Grand Mercure Apartments Magnetic Island

Had an amazing time from even before we arrived getting island tips on places to see and do from Richelle and Sam while we were there for the long weekend. The apartment was lovely, fantastic views, well equipped and spotless. Can’t wait to come and visit again.

Great accommodation, clean, comfortable and fully equipped. (Great water pressure in showers) Fantastic staff who went above and beyond. We highly recommend this wonderful place on Magnetic Island that had gorgeous views and 4 swimming pools.

The apartments are simply amazing. Such a great location close by to ferry, IGA and bottle shop. The views are incredible, straight out onto the water. The apartment was well stocked and the pools well maintained. Big shout out to all the staff especially richelle! Can't wait to stay again soon!

Choosing Magnetic Island over staying in Townsville for work turned out to be a great decision! Upon arriving, Richelle at the reception welcomed me warmly and shared some valuable local insights. My room was spacious, offering a breathtaking ocean view, and the option of three swimming pools, one heated, was just what I needed after a hectic week of meetings. I'm definitely looking forward to coming back!

Let me say at the start I am surprised the Luxury Escapes and Mercure companies would be associated with this resort, and particularly this particular apartment. There is no way to describe the apartment we were allocated other than to say it was really dirty, especially the deck overlooking the harbour. I wiped down the table outside and the cloth was black. It took several attempts to render it acceptably clean. Ditto the floor outside which clearly hadn’t seen a mop in a long time, judging by the stains. The kitchen cupboards were greasy to the touch, as was the crockery glasses and cutlery, and the dust was so thick on the bedside lamps I could write my name in it. The living room furniture has definitely seen better days. The material covering the couch (some kind of plastic) was cracked and flaking. There is no lift which made getting suitcases to the second floor up three flights of stairs, very very difficult and exhausting. The apartment is well equipped, excessively so, with the owners’ detritus stuffed everywhere. It is also in a good position, close to the few restaurants in Nelly Bay. The view is lovely and for $390+ per night for a one bed apartment, I would expect nothing less. There is no wifi in this apartment, apparently because “the owners don’t want it.” I suspect, despite the unjustifiable rent, it is more like, “the owners don’t want to pay for it”. I’m surprised the managers of this resort get away with such blatant false advertising. FREE WIFI is clearly stated on their webpage, along with GYM, which, as expected, was “closed for renovation.” Another false and misleading statement. Last time I checked there were strict laws in this country regarding false and misleading advertising but these people are clearly untroubled by such threats . On arrival we were told that the “one bedroom apartments are booked out so we have given you a two bedder, but we ask that you don’t use the second bedroom.” Fine, no problem, although given I booked several weeks previously this surprised me. However, when my husband asked for a discount given the false advertising regarding wifi, he was refused, because, “We let you have a two bedroom apartment and you only paid for one.” Ah yes, that would be the extra bedroom we can’t use!! My impression is that this resort is not very well managed. One look at the staff gave me pause. It’s a laid back lifestyle in the tropics, I get that, and no one expects power suited staff, but these women need to attend a professional development seminar on appropriate dress code for front of house staff. When I enquired about the 10% charge for ‘hotel taxes and fees’ I was told that this was a ‘Luxury Escapes’ charge, and that LE “had been sold to an American company and they charge this.” This is utter garbage, but fairly typical of the lack of professionalism displayed by office staff. The extra 10% charge surprised me because I have never seen an extra cost documented on any of my

Arrived at 2.15pm for check in and receptionist was on a personal call which she remained on for the next 10 minutes while we waited, she then said that our room was not ready and when i queried that check in was 2.00pm she responded curtly - " its FROM 2.00pm", so obviously Grand Mecure need to update their website to state check ins are from 2.00pm. I asked that she call us when it was ready and got a mumbled response so after 90 mins when we still hadnt heard from her we checked again and the appt was now ready. When we got in the appt was filthy and ill equipped for a 3 bedroom appt with a lot of things not working such as the fan and tv remote. There was only one toilet roll in each of the toilets and when i went to reception to get more, i was rudely told "we are not a hotel" so another follow up for Grand Mecure is to change their logo to Grand Mecure - We Are Not A Hotel. There was not enough cutlery and glasses for everyone and we had to continually do washing just to have enough to use. Other issues were the lights from the car park remain on all night and 2 of the bedrooms were full of light, the shower had mold and broken missing tiles in it, there was rubbish under the beds, tiles around the pool were missing and broken, amongst other things. And just to add further insult when i check the bill i found we had been charged an extra $92 for "Sundries" whatever that is, surely this is illegal to charge above the agreed price without notifying us or providing any justification which is something i will report to the ACCC. There were 2 Platinum Accor members on this booking and both were disgusted by the quality of the service and appt, no doubt Rita from Grand Mecure who occasionally responds to these posts will do firstly make disparaging remarks about myself and then try and defend the indefensible, which is why there will be no changes to the service or quality levels of the appt.

Great location. Spacious unit and well appointed. BUT on a very warm and humid weekend, the air-conditioner was broken and offered no relief. We were given a pedestal fan (no ceiling fans in the unit) which offered only mild relief. Management suggested many other properties did not use a/c (though lots of a/c were heard) and to open up the windows and doors which were all unscreened. We expressed concern about bugs but we were told that on Maggie Is there are very few. We tried all windows and doors open, and the bugs came in in force. A disappointment as we had southern visitors staying elsewhere and we couldn’t invite them to have dinner with us as it was so hot in the unit.

The room was small and the Airco rooming was extremely bad. Terrible mostly smell in room and dampness on ceiling and floor (slippery and dangerous. Roller blind fell down and was jammed the entire stay, blocking view. Carpet dirty and stained. Didn’t like shower over bath. Not enough utensils in kitchen. Didn’t like high chairs (stools) over dining table. Pool had missing tiles and surrounding tiles needed cleaning. Garbage smell near entry. Ceiling in bathroom needed pairing. Wouldn’t recommend and certainly wouldn’t book there again.

This is our second time back to the Mercure. The host was helpful and friendly even when run off her feet, check in/out was a breeze. It is a little different having an open bathroom (enclosed toilet room and European laundry). I'd like to see a hand rail to hold into the shower over bath for extra safety. Location just near the ferry, marina and bus terminals, a small bottle shop and IGA in the same area. The bus is great to get around on, regular and mostly on time. The place was clean and had everything we needed. It might not be new but it is well priced for the location and amenities.