Hotel Mercure di Bari

Booked two deluxe rooms (one for single pax and the other for two pax) but was given two rooms of different sizes instead - not very impressed to say the least! Room decor has seen its better days to be honest! Plastic tables and chairs in the room for a 4-star property are pure cheapskates! Air conditioning still hasn’t been switched back on in late April when temperature already reaching low 20 Celsius! Had to stay and sleep in the room with window shut because of noisy disco noises nearby lasting beyond 2 am in the wee hours of Sunday morning ! Got ‘roasted and baked’ in the room with no ventilation as a result - not very ideal when covid is still raging! Still couldn’t understand why the hotel still insists on ‘no self-service’ for buffet breakfast - apparently in the name of covid! ‘Accidentally’ tried to pick up some breakfast items by myself on arrival as there was no sign on display stating the not-so-obvious ‘no self-service’ policy but was told off by one of 2 staff members on duty with plate being ‘snatched’ from my hands! The paradox being this practice caused long queue with only 2 staff members available to pick and dish out items for guests! Long queue and mass gathering of guests would not spread covid but picking up your own food with disinfected hands would apparently! Few ironic observations made though! The two specific staff members on food picking duty didn’t wear gloves at all when picking food with thongs for guests - is that even covid-safe??? One of the two members on that specific food picking duty went on to pick food for guests after clearing and cleaning up table with bare hands and then went over to do their food picking duty for other guests without washing or disinfecting their hands - covid safe I fear not??? If insisting on ‘no self-service’ policy, make sure you have sufficient staff to handle constant stream of guests coming in for breakfast! I was certainly being put off by either long queue or absent staff to help pick the food I wanted!