Mercure Bologna Centro in Bologna

The hotel has an excellent location and is rated 4 stars. I stayed alone, and the room was quite small. In the room,  did have an unpleasant smell.

Unacceptable Conduct and Zero Customer Care – Over €500 Lost!
I had an extremely disappointing and frankly unacceptable experience with Mercure Bologna Centro. Due to severe weather conditions, it was objectively impossible for us to travel. Despite this, the hotel refused any form of cancellation, refund, or even partial flexibility. Approximately €500 was taken from us without any meaningful consideration of the circumstances.
What makes this worse is that we personally contacted management and genuinely tried to find a reasonable solution. We explained the situation clearly and even appealed for basic fairness. The response was cold, rigid, and dismissive. There was no empathy, no willingness to compromise, and no customer-oriented mindset whatsoever — only a blunt refusal.
A hotel that operates under an international brand should understand that exceptional situations require human judgment, not mechanical enforcement of policy at the expense of customers. Instead, we were treated as a transaction rather than guests.
This experience has permanently damaged my trust in this hotel and in the brand. I strongly advise travelers to think carefully before booking here, especially if there is any risk of disruption. If something goes wrong, do not expect understanding or support.

The hotel is located across from the central station so it is handy for those who need to get the train in or have arrived from the airport. If you need to get to the centre, it’s about 20mins walk away. As it’s next to the train station it’s quite shady with drunks and gypsies loitering outside the front.

They’ve recently renovated the foyer and the hallways, but the bedrooms are still stuck with their 90s decor and have old furniture. The walls are thin, so you can hear the room next door (I was in room 421 and could hear the couple next door speaking so clearly, this made is difficult to sleep). Additionally, the rooms are not exactly clean, with black fungus growing in the shower and products from previous guests left behind.

The beds are quite hard, but not the worst. Don’t expect water, or replacements for tea or coffee. Simply put, this SHOULD NOT BE LISTED AS A FOUR STAR HOTEL and more along the line of a three star.

It’s not worth the charge of €100 per night.