Hotels near Gloucester Park Lake, Basildon

Oh dear. Emailed this hotel prior to booking to confirm their pet policy and charges per dog. Got an email back saying £5.00 per dog, per night (which coincided with internet research on this hotel & prior reviews). Booked this hotel and was then emailed by the same Receptionist to say the price per dog is £15.00 per night. When I questioned it, I was told they made a typo in the original email and their prices had recently gone up too.. Still, we went ahead and booked as we had little choice in the area and paid £90 for us & £60 for the dogs in total for the two nights. Upon check in, we were handed a key card and a little dog waste bag holder which was a nice gesture. From the outside, this place looks alright. Inside our room, it was awful. Carpets are so old and filthy - didn’t want to step on them without shoes on. The bed was okay. The furniture in the room was all very dated. Bathroom was disgusting - flush had to be pushed hard to make it work, mirror had brown cracks in numerous parts, sink was cracked, taps were terribly stained and shower tiles were yellow. Behind the bathroom door, it had been slammed so hard many times that the wall had a door knob shaped deep hole in it. The walls in the whole room were off colour and textured - felt like we were in a prison cell to be honest. Spent the minimum amount of time in the room that we possibly could. It’s unbelievable that they charge so much per dog really and absolutely nothing was provided for them other than the little bag holder - it should have been £5.00 per dog per night as it originally was advertised online. Did not complain to Reception as we understand this is a budget hotel but would NEVER stay here again. The only positives we could find were free parking, they allow dogs and it was quiet during our stay - for every other reason, I would avoid. Whole place needs a refurb and then they could charge more per room.

Great size room. Advertised as 4star….don’t know in what year that would be…more a 2star! Window cill & wall in bedroom really rotten, dated furniture, all a bit scruffy, had to keep window open as room a bit smelly but then was really noisy through the night with lorry deliveries, extracter fan in bathroom not working so really steamy, cracks in tiles where shower is, rotten door frame in bathroom too. Didn’t complain at time as only staying 2 nights just to sleep - sheets etc nice & clean but pillows not comfortable, old & sunken. Wouldn’t stay again.

Warm welcome from staff, allstaff were super friendly. Room was decent, very comfortable bed and good selection at breakfast . Would definitely stay again. Considering the busy area it was extremely quiet. We had trouble with our shower, the receptionist came straight to our room to show us how to get the temperature right on the shower.

The hotel was clean and tidy inside. The receptionist was particularly helpful as I was on crutches. Our booked room was on the first floor and as soon as I asked if there was a possibility of having a ground floor room as I was on crutches, she was very helpful and changed our room. As we were due to go to a wedding a couple of hours later, she booked us in early so we could change in comfort. Our whole experience at the hotel was excellent.

My husband and I stayed here Friday 17/5/24 and Saturday 18/5/24 in a comfy room. We had other family and friends staying in various rooms, as we had all travelled from the North West to attend a family wedding on the Saturday - around 18 of us in total, including the bridegroom. The village of Horndon-on-the-Hill is stunning, medieval and picturesque, and the Bell Inn is full of historical charm (even though a witch was burned right here in the 16th century!) Now for the rooms. Clean, modern and reasonably well equipped, although the very firm bed in our High Wire room has given me terminal backache! Lovely toiletries provided in the bathroom (we brought our own) - but that was the extent of the generosity! Milk for tea/coffee was in very short supply, 3 small capsules of skimmed milk when we arrived, and a packet of biscuits containing 2 biscuits ( one each)! Our son, daughter-in-law and their two teenaged children were in the family room with the spiral staircase - they had been gifted 4 little capsules of milk for the 4 of them and our daughter-in -law thought it likely that she may become the second victim to be burned at the stake for daring to request extra milk! It was a case of “well how many DO you want?” in quite a belligerent tone. Four of our friends arrived later in the evening, and two of them had just set down their cases in their room when the fire alarm sounded. The same member of staff who had dealt with our daughter-in-law’s milk request came to look for what had caused the alarm, and again, in a belligerent tone, she asked “have you been using the iron” to which my friend replied “we have only just arrived!” This lady (manageress or whatever she is), needs to improve her hospitality skills, and to realise that when guests have been travelling for possibly many hours through the Friday traffic, they don’t wish to be greeted with the type of attitude she has, abrasiveness has no place in the hospitality business. Our cleaning ladies were lovely and provided us with extra milk etc. on request. Breakfast - ours was okay, but one of our group received her poached eggs sporting a large hair. She sent it back, then received undercooked eggs, which she didn’t eat but paid for anyway - she is an elderly lady who didn’t “like” to send her eggs back a second time. The Bell Inn is a lovely, quirky atmospheric establishment set in stunning countryside, and it could be perfect with a few simple tweaks.

The breakfast room service was excellent, and we appreciated the quality of the mattress and spacious bath, which comfortably accommodated two. However, room 12A had persistent mechanical noises, possibly from piping, that disrupted sleep, especially as I’m a light sleeper. Regarding the spa, we were surprised by the £10 per hour charge, something we weren’t informed of when booking through a third-party site, maybe it’s on the official website. We’ve stayed at other spa hotels, like the Royal Leonard, where access to facilities was included. Additionally, the £50 hold was confusing. We were told it would cover room charges, but at checkout, we were charged separately for breakfast, and the hold still hasn’t been released after 5+ working days. This delay has been inconvenient. Overall, while we enjoyed aspects of our stay, we expected a bit more value for what we paid, especially for my partner’s birthday celebration.

We spent the night here and were very impressed with the marquee and had a great time at the party . The family room we stayed in was clean tidy and comfortable. We then all had breakfast and the staff was very attentive and helpful especially for my daughter needs as she’s gluten free , so we decided to stay on for lunch which was also very nice . I would highly recommend

We were very happy with our accommodation very clean the bed slightly hard but still able to have a good night sleep, only criticism is the hotel is looking tired and could to with some TLC but we would stay again everyone was friendly and helpful on the hole a great stay