We’ve been coming to Paignton for as long as I can remember. This time, we decided to try something new and booked the Mercure — it was exciting to stay somewhere different, and finding a big, dog-friendly hotel felt like a real win. Previously, we’d always stayed in good old-fashioned B&Bs.
I booked through Hotels.com, which was straightforward enough. However, on arrival, we were told there was an additional charge of £15 per dog, per day. This hadn’t been mentioned during booking, and I was furious — it was a cost we hadn’t budgeted for. We reluctantly paid it, but it left a bad taste before our stay had even really begun.
There’s also a £15 per day parking charge (again, not made clear at booking, but we had seen mentions of it in reviews). Thankfully, we managed to park on the road each day and avoid this extra fee.
At first glance, the room seemed lovely — comfy bed, big TV, fantastic shower, and a generous amount of space. It had a bit of a ‘luxury’ feel. However, it quickly became obvious that the rooms are quite neglected. There were marks and stains on the furniture and walls, and the bathroom grouting needed a serious scrub. It was overall clean enough, but definitely lacked attention to detail.
One of the big questions we had was: what does the £15 per day dog fee actually cover? We were told our room would be serviced daily, which sounded good — but all that really meant was fresh towels and a tucked-in duvet. For the extra cost, we would have expected much m
