. then you're fine, but I'd prefer to stay a lot closer.