Colchester Cowdray Avenue (A133) hotel

We stayed at the hotel for 1 night on the 13th June as a family of 3. We arrived quite late after 10pm after travelling down from West Yorkshire. The young lady on reception who checked us in was very polite and booked us in for our requested 9.00am breakfast slot and gave us room 9 on the 1st floor. She also checked that we had input our car registration on the computer to give us free parking for our stay. The room upon entering didn't smell too fresh and didn't seem up to the usual premier inn standards of cleanliness which was disappointing. The whole hotel could do with a re-fresh, all the fixtures and fittings are quite dated & scuffed, and the bathroom smelt of urine. We booked a room for 3 and only 2 mugs were provided for hot drinks. The bed was the usual very comfortable premier inn standard, clean white towels, plenty of hot water and toiletries. The air con also worked really well which was one of the main reasons we booked this particular Premier Inn given the time of year. Breakfast the next morning in The Albert (which is now owned by premier inn, not beefeater) was probably the best Premier Inn breakfast we've had! The lovely Hannah showed us to our table, explained where everything was and took our order for the hot breakfast. It arrived fairly quickly and was hot & cooked perfectly. Hannah was doing an amazing job and seemed to be running ship by herself, she was so polite and friendly, she made our son a hot chocolate even though it wasnt on the machine and brought out requested extras to the continental buffet even when she was already dealing with another 10 things! I really hope she's praised by management because hand on heart you've got a real diamond 💎 there! Thanks Hannah 💜 Thanks overall for a fairly good stay- hopefully the odd niggles can be improved upon our next visit to Cowdray Avenue! ❤️ The Andersons

I chose this because you can park for free by the hotel rather than pay for off-site parking. The hotel is a trifle old fashioned.You even get a key. Breakfast at the adjoining pub is ok.There isn't much of a dinner menu.So this means a scramble for parking places at 6pm on North Hill to eat at one of the many restaurants located there. Finally a warning about their WiFi.It continually drops off.So watching a film on YouTube nearly ran me out of data.

Lovely cooked breakfast and plenty of continental to choose from. Stuart the chef running the restaurant cleaning tables taking your order and being the only chef in the kitchen very welcoming lovely atmosphere and easy parking very happy locals

Stayed in the premier inn for a short business stay. My time was made enjoyable from the friendly welcoming service from Denise in the restaurant. The room was clean, tidy and food was very tasty. The excellent service and attentive. Highly recommend this site.

Great location with lots of parking. The staff were friendly and helpful. The room was clean and tidy and just what we needed after a long journey. Went for breakfast in the morning and the food was amazing. One of the best premier inn breakfasts we’ve had as everything was cooked fresh