Marks Tey Hotel in Colchester

42 of us on a coach holiday stayed for 4 nights at this hotel in October 2023. The rooms were well-equipped and clean with very comfortable beds. The restaurant served very good food and the staff were very helpful, professional and friendly. We were all very impressed and would happily stay here again.

Don’t stay here if you want a clean room , management aren’t great either - felt sorry for the reception staff

I was really upset as we booked a double room ground floor near to entrance/exit and when we arrived we were told that there was no room available. Being badly disabled we booked the room with that in mind. Booking was accepted originally. Also I was subjected to an uncaring attitude and was offered an upstairs room (No lift) or one at the far reaches of this quite largs hotel. TOTALLY INAPROPRIATE .I will NEVER wish to book here again.I also got the distinct impression that the receptionist was VERY discriminate towards disablement. NOT a very nice person.

I booked 2 rooms 5 months ago for four of my friends for my daughter’s wedding at Houchins as it is close to the venue. I booked an early checkin which is £30 per room. My friends arrived at the early check in time to be rudely told they hadn’t booked for an early check in! My friend showed the very rude reception the email. As no rooms were made available to them they had to get ready in the toilets! and leave their bags in the store room. This is disgusting customer service with the rude receptionist making no apology. AVOID THIS HOTEL

I came to this hotel buyer hey coach company holiday and people had travelled all day and when they arrived and even before they were in the door and in their rooms had a sheet of paper given to them and they had to choose what they wanted for.eveno.g meals. This was not good and it was reported to the coach company and to hotel management but seemed to fall on deaf ears Eventually got into the rooms and considering is a 4-star hotel I would only give it 7 out of 10 Also when people went into the dining room they had to sit in the seat where they sat before or even though so they waitresses said that they had the room number of each person even though the people at the table were in different rooms so saying that that we have your room number was not relevant to where you sat You will not given the choice of where you wanted to sit and therefore you were effectively shunted from One table to another I was very disappointed that there was not a copy of the Gideon edition Bible in the hotel room Not good overall

From the first phone call (with Millie) to make booking till the time of departure our experience at Marks Tey Hotel was outstanding - due to my disability my needs can be greater than others none the less I was treated with utmost respect and consideration - Millie went out of her way to ensure our stay went really well even though the hotel was very busy ! Hanna and Shayna took care of our dinning requirements and treated us with such amazing meals (I would rate at least 5 star ! Ng looked after us in bar area - making me special cocktails and serving to my table as I stayed up (solo) to enjoy my surroundings ! - I will add we did have a couple of minor issues with room but were dealt with within minutes ! We would not hesitate to book again the Mark Tey hotel as long as people mentioned will be there to look after us along with the excellent chefs !!

Not one of the better hotels I’ve stay in the rooms are bated cupboard doors were coming off the hinges there’s no spare toilets roll’s you have to go and get one from reception. Breakfast wasn’t good either bacon & sausage were like rubber and didn’t fancy the look of the eggs. One evening meal wasn’t too bad.

I could not fault this great hotel at all . Celebrated my 70 th birthday , had a package, dance floor, fantastic DJ, fabulous party food spread. Nothing was too much trouble for them. Stayed overnight, great room, spotless and peaceful. Breakfast really good, all staff helpful. I cannot praise the staff enough 10/10

Again by no choice of mine I was provided accommodation by my employer and once again it was awful, constant banging of doors at 1am! Seems a complete free for all. Would I pay to stay here? Most definitely not

We stayed on Friday 22nd October. Our room cost £95 and to be honest it was a massive let down! The shower curtain had dirty marks all over it. The toilet and bathroom were filthy and grimy. When i went to make me and my partner a cup of coffee i noticwd one of the stirrers was dirty and obviously perviously used! They need a better and bigger menu. About 6 things to choose from and nothing simple! Food was okay though. The only thing we really liked at this hotel was the young cheery girl that served us. She gave a great atmosphere and was just amazing. Not sure on her name but she had a gum piercing. Would we stay here again though?? No! Such a beautiful place but a shocking dissappointment

Spent 2 nights here as I was away on business, unfortunately for me it was awful timing as next door to my room was a very noisy group who I later found out were cyclists on tour around the Essex area, I was woken up both days in the early morning -3am but loud talking and banging, This was by far the worst sleep I have ever had in a hotel, A real shame as previous stays were much nicer

bought 2 vouchers for £50 it was £25 each for me and my partner u get a 3 course meal plus 2 drinks. so we went in to see about 8 to 10 people in the room, small menu choice. we ordered our starters which took ages to arrive and was so small we had trouble seeing them, then order next course which took ages to arrive, the waitress said everything was behind as only 1 chef on and he was not use to this many people, at this time a couple had walk out due to the wait. our mains was terrible my partners pork was pink and my steak was tough and gristle. so we complain so there said there would take the £8 surchange off the steak . no one told us about that on the vouchers { the reception or front of house} dessert was not good either. so we leave 2 hours later still hungary and went out and got food else where. my partner who is disabled was took we could leave restaurant whilst we were talking to a nice couple next to us at the end of the meals

Having booked an executive room a year in advance due to attending a wedding nearby and confirming that we would be late checking in (as they would not allow an earlier check in) we were advised that our room had been allocated to someone else. Purposely requested this type of room for air conditioning due to it being August. Room that we were given as replacement had a dirty unclean toilet - we were moved to another room at 2am which thankfully had a clean bathroom! Zero confidence in the cleanliness of the hotel after seeing the state of the surfaces including the TV remote that had years of grime embedded - hardly covid clean! Both rooms were extremely tired looking with wires hanging loose, decoration and general upkeep very poor. Waited over 7 weeks for an acceptable resolution to my complaint which has been chased numerous times. I have now given up with pursuing any further as it feels hotel management clearly do not value its customers or the experience given. On a positive note the reception staff who are the ones left to speak to customers were all very helpful.

We stayed here for 3 days on a coach trip. As others have said it's very tired looking but our room was clean and the bed was comfortable. We had an issue with the plug in the basin in the bathroom as it wouldn't stay in place so the water always ran out. A visit to reception and the problem was quickly sorted. The shower was over the bath and a notice on the wall by the grab handle stated that you should hold the handle and move slowly and carefully when using the bath/shower so they obviously knew that the bottom of the bath was slippery and it was dangerous but another trip to reception to ask for a mat soon sorted this too. The breakfast was good and the evening meal was ok - what I call coach fare. The downside to this was as soon as we arrived (after a long journey) we were given the menu for 3 days evening meals which had to be selected then and there and there was no way you were allowed to change your mind after that!!! Service at the evening meal was very slow but as we weren't going anywhere it didn't really matter. They seemed short staffed but the young waiters and waitresses were all really lovely. We just couldn't understand why they couldn't bring several meals out at once on a tray instead of just having to carry 2 dishes at a time. It would definitely have saved their legs! I would probably stay here again.

Rooms are a decent size, but hotel is extremely tired. Felt like stepping back into 70s (in fact someone said they half expected Benny and Miss Diane behind reception)

When I saw the style of the building and the truly awful carpets in the communal areas, I was expecting a bad experience. But actually the room was spotlessly clean and comfortable and the dinner in the restaurant and the breakfast were good. I would...

Well just had the cod with the triple cooked chips and I'd like to thank them for the effort of the FOUR chips........seriously

The staff were fantastic and the room was lovely. We had our plans for our 25th anniversary cancelled and decided to stay near Colchester as we love the zoo. Just chatting as we were checking in, we explained our situation and the lovely staff gave...

1. Bed is TINY… both of us woke each other up moving …. didn’t help the room was spinning I guess. 2. Woke up with the alcohol belly - only to discover the toilet paper in this hotel is recycled crap that disintegrated at first...

We had 3 nights here. Clean and comfortable bed and bedroom/bathroom. Breakfasts good. Nice staff. We were on the first floor and it was nice and quiet.

A really lovely hotel. Very friendly and efficient staff, especially Rose, who works tirelessly, with a smile on her face. (Note to management, she deserves a pay rise). Ate 2 dinners and 2 breakfasts in the restaurant and all food was lovely, especially the crispy...

Avoid at all costs took money from the registered card they shouldn’t have room contained drink in the corner of the room from a previous stay rude staff stopped serving me and my partner drinks for which they say was to prevent anything later that...

Our Rotary Club met weekly at the hotel and had events there - and we miss it. The staff gave always been attentive, the breakfast chose vast and the place friendly, It is such a shame that we can't get back there.

Stayed here as part of a Wowcher offer bundled with tickets for Colchester Zoo. Was great value and easy to book. Wanted an evening meal, so emailed the hotel but they referred me to a “Swifty” app. Which I downloaded but the menu was very...

Would’ve been very poor if not for the very nice manager who was polite, pragmatic and offered some damage limitation. We visited the restaurant as my 10 year old daughter had her temporary swim club next door and the help out to eat out scheme...

Had to download an app to get the menu which didn't work from scanning the qr code. The waiter took our phone to try to get it to work. He had a mask that was under his nose and had no idea of social distancing....

The hotel was nice and old fashioned, however the restaurant and bar areas felt very overcrowded which meant it wasn’t very relaxing

We have been to the Marks Tey Hotel many times over the last few years and was really pleased to hear it was back open so we booked a night there to get away from the misery of the situation going on with COVID at...

Stayed here a couple of times in the last month and really like it. Great value for money. Sorry I can't remember the names but the Romanian girl in reception and the girl in the leisure club were really lovely and helpful. Leisure club was...

Me and my friends have been coming to the marks tey for their Christmas party night for 14 years - every year we have a great night and hope to still be coming for the next 20 years!

Stayed for one night whilst visiting family. Clean and good size room. Hotel very old and in need of refurb but they make the best of it. Clean and somewhere to rest for the night but no more. Staff seemed nice and it seemed a...

Great value for the large double room we had, comfortable bed, toiletries in the bathroom, bath, friendly staff at bar and at reception. Both had an excellent meal in the restaurant, near I’ve had for a long time. Good location for main road to London.