Mercer Seville review - we had a great time

At Mercer Séville

Mercer Seville was quickly a contender when I looked for places to stay in Seville. I had noted it in my list of new hotels so I knew I had to check it out.

After considering Hotel Alfonso XIII or Corral del Rey, I settled on Mercer Seville and I really didn’t regret my choice. Here are our views on the service, the design, the food, and the pool!

A great arrival and perfect location

Location: the hotel is in a small street right in the centre. The outside and the street have nothing special but you are only 5 minutes from the cathedral, the Alcazar, the bull theatre.

Arrival: it all started very well with a glass of champagne and macaroons as soon as we stepped inside. We also got a little history of the building.

Design and decor

The superb 19th century building has been restored with a decisive focus on modern design while respecting the original features such as the splendid marble stairs and the steel window frames or the majestuous entry door.

Light mostly comes from the sun “puits” over the inner courtyard so the restaurant and lounges as well as the bar remain dark. This creates a sophisticated luxurious atmosphere.

Clever design counterbalances this by playing with opulence and subtle luxury. The clean lines of the furnishing (all by famous Italian designers) are contrasted with bright spots of colours brought up by fresh flowers or decorated plates.

Do ask for a room with as much light as possible

Because it’s in small side street, the downside is that the bedrooms can be quite dark. This is the case of many hotels in the old quarters anyway because of the dense streets network. Inner courtyards and roof terraces will be where you get the light.

Some rooms look back inside the “walled garden” which I think must make them very dark so make sure to ask for the brightest ones in your category.

What we loved is that there are only 12 rooms. We had a Junior Suite. Unfortunately the lower categories don’t allow for an extra bed although they may have a better view or light.

The modern minimalist design continues in the room and the bed is really the most confortable we ever had.

Food and service

Superb breakfast with beautiful table setting, precious fruit salad and an amazing buffet of desserts: cheese cake, marble cake, lemon drizzle cake, truffle, biscuits, chocolate bonbons etc !! You can also order eggs different ways and pancakes.

Lunch at the rooftop bar was really good. Fresh well seasoned local food and some very good fish.

We therefore were really surprised by our diner which was the worst we had in Seville. Some very weird combinations and dramatic presentations that we found quite odd. My brother, who had been there a few weeks before, quite enjoyed it though so maybe it’s a question of taste.

The other nice touch regarding food was the little delicacies left in the room every afternoon and the chocolates at night. Clearly their forte is desert.

Fantastic pool which you will want to go to after a hot day sight seeing

The jewel in the crown is of course the rooftop pool and bar: it is really very stylish and due to the limited number of rooms in the hotel, it’s never too crowded with people.

You can have drinks and nibbles delivered to your lounge chair or a full lunch.

The pool was not heated but after a few days at 30 plus degrees outside, it was definitely up to 26 degrees and so refreshing. The size is also just right as you can do some laps or just dip in to refresh yourself. We used it A LOT

The only issue is the small number of lounge chairs: 8 in total which meant you had to be smart with the timing of your arrival…

One word of caution that there is some building work (at the time of our stay, June 2017) just next door so that was noisy on some afternoons.

A great service and a pleasure to stay there

We really had a fantastic time at the Mercer. Its beautiful decor, fabulous pool and very nice staff, kind and attentive and always looking to please really made it very special. We’ll be back.