As a traveler who spends >200 nights in hotels annually, I've gotten very picky about my choice of homes away from home. Although it's cheap, the Mercure Eindhoven (formerly the Pierre Amrath) doesn't pass the test.

Other hotels tried in town: Pullman, Holiday Inn, Mandarin Park Plaza, Boutique Hotel Lumiere, Van der Valk. This hotel was usually the cheapest of that lot, but if price is your primary concern, check the Van der Valk's rates first, and compare this to the 2 and 3 star hotels in town instead of the 4 stars. (The Novotel isn't that much more and it's that much better...)

This hotel was remodeled this year (prior to my stay). The decor is now up to 4-star standards, but you can't fix a building that was built for a 2-star hotel. Many finishing touches are missing that are customary for a 4-star.

The issues I had:

1. The mattresses were European-style, i.e. hard. As an American, I couldn't sleep comfortably, and checked out early as a result. The management said that they have replaced the mattresses in some rooms (not mine) - you might ask for one of those rooms if this is an issue to you.

2. The building construction isn't 4-star; it felt like 4-star decor in 2-star construction. The bathroom doors are cheap hollow core, trim is cheap, the A/C units are cheap, and my room was small even by European standards.

3. When they remodeled, they didn't replace the TVs with widescreens. They're still the old square tubes.

4. Free internet in the rooms is limited to 4x 15 minute windows to browse the Web. Can't check work e-mail over a VPN without paying a lot. More free internet is reportedly available in the lobby - but there isn't any room in the lobby...

5. I had a billing issue due to a trainee being the only person working the desk at 07:30 when I checked out. They proactively fixed it in a couple of days.

If these aren't issues for you and the price beats the others on the list above by more than EUR40,00, it's an OK place to stay.

I'd equate this property to one of the newer Comfort Inns in the U.S. Functional, but missing the details. (If I'd been able to sleep, I'd have given it a notch higher rating.)