A child-free night away is a rare event. We decided to head to The Pier, Harwich, part of the Essex and Suffolk-based Milsom Hotels group, to see if their “great places to eat, drink and stay” promise was true…
The Welcome
While we couldn’t check in until 3pm, we decided to arrive earlier in the day to explore the surrounds. Our tip? Get there early to secure a free space in the small residents’ car park behind the hotel: with checkout at 11, it’s pretty empty by late morning…
The lady who greeted us at reception was friendly and helpful. She confirmed our restaurant booking for that evening, explained how to find everything we needed, and helped us without question when we had issues with our original room (more details below).
We only received one room key, which now seems unusual to us when booking a room for two adults, but we made it work.
The Style
Despite being a listed building dating back to 1860, The Pier is beautifully contemporary in style. You’ll find nods to its coastal location throughout the hotel, from the neon-framed shipping posters on the walls to Les Barker’s spoof shipping forecast playing in the hotel toilets. With their clever bathroom designs and attention to detail in the main bedroom space, the rooms feel well thought out, and public areas are an eclectic blend of modern and traditional.
The Facilities
In addition to the car park, The Pier has a ground-floor bar, a casual dining venue on the pier opposite, and a first-floor brasserie.
In the annexed building next door, where our bedroom was, you’ll also find The Lounge: a room to rest or work with comfortable sofas and armchairs, a conference-style table, televisions, canned water and a coffee machine. There’s also a terrace out the front, and these facilities are available to all hotel residents.
It’s a great, quirky space which is also available for functions. It would be handy to have instructions for the coffee machine clearly visible (I had to show another resident how to use it) and to make sure the cups are regularly replenished – I had to root around in cupboards to find them early the following morning. While we did use the space, we did wonder if it could have a better use in some other way…
The Rooms
There are 14 guest rooms at The Pier in Harwich, all “individually styled to match the seascape”. You’ll find information on the room types here, but they all have certain things in common: an en-suite, Elemis toiletries, WiFi, Sky In-Room TV, complimentary canned still and sparkling water, tea and coffee making facilities, a hairdryer and car parking. We’d booked a Superior Sea View Room – which was in the building beside the hotel, rather than the main building – but didn’t last there long.
While the room was beautiful, the bed was a disaster. Yes, it’s an old building, but there was no way we could have slept with our heads lower than our feet – it shouldn’t be hard for the team to raise the head end of the bed. The lady at reception was very apologetic, though, and moved us to a different room in the same building.
Our Classic Room still featured a king-sized bed, and, while compact, it was cosy. Underneath the TV, a cupboard opened to reveal the kettle, Paddy & Scott’s coffee bags and a variety of teas, plus the fridge stocked with Cano canned water and a little glass bottle of fresh milk.
The decor was simple yet stylish, and the bathroom was beautiful. Featuring an impressive rainfall shower, there were other little touches that we appreciated: the circular mirror that lit up around the edges, and the movement-activated low-level lighting allowing middle of the night bathroom use without waking other occupants of the room with the main light.
The bed? Lovely and comfortable. We also appreciated the USB and USB-C charging points in the walls, as few three-pin sockets remained with the room’s electrical equipment plugged in.
My major issue with the room was a random small window that looked over the main stairwell in the building. Just a thin blind covered this window and the stairwell lights were on all night, meaning a lack of complete darkness affected my sleep.
The smoke alarm went off late Saturday evening, and all residents of the annexe had to evacuate. It turned out that this was due to another occupant showering with their door open, setting off their smoke alarm – not the hotel’s fault, but it made it hard to wind down!
The Food
There are three dining options at The Pier, Harwich. The NAVYÄRD on the ground floor offers beers, bottled drinks, cocktails and a carefully curated library of over 150 gins, plus a menu of small plates and casual dishes.
Deck 1853, which you’ll find on the Ha’Penny Pier opposite the hotel, offers pizzas, pastas, paninis, coffees and light bites – but we chose to book our evening meal at The Pier brasserie on the first floor of the hotel’s main building.
Its position – and balcony – overlooking the water, it’s a beautiful space with plenty of accents that continue the hotel’s stylish seaside theme.
Head Chef Andrew Thurston has crafted a menu that elevates modern classics, with, as you’d expect, a focus on fish and seafood.
We began with the beer-battered pickles (£5.50): a delicious combination of juicy and crunchy, sweet and salty. My fish pie main (£20) was excellent: the smooth mashed potato beautifully crisp on top, revealing a creamy sauce packed with cod, salmon and prawns beneath.
While the chips that came with the fish and chips (£19.50) could have done with slightly longer in the fryer, the fish itself was perfect: tender, flaky and covered in more of that delicious beer batter.
For dessert, I chose the banana and honey waffle (£9.25). While I tend to prefer my waffles lighter than this one, there was no denying the quality of the dish. The accompaniments (caramelised banana slices, banana puree, honeycomb, honey syrup and a deliciously strong rum ice cream (made in-house) offered a classic combination of flavours with a contemporary twist.
The following morning’s breakfast was a little more hit and miss. When we arrived, we were invited to help ourselves to the continental breakfast from a table in the middle.
There were various bottled juices (from near us in Suffolk), cereals, dried fruits, mini pastries plus accompaniments for the toast served with our breakfasts. With no glasses on our table and none over here, we waited a while to ask, and we felt the continental offering was a little sparse compared with other places we’ve stayed.
The full cooked breakfast came with a choice of fried, poached or scrambled eggs. The meat was clearly of decent quality, but the hash brown was pretty inedible and the baked beans were missing.
My Eggs Royale came with plenty of hollandaise and smoked salmon, but I did find a large bone in the salmon, and one of the eggs had a very undercooked white.
We’d definitely head back for a lunch or evening meal – or an afternoon tea – but the breakfast was a bit of a letdown.
The Price
We’d booked our original Superior Sea View Room at The Pier, Harwich – including a full breakfast – at the price of £229 for one night. However, the team took off 10% for the switch to a room without a sea view, and a further 10% for the fire alarm incident. I’ve seen last-minute prices of around £119 for a double room: check the website for availability and pricing. Throughout the year you’ll find a variety of special offers too, reducing the price of a stay at The Pier, Harwich, still further.