Mercure Catania Excelsior

The city center does not have much to offer. But if you are passing by the city, it's a good option to stay here. Nice cozy room.

The hotel is well placed, walking distance to city centre (15 mins) and near the bus stations. The room is big and clean, although the furniture is a bit old. The king size bed is in fact made of 2 matresses. Breakfast was good. Staff is nice.

We just stayed half a day in a "day-use" base just to have a nap and rest a bit after a 24-hour journey from Amalfi Coast. The hotel is located just in front of the Justice Court of Catania, in a lively square with plenty of taxis available, a walking distance to metro station, and close to bus stops. The impressive building surprises although the hotel itself seems to be kind outdated. Rooms are spacious and equipped however the carpet was something out of style. Bed was very comfy. Wifi quite erratic. Bathroom was also spacious but a bit dark and the bathtub curtain was not enough to avoid getting the bathroom floor wet. Staff was polite and very attentive in general. As we came by the breakfast, we decided to pay for it and that was worth. Full buffet-style breakfast with plenty of options. Actually one of the best breakfast we had along the entire trip to Italy. All in all we considered this hotel a good option to stay for just a couple of hours in Catania and probably we would stay there again if we come back for a longer holiday,

We had to change rooms 3 times. The two bed room was not ready. They gave use a second room with two beds the door lock was broken so we had to change again. The third room was not set up with towels pillows etc. the rugs in this room were filthy with stains. They were not well vacuumed.

A seemingly grandiose building set in a big square. The reception area is impressive along with the bar. It’s a shame the rooms aren’t . Check in was smooth and I was offered my free drink voucher. The rooms are very old fashioned and the carpet threadbare in areas. Despite no mention on the website there is coffee making facility amongst the usual expected items. Plenty of storage space. There’s no power sockets by the bedside but fortunately the one by the desk at least reaches one side. The black put curtains are effective. There’s a balcony but not the kind you’re likely to spend much time on, overlooking the square which also acts as a car park, additionally there’s no furniture on it anyway so waste of space really. WiFi was good enough for general web browsing and emails but lagged considerably when streaming. Location is good for eating outside of the hotel with lots of options. Breakfast was ok but the coffee is terrible. There’s an outdoor area you can have your breakfast but unfortunately smoking is allowed there. I will be returning to Catania next month but will opt to stay elsewhere not good value and a poor reflection of the usually good Mercure brand.

We stayed at the Mercure Catania Excelsior on our final leg of our lovely Italian trip. I have to say it was the worst Hotel we stayed at. When we checked into our room, the carpets in the hallway leading to our room were stained and tired. When we got into our room it was small and very dated and the carpets were disgusting. Stains and pulls and dingy. The baseboards also had nasty stains on them. We asked to be moved, but they said they were fully booked. We told them about the stains and they apologized but we stayed there for 3 nights and nothing was done about it. The air conditioning was barely working and the bathroom had mold around the tub. We called our travel agent to see if he could move us to another location as we were not happy there. Our travel agent called us the next day (time difference) and told us he managed to get us moved to another room a slight upgrade. We were on an excursion at Mt Edna at that point. When we got back to our hotel around 4pm the front desk informed us because we weren't there earlier housekeeping was gone and they like to do a "deep clean" when someone checks out of a room, so we could no longer be moved. Well they certainly didn't do a "deep clean" after the previous guests checked out of our room hence the stains on the carpets and baseboards. Our balcony door wouldn't lock either. The elevators were very scary and old and I worried they would plummet to the ground every time we used them, so we chose to use the stairs most of the time. When we checked out we showed them the pictures of the stains and mold and asked for some king of compensation, all we got was the couple of soft drinks we used from the mini bar taken off our bill. There were homeless people sleeping just outside of the lobby doors each night which was a little disturbing coming home at night, and it reeked of urine. The wallpaper in the room was also peeling off the walls. This hotel is due for a complete facelift, and claims to be a 4 star, I would say its a 2 star at best. That all being said the breakfast was pretty good, lots of selection and the waiting staff in the bar and breakfast area were friendly and prompt. The beds were hard as rocks and they push two single beds together, which I know is normal for Europe, but my husband felt like his mattress was going to slide off the box spring when he turned over in bed.