Holehird Gardens

We booked the cottage and were so glad we did. The photos although good, don’t really do it justice. The bedroom opens out onto a spacious balcony with good quality wooden table and chairs. The view is very serene, as you can see the river. The hot tub is really amazing. It was very clean and we were shown how to use it properly. If anything it was a little hot at 40c. It kept this heat for several hours. Bathroom was beautiful. Living room immaculate. And a 2nd bathroom with toilet and shower. Alison warmly greeted us on arrival and her partner Andrew helped out with showing us the room. They are both extremely friendly, polite, professional and hardworking people. We had one meal in the restaurant. We ordered the halloumi sticks for a starter and they were absolutely divine. My friend had the stew for her main and I had the Yorkshire pie pudding. They were both seasoned well. The meat was tender enough for me and it was plentiful. The Yorkshire pudding didn’t taste like a Yorkshire pudding. Or a pie. It was quite tough and quite tasteless. Which gutted me because it’s one of my favourite things to eat. The prices were reasonable. The wait time for the starter wasn’t bad, at 25mins, but we waited for the main for a long time. About 1.30hrs after ordering. Which is too long to wait, but apologies were made. I suspect this is understaffing. Overall we absolutely loved our stay! We wouldn’t hesitate to come back. It’s set in a beautiful location, which is quiet and pleasant.

I had positive expectations of this hotel having stayed in other Mercure hotels in recent years, however this hotel was very dated by comparison and run down. The room was clean enough, however the TV was very small for a modern hotel room, and the general fixtures and fittings were not of the standard I expected. My colleague and I both opted for rooms here over other nearby hotels due to it's central location and previous good experience of Mercure hotels, however we were both disappointed with this property and would be unlikely to return or recommend it to others. The sound insulation in the rooms was extremely poor, with both colleague and I both experiencing issues with noise to differing degrees. More positively, the car park, whilst small, felt secure, and the breakfast was fine, with gluten free options available on request which my colleague required. This hotel would benefit from a refurbishment to modernise the rooms, and it this were to happen I'm sure it would attract a very positive reaction from future guests.

Good room for the price