8 September 2008

Southend-on-Sea: Ilfracombe House Hotel - Guest Comments

“A Real "Home from Home"”

Ilfracombe House Hotel

I stayed at the Ilfracombe House for seven months whilst working in Southend, and it was a real "home from home" for me.
I originally booked it for just the first week of my stay, but had no hesitation in making a long term booking straight away. The initial plus points for me were the friendly atmosphere in the hotel and the quality of service, where nothing was too much trouble.
The rooms are nicely furnished and very well equipped, with Sky TV, dvd player, hairdryer, mini fridge etc (I have stayed in many of the rooms in the hotel over the months). I also stayed in one of the apartments for a week when my son came to visit, and found it very roomy and comfortable. An apartment would be ideal for a family or maybe two couples staying for a few days. When you look at other prices in the area, both the hotel rooms and apartments also represent really good value for money.
As someone who was working in the town and sometimes quite late, I often found it useful that I could get something to eat in the hotel up to eight o'clock at night, and of course it has it's own bar with a recently installed plasma screen tv. There is also another lounge area away from the bar with it's own tv too. Many guests on holiday seemed to really appreciate the late time that breakfast was available (I think it's 7:30 to 11:00), although I wasn't able to take advantage of that myself.
I always used to drive to Southend, and as the hotel is just ten minutes walk from the town centre, I was always able to leave my car on the hotel car park during the week. This is a big plus, as parking in Southend and Westcliff is both scarce and expensive.
Not being there on holiday I'm not really the best person to comment on the resort's attractions, however, I did go into Southend or Westcliff to eat most evenings and there is a pretty wide range of good restaurants to choose from. The hotel is situated midway between both centres and approximately 300 yards from the seafront.
During my stay there I have met many fellow guests, working people staying on their own there, couples and families on holiday and several large family groups staying over for weddings or birthdays, and I can honestly say that all seem to have received the same friendly welcome and quality of personal service that I did.
In summary, I would recommend the hotel highly to anyone staying in the area, whether on business or pleasure, and would be confident that they would have an enjoyable stay.

M. Heritage, Cheshire

June, 2008