holtju2

Here is a link for a video of the room I had and photos of the room http://bit.ly/mernan.

To be honest, I am not very familiar with the Accor’s brands. I know that they have lots of hotels, but most of them are somewhat lower quality ones than Hyatt’s and Starwood’s. I thought that Mercure would be comparable to a lower quality Holiday Inn or maybe to a Holiday Inn Express hotel.

Location

This hotel is conveniently located to the airport in Nadi. It is on the Queens road very close to the night spots in the city. It is within a rather long walk from the Nadi town, but there is nothing really in the city worth seeing.

Hotel

Not sure what is the official star rating of this hotel, but comparing to international standards it shouldn’t be more than two stars. It had a very motel like feeling. They do offer some sort of airport shuttle in certain times of the day. It probably makes sense to check how early these shuttles leave. In some hotels they were 3 hours before scheduled departure time that is way too early. From Mercure it takes 10 to 15 minutes to the airport. There is no need to check in earlier than 70 minutes before your scheduled international departure time.

Check in

I had just made a reservation for same day arrival. It didn’t take too long for them to pull it and gave me a key. Although I am an Accor Platinum member (due to a recent promotion), don’t think that there are any benefits when staying at Mercure properties. I had a bell boy helping take my bag to the room.

Room 120

This was a ground floor room that had a direct access to the courtyard/pool. The room was ok. Nothing good but nothing bad either. The TV was rather small. There was an empty refrigerator. Not sure why there was two beds – one bigger and one rather small one.

At one point there was a cockroach on the floor. Took the picture before killing it.

Pool

The pool area looked rather nice compared to the room I had. They had two small pools and few hammocks in the garden.

Conclusion

This hotel is fine for a quick overnight. I would not, however, spend more than a night at this property.

Internaut

I'd peg it at three stars as it is almost full service (not sure if the room service runs 24/7). It tends to attract a fun loving Aussie crowd who stop over on the way to their resorts and tours.

I would try to avoid the ground floor (the higher up, the less you see of the inevitable roaches which put in the odd appearance in spite of very robust, proactive measures). The restaurant and bar are not bad at all and there is room service. Not as nice as the utterly lovely Sofitel nearby (you get roaches there too, if you accept a ground floor room) but you get what you pay for . I do like the Mercure.

For a similar price but better quality, consider the Tanoa International (but don't book or accept their lowest category of room).

Unless it has recently been renovated, I'd recommend avoiding Nadi's Novotel (stayed their before Accor took over the running on the place).

Edit: One more tip for the Mercure (and Nadi hotels in general)...... If you are arriving very early in the morning, you are better off booking the night before. Otherwise, they will tell you your room is not ready and the check in time is 2PM (I've had this line read to me after 2PM).

holtju2

Two and a half stars would be absolute max if the room would be better

Personally, I have not been afraid of roaches after I lived in New Orleans for year and a half. They are pretty much unavoidable in a lush environment like Nadi.

Didn't stay at the Sofitel, but I did stay at the Hilton (IMHO the best of the three that I stayed at in Denarau), Sheraton, and Radisson Blu. I really liked the InterContinental hotel in Natadola Bay. The Novotel Suva was nice as was the Holiday Inn.

Maybe I check out the Sofitel if I ever make it to Fiji again, but I am not a huge fan of the Denarau area as a whole.

BTW stayed there for a night after Air Pacific canceled the NAN-APW flight for the night. It was most definitely better. I do have a video of the room I had there http://bit.ly/tanoanan.

Anyway, the Mercure Nadi did serve the purpose of a quick one night stay. But, I would NOT spend there any longer,

Internaut

Sounds like you had a great trip to Fiji!

I never could get the hang of them.


Very much agreed. Denarau is a bit of a plastic tourist trap but the resorts are largely to a western standard.

Suva Holiday Inn? I've spent many months there over the years and it is something of a favourite, though I'm told a change of management has bought things down a bit . Still, the staff at the HI ended up being a bit a quirky, dysfunctional surrogate family (in a way that only Fijians can manage) and I can't imaging staying anywhere else in Suva.

That said, a colleague statyed at the Novotel just after its renovation and thought it was better than the Holiday Inn in every way except its location.

Edit: Oh, I've just checked out your review of the HI. It bought back fond memories (now been over a year since my last business trip to Suva). I'm glad you enjoyed your stay.