The Clarence Boutique Rooms

The overall experience, beautiful room and bathroom, the breakfast and staff (particularly Charlotte and Harrison) made me feel instantly relaxed, at home and comfortable as a lone traveler over the two nights I was there.

The only thing I would suggest is some fresh fruit or fruit salad to be available with breakfast, which there may usually be, and just not available on those days, I didn't ask.

Upgrade to larger room with bath on arrival was a bonus ! However , the very best thing about our overall stay was the amazing staff ! To any request the answer was always, without fail , absolutely yes ,or; of course , no problem . It was remarkable , customer service and satisfaction ? Nailed it ! PS food was good too !

Thought bedding , in terms of quilt on our bed was due a change , some towels past their best also

It was clean and tidy - we arrived as planed late evening - restaurant was closed and we were leaving early morning so weren’t staying for breakfast but it is close to the sea front, and the rooms were nice.

It’s hard to find and parking is difficult

Didn’t have it as they don’t start service until 7am

Building was fine. Nothing special Walk to a completely different building. Directions not clear.

Ontbijt was goed en hoofdgebouw is gezellig met het terras, ondanks de mindere uitstraling van de buurt.

Onze kamer was in het pand aan Clarence Road. Uitstraling buitenzijde is zeer armoedig. We hadden de kamer helemaal bovenin. De buitentemperatuur was boven de 30 graden. In de kamer was het niet te doen vanwege de hitte. Ook ‘‘s nachts bleef hete treem warm, aangezien er geen airco of de mogelijkheid om te ventileren was. In het enige raam zaten 2 kleine klapramen die net iets open konden. Verhuren van deze kamers bij hoge buitentemperaturen is eigenlijk niet mogelijk.

Friendly staff, room nice and clean

Ruime en fijne kamers

Location, decor and food

Staff weren’t very helpful on arrival

The property and room looked lovely having the en-suite up a little flight of stairs deftly had the wow factor

The property was lovely having parking outside brilliant,staff were amazing and restaurant setting atmosphere and food were brilliant a hidden Oasis,would definitely like to give it another chance as I feel the cleaner might just be having an off day because apart from that we had a lovely time

Good location in Southsea. Staff were very friendly. Room nicely decorated and furnished. Good levels of cleanliness everywhere. Decent selection of breakfast items.

Only negative was how much sound you could hear from other hotel rooms. We were in the annex, so perhaps soundproofing not as good here as in the main rooms?

Room and staff were brilliant

This was our second stay here, we were in the area to attend a gig and it was a one night stay. We had an upgraded room which was great, parking had been reserved as requested and we were generally very happy with our stay - breakfast was also very good.

We found the pillow on the bed rather hard - that would be my only issue - and I appreciate it's not to everyone's taste, but one soft and one hard would have been appreciated! I guess we could have phoned reception but at 11pm when we got back from our gig it would have been too late. It's a small think though and would not stop us staying there again -

Amazing experince at this hotel, had booked the wrong dates through Hotels.com with vouchers and a no refund price. Went into reception to see if they would amend my booking to a week earlier, not expecting to be able to do so and expecting the usual "computer says no" Could not have been more wrong. The receptionist (Harrison) went out of his way to accomodate myself and my husband offering us an upgraded room. The room was beautiful, spacious and immaculately clean. The room was warm and confortable and the breakfast was fantastic. The location was so convenient for Southsea rstaurants and access to the promenade, short walks in both directions to Gunwharf Quays and Southsea Pier. Parking was free as long as you don't mind parking on the road with a permit. Could not recommend highly enough!

staff, welcoming my dog, great service

breakfast could have been slightly better

Our reception when we arrived late at night was exceptional. The excellent lady at the desk keot in touch to assure we'd be met whenever we arrived. She came with us cheerfully to get us parked in the gated lot nearby, and to help with luggage. (Three narrow off-street reserve-only spaces are available at the reception building.) She and the night watchman were so very kind and helpful. One of us doesn't walk well, so she placed us in an easy-access room up just 3 short steps, and helped us get settled. The courteous staff the next morning helped us find shopping nearby. We loved the charm of a 'hotel' consisting of nearby, unjoined properties, helping to preserve the neighbourhood's character.

The bathroom was musty - needed a good bleach cleaning. No window, no fan. And there was no cold water the night we stayed! It was an unexpected contrast to the comfortable room. The surrounding streets are particularly narrow, with resident parking on both sides. We barely squeezed through in our average-size car at crawl speed - with the wing mirrors folded in. Bigger vehicles should avoid those -- but will be fine on the primary street that passes the reception building, and in the gated parking.

Nothing

Not a hotel. Grubby old house. Cheap fittings. Bad smelling linen and towels. Fur coat mo knickers. Would never recommend one of the worst places I have ever stayed. Food atrocious.

Lovely property, with great staff. Wouldn’t stay again for the price. It felt a little pricey for what it was. I had to pay extra for a latte for breakfast. It felt there was prices on top of prices.

The cost, everything else was fine.

All was goid

Friendly staff, lovely clean and comfy room. Close to everything we needed.

The parking permit was very useful. They also went one step further when I ordered porridge and the breakfast staff were seen later returning from the shops with the bananas.

Lovely well decorated rooms and such friendly staff

Worth booking parking if you can, street parking is fine but may be a little away from the property so if the weather is bad or you have lots to bring I would recommend another option

Very clean, room was spacious and area was quiet. Close to bus stop into Portsmouth town centre. Lovely weekend spent with my partner! Highly recommended

Gorgeous hotel with lovely, polite & enthusiastic staff! We were upgraded to a fabulous suite & the parking options were great. We loved this unique boutique hotel which has been decorated & designed with care & passion. Local transport was brilliant & Southsea is a hidden blossoming gem which we’ll be back to see next year! We will of course be checking back in to the Clarence or one of its sisters. Thank you for making our stay so memorable x

Great breakfast and comfy bedroom.

None

Convenient location, reserved parking available, quiet rooms

I would request main building next time

Breakfast very good. Bathroom very small but shower good. Friendliness of majority of staff.

Room was small and very warm. Furniture poor. Bed was small and not particularly comfortable. The hotel was on three separate sites. One where we had gated parking, two which was the main hotel away from the parking and three was a separate building on another street. We had to drag our cases around all three.

Location géographique. La petite terrasse de l'hôtel.

La literie a besoin d'être renouveler - "trou" dans le matelas. Odeur d'humidité dans la chambre. Retouches des peinture nécessaire. Armoire bouge dès qu'on passe devant. Restauration pauvre - rapport qualité/prix inadapté.

Clean

Just one tiny thing- thing I was too short to use bathroom mirror and lights not bright enough to use bed room mirror.

Lovely spacious room, amazing bathroom with walk-In shower, simple & elegant decoration, everything was clean and tidy

Nice warm welcome from the hotel staff who were friendly and efficient. Our room was changed but as an upgrade that was fine. We had breakfast which was excellent and a great way to start the day. The room was fine and clean with a comfy bed, we loved the older style of decor. It's a good location for the seafront and only a short to the center of Portsmouth.

Small minor niggles - Crumbs on the chair when seating for breakfast could easily be brushed off. The small butter dish was placed on top of the hash browns to the side would have been better. Our room was near the speaker in the dining area so you could hear music in the background but not too loud. Maybe a bit more storage space in the room.

Clean Area good

Bath didn’t work Paid almost twice price for bath to not work nor tv Reported in evening nothing sorted

Location was perfect for us

Although we were in one of the anexes, this hotel worked out well. Staff were always smiling and laughing with us. Dinning options with indoor, conservatory, outdoor covered and outdoor gave all the choices you could want .

The communications received prior to staying were very detailed and clear. Breakfast was very nice and checking in was efficient.

The door to the room was on a staircase and it was very noisy with people passing to go up and down the stairs

Very misleading information - no indication at time of booking that you had to check in around the corner from the accomodation and walk to it dragging suitcases with you. Room was disappointing and not worth it for the price.

The room and bathroom were clean. The bed was super comfortable and the shower had good water pressure :)

The room(s) looked a lot bigger online. It was perfectly adequate, but not what I had anticipated. Parking (even with the permit provided) was a bit of an issue.

The quality of the fittings in the room were exceptional. Breakfast and staff superb!

Despite it being cool outside the room was stiflingly hot. We had windows open and a fan on but it was still hot. Not a lot of sleep had.

Room was very clean and comfortable. Good supply of toiletries in the bath room and excellent shower. There was a fan in the room which was really useful given the hot weather. Staff very helpful and friendly. Only a few minutes walk from the sea front and attractions

Nothing negative about the property but on street car parking was vey crowded. Good to have the parking permit but had to park a fair distance from the accommodation. Not an issue for us but could be for other guests

Clean and spacious. Location was perfect.

Parking can be trying. Worth paying to park on hotel facility but on-street parking is available

L’accueil du personnel Le petit déjeuner copieux et préparé sur place La chambre avec baignoire au pied du lit Le cottage à l’anglaise avec seulement 6 chambres, très cosy

La mauvaise isolation des chambres Le lavabo dans les toilettes pour se raser ou se maquiller La literie en général : matelas très mou sur sommier très dur Les fenêtres avec des systèmes anti-ouverture

This is not a traditional hotel, it is more like renting a room or an air BnB There were no facilities in the house, the reception, bar and restaurant were 3-4minute walk away. There were limited tea/coffee and water in the room, resulting in having to go to reception to request more cool water. The water is drinkable from the tap, but in the warm weather wasn’t particularly palatable. The room was clean and pleasant, if on the small size for what it was advertised as. The staff were friendly and helpful. We didn’t use the bar or restaurant due to their Location away from the room. I would not have chosen this hotel if I had been

Really unique set up! Several buildings run by the same company situated close together. Main check in was a seperate building 1 min walk from our building, where you also go for breakfast/dinner/drinks. Great room with a loft bathroom. Free smellies which i appreciate and breakfast was included. The decor was amazing and finished to a high standard. The only single negative was there was no full length mirror in the room.

Lovely light and spacious room. Two minute walk from the sea. Staff extremely helpful.

Aircon would of been good.

Lovely decor

Staff on reception not friendly

The location was perfect with plenty of street parking nearby. The breakfast was excellent. The staff were all helpful, friendly and professional. The room was spacious and clean.

Not much not to like. If I was being picky there is a short walk to the breakfast room,(about 1 to 2 minutes) but that didn't bother us..

Location, cleanliness, kindness of the staff.

Annex, main reception and parking are not in the same place. Not easy to understand.

Nice room with a free standing bath. Very comfortable bed Quiet area

The restaurant

The bed, the room, the strange rules

Staff friendly and responsive. Clean, well proprtioned room. Thanks.

Rooms were nice, quirky and different nice and big and spacious.

Really difficult to find the location and the reception and the room as there all in different locations wasn’t very well sign posted, the bathroom didn’t have a shower just a bath it had a shower head didn’t really work and no hot water just cold. The toilet flush didn’t work, when we went down for breakfast we went down for 9 the lady took our drinks order took 25 minutes just to get our drinks she said the printer had broken but you would check and ask us if we had our drinks ordered and then our breakfast order was taken when we got our drinks arrived When we finally ordered our breakfast we didn’t get it until another 1 hour later. So we didn’t get our breakfast until 1130 ish was a very long wait !!! When we got it was lovely but wasn’t worth waiting that long for it.

The location was great and staff were good. The staff were primarily connected to The Mercure reception, and not the location itself.

The room was not well cleaned; there was food in the carpet and debris in the bath. The shower was a very strange arrangement, the with no shower holder / rail, to hold the shower head, making cleaning yourself without soaking the bathroom a challenge. The beds were single beds pushed together, which would have been fine if they were comfortable; unfortunately, the springs were gone, leaving a ridge where the beds met. We were also charged for off street parking, which was not made at all clear, prior to arrival, as we thought we had already organised this.

The room was spacious and stylish. The breakfast menu was varied. Service was friendly.

All good.

Location was perfect, staff really friendly and helpful and breakfast superb

Don't like to complain but as the weather was glorious the room was stifling hot.. and fan would've been appreciated

Our stay was fine, just not what we expected. We specifically chose adults only and the About section on Expedia refers to 2 on-site restaurants. Restaurants are not in fact on-site but are a couple of minutes walk away (fine) and shared with guests from other properties in the group, which included a noisy baby one morning (not so fine when you've booked adults only.) Breakfast staff very hit and miss, quite surly at times and there were some conversations had near us that probably shouldn't have been had around guests, it was like we weren't there/were an inconvenience for a lot of them. Overall, it was quite an impersonal experience and we wouldn't return. The nicest member of staff was the young man at checkin and even that was marred by the presentation of a very sternly worded contract outlining the different ways that you could end up being charged an extra £100 for damage to the room. After a 2.5 hour journey, that was a bit of a dampener and did put us a bit on edge for the trip tbh. Also, the view from our room was really not nice at all, overlooking an overgrown garden and quite run-down residential properties. View at the front not much better. What was supposed to be relaxing time away, wasn't in the end, to be honest.

The room was well appointed and had everything we needed including Tea, Coffee and Water. TV on the wall with Freeview and a decent shower. There is a wardrobe too to hang your clothes and store your stuff. The apartments are well placed for the beach front and about a 30 minute walk into Portsmouth. Breakfast was excellent and definitely worth adding. You need to walk to the main hotel on Florence Road to have Breakfast which takes less than 5 minutes.

The room was a bit small. The bathroom door didn't close properly or lock. Cleanliness could have been a bit better, my wife found a used Vape under the bed! The room was a bit warm as well, so in the height of summer, it would be very warm at night I'd have thought. Most staff we encountered were nice, but we thought one or two were a bit miserable.

The staff were very friendly and helpful Room was clean and very nicely furnished. A few minutes walk to the town centre and its shops (pop in to One Legged Jockey, it's quite an experience!) Close to the seafront, Southsea Castle and the pier, you can watch the boats coming in and out, as well as the traffic back and forth to the Isle of Wight

Hot water took ages to come through on the shower, around 15 minutes, I had to call a reception who sent someone round within a few minutes and fixed it quickly.

The rooms were very spacious, beautifully decorated and the bed was very comfortable

Breakfast although excellent quality and delicious was very slow to be served the first day (45 minutes) however the second morning was quicker and in all fairness it is cooked fresh. Everything else was very good

Great room and nice location

I liked the decor of the rooms and how quiet it was. I also liked that it was very close to the beach.

The directions to check in were not clear at all, the address was Main Reception, Florence road. I had no idea the hotel was part of The Mercer group, this would have saved a lot of stress and time.

Standard breakfast. Freshly cooked. Pleasantly served. Would have liked more choice, fresh fruit, cappuccino coffee etc. Pleasant sunny seating area

Bath in the bedroom was amazing. The bed was comfortable. The hotel was quite. Friendly and helpful staff. The breakfast really is exceptional!

The fact that the reception is not in the same building as the hotel, there is one reception for several buildings and this wasn't mentioned until the end of a long email that I didn't read. Not even a sign on the door to state the fact. They must get a lot of people banging on the door trying to get in like we did.

Comfy bed. Cool wallpaper.

Very quiet and well appointed

A weekend away with my husband and no children. This was a lovely hotel very quiet lots of separate parts to it. The rooms were beautifully decorated and a bottle of prosecco was ordered and placed in our room when we arrived which was the perfect start to our break Lovely couple of breakfasts very helpful staff and walking distance of a lot of restaurants in Southsea.

Light didn’t work, bathroom door didn’t close and glass on tray covered in toothpaste

Staff are polite and helpful ,hotel in lovely location near the seashore and pier , ten minute walk to southsea shops , bars and restaurants ,including a wetherspoon pub

Breakfast service slow

Good size room. Decent value for money. Lovely breakfast. Friendly staff.

The accommodation was close to the beach and easy to walk to local restaurants. The staff were really friendly. The bed, comfy and excellent shower. Very nicely decorated. Would definitely recommend.

noisy at night with pipes and old building so can hear doors opening and people about.

The staff were lovely. We were upgraded to the suite at no extra charge as the room was free on our night and it was our anniversary. The bath was huge in the room. Hot water. The decor in the room was lovely.

I’d say dogs barking in the other room. It’s dog friendly so it’s expected! But we kept getting woken up by the dog.

I bought a luxury room with a bath. When I turned up the receptionist gave me a key card and told me my room was on the second floor. No mention of what side of the second floor. When I did get in, the room looked incredible. The bathroom was up some stairs. It was a really cold night when I stayed and unfortunately the bath didn’t have hot water so my bath didn’t happen, then as I stayed I saw things that clearly needed attention. The wall heater literally gave heat for 10 mins then auto turned off. The hot water issue and when I went to bed, the near side of bed had a huge dip in it. Some people may like that but it was difficult to turn over when in the dip itself. In photos it looks incredible and I’m disappointed not angry. When I mentioned these things at reception at check out I was told that I could have had these things fixed there and then so I will clearly take responsibility for not doing this.

Fantastic room, lovely breakfast, but busy waiting staff so the wait was longer than we would usually expect. One personal criticism was the pillows were too full and too firm and no choice to swap them.

Amazing hotel Amazing staff Amazing breakfast Amazing location

Leaving !!