This is a lovely hotel, full of atmosphere due to it's original features. The rooms are not huge however are nicely decorated and are very comfortable, we had a large bathroom. We didn't eat in the restaurant and at £12 each for breakfast decided to go elsewhere however we did have a drink in the bar and this was lovely and cosy, very relaxing and perfect for a cold, dark evening.

Beware of getting a good deal here! We booked online and got a hotdeal
- £130 room only. However checked prices a week or so later and found that the room only rate had dropped to £85 and £100 inclusive of breakfast - don't book in advance, unless you're desperate to secure a room, it's worth hanging on a bit, they change their rates daily. Reception staff were not very friendly, quite gruff and very slow to check people in, there always seemed to be a queue at the desk. Don't let this put you off though.

If you are looking for the perfect position to explore Stratford for the weekend then this is your hotel. It is right in the centre amongst all the sights, very close to Shakespeare's houses and a wide choice of excellent restarants. It's a traditonal hotel with roaring log-fires (in October) and really warm cosy public rooms. We stayed in the Garrick wing which was very quiet and over looked the carpark. . We had a standard double room which was a good size with a large bathroom. Breakfast was excellent and service throughout the hotel was very good. Americans are obviously well-catered for as there was a large ice-bucket and a big stand-up fan in our room!

Like many other TripAdvisor's, my Husband and our friends were a little bit weary of the hotel after reading some of the reviews. We have just come back from a two night stay at The Shakespeare. We booked the £90 per room, per night including breakfast on the Hotel's website, under their Internet rate. I would recommend looking at the hotel website when booking a room, other websites were double this amount. The Hotel itself is lovely, full of charm, the seating area in Reception is very cosy with the huge fire keeping you very snug and warm. After reading some of the reviews, I asked for the two rooms we had booked to be at the back of the hotel, and thankfully, we received this and it was very quiet. We had room 136, which was a double, and not bad, except the mattress was not very good as it sank in the middle! Our friends room, 138, was a twin, we did book a double, but their room was slightly bigger and they were happy with this. If you do not have breakfast included in your rate, please do not pay £15.95 per person for breakfast as we did not think it was value for money at all! There is a fantastic, cafe/bar/brasserie next to the hotel's car park entrance called Vintner. I can 100% recommend this place for lunch and dinner. We ate there 3 times over the weekend. The food, service and atmosphere is fantastic! We ate at an Italian called Sorrento on the Friday evening, which was over priced and the food not brill. We noticed the Vintner does Breakfasts, so we would have gone there if we did not have breafast included.

The staff in the hotel seemed pleasant enough, there was a dotty woman behind the bar who forgot to give us shortbread with a coffee and the service at breakfast was a little slow. So overall, the hotel location is fantastic and I would recommend staying at this hotel if you fancy a night away in Stratford. Just one other thing, if you park in the car park, you pay £5.00 per night for this, but it is worth it if you can get a space!

me and my girlfriend have just returned from a 2 day stay in stratford and the mercure shakespeare hotel, and after reading some of the reviews we were a little worried the hotel would be a little poor considering the cost. but forget the bad reviews this hotel is a lovely place to stay.
the staff were very helpful and efficient especially for room service, so if you are like us and want breaky in bed then this is ideal...as for the breakfast its excellent with loads of choice.
also the bar is very quaint and warm also with excellent service.