The Merchant Hotel

Have been here few times. It has always been fantastic. So much so that we buy each other vouchers for Christmas/Birthdays etc. Big shout out to Ryan on reception (our new best friend lol) for navigating his way through our numerous vouchers. This is just a fabulous experience. Rooms are amazing. Staff are fantastic and you won’t get a better breakfast anywhere. We cannot wait to go back.

Gorgeous, spacious and comfortable room! Meticulously clean! Ample lighting, comfy seating and work spaces. Plenty of electrical outlets and conveniently places switches. Large closet with brightly lit vanity mirror. DEEP soaking tub and large walk-in shower. Delicious complimentary coffees, teas, and shortbread cookies! EXCELLENT service. Perfect in every way. LOVED it. Thank you for making us feel at home.

We ate here on the last bank holiday in August. The turbot was absolutely sublime. Easily the nicest fish dish I’d ever had. Presentation and flavour was exquisite. We do come here regularly and Horia, amongst other staff, always look after us very well.

We were married in this beautiful hotel in 2020 and love getting the chance to return for a special treat! We stayed here for my birthday and some pre baby relaxation and had another amazing experience. The only downside was that we weren’t staying longer! We started our stay with a light lunch in The hotels pub The Cloth Ear where I had the best seafood chowder I have ever tasted! Following this we made our way to the harmonious underground spa where my husband enjoyed the hydrotherapy suite whilst I was treated to a soothing prenatal massage. We checked in to the most stunning suite which we received a complimentary upgrade to - (the four poster bed and luxurious “his and hers” style bathroom, wow!) :) We enjoyed some cocktails, (non alcoholic for me) which the wonderful staff in the award winning Cocktail Bar were more than happy to adapt for me. After a restful nights sleep we had a beautiful breakfast in the stunning surroundings of The Great Room restaurant. The breakfast was plentiful and topped off the most amazing stay. The staff in this hotel are truly a credit and each one we met enhanced our stay further! Thank you.

I booked festive afternoon tea and have never had a more disappointing experience from start to finish. Upon entering we waited almost ten minutes before anyone approached us. When eventually greeted, the exact words used were, “What are you here for? It doesn’t start to 12. Go and sit”. We had to sit at a table which had not been cleared from previous occupants. There was no reservation name or anything taken and no one came near us to say our table was ready. We waited due to a large influx of people arriving and they were greeted in a lovely manner (by a different member of staff) and seated straight away. We decided to take the time to address we weren’t happy by the level of service we had received and were told by what I assume was the manager that he would ensure our experience was first class from here on in. Unfortunately during this time we were served by the original staff member Malak. Our tea was literally dumped into our cups. On each occasion he was very rude and there was little to no interaction, not what one expects in any establishment let alone a five star hotel. Once our food arrived, we had no approach from any member of staff for well over an hour to check if everything was ok or if we needed anything else. Another cup of tea would have been greatly appreciated. We did end up expressing our disappointment with Evelina who I will say bent over backwards for us and was lovely and expressed major apologies for how we were treated. She showed her experience and excelled and is a credit to your establishment. The reason I am expressing this review is that I spent the evening with friends who had attended festive afternoon tea the day before us and their experience was the complete opposite to ours. They were treated to unlimited tea, approached continuously and staff were very attentive. We stayed in the Fitzwilliam hotel for a long weekend, we dined in The Ivy the night before and festive afternoon tea at The Merchant was to be the pinnacle of our break. After our experience it is safe to say we will not be back.

We chose the Merchant hotel to celebrate our wedding anniversary. We had heard so much about the Merchant and had high expectations. The experience did not let us down. From the moment we arrived until we left we felt like special guests. The ambience is perfect. A balance of luxurious surroundings, quality service, great food and drink, live music in Bert’s bar along with friendliness and a warm welcome. It is worth the extra expense. And it is expensive. But for a special treat you’ll probably not be able to top it. Only one or two hotels in the world that we have been lucky to stay in would slightly better it but it’s close to the very best. Our experience was slightly soured by being on the floor just above and in the end room right over the Roof garden where there was a party going on. The music was very loud but as the music was good and it finished at 12 we didn’t complain - then there was a fire alarm at 12.40! Spoiled the experience a bit but we will soon forget this and remember the overall sumptuous surroundings, great food and warm welcome everywhere we went in the hotel.