The Palace Hotel

It’s pot luck with this hotel. Our room was ok but my parents room was disgustingly dirty. The only thing the cleaners seemed to have changed was the bed. The room looked like it hadn’t been given a good clean for some time and needed lots of TLC. Shower was not clean with previous muck and hair, grouting and sealant very dirty, sink was dirty, fresh and old stains on carpet, skirting boards full of accumulated dust and dirt, items broken that could easily be fixed. I felt so sorry for them and they were fully booked so couldn’t move them to another room. Offered to clean but my parents weren’t comfortable with this due to lots of belongings and the room needing a good clean and belongings had to be packed away again. My mum needed up cleaning as she went along! No money off but had a free breakfast! Poor offerings and bad taste for a Radisson hotel!

Quick check in, room spacious and quiet. The aircon was noisy so switched it off, but it was one of the hottest weekend. Overall a great stay

I stayed here this week and I can say that’s there is some kind of scam going on with the Radisson hotels and Booking.com. I booked the hotel through booking.com and was given a price of £84 for a room with a free upgrade to sea view. This was clearly shown throughout the booking process . Once I booked I got charged £106.20 which I thought strange…I book regularly through booking.com and the advertised price is always what you get charged. Talked to the hotel and they weren’t interested. I talked to booking.com and they said if I could provide a screenshot of the price then they would refund…knowing full well that they have disabled this feature from their app. Now having to go through my bank to recover the money. As for the hotel…expensive for what it is. Needs a lick of paint and looks a bit tired and has a foisty smell. I’d advise that you don’t take your car as they have no carpark and if you use the adjacent carparks then you will be charged £25 per day. Not convinced I’ll be going back to Southend anytime soon.

On arrival I found a wet cloth on the floor of the room and the sink would not empty. I had these dealt with but the next day the sink again would not empty so I simply removed the plug insert. The light bulb in the entrance hall was burned out and there was no body lotion in the container in the shower. I asked for those to be fixed. I got 2 small sachets of body lotion - the light bulb remained out. Air conditioning was pathetic and it was +30C during my stay. The desk staff were helpful in making a phone call when my cell phone ran out of minutes, otherwise a most forgettable stay.

A little bit of luxury always does you good!

We had our family relatives over from Australia and what an awful experience we had. We took them to the restaurant and bar to show them the view and to get a drink. My cousin and I went to the bar. We placed our order of one tea, one latte and two capacino's, after an hour nothing had turned up so I went to the bar to ask and was told that they were doing them yet the barman kept disappearing. Finally they turned up and probably the worst cappacino's I have ever seen. Ten minutes later my cup of tea arrived. The tea still had the tea bag in it but no milk, I asked for the milk which never came. My wife's latte was a no show. I spoke to the manager who's only response was that they were busy. After a 50 minute wait we decided to leave and so we did, never to return again.

An excellently located hotel where the “excellent” stops at the front door. The rest of our group arrived before us and checked in on our behalf with the key being left at reception for us to collect, when we did arrive we had to go through the whole check in process ourselves. We went up to our room and in all honesty was a bit horrified at the state of the carpet. Room was very dated and shabby with serious improvements required. We wanted to freshen up after our journey to find there was no shower head in the bathroom so had to call down to reception and they said they’d send someone up to sort it out. We were in a bit of a rush so couldn’t hang around for this. The air conditioning unit was very noisy while barely functioning. The tap in the bathroom sink sprayed absolutely everywhere. The description on the website says “All rooms include a steam iron and ironing board for your convenience” which we did not have. At this point we were a bit fed up and just wanted to get on with our evening. Went to the bar and ordered 2 half pints but ended up with 1 full and 1 half pint. By the time we got into bed we noticed the 1 pillow each was as flat as a pancake and it was a very uncomfortable bed. Room doesn’t look anything like the pictures online.

Perfect location. We had a room on third floor, hotel reception side which over looks shopping centre car park. Only there for one night but worth paying for the rooms overlooking the pier for longer as privacy issues from car park. Check in was easy and room available early. Nice reception area. Standard room was huge, massive comfy bed but layout means bathroom is small. Shower itself was great but shower tray definitely needed replacing and showed signs of previous repair so had to stand either side of damaged area as it didn’t look hygienic. Rest of room had minimal furniture, no wardrobe. Air conditioning was a lifesaver as it’s was 29c! Other hotels I’d looked at didn’t have it so it was worth it for that alone. Parking: The shopping centre car park opposite is expensive. We originally booked a driveway on ‘Just Park’ which was 2 mins drive and about 10min walk back to hotel but we found out the taxi bays outside the hotel are no longer used and guests can park there for free on the single yellows lines which was great as even a 10mins walk in 29c wasn’t appealing. I would stay here again as location is so good, just don’t expect anything more than the basics and you will be fine. Lots of other comments mention the carpets, yes true they are not great and would be better removed and have hard flooring but thankfully our room was not covered in stains like others have mentioned but there such a big expanse of carpet in the room it must be a nightmare for housekeeping as they would need regular shampooing rather than just hoovering I would assume. Booking direct with Raddison on their app seems to be the cheapest way and if you book by phone the flexibility on cancellation was incredible, up to 6pm on day of arrival which was really reassuring when you have to navigate the M25 as anything could happen!

The hotel's public rooms are good, however once you step past the security doors into the corridors that lead to the rooms it is a completely different story.. The carpets are stained and ill fitting. We were told the hotel was being refurbished however they were still letting out rooms for full rate that were not fit to be let at all. I saw several rooms (we were attending a function at the hotel). Only one of the rooms was fit for purpose, however there was no safe, and had only two cheap hard pillows.. The others had stained carpets, a stale and unpleasant smell, and two cheap hard pillows on a king size bed. The air conditioning did no work on the 5th floor and the fans that were provided sadly did nothing to mitigate the smell. As we were attending a function at the hotel we were told we would get a reduced rate. In fact we were all charged different rates varying by more than £30. One of our party who stayed two nights was charged only £89 for the second night, another was charged £128 for the same night for single use. We were all told that we had been given the discounted rate however we were unable to check because the receptionist said the rate changed daily, and she was unable to tell us whether the rate change applied when you book, or the day you arrive. I stayed at this hotel in 2014. It was a lovely hotel then and I was looking forward to staying again. To say I was disappointed is an understatement. The rooms are a disgrace and I would never stay there again.

Reception staff very pleasant. I checked into the room in a hurry on my way to an event and did not at that stage see how filthy and stained the carpet was (in several areas), or notice the dirty net curtains or mould in the shower room. The shower screen is crusty around the bottom. If I had seen these things at the time I would have requested another room. The one allocated is not suitable for occupation. At breakfast the staff member who greeted me said if I would like poached or fried eggs, she could obtain for me. She then disappeared into the kitchen without offering me a table, or letting me know what the system is. So I hung around until she returned and she was then able to advise that there was a hot and cold buffet. In itself it was adequate but basic. Unsliced loaves with bread knives were open and uncovered on a bread board. Begs the question how many pairs of hands have handled. Sauces were available from existing open bottles. I have raised my concerns with the reception team, first thing and on check out. I am still waiting for a call back. I stayed at this property for the convenience of being at the event venue I was attending and I won't be staying again, under any circumstances.