We live in Cyprus and have just returned from our holiday at the Mecure Hotel in Kyrenia and really enjoyed it. We arrived at the reception and were given a ground floor room overlooking the mountains, so we asked if we could be moved to a sea view room which was mentioned in our booking. We were moved instantly and without a problem and they explained the reason that they gave us the first room was because it was much bigger as we needed another full size bed in the room (three adults).

We booked the ‘ultra all inclusive’ package and the receptionist gave us a list of what this included i.e. all local and international brands of alcohol. When my husband asked for a Martell brandy his was informed by the barman that this was not in the ultra all inclusive package and that he would need to charge for it. When my husband asked the receptionist for the list of drinks that were not included in the ‘Ultra’ offer, she stated that there was no list and it was up to the barmans discretion. We must say that the barman was the only disappointment and let the service level of the hotel down as he didn’t know how to make any cocktails and was more focused on serving as many customers as possible and didn’t have time to listens to the customers requirements.

That said, the service of the reception, bell boy, housekeeping, waiters and serving staff was what you would expect from a 5* hotel as they were very friendly and although they obviously worked long hours, were happy to cater for all our needs.

The swimming pools (three outdoors) and beach platform were fantastic with ample sunbeds, umbrellas and free towels. The indoor pool was refreshing after using the sauna, steam room and Jacuzzi (all areas were spotless and cleaned regularly by housekeeping).

The restaurant was nicely presented and the buffet style food was good and well presented, however a few more international dishes would have increased the choice for people with plain palettes as the Turkish cuisine can be on the spicy side. In addition, it would have been nice to see a dress code for the evening meal as there were people sat in wet swimming costumes etc, which without sounding like a snob, took the emphasis off the 5* status.

Nevertheless, it was really nice to stay in a well presented, modern hotel in Cyprus where the staff smile and make you feel welcome. We try and stay in as many hotels as possible in Cyprus and this is definitely a hotel we recommend and shall return to.

THIS IS NOT A 5 STAR HOTEL, even not a far cry from it. Do not let you mislead ( as we were) by publicity and travel agents. Taking into account the good location and the sunshine it might get 3 stars. The 5 stars must come from another galaxy or be the sum of 2 stars in the morning and 3 in the afternoon. The hotel is entirely focused on turkish and russian tourists. Other nationalities are tolerated (not welcomed) by an unfriendly staff, mostly unable to communicate in any international laguage. The rooms are spacious and well equiped but could be better cleaned (crumbles on the floor carpet on arrival were still there when leaving after 8 days). The interior of the hotel is as cosy as a hotel in the former soviet countries . There is mostly no airco in the common locations (hall, lobby bar, etc). It is terribly hot. The swimming pool is nice and well kept. Animation is zero. The horror is the catering and its facilities. Has to be rated on camping level. Swimming and beach bar dirty, rusty and basic. Terras bar, well located but facilities not operational. Free drinks of international brands for turkish and russians (tips!!!), local brands for others. Restaurant seems canteen on a camping. Style of a milk bar in the 60's in a cheap shopping arcade. Tabels not dressed. Some obsolete placemat (dating from before WW 2) with dispenser for paper napkins (mostly empty), with traces of food of former generation of tourists, and plastic flowers on the table. Food is 100 % turkish with lots of salad (28 recipients) and cheese (20 recipients) with different herbs . Everything is flooded in liters of oil. The warm buffet and the cold buffet have almost the same temperature of the, mostly non-airco, room. No service unless for cleaning the table. Dishes are taken away ,even before you finished eating, by staff in T-shirt and slippers. Tables are cleaned, floor wiped and glashes shined with same towel ! At diner, some ladies are dressed as going to a cheap dancing contest, mainly attire however is short, slippers and sleeveless T-shirts for both sexes (it is really 5 star style !!!). Bottles of wodka on the table , as lemonade. There is only one sort of wine of undisclosed origin of which only the colour (red or white) refers to real wine. It is a horror. There is an enourmous quantity of food but without variation, only with liters of oil and not fresh. In the morning, a man , reluctandly, fries an egg on demand. He is located in a cabin similar to border control, inside the restaurant.
Unless your holiday aspirations do not reach beyond 3 stars, unless you do not mind to spend your holidays amongst the lower, mostly tattooed and alcohol swallowing, half of local civilisation, stay away from this hotel ! It is a shame towards all real 4 and 5 stars that such a hotel can get a 5 star rating.
This hotel has no spirit, no style and certainly no standing.

Positive: The hotel facilities are good, location is good, sea is awesome. We didn't swim at the pool after seeing the sea. The casino is ok I guess if you like to play. Animations at night are entertaining. You can spend a good holiday if these are what you are looking for.
Negative: The open buffets are below average. Of thousands of choices you can hardly pick one or two decent food to eat. The service quality is low. For instance, room service works too slow and sometimes it is almost impossible to reach them. During our stay they told us the ice machine was problematic so most of the time there was no ice in the bar. This means you don't get that cocktail or other drinks but choose beverages that would not need ice (beer for instance). I think they were doing it on purpose. They are trying to push you to choose more cheaper options. Another thing for example, there was only one ping pong table but on our third day they told us they ran out of ping pong balls, so you can't play. I mean it is a five star hotel, give the money and buy as many as you can! Not all but most of the personnel are not helpful. After animations at night, the stage is turned to a disco and that is really good, but the DJ stops at around midnight (00:00) and you don't have any other option to entertain yourself.
All in all, the hotel is average (6 out of 10), we have stayed in various hotels all around the world, and I can really say the only great thing was the sea. So I can't recommend it.

over the past three years we've stayed at the merrit & the mercure both are 5*all inclusive both are excellent & provide good value by a very short nose we prefered the latter it is also slighty less money.The service provided by "all year cyprus travel"is second to none