Hôtel Mercure Valenciennes Centre

Nice breakfast

It’s my 1st time visiting France recently in Sept 2022 and had a few surprises from this hotel that I have never encountered in my years of traveling the world. Not sure if it’s a culture or service that I have yet to understand. Some pros: - Room was a good size w/ clean sheets, towels & good water pressure - arrived early at 8am & was check-in promptly. even had the chance to enjoy the breakfast - breakfast was a decent spread; I especially & thoroughly enjoyed the freshly squeezed orange juice from the machine. A good vitamin booster during the endemic :0 - helpful service staff who spoke good English to organize our taxi back to Belgium. The cons (based on what I am used to when I visit America or Asia) - the service staff ie front office, serving members of the breakfast lounge look comfortable enjoying breakfast with the hotel guests. Something I am not used to. They also looked comfortable talking and laughing loudly where there were clearly hotel guests trying to have a decent quiet breakfast. I was there for 4D/ 3N and always had the displeasure of having breakfast with the staff members. - I was told this is the best hotel within the city but I have seen better design & service from mercure before (ie Bangkok, Indonesia, etc.) Overall, a good stay but peculiar in their service.