Brook Red Lion Hotel in Colchester

We booked 3 nights at the Red Lion having stayed there many years ago. We booked for meals each night and the email booking confirmed this, including the price. When we arrived at the Hotel we were surprised to find that the hotel hasn't done meals in the Parliament restaurant for several years now! The staff were pleasant, the room dingy and unloved. The bar was freezing cold ( and wasn't ever open) which meant breakfast ( which was good) was a hurried affair! The worst of all this is that although I sent some comments to the Brook head office ( rather than go public) I've received neither an acknowledgement or a response, Clearly this Brook group care very little about their customers and I feel very sorry for their staff if this is how they treat people. It's very sad as the Red Lion is a beautiful historic building and I fear for its future.

The room was incredible; it evoked the atmosphere of old Victorian times. However, the room was freezing cold; the heating didn't work at all. When I asked the reception staff to turn the heating on, they refused, saying it would be too hot for them. They clearly didn't care about the visitors; they merely brought in a few radiators that cluttered the room. The breakfast was awful, the service was poor, and the dining area was very cold.

So happy with the stay! We went there for a night in colchester but ended researching the hotel and saw that some people thought it was haunted. We ended up asking the lady at the counter and we took a whole tour of the restaurant and Tudor room and she even took us into room 10,6 and 7 and we got to hear multiple spiritual things and she even told us the stories of the people who had previously died here in 1600 and then continued to tell us things that she had experienced here. It was very nice almost like she had taken us on a ghost tour! We will definitely be coming back. We enjoyed it very much! Definitely need to come and see. The service was amazing and the night porter also came and told us stories!!! Can’t praise the service and how amazing the stay was!

Afternoon tea gave us severe food poisoning. Emailed to inform and no response. Very concerned..

Lovely night spent at the red lion. The building is lovely, and Angela was an amazing host who was more than happy to tell us all about the history of the building. Will be back for drinks again soon.

Did a ghost hunt here last night with echoes of the night what a great night the stories that staff have are amazing and it such a great experience we stayed the night and the rooms where great comfortable and not to noisy we will defo be back thanks to both teams echoes of the night and the red lion hotel

Very lovely visit, staff were cracking and the room was very cosy and pretty. Would have stayed longer than the one night if we didn't already have plans!

Nice old Tudor building, but requires a lot of maintenance, The bar and the hall are amazing for wedding parties

Brilliant stay at the Red Lion, Angela and Donna were amazing and really went out of their way to accommodate us. Especially enjoyed chatting with them about the history of the building. Would highly recommend! Thank you.

A one night stay in a lovely, wood beamed, slightly wonky old building. Service was super friendly and made me feel welcome, the room was clean, warm and stocked with usual accompaniments such as kettle and TV. Location is in the middle of town with easy access to public transport, shops and attractions. I didn't get to experience the breakfast this time but looking forward to perhaps getting to try it another day 😊

Food was nice and felt very welcome.

BED BUGS!!!!!! Lazy Staff!!!!!! Absolutely appalled by my stay at The Red Lion. The room was infested with bed bugs, and despite reporting it multiple times, the staff failed to resolve the issue. There was a previous review regarding bed bugs however, they had not taken the required actions. I was moved to another room, only to find more bed bugs there too. I had asked the night porter for another room he said there were none available. I ended up leaving at 4 a.m. and sleeping in my car due to the unbearable conditions. I had come back the following day to complain and was told they did have another room available. Lazy Staff. I had to dispose of my belongings to avoid contamination. Totally unacceptable and the worst hotel experience I’ve ever had! Please Avoid. Rough Night.

I found a bed bug which affected the rest of my England trip, I reached out to them and Hotels.com ( who I booked through ) and because of policies through hotels.com they didn't give me a full refund and even speaking with Hotels.com they thought it was best for me to be paid only from the night the issue happened.

Very nice place. Historical building. The hotel kept parts 600 years old and properly restored. An interesting experience.

Great location with cheap parking a 5m walk (Osbourne street ncp) Breakfast was nice but all cheapest bulk bought ingredients. Room was basic and in dire need of TLC, and a fan. I get that it's an old Tudor building but the paintwork was tired with so many marks and scratches. The bathroom was cramped and unpleasant. The room was sweltering and just needed something to help air flow. I would never expect AC in an old building but a fan would be amazing. Staff were pleasant and helpful but as it is, it's over priced. You purely pay for the location. Bed was solid too, like rock hard

Amazing service from the lady who looked after us. Really great venue 😎

Beautiful historic beamed building enveloping whilst creating 'Red Lion Walk' that leads to Red Lion Square. You have to walk under & almost 'through' this stunning hotel,( found in the very centre of the town), to enter it via the staircase. The dining/ breakfast area with high heavily vaulted ceiling is impressivebut with so many beams throughout the building it is extremely dark and does make for a slightly oppressive feel. Clean & tidy rooms that do require modernisation and an injection of personality especially by today's standards. Nice bar area. Staff good & friendly. If you're looking to stay right in the centre of town you can't beat the Red Lion. Within minutes walk you have all the usual chain of stores you would expect to find and several bus stops directly opposite the hotel, also the taxi rank is right outside the hotel. Very handy if you are staying for a wedding taking place at the Town Hall opposite the Red Lion.

Guest reviews 7.2 out of 10 Good 7.2/10 Good 259 259 verified reviews Verified reviews Cleanliness 7.4/10 " "Cleanliness 74% Staff & service 8.0/10 " "Staff & service 80% Amenities 7.0/10 " "Amenities 70% Property conditions & facilities 6.4/10 " "Property conditions & facilities 64% Eco-friendliness 6.8/10 " "Eco-friendliness 68% Search reviews Search reviews Sort byMost relevantMost recentHighest guest ratingLowest guest rating Sort by Traveller typeAllCouplesSolo travellersBusiness travellersFamiliesFamilies with small childrenGroupsTravellers with pets Traveller type 2/10 Poor 3 May 2024 Never stay here. Absolutely unclean. Great central location however opposite a night club that doesn’t finish till 4am with taxi queue until about 5 Our ceiling leaked during the night. Couldn’t report it as phone didn’t work. Told staff next day and was told cleaner would pull out bed away from the wall!! Asked for toilet roll but never got any so had to buy some at tescos. Shower was a trickle. Walls and floor and curtains absolutely awful. We stayed in room 6. Couldn’t move without the floorboards making an horrendous racket. Staff however were pleasant enough if not slightly strange to be honest. I was offered a free stay my the receptionist next time and I told him you couldn’t pay us to stay there again. Breakfast I have to say was ok but I was scared of who was cooking it to be fair and what the cleanliness of the kitchen was if the rest of the place was absolutely awful. Avoid this hotel at all costs. See less  joanne, 2-night romance trip Report review Verified Expedia guest review 6/10 Good 28 Apr 2024 Lovely building, but book for that alone. While the building is a must see if you appreciate history, the 'modern' fittings were tired and predominantly broken (blinds on velux windows that were long gone, broken bath panels and no working radiators in our 'executive' room for example). The advertised restaurant was closed and the bar was locked on one night, and unmanned on our second. Breakfast was buffet cereals and fruit with served cooked, this was fine, though as I can't eat eggs I always like it when a hotel offers to replace with another item, sadly this was not the case here. I do also feel I need to comment on the breakfast tea and coffee. I do drink a lot of coffee, and am almost certain I was served Nescafe instant in a coffee pot! Equally my wife's tea was made with the cheap flavourless tea bags, we skipped hot drinks on the second morning! In summary we felt the hotel had huge potential, but has tried to cut every cost. While I appreciate times have been hard in the industry other hotels have made effort to wow us so we want to come back, sadly the Red Lion feels like it's given up, which is so sad for such an amazing building.

Stayed at this hotel after some surge pricing at a better known chain made it unaffordable. The hotel is a "character" hotel, but has a truly excellent location in the centre of Colchester's High Street and is remarkably close to the main historic attractions of Central Colchester. The staff were also fantastically friendly and really went the extra mile in trying to help us and make the stay enjoyable. But.... the room! I'd forgive a lot of things since it is such an old and historic building (such as uneven floors and the odd squeaky floorboard), but some things are just too much. Like: - The mattress on the bed was appalling. You could feel the individual springs whilst you tried to sleep. - The TV only seemed to connect to random stations, but it listed everything. - The heating had 2 settings: off and volcano. - The window would not close or open properly. - The shower was like trying to wash under a dripping tap and the bathroom in general seemed to need a general upgrade. (Including a thorough, deep clean) I wish I could give this hotel a higher score. The staff were a genuine delight and the location was fantastic. It was just so badly let down by the tired and uncomfortable room.

I really enjoyed staying in Room 7 and sleeping in a really comfortable replica Four Poster Tudor Bed on Friday 22nd March 2024. I was there to take part in a Paranormal Ghost Investigation and it was so lovely to see and connect with Alice again, as I had encountered her in Room 10, when I had stayed there with My cat Aragorn on Friday 1st December 2023. There was plenty of spirit energy on Friday, with other spirits coming through, one being a Monk and another George. In the Morning, I enjoyed a really delicious Full English Breakfast, with my dippy fried eggs being cooked to perfection.

Stayed here just one night stopping over to go to a comedy show on our way up to Great Yarmouth for the weekend. Location is brilliant, and coming up the stairs it's in a gorgeous historic building, really has great character. Unfortunately the crux of it is it's probably the worst hotel room I've ever stayed in. Floor was uneven and really disorienting, the bed was a very small double, and slotted in a small gap, which at least you could put your hand against when turning over to stop you falling off. Bathroom extremely dated and not very clean looking. It being on the high street, it's noisy at night if you have a room facing the street which we did. Can't comment on the food or drink as didn't spend much time apart from sleeping there. At the end of the day, it was a cheap place to rest our heads for a night. But absolutely worth spending an extra 20 quid for somewhere nicer.

Good value for money, perfect location

Great location, friendly and professional staff.

This hotel is in the centre of Colchester near all pubs and Colchester Castle This establishments rooms are on suite and altohgh is not the poshest place for somebody going to the football at Colchester United it's an ideal couple of nights place to stop at affordable rates Visited march 2023 Visited again 2024 Thursday, January 11th, i visited for 3 nights at this hotel. i stopped for the 11th, the 12th, and the 13th. The room was no 23 it was a twin room. There were good coffer makin facilities the tv was good my bed was okay and bathroom good with a okay shower in it been at the back of building the water was a bit weak which affected the shower pressure it was so bad i could not have a shower for the 3 days i was here.👎👎👎👎👎 ##⁸Now another reason poor stars given the reason it did not get 5 stars on my corridor from,about 5 o'clock in the morning i was woken by people walking about. I dont know who they were, but doors banging was bad. At the same time, there was banging outside. I took a picture to show the view from the room and put it on the hotels site. It shows a path to which people use it to get about. ##The staff here superb polite and helpfull always on my visits.