by John Nichol, stayed with his wife and daughter at the Ilfracombe House Hotel, June 2009

''Today, Southend is Essex's largest town and the population of some 175,000 host nearly three million visitors each year. Accommodation varies greatly in quality and price. An internet search found basic family rooms as expensive as £250 per night. But then I discovered a gem. The Ilfracombe House Hotel, a five-minute saunter to the beach, offers two-bedroom self-catering apartments from just £75 a night. And that included a sumptuous English breakfast for all three of us.
OK, it may not have been five-star luxury but it had a well equiped kitchen and the lounge and both bedrooms had TV's and DVD players. It was clean, comfortable and perfect for our family.

The beach was our main focus of entertainment. The sun blazed down and the sun gambolled in the sand. Once the sun went down, we relocated to Adventure Island and multitude of, in my opinion, terrifying rides. We spent most of the weekend in the open but there were enough covered activities, such as Sealife Adventure and Kids Kingdom, to cater for rainy days.

It was an exhausting few days but the Nichol family loved it. We enjoyed old fashioned seaside pleasures: sunhats, sand in our socks, melting ice creams drizzled in red goo and fish and chips laced with vinegar, washed down with fluorescent fizzy drinks. Southend provided a magical family holiday, we will certainly go back''.

Southend Blog | Southend Guest Reviews | Ilfracombe Hotel on Facebook | What's On in Southend