This is a great hotel, I stayed here with my wife for two nights in August and had a fantastic time. The decor of the hotel is really unusual, and I guess might not be to everyone's taste (lots of dark reds), but we loved it - the restaurant had great food, the staff were friendly, the bed was unbelievably comfortable (and had a feather duvet) and the breakfast buffet had a huge choice of food and drink.
The location is just outside the city centre, although there is a U-Bahn station and tram at the end of the road, and it's not far to walk to Marianplatz in any case.
We found the area to be not as bad as some of the other posts make out, it's very near to the station, which is a big bonus, and while the area around the hotel isn't perhaps the nicest end of town, we didn't feel unsafe, and this is more than made up for by the standard of the hotel.

good hotel

great decor inspired by german theatre (apparently) dark wood, lots of gold, deep pink and brown, very atmospheric

one of best breakfast buffets ever (huge choice, good quality)

staff 'professional'

25min stroll to marienplatz

on streets nearby hotel there are a couple of bars, lots of kebab shops, 2 sex shops and lots of cheap clothes shops and some student hotels.

Two inexperienced young female travellers booked into the Hotel for two days over a weekend. The hotel staff , room , breakfast and facilities were excellent - especially for the price. However , the hotel is right beside the main railway station with all the inherent problems that these locations bring : red light area , prostitution , harassment by undesireables and a general threatening atmosphere.

Therefore if you're in a large group , broadminded and / or looking for a certain kind of action its perfect ! Othewise be aware of the area especially if you're a female traveller.

We really did like the Mercure, the hotel was very nicely decorated, the rooms were very spacious with great beds, marble bathrooms and a great courtyard beer garden in the back with tasty food. The location was only about a block from the Hauptbahnhof which was really convenient to get down to Marianplatz or to catch a train to Dachau (highly recommended). The only downside of the Mercure was the street it was on was slightly sketchy in our opnion. Not dangerous at all but the street is home to about 3 or 4 youth hostels and that brought with it a bit of noise and people gathered in the streets. We remember thinking what a great hotel, but why is it on this street? If you are looking for a great hotel and don't care about your immediate surroundings, the Mercure Munchen City will give you a great night's stay and a convenient location to the main train terminal, it's a great place to stay for a quick relaxing few nights in Munich.