Southend On Sea (Eastern Esplanade) hotel

Good - fast, easy and warm check-in, good room and air-con. Bad - breakfast was poor with little in taste on hot food which is unusual, restocking of breakfast items (hot and cold) was very slow despite being fairly quiet in the restaurant. Three PI staff at the check-in desk on departure didn't even say thanks, or goodbye, just carried on talking as we put our key cards in the box, which was right between two of the staff.

The rooms are as expected, that's about as good as it gets unless you know the staff from what I've witnessed over the duration of my stay. No one watching reception during the day and don't answer the call for assistance bell. The restaurant if you can call it that is beyond a joke. Watched 4 separate guests who had meal deals walk away without food as they informed them they were to busy yet only 10 customers in what looks like a 100 capacity restaurant. 2nd experience of the restaurant was seeing peaople turned away cause theve not booked yet only a handful of people in the restaurant then placed my order along with the other 6 customers to then wait over an hour and to be told that the till system hasn't sent orders through to the kitchen yet the couple who knew the staff had been in and out in the time everyone else is still waiting Final straw someone has just asked the staff whilst I'm writing this review if the food was anygood to which they replied NO that says it all, avoid the resturant or expect to be disappointed

We arrived in the carpark - plenty of available spaces. We were greeted with a friendly smile and enthusiasm by the member of staff on reception. We were given room 214 - 2nd floor, sea facing room. Upon arrival into the room, both my partner and I noticed how dated the room was in comparison to previous stays at other sites. We had been in the room no longer than 10 minutes and the fire alarm stared sounding. We proceeded downstairs following the fire exit signs, only be greeted by two staff in reception, frantically trying to switch the fire alarm system off. They said it had mistakenly gone off and told guests not to worry. My partner and I proceeded into the bar area to book a table for dinner that evening. We were told that there would be a 45 minute wait for a table, due to a party of 10 coming in shortly. We were fine with this and retreated back to the room until dinner time. We had been back in our room no longer than a couple of minutes and once again the fire alarm started to sound again. It carried on for 30 minutes, intermittently. While in the room we also noticed there was no toilet paper in the bathroom at all. We went back down to the bar at 20.10 in prep for our 20.15 table. There was still a member of staff fiddling around with the fire alarm controls. Eventually they got it sorted and it stayed off. But for the rest of the evening, the 2 lifts on site remained out of service. We proceeded into the restaurant and were told to sit where ever we wanted - we were quite confused as to why we were unable to have a table earlier as, apart from the group of 10 people, the restaurant was empty. There were 3 staff on had waiting tables and one member of staff Manning the bar. The food was OK - my partner ordered the curry which she really enjoyed. I ordered the fish and chips, which was OK - nothing to write home about. We were told that due to the earlier fire alarm, we were unable to order fountain drinks as there was no gas available - so we had to have bottled drinks instead, which ended up costing more. We requested some toilet paper at reception on the way back up to our room. All in all, the visit was OK, but hugely substandard in comparison to previous Premier Inn stays I've had at other sites. I usually really enjoy a stay at a Premier Inn - the rooms are always so welcoming and modern - they just look nice! Sadly not on this occasion. The room was dated and needed a good clean and some modernising.

Check in was amazing, leaving, not so much. Your beds are so comfy. Rooms could do with touching up in a few areas. For the location the price was a little high. Your WIFI is woeful not even 1mb down. I wanted to use it more, I couldn't even get much signal (anywhere in Southend) overall not my best premier inn experience. You should start a loyalty programme as I usually stay with you guys now

The hotel was fine but in room 312 the air con kept us awake all night, If I turned if off the room soon over heated as there are no opening windows in the morning the reception response was some what indifferent as they do not have good sleep guarantee.