Review of Mercure Porto Centro Santa Catarina

There are two Mercure hotels near São Bento Station. Mercure Porto Centro Aliados is in front of the station near McDonald’s, and the other is Mercure Porto Centro Santa Catarina and it is located behind the station, close to the famous Majestic Café. I originally thought there was only one Mercure, but it turned out my brother had booked the one behind the station.

Location and Convenience

Mercure Porto Centro Santa Catarina is a little away from the main landmarks, but still the area was lively and convenient for exploring the city.

Porto is full of steep hills, so walking around could be a bit tiring. If you go to near the river, it can be a bit difficult to come up all the way to hotels. But if you just walk around to shopping streets, it will be easier as this area is reletively flat.

Check-in

We arrived in Porto by train from Lisbon and then took an Uber to the hotel. When we got there, the front desk wasn’t immediately obvious, which made me wonder if that’s how Accor hotels are typically designed.

The staff were really kind, and their English was easy to understand.

My brother used his Accor membership points to cover part of the payment, then paid the rest, along with the breakfast charge at check-in.

Hotel	Stay Duration	Price (€)	Price per Night (€)
Ibis Styles Lisboa Centro Liberdade NE	2 nights, 3 days	393.55	196.78
Ibis Styles Lisboa Centro Marquês de Pombal	2 nights, 3 days	411.60	205.80
Mercure Porto Centro Santa Catarina	3 nights, 4 days	771.39	192.85

So Mercure is not that expensive compared to other Accor Hotels.

Room and Facilities

The room was quite spacious, with one double bed and one single bed.

The bed was comfortable enough to sleep in. I didn't notice anything that bothered me.

The walls seemed a bit thin, and I could hear noise from the neighboring room. Luckily, it didn’t last long, but it was noticeable.

There was also a bathtub instead of shower booth. I usually prefer shower stall to bathtub in hotels.

Also I used the water filter, and it became dirty very quickly. That was a bit shocking, since on my previous trip I showered without a filter at all. Using a filter might be a very typical Korean thing.

Breakfast

Breakfast was actually better than at the other hotels I stayed at during this trip. The breakfast buffet costs €18.00 per person which was a bit more expensive than Ibis Hotel's €12.00 per person.

So it is no wonder the quality was good. But the menu didn’t change much from Ibis hotels, and they basically served the same menu every day, so after a few days I started to feel a little repetitive.

But the cafeteria facility was good, and the food itself was good enough.

Final Thoughts

Overall, my stay at the Mercure Porto Centro Santa Catarina was comfortable and convenient. The spacious room, and decent breakfast were highlights, but occasional noise were drawbacks.