The Pier Hotel

We were right on the quay, with a comfortable, well-equipped room and a spacious bathroom with a walk-in shower that I loved. The staff were kind, attentive, and wonderful, and the food was fantastic. Breakfast had plenty of choice. I couldn't fault the hotel.

The town had an oddly compelling feel, and the restaurant had great food and compelling views. I stayed one night at the end of Oct-2025. The room was quirky and comfortable, with a good bathroom, though it was very compact and could have used the space better with different furniture placement. It was very hot, but easy enough to open the windows, and the bed was very soft. Breakfast was good, and the common area had tea and coffee. It had been booked for a private function, though, so we couldn't use it. There is private parking, but we didn't know that beforehand and had already paid to park outside by the pier. The restaurant is a good option if you like seafood and dairy, but pickings will be lean if you don't.

Our work Christmas meal at the beginning of December was in a private dining room, and the waitress was fantastic. The restaurant is lovely, in beautiful old Harwich, and the food was good quality. My main course was lukewarm, though, which was disappointing for our group. Parking was a bit of a pain that night, but you can usually find a space on one of the side roads. A really good evening overall, with the food temperature and parking as the letdowns.

We’ve been here a couple of times lately for family occasion meals, and each time the food has been less than good. For a restaurant with premium prices, I still haven't had food that matches the expectation. The fish pie, which you'd expect to be superb at a specialist fish restaurant, was bland and tasteless unless you added lots of salt and pepper. My husband's deluxe burger was poor too. One of the two burgers was so overdone it couldn't be eaten, so he fed it to our dog under the table. He didn't complain because there were six of us at the table. Bar service is quite slow as well.