Premier Inn Basildon (Festival Park) hotel

Part of me feels a little guilty leaving only three stars. The park grounds are tidy, nice little park space for children, and there is a large open green area behind the clubhouse for ball games. The outdoor swimming pool had already closed for the winter by the time we arrived - not a problem at all, as we knew that before booking - and what we saw of the pool area looked well-maintained. Large arcade area with the usual games for kids to win tickets and prizes etc. Entertainment area inside the bar / clubhouse was of a good size, no issues finding a table. Food and drinks were not cheap, but not extortionate either. So there were a lot of good points to it. Now the negative, most of which are quite minor - the lighting wasn't great around the site, so walking back to the accommodation later in the evening after dark could have been easier. Could possibly have done with one more member of staff behind the bar in the evening to improve queue times for service. Ordinarily the above would all add up to a comfortable four-stars, but the reason I had to drop it to three was the frequency with which we smelt cannabis in and around the bar. Clearly people were either carrying it inside, or actually smoking it somewhere nearby the clubhouse. There was security walking around the bar, but their demeanour was such that they clearly either didn't realise or didn't care that there was drug use nearby. Given that the park and early evening entertainment is very child- and family-oriented, it was very concerning to smell cannabis as often and as strongly as we did with so many young children around. Park management and / or security really need to get a grip of this.

Would recommend a visit here. Absolutely faultless. Staff, atmosphere, views and food were amazing. We will be back. Forgot to mention not a bad price for food and drink. Wish you all the best and carry on doing what you’re doing as it’s working. Till next time x

This is our 5th Visit, 2018/19/21/23/2024. I'd of always given this resort a 3.5/4 but our last visit was a 2* & if it wasn't for the young man behind the club house bar it would of been a 1*.|This is our last visit unfortunately. We had hassle on a few occasions with young boys actually going under our van which they denied doing when confronted. My dogs heard them, I heard them, the wife heard them. After that they did their best to play silly beggers by staring at us in the club house & making it quite clear they thought it funny. Shouting as they came past our caravan (We were not on the main strip to the club house, they diverted deliberately).|I discover their parents were permanent owners on the site, hence we won't be going back, I think it's best I stay away as I don't want to escalate matters.|Enough said about that, the vans are ok, very basic really, particularly small bedrooms, we had a gold van 2 Bedroom. The land around the vans is very prone to flooding even if it's not raining that heavy which means you have to park by the club house (officially I don't think you are allowed to park by the Vans), which means the wife who is registered disabled has to shuffle too & fro from Van to the club house.|Beer is Morretti, about average pub prices but the food fir what it is very expensive, same as the little store connected. Advice, bring your own tooth paste, washing up liquid, cleaning products, bottles of wine, milk, cereal etc etc.|The description of the site on TripAdvisor says.. 'stunning views' probably the biggest exaggeration I have seen, its flat as a pancake marsh land, brown brackish water & not at all stunning. Trust me I lived up the road in Mayland & Burnham once upon a time.|Sadly we won't be going back.