Best Horndon on the Hill Hotels

My husband and I stayed here Friday 17/5/24 and Saturday 18/5/24 in a comfy room. We had other family and friends staying in various rooms, as we had all travelled from the North West to attend a family wedding on the Saturday - around 18 of us in total, including the bridegroom. The village of Horndon-on-the-Hill is stunning, medieval and picturesque, and the Bell Inn is full of historical charm (even though a witch was burned right here in the 16th century!) Now for the rooms. Clean, modern and reasonably well equipped, although the very firm bed in our High Wire room has given me terminal backache! Lovely toiletries provided in the bathroom (we brought our own) - but that was the extent of the generosity! Milk for tea/coffee was in very short supply, 3 small capsules of skimmed milk when we arrived, and a packet of biscuits containing 2 biscuits ( one each)! Our son, daughter-in-law and their two teenaged children were in the family room with the spiral staircase - they had been gifted 4 little capsules of milk for the 4 of them and our daughter-in -law thought it likely that she may become the second victim to be burned at the stake for daring to request extra milk! It was a case of “well how many DO you want?” in quite a belligerent tone. Four of our friends arrived later in the evening, and two of them had just set down their cases in their room when the fire alarm sounded. The same member of staff who had dealt with our daughter-in-law’s milk request came to look for what had caused the alarm, and again, in a belligerent tone, she asked “have you been using the iron” to which my friend replied “we have only just arrived!” This lady (manageress or whatever she is), needs to improve her hospitality skills, and to realise that when guests have been travelling for possibly many hours through the Friday traffic, they don’t wish to be greeted with the type of attitude she has, abrasiveness has no place in the hospitality business. Our cleaning ladies were lovely and provided us with extra milk etc. on request. Breakfast - ours was okay, but one of our group received her poached eggs sporting a large hair. She sent it back, then received undercooked eggs, which she didn’t eat but paid for anyway - she is an elderly lady who didn’t “like” to send her eggs back a second time. The Bell Inn is a lovely, quirky atmospheric establishment set in stunning countryside, and it could be perfect with a few simple tweaks.

The breakfast room service was excellent, and we appreciated the quality of the mattress and spacious bath, which comfortably accommodated two. However, room 12A had persistent mechanical noises, possibly from piping, that disrupted sleep, especially as I’m a light sleeper. Regarding the spa, we were surprised by the £10 per hour charge, something we weren’t informed of when booking through a third-party site, maybe it’s on the official website. We’ve stayed at other spa hotels, like the Royal Leonard, where access to facilities was included. Additionally, the £50 hold was confusing. We were told it would cover room charges, but at checkout, we were charged separately for breakfast, and the hold still hasn’t been released after 5+ working days. This delay has been inconvenient. Overall, while we enjoyed aspects of our stay, we expected a bit more value for what we paid, especially for my partner’s birthday celebration.

Checked in yesterday after a lovely lady from reception called to check what time I was arriving so she could arrange an ice bucket to go to the room like I requested via email. Staff all very welcoming and friendly. Went to my room, which was more than suitable. All very clean. They had decorated the bed as a romantic gesture for me and my husband. The details were wonderful and put a smile on our faces. Robes and slippers were provided and neatly laid out on the bed. Before my husband came to join me, I was there a while to pamper myself, I ordered room service, and had a ham and cheese sandwich that came with delicious hot fries and ordered a large Diet Coke. Delivered by a spritely and pleasant gentleman.The food looked great all on a tray, fresh and tasty. The bed was very comfortable, everything was easy to find and the curtains were brilliant, kept all the light out. Really happy that they had a heater that you could control and as someone who gets rather hot, it had a fan setting. This made my stay extra enjoyable. We had dinner in the restaurant, it was a lovely bright room, good choice of music. We both had steak with was cooked to perfection, we both went to a restaurant in Ongar last week where we paid £40 EACH for fillet steak, it was awful!! Your steak beat theirs hands down!! Everything in that plate was absolutely delicious Desert was delicious and we had a well needed rest on our comfy bed. We had a breakfast in the morning, and we were more than happy to wait as we were told there would be a slight delay as there were large tables that had sat for breakfast from yesterdays event. It was nice that the lady advised us but showed us the way to get some refreshments tea, coffee toast juice you name it, it was there. Breakfast was delicious, all cooked very well. We stayed here half board. We would definitely recommend staying here.

Oh dear. Emailed this hotel prior to booking to confirm their pet policy and charges per dog. Got an email back saying £5.00 per dog, per night (which coincided with internet research on this hotel & prior reviews). Booked this hotel and was then emailed by the same Receptionist to say the price per dog is £15.00 per night. When I questioned it, I was told they made a typo in the original email and their prices had recently gone up too.. Still, we went ahead and booked as we had little choice in the area and paid £90 for us & £60 for the dogs in total for the two nights. Upon check in, we were handed a key card and a little dog waste bag holder which was a nice gesture. From the outside, this place looks alright. Inside our room, it was awful. Carpets are so old and filthy - didn’t want to step on them without shoes on. The bed was okay. The furniture in the room was all very dated. Bathroom was disgusting - flush had to be pushed hard to make it work, mirror had brown cracks in numerous parts, sink was cracked, taps were terribly stained and shower tiles were yellow. Behind the bathroom door, it had been slammed so hard many times that the wall had a door knob shaped deep hole in it. The walls in the whole room were off colour and textured - felt like we were in a prison cell to be honest. Spent the minimum amount of time in the room that we possibly could. It’s unbelievable that they charge so much per dog really and absolutely nothing was provided for them other than the little bag holder - it should have been £5.00 per dog per night as it originally was advertised online. Did not complain to Reception as we understand this is a budget hotel but would NEVER stay here again. The only positives we could find were free parking, they allow dogs and it was quiet during our stay - for every other reason, I would avoid. Whole place needs a refurb and then they could charge more per room.

We stayed 1 night while visiting family. The room was a reasonable size, comfortable bed, and clean environment. There was a wedding in our first evening but we were not disturbed by any noise. Breakfast was really good but expensive for a buffet style breakfast. Parking is quite tricky given that the area is busy. We became members to get it free. The desk clerk was very quick and organised. Unfortunately, the morning after the wedding, there was a smell of vomit outside the main door.