OH my gosh, where should I start? My fiance's family booked…read morea late lunch here to celebrate our engagement so naturally I tried to yelp it but was met with a blank info page :[ Regardless, they had been before and raved about how wonderful the food, service and ambiance of this modernized 17th century country house was so I put on the ever-trusted LBD and went. It truly is out in the Essex countryside so there is only one road to get you there but if you do get stuck behind a Sunday driver (or 3, like we did) try to just relax and take in the gorgeous, timeless surroundings. Once we did arrive, the gravel driveway lead us passed the front of the hall to ample, free parking (which is a rare jewel in England!). We passed the hotel on the way to the main hall which looked to only have about 6 suites and I later learned these are usually booked as bridal, groom and family suites to accommodate weddings. Unfortunately this review will only involve the hall. We met our party in the lobby and were taken to the Garden Room passed the longest, most gorgeous chandelier I've ever seen. The Garden Room was absolutely beautiful as well. My favorite part about it was how the lovely floral fabric of the wall tapestries matched the fabric of the chairs which was actually brought to life in the live, deliciously smelling centerpieces, all showcased against the stark white furniture and wall accents. It was a party for the eyes and was only improved by the view of the gardens outside as well. This Sunday was a set menu but you could choose how many courses you wanted, say if you did not want an appetizer or dessert then you simply don't have to and you're not charged for that course. In our party of 6, only 2 got the pork belly starter and the rest of us simply enjoyed our drinks as they did. Yes, the menu continued like that filled with these bite-size, designer flavor explosions and the staff was very helpful answering my never ending curiosities about each dish. Definitely bring your adventurous palet so you can live large and explore. We all agreed it felt like we were at one of the posh dinner parties on Master Chef. I begged everyone in my party to order something different so we (aka I) could try them all but a few are picky eaters and most ended up ordering the token Sunday roast or the pork loin but I myself had the seared ahi over scalloped potatoes. The fish was delicious and was a perfect portion, my only gripe had to do with this very salty, VERY fishy mousse slathered all over it- I started to wipe it off after a few bites. The fish was fresh & delicious though and everyone really enjoyed their Sunday dinners... I was just loving being in such a beautiful room on a rare sunny Sunday with people I love. A friend told me people have their weddings here which is completely understandable~ I know I would! However, I can imagine it easily costing £50k if not more. The website has tons of helpful information (and swoon-worthy pictures) if you're interested in it but above all things, JUST GO! Its gorgeous, the food is so exciting and posh and the grounds, rooms & staff will make your day.

A nice evening spoiled right at the end by the terrible attitude of one of the staff. Very rude,…read moretreated us with unprofessional attitude that bordered on contempt. I never complain in restaurants, but when I called him on his attitude, his response was to double down, glaring at me. The manager came over an the waiter still refused to apologise. The rest of the evening had been fine, but this just spoiled everything. To make it worse, he wasn't our waitress, he just brought us the bill. Cost the woman had served us, her tip. Don't think we'll bother returning.

It is a brilliant hall for a wedding, large spacious and very clean the staff are very attentive…read moreand lots of parking on the side streetd

From the owner: The Mayfair has been fabulously restored to its true magnificent glory. It was first built in 1940…read morenow been fully restored to be enjoyed once again.

Probably one of the best locations in Basildon's surrounding... however the service was mediocre,…read morewaiters were well dressed but with low restaurant skills. The courtesy was an optional. The food was absolutely inedible. 2 stars for the live music entertainment ( the disco music at the end of the dinner was a weird mix of provincial radio music and teenager's iPod) and obviously because, like for everything, the only important thing is the company!

I was here last weekend for a customers christmas function…read more The hotel is set in its own grounds and although we arrived in the dark it looks like a very old building. My customer treated me to the evening but I gather the tickets were £45.00 each. The entrance room at first glance is very small, I did think is this it at first! However, they use this room to offer a glass of champagne prior to going to the table. The ballroom was set for dinner and a great job had been done of dressing the room and the tables. The company I was with had three tables out of approx 30 , with a mixture of all sorts of companies. Each table had three ice buckets of assorted wines and jugs of beer were provided throughout dinner, to be fair they kept us well supplied throughout. Dinner was usual Christmas fare but I must say was very good quality which i didnt expect for this type of do. At 9.30 pm the table service stopped and a free bar was opened up. The only draw back ( and the way they get you ) is that the bar was tiny and staffed by two people only - therefore you had to queue for drinks for at least 5\10 mins. Now luckily we had several young lads in our group who saw this as a chance to chat up some of the lovely looking young ladies also in the queue. They kept the rest of us "old ones" supplied with a never ending glass of brandy. After dinner the disco started which everybody seemed to enjoy. The night was wrapped up by midnight and the usual scrum for taxis started - a great night and if I get an invite next year I would like to go again.

I'm a casual golfer so don't normally look to spend more then £20 a round and for that kind of…read moremoney birchwood is in in my opinion one of the best value courses. It is pay and play so accesible for non members, the greens are in good nick, the front 9 holes are a real mix of long, short, up hill, downhill and give a good challenge. In my opinion holes 10 thru 12 are prettty average but it picks up again with 15 and 16 particularly difficult and good fun to play