Holiday Inn Express Colchester

Great hotel with good access to transportation. Clean facilities and friendly staff

Had a great stay at Holiday Inn Express Colchester amd the staff were very friendly and polite. Food was great too.

Chosen for the price I was very pleasantly surprised at the service from the helpfulness of the receptionist to the breakfast prep guys and the cleanliness of the room. Tricky to find but a jewel of a hotel.

Hello there I booked long time ago But not sure if this hotel has cancelled my booking

Arrived at the Colchester Holiday Inn Express hotel which is out of town behind a petrol filling station and derelict diner. The stench of raw sewage in the car park set the scene for what was to come. This is a 100+ bed hotel yet had a single member of staff manning reception, bar and who knows what else. The queue at the bar was 7-8 men deep. Frequent “just a minute” calls from the staff member began to wear thin as the queue at the bar showed no sign of diminishing as she struggled to refill beer glasses being purposefully quaffed. I made it known I’d really like to check in sooner rather than later. I don’t deny having driven nearly five hours from the Westcountry certainly contributed to an impending sense of humour failure. Prioritising pulling pints over checking people in isn’t really what the IHG Brand is about. It’s a hotel, not a back street boozer. The staff member reluctantly dragged herself away from the men at the bar and vociferously announced she was on her own which is why there were queues/delays. I responded that she shouldn’t be made to cover so many duties and there was clearly a management issue re: understaffing. The staff member told me she was the manager, to which I responded, well you’ve only got yourself to blame then!”. Next thing I know, she’s in tears, returns to the bar, tells the men waiting I’m a rude arrogant pig (or words to that effect) and gives them all a free drink for having been made to wait by the inconvenience caused by me checking in! A quite sketchy scene unfolded with the men at the bar starting to give me verbal abuse, including one particular new arrival who joined in (openly seeking a free drink) who’d not even been around when I checked in, but thought he’d try his luck anyway. I stood my ground with the staff member who possibly due to a lack of maturity/experience seemed unable to differentiate between rudeness and somebody holding an opinion that didn’t agree with their own. One of the Freebie Drink fellas decided to “have a word” with me which didn’t end as well he might have anticipated. Alcohol making him brave but unable to follow thru with his what some might have seen as threatening “words of wisdom”. Another junior staff member arrived on the scene, realising things were becoming quite sketchy asked the Manageress to leave the bar area, which after some not inconsiderable deliberationshe did. I was asked to go to my room which I did. The group of men, sensing the free beer session was now over, lost interest in me and shuffled off to tables around the bar. I’ve worked across the globe, from mines in Africa to Oil/Gas production in Russia, and never expected to find myself being openly intimidated at the Holiday Inn Express in Colchester. Reading previous reviews, I see I’m not the first person by a long chalk to discover this hotel is seriously sketchy, almost tribal tbh. My advice is - avoid this hotel, troubles brewing. Somebodies going to get very badly hurt all the time the curren

We booked a 5 night stay here Fri-Tues to visit family in the area. Positives: We were very happy with our room, it was on the ground floor away from reception so there was very little passing traffic or noise. The room was very clean, towels were changed daily even though we hung them up to re-use. Breakfast was included, the food was good and the items we ordered from the bar menu in the evening were also good value given the generous portion size. The staff were all very friendly and courteous. Negatives: We were disappointed on returning to the hotel for our last night that the room had not been serviced at all. The bed was very springy, a weekend would have been fine but we aren't great sleepers and 5 days was a struggle in a soft bed. Overall impressions: Great value for money, we would be happy to stay here again and recommend it to others.

We would stay here again only if you could have the same mattress’s as premier inn it’s a shame as everything was excellent but the mattress’s were terrible no support at all 🙁

There is nothing to really recommend this property other thjan price. It is next to a petrol station and one other building just alongside the A12. There is nothing attractive but parking is fine. A small and expensive evening meal menu is available. Breakfast is buffet style with not quite as much on offer as is usual. The food is ok and the service is good, clearing and cleaning tables and topping up the food. Rooms are a reasonable size but no shelves and no drawers so you live out of your travel bag. Therre are coat hangers on an open rack. One bedside light could not be switched off and the room was not serviced one day even though it had been requested. Planty of hot water and a good shower.

Great receptionist,brilliant shower in our room.