Burnham-on-Crouch Vacations from $783

Staff were excellent. Breakfast lovely. Amazing land. Room warm and if you are in a room 200 plus it’s a lot of stairs with a suitcase.

Check-in was fine, but the leisure facilities were a letdown. The pool was cold, the jacuzzi didn’t work, and the steam room was out of order. Lockers were unreliable and needed a £1 coin, which is odd for a card-only facility. The saunas are segregated and located in the changing rooms, which isn’t ideal for a couples stay. The male sauna also smelled strongly of urinals. We left almost immediately. At least we weren’t charged. We booked an Executive room, but it didn’t feel like one. The lighting was poor, leaving parts of the room dark. The shower-over-bath setup was awkward due to the curved bath, and not what I’d expect at this level. Worst of all, the “double” bed was just two singles pushed together — unacceptable for an Executive room. Why do some hotels think this is OK? If I wanted a budget hotel, I would have booked one. Oh, and the miniature soaps where annoying at best and useless for a shower. There must have been more plastic used in the packaging than shower gel inside it. Staff were generally pleasant, though the older bartender could do with smiling every now and again. Food was very nice, dinner and breakfast. Some options for vegetarians but this didn't seem to please 'Karen' who found an opportunity to be rude and moan at every opportunity. I guess you can't please them all, especially the Karen's of this world. Wouldn't choose stay again, though I’ve stayed in worse and it's not the worse place for a bed for the night.

We recently stayed at the Gem on a Saturday night and it was a fantastic experience. The hotel is stylish, well run and the staff can't do enough to assist you. Everyone was so professional. Also worth noting is that the Full English breakfast is excellent.

Beautiful as always, little details make all the difference!!