Essex Golf & Country Club

Unfortunately, our stay was far more stressful than it needed to be. We booked this hotel because we were attending a wedding nearby. For three weeks before our stay I repeatedly tried to contact the hotel to arrange an early check-in and, importantly, obtain taxi details because we are not local and had been advised that taxis needed to be booked well in advance. The contact number on Booking.com isn’t a direct hotel number and, despite several attempts, I couldn’t get through. I also messaged through Booking.com multiple times. I was eventually told they could arrange early check-in for an additional fee and would email me taxi details if I provided my email address. I did exactly that and chased, but heard nothing. Eventually, the day before our stay, I managed to speak to the hotel. I was told they don’t really monitor the Booking.com messages and was finally sent a taxi list. Unfortunately, some of the companies on the list were no longer operating and the others were fully booked, as I had feared. I ended up contacting more than ten taxi companies myself before finding one, which cost almost twice as much because they had to travel from outside the area. This could have been avoided if the hotel had simply provided the information when I first asked. The early check-in was also chaotic. Gary kindly confirmed the day before that this had been arranged, but when we arrived at 1pm we were told there was no early check-in and no room ready. We had around 30 minutes before our taxi to the wedding, so this caused a huge amount of unnecessary panic. A room was eventually found, but we still had to pay the early check-in fee. The room itself was very basic but, for the price, that wasn’t an issue. Unfortunately, it was unbearably hot overnight despite it being a mild September night. We had the windows open and were given a fan, but neither helped and we barely slept. Breakfast was also extremely disappointing — the food was so poor that we couldn’t eat it. I appreciate that this is a reasonably priced, basic hotel and I wasn’t expecting luxury. What I did expect was basic organisation and communication, particularly when I had spent weeks trying to contact the hotel in advance specifically to make sure everything was arranged. Gary was helpful when I eventually managed to speak to him, but overall the experience was incredibly frustrating and caused a lot of unnecessary stress. I wouldn’t stay here again.

We stayed in one of the lodges. Lovely setting, and for what we paid, good value. We didn’t mind the noise from the golf maintenance team, because we understood that this is a golf course. We enjoyed where the lodge was located. Unfortunately, the lodge is let down by a couple of things. The cleanliness left a lot to be desired - and looking at past reviews, this is an ongoing issue. The lodge was dusty with cobwebs, stains on the carpets and stained bedding. For a luxury lodge, I wouldn’t expect this. Perhaps a new cleaning team is needed. Secondly, the lodge could do with more cutlery and crockery so we wouldn’t need to wash up every day. And enough dishwasher tablets for our entire stay would also help.

I’m not a golfer but use this hotel when staying near Colchester. Facilities are excellent, with a large gym, swimming pool and sauna. Food in the bar is excellent, as is the service. At night the area is silent as it’s off the beaten track, coupled with blackout blinds this means excellent sleep quality. The request for non feather pillows made when booking was carried out with no reminder needed