Grand Mercure SP Itaim Bibi

The reception team and bell captain were marvelous, and the rooms, location, and tasty breakfast were all good. But the evening bar service was a letdown. We were the only two guests, waited ten minutes for someone to take our order, and left without being served while the staff member played on her phone and seemed uninterested. The gym work was another problem: equipment was suddenly wheeled in while I was on the treadmill, workers came in from both sides, and the supervisor didn't apologize. For a hotel aiming at this category, that isn't acceptable. We've stayed here for years, but next time we'll try the new hotel around the corner. I expect they know how to treat returning guests.

There was work happening inside the hotel too, with drilling and hammering shaking the walls all day. Outside, the construction next door has apparently been going on for a year and may continue for years, starting at 6 a.m., so sleeping is tough. The gym is old and very basic, and the rooftop pool is tiny. This doesn't feel like a five-star hotel and isn't worth the price.

The staff were generally kind, but there were too many parts of the stay that didn't feel five-star. Our dinner and breakfast were enough to put us off returning: the food was poor, one hot dish arrived cold and a cold dish was frozen. A quick check before serving could have caught that. Kitchen and wait staff also didn't speak adequate English. The rooms, facilities, amenities, gym, pool, and an unused room across from the gym and pool were poorly managed; the gym smelled bad. The place needs major investment in infrastructure and culinary staff training. Based on our experience, I'd give it three stars at best. They could learn from hotels that deliver exceptional stays.

Breakfast was great, and everything else seemed fine until I was held at gunpoint outside the hotel at 7 p.m. on Thursday, in front of my wife and young child. We paid more than usual because we expected the hotel to provide safety. The staff on duty didn't seem equipped to handle what happened. I was told it took place on the sidewalk and wasn't Grand Mercure property. They seemed to treat muggings as a cost guests have to accept, and didn't help my wife, our three-year-old, or me deal with it.