Park Inn Palace

I almost gave it 3 stars, but I decided to compare against the Park Inn in Telford.
As there are plus points for this location, again st Telford, and vice versa.
The night stay through my company travel agent was £7 more per night than the Telford, location.
The building has already been referred to by the previous reviewer.
I had a very good welcome, unfortunately, my travel agent had forgot to inform them of my Club Carlson membership number. This was easily rectified by reception, and my room was upgraded
I was offered a bag of sweets to choose from and I mentioned I’d have to select wisely, as it would be the kids eating them. Tomasz said have two instead… as I have two children.
Large spacious room overlooking the Southend Pier. Given all the space it was disappoint to find a very small bathroom. I caught my foot on the edge of the door when trying to get access to the shower. There was a bathrobe and slippers available to use. Also had Aircon. Clean iron and ironing board. This scores points given the issues I’ve had in Telford.
A pint of Becks — £3.90
Fillet Steak £20.00
I get 15% off via my Club Carlson card.
The dining room was disappointing; very much like a canteen. Limited «specials» menu. Hence for choosing off the standard main menu.
No free paper available.
I asked whilst in the dining room if they had a paper, and I was shown, via a point, where to get the paper. So up I got and trotted over to get it. Look, customer service is all about customer service… Get me the bloody paper… OK I didn’t say that, but after 4.75 hours of driving, I wasn’t in the best frame of mind.
Breakfast:
Cold plates.
Most of the bacon, sausages were cold. There were deep-​fried mushrooms, and similar new potatoes. No fried eggs. Pretty disappointing, and where Telford score points.
Took my tea in the bar lounge, and then noticed a few papers in the dining room being put straight. I took one, only to be told that they were for the dining room only. I promised to return the paper. The paper in the bar area was the previous day’s.
So with my discount my stay cost £86.45.
Mainly charming Eastern Europeans serving. Met one Essex woman (newspapers for dining room only).
I’d return, but then I’d have to as it is the one chosen by the company…

My partner and I had a lovely time at Park Inn Southend-​on-​Sea for our anniversary.
I should start out by saying that this was an ‘Award stay’ as a Radisson member, and therefore my experience might be slightly different than usual.
I made a reservation for a room for the Friday night, and then made another for Saturday night. I emailed and explained what I did to avoid confusion, and mentioned that it was for our anniversary. They emailed back saying that they were giving us the Business Class room for both nights. Good start! :-)
We arrived at a very windy yet sunny Southend, walking up to the hotel from the shopping area. It is in a wonderful location, just ten mins walk from the train station and stumbling distance from all of the entertainment. It was a bit of a ‘wow’ moment as it is rather striking architecturually — it turns out that it has been a local landmark for about a century. We looked at the beautiful balconies on the side and joked that that was our room. But when we arrived, we realised that it was!
We had a business class corner room, with the most amazing seaview including the pier, amusements, and then over to the park. We could actually watch the Punch and Judy show from our room ;-) It was just what I would expect from a Park Inn (more budget than Radisson Blu) but it also surpassed my expectations. The staff were very courteous, and even brought us — repeatedly — buckets of ice as there wasn’t an in-​room fridge. The buffet breakfast was a little sparse, I would recommend arriving prior to the final hour of serving on a weekend.
The hotel as a whole is sound, with a lovely bar and restaurant overlooking the rides and sea. A great stay — and a place we will come back to.