Muthu Westcliff Hotel (Near London Southend Airport)

Great location for Cliffs Pavilion. Some staff can't be bothered and look miserable and abrupt. Rooms need updating. Value was good. Nightmare getting a drink from the bar, stupid idea you have to go to reception to get a barperson. Bedding was clean, base of it wasn't level and headboard was dirty, radiator coming off wall. No bottled water in room. Breakfast was ok, some items been there too long and dried out.

HORRENDOUS EXPERIENCE – AVOID. THE AFTERCARE HAS BEEN EVEN WORSE. I genuinely cannot remember ever being this disgusted with a hotel or the way a serious complaint has been handled. We stayed at Muthu Westcliff Hotel as a family for three nights and paid over £450. During our stay we found live insects on/around the bed, which we believed to be bed bugs. We have the original video and photographic evidence. My wife also found a tiny translucent insect on her arm while showering. Then came the bites. Between our family we suffered well over 100 bites. My wife has since had a particularly nasty reaction on her foot and sought medical advice. The room itself was also filthy. Stained pillows and a toilet with horrible brown staining/scum around it. The standard was nowhere near what I would expect from a hotel. But what has made this whole experience even worse is how the hotel dealt with us afterwards. We reported everything, supplied evidence and repeatedly asked for senior management to contact us. We had to chase and chase. We asked for details of the pest-control inspection, what happened to the room after we left, whether it had been cleaned before inspection, whether bedding had been changed and whether anyone else had occupied it. Eventually the hotel produced a pest-control report from an inspection carried out after we had left saying nothing was found. They then told us the insect shown in our footage appeared to be a “wall spider”. I find that absolutely incredible given what we personally witnessed. A later inspection finding nothing does not change what happened while we were actually staying in the room, nor does it explain how several members of the same family suddenly ended up covered in bites. We also had the nightmare of returning home worried about bringing insects into our house. Clothes and belongings had to be bagged, isolated, frozen or heat treated and our luggage quarantined. After all of that, their answer? £50. A £50 “goodwill” refund on a £451 stay. They then informed us that, as far as they were concerned, the matter was closed. Absolutely unbelievable. I have now escalated this outside the hotel and retained all photographs, original videos, pictures of the bites, medical information, correspondence and booking records. People can make their own minds up, but I certainly know what my family experienced. What disappoints me almost as much as the original experience is the dismissive way we have been treated afterwards. I would never stay here again and could not recommend this hotel to anyone.In

Our stay at Muthu Westcliff Hotel from 7–10 August 2026 was honestly one of the worst hotel experiences we have ever had. We booked a Family Room through Hotels.com. What we experienced was completely unacceptable, even though this was one of the cheaper hotels in the area (we now know & have experienced why.) During our stay, we found live insects on the bed, and I was bitten during the night. I woke up with multiple bites and spent the night extremely uncomfortable due to the itching. Some of the bites have been so itchy that I have had to attend a pharmacy to obtain cream and antihistamines upon returning home. Finding live insects is horrifying, particularly when you are expecting to relax and get a good night’s sleep. The condition of the room was also completely unacceptable. The pillows had visible marks and stains, while the toilet was disgusting, with brown scum and build-up around the edges. When we raised this, we were advised that the brown staining was supposedly “cosmetic rust” and was not hygiene-related. This is extremely difficult to believe from the photographs we have taken. Ceramic toilet bowls and basins do not themselves rust, and this level of staining and build-up should not be present in a properly maintained and thoroughly cleaned bathroom. Whatever explanation is given, it does not change the fact that the bathroom was visibly dirty and fell well below what we consider an acceptable hotel standard. The worst part is that we are now having to deal with the aftermath. We took the decision to disinfect our clothes and belongings due to worry about inadvertently bringing the problem home with us. The stress, inconvenience and additional expense this has caused have been a one we will not forget. Management and communication/customer service have also been extremely poor. We were given an email address to send photographs to and were advised that a contractor would inspect the room. Despite the seriousness of our concerns, we did not receive a single returned phone call from management, we tried several times to reach out and only ever got through to front of house to then be advised it would be escalated and someone would be back in touch. Days after leaving the hotel, we were eventually contacted by the general manager & offered what was described as a gesture of £50. To be quite frank, this was insulting. Considering the hassle, stress, disruption and expense we have been through, £50 does not come close to acknowledging the seriousness of our experience. At this point, it is not even about the money. We would rather avoid this happening to another guest. If the hotel believes £50 adequately addresses what happened, that says a lot about how differently we and management view acceptable hotel standards and appropriate levels of customer service. Thankfully, we did not eat at the hotel, so I cannot comment on the food or dining experience. However, based on the condition of the room and the way our concerns have been handled, the rooms and customer service have a lot to answer for. I also want to make it clear that our photographs and videos are not allegations or assumptions. They were taken during the duration of our stay and document exactly what we encountered. It is therefore concerning that there appears to be such a significant difference between what we experienced and what management considers to be an acceptable standard. This was not simply a disappointing stay. Being bitten during the night, dealing with severe itching afterwards, finding live insects in the room and then having to disinfect our belongings has been an extremely distressing experience. I genuinely would not want anyone else to have to go through what we have experienced. For the sake of £50, we would much rather highlight our experience so that future guests can make an informed decision before booking.