Hotel Ilunion Mérida Palace

Location! Architecture

Love the hotel, the reception staff and the location. Beautiful bathroom and very comfortable bed. The hotel is right on the public square so it is noisy at night with the window open but that location also makes this hotel very walkable. We paid 25 euro for the valet parking. The hotel asked that we give 30 minutes notice to get the cat when needed. On morning of checkout it took 1 hour 10 minutes to get the car. This meant we got a late start to our travel day which put a damper on the whole stay

This hotel felt more like three stars where you are not welcome. Somewhat dated rooms and bathrooms, poor and unfriendly service, low-quality breakfast buffet (no fresh juices, no separate menu for hot dishes, no local products + awful service, etc.), very small fitness room (with prior reservation). Almost nobody understands any English or other Latin languages. When we spoke Portuguese or Italian, it seemed to make the staff even more unfriendly. Excellent location and useful valet parking. Maybe the best of Merida, but not worth five stars and not recommended.

The hotel states to be a five star hotel but the quality warrents less. I’ll judge based on what I expect from five stars: - Arrival. Immediately at the car welcomed and offered to carry our luggage. They also offered valley parking at a cost. The personal at the counter is friendly. The hotel is very beautiful and located at the best spot of the city - checkin. I expect to be seated with a refreshing drink and a warm towel to wash off the journey. Here I had to queue at the counter for the checkin. Passports scanned and key handed - On the way to the room the corridor was blocked by a chatting cleaning crew. They did not step aside until we asked to pass - The room. The door jams and has to be pushed strongly to open. At first we did not find any fresh water, but that is in the refrigerator and a note in only Spanish indicates that. The space is enough and there is some closet space available. Our view was towards a classroom full of children. No turndown service in the evening. No sound isolation from the neighbors who seamingly had a very passionate night. - The bathroom. Shower is in the small and slippery bathtub. I very much dislike that and strongly prefer a room with a seperate from the shower (or just only a shower). One of the soap dispensers came loose from the wall. - Breakfast. Just a very basic selection. Nobody directed us to our table or offered for example fresh eggs. There was no cook visible to make anything fresh. With five stars I would expect for example, fresh pancakes or baked eggs. - Rooftop pool. Nice that it exists with a nice view over the square. It is very small. Don’t expect to do some actual swimming. Just a dip in the quite refreshing unheated water. No spa available. No bath rope and slippers to use for the walk from the room to the pool and no change facility at the pool - Cleaning. They don’t sync with your activities. So after our breakfast we had to wait for our room to be cleaned - Location. Perfect. Really perfect - Restaurant. Located in the lobby of the hotel. Just don't eat here but treat yourself with one of the way nicer restaurants in the neigbourhood. In summary. Barely fine for 4 stars but far from what I expect from 5 stars.

While the hotel is gorgeous and well-located, it is not acceptable that the ventilation system behind some rooms (like mine) makes the room vibrate as if there were an earthquake happening. To make matters worse, they turn the ventilation system on in the late hours, and a horrific, putrid, sewage-like smell takes over the room. The kind of bad smell that wakes you up and burns your eyes. Sure, I could have requested to change rooms, but this happened at 3 a.m., and the last thing you want to do at 3 a.m. is get dressed and pack up all your luggage to move to another room. Being a 5 -star hotel, this is simply unacceptable.

A Wonderful location, very handy for the Gelateria just across the Square (see separate review). This is a 5* Hotel, but : No Muesli available for Breakfast No Granola (but they do have Coco Pops (arrgghh). No bowl of Plain / Vanilla Yoghurt. And I would love to meet the man (it had to be a man) who designed the Cereal Area. Works best with 3 people, 1 to hold a Bowl and Spoon, a 2nd to hold the very heavy, Kilner style Jar, and a 3rd to stop the heavy lid falling on the person spooning walnuts into his / her bowl. Surreal. Ignore the Coffee Machine. If you ask a Waitress nicely she will prepare a 1st class Espresso in the Kitchen and bring it to your Table in elegant China. The pluses : The Staff are lovely and the building has so much history. A tour should be available to guests. Sitting out at the Tables in front of the Hotel, but inside the railings, in the evening is pure delight. The beds are large and extremely comfortable. The Showers look exotic but there is not enough pressure to drive them. Oh and no box of Tissues in your room. So the 5* rating is a bit of a puzzle. Compare Grand Park in Rovinj, Croatia (see many reviews). Hayling Seagoon