OYO the Rivenhall Hotel in Witham, Chelmsford

This place is a dump. There really is no other words needed. No bar / restaurant as per pictures. No way to get food, when questioned with the dodgy looking reception bloke he said ''you have tea coffee and a biscuit in the room'' After a long day on the road I was rather hoping for something a bit more substantial than a biscuit that would struggle to cover the surface area of a mouse's tongue. Reception is grim, dark and dismal, walls are paper thin. Room was clean but very tired. All in all about as appealing as a bombed out estate in Beirut.

On arrival the whole place was looking like a derelict unused unfit for consumption place, nothing like the advertised pictures, the main gate was looking like a steel block to enter through in a building site, which was padlocked and you had to ring a number to call to be let through by someone ( not a security guard) and then locked behind us. The pictures on the website currently show a full working hotel. This surely is not. One car in the car park. Unloading the car with my husband after a two hour drive we both looked concerned, at what we saw. Building works all around and the whole main hotel was closed down. The man behind the reception desk was very quick to move us along to outside buildings which were also undergoing some sort of works but could not see fully as was dark, the building was like old fashion 1950 concrete coldits buildings all in a long corridor. He took us to a room. Oh my he undone the door of which was falling apart and like paper and basically left us. Optimistic for a nights stay following walking in yes it was clean BUT how it was NOT, the rooms furniture was fallen all apart the bed was a double and did look like had clean sheets ( which was all I dare look at. The curtains were hanging off the window , TV broken and none of the normal warm. and welcome things you would expect in a 3 star hotel. Walking into the bathroom and the room itself freezing cold ( a small heater under the window which barely worked to heat the room. One towel to serve 2, the water taking a long time to come through the tap before you were able to rinse your hands which was clearly not heated hot. Did not attempt to use shower to freshen up. The Bathroom in a 1950/60 style green marble style tile. Shower clean toilet flushed all I can say. I didn’t even attempt to test the comfort for a goodnights sleep as was absolute disgraceful. Any one wanting to stay, PLEASE DO NOT. Be fully aware the hotel is currently not a good place to be.unfortunately after returning from a work colleagues 70 th birthday we placed our things back in the car of our choice handed our keys back and I drove back 2 hours home. Be aware also there is no REFUUNDS given yes £79 per night (no breakfast included) but would of paid additional for this if necessary, is a good price if you are desperate but do not rely on money back if not satisfied. TRY to avoid this horrible nightmare place until finished because clearly should not be advertising what it currently showing and should not be open at all!!!!

Was quite pricey for what it actually was, was slightly disappointed. The hotel itself was very noisy with guests up and banging until the early hours of the morning, satnav takes you to a different location from the postcode provided and the shops are miles away

We had 5 double rooms at The Rivenhall Hotel for our family group to attend a wedding locally. We were a little disappointed to be informed by the hotel that the restaurant wouldn’t be open but they gave us plenty of notice. On checking out their website after we’d booked we were alarmed to read that the hotel was closing down completely. I called them and spoke to a very helpful receptionist who assured me that we had the ‘500’ rooms and these were the better rooms in the hotel. And so they were! They were comfortable, clean and had all we needed for our two night stay. Two rooms even had air conditioning. We were able to park our cars close to the rooms. Parking and WiFi were free of charge. It is true that the gardens are now somewhat overgrown and look a little uncared for but the staff were excellent and a credit to the hotel. Although the restaurant was closed there was a table in reception where plates and utensils were available for guests if they wanted to order a takeaway meal. With money spent to update some of the rooms I would have thought that the hotel could once again become a thriving enterprise.