Royal Hotel, Bar & Grill

It’s a nice setting, which makes it a shame the business seems to be run so badly. After being a regular for nearly a couple of years, I can’t recommend it. In my case, a staff member said the fire alarm had gone off, and within 10 minutes I’d been charged a £50 fine to my account. Nobody looked into it, even though I’d only been in the room for five minutes. I’m a non-smoker, but their response still seemed to blame me. Please don’t trust these opportunistic people. They’ll say anything for money, and seem to be running the place into the ground.

I went in for a quick lunch at the bar, but felt uncomfortable enough to switch from dining in to getting takeaway. There were drunk, loud people laughing at everything and asking me questions, and the hospitality was rude and the service was poor. The place smelled damp and moldy from the moment I walked in, and it looked dirty and badly cleaned. The furniture inside was very old, like something from the Addams Family house. A really disgusting place. I hope nobody ends up there.

The Loaded Omelette was good, and the service was kind. My friend and I had a decent meal, so I’d recommend the place to people visiting the region who are looking for somewhere to eat. There are also discounts on two meals with Monday Madness and Thursday Extravanganza.

The receptionist was rude and asked for an unbelievable amount of ID, so checking in became impossible. They wouldn’t refund us either, though thankfully we didn’t stay. The photos were a lie: the place was shabby and dirty, with scaffolding used as decor. The menu had been cut down to the bare minimum, though I wouldn’t have eaten there anyway. I wouldn’t advise anyone to stay, even if it were the only hotel in Essex.