Travelodge Clacton on Sea Central

This Travelodge building does not look like the photo. It has scaffolding over it & very dirty on the outside, which actually made it look like a derelict building. When you enter the building there is no greeting as the reception is on the 1st floor. Our room was terrible, the bed was visibly damaged, the duvet cover stained, one pillow per person & you can feel the springs in the mattress. There were holes in the walls, some you could see were badly patched up. The bathroom soap dispensers were empty & mold in places. The lights on headboard stopped working. This was a last thought booking as we was doing a day trip then decided to stay the night. My first & definitely last time at a Travelodge.

From the moment we arrived, the experience was terrible! There were drunken, homeless people sitting right outside the entrance all day and night, which didn’t feel safe or welcoming at all. On one occasion, as we left the hotel for a walk, we even witnessed two of them having a full blown punch up with each other directly outside. There is also regular shouting and swearing by said alcoholics at the top of their voices, which can be heard while in your rooms. Parking is opposite, but not included and is charged at over £10 per day by a separate company with no subsidy for guests, which is excessive considering the standard of the hotel. The room itself had not even been hoovered — instead of sending housekeeping, I was given a robotic hoover, which barely worked and died after two minutes. Basic amenities were also missing: no hand soap or body wash in the room. When I asked reception, the lady tried being helpful by attempting to fix the broken dispensers but this was not possible so I was handed an industrial sized tub of the product rather than proper toiletries. To make matters worse, the bathroom smelt strongly of cigarettes, which was coming through the extractor and was extremely unpleasant. There is no air conditioning, so the room was boiling hot even with the window open and the little fan constantly going. For £194 for two nights, I would have expected far better standards and service from Travelodge. Overall, this hotel is poorly maintained, unclean, and offers terrible value for money. I would strongly recommend looking elsewhere. It’s put me off ever using Travelodge again!

For Clacton, this is the best value. Yes, Premier Inn is closer to the seafront, rooms have baths and air con, but Travelodge is consistently cheaper. The beds are the same. The location could be better, but this is Clacton, not Paris. Manage your expectations! Always staffed 24hrs and they are really helpful and friendly - especially Lorraine!

The staff were nice but the whole hotel needs a bit of a revamp, room looked very rundown and grubby

We stay in Travelodges regularly and this was probably my least favourite. It's in short walking distance to the seafront and shops ect, but the location in the backstreets was quite rough, there were drunks everywhere which could make you feel quite uncomfortable. The rooms were ok, apart from having no hand soap or shower gel. I looked at reviews and this seems to have been an issue for the past few years, the shop next door must do a roaring trade on these. There is also only 1 lift working, The carpark opposite is £10 for 24hrs. On the app it said max parking 24hrs with no return within 2hrs. Although it didn't actually say that anywhere in the carpark, so to be safe we left for a few hours before returning and doing another 24hrs. Overall not the best but not terrible.