Talbooth House & Spa — Hotel in Colchester

Myself and husband had the pleasure of staying in this lovely place a couple of Saturdays ago, for one night. Being regulars at Kesgrave ( Hi Rosa) and visiting The Pier for one night earlier this year, we were curious to tick off yet another in the Milsoms collection. We were certainly not disappointed. ( Huge thanks Gemma and Alice for corresponding with me online before our stay x) We were greeted by Danielle on arrival, and shown to our sumptuous room. Recognised many little features we enjoy at Kesgrave, and this was a lovely quiet spacious room. Top quality Jo Malone toiletries, and snuggly robes and slippers provided, as was decent coffee and selection of teas to enjoy. Quirky reading material was laid out to flick through too. We took a little walk over to the great outdoor pool with jacuzzi area. Sadly the weather ( typical the first Saturday in ages) was rainy off and on, so the relaxing loungers around the pool were covered. There is an indoor snug with wood fire for winter days. That would be great if ever we return in colder times. After returning to our room, we prepared for dinner which we were taking at Talbooth Restaurant, located just down the lane. Alice was our smashing driver to ferry us there, a great free service to and from the restaurant, plus was also offered should you choose to take breakfast at their other hotel nearby Milsoms Hotel, which we did, and had an absolutely excellent top quality hot breakfast next morning. It was good to meet Callum, who is Josh from Kesgrave’s brother ( wow they look like two peas in a pod !) and Darren on reception at Milsoms. This must surely be the next in Milsoms collection we need to stay at overnight. We had a fabulous dinner at Talbooth Restaurant. Amazing food, ( the cheese trolley alone was spectacular) and excellent attentive but cheery staff to take care of the whole dining experience. It was made harder on this night for them as it was super busy, but due to the patchy weather, diners were unable to enjoy dinner outside in their lovely outdoor area, so everyone dined inside. The building itself was pleasant, cosy and full of character. Alice was on hand to ferry us back for a well earned great nights sleep, ready for our breakfast next morning at Milsoms as mentioned above. This time we decided to take a stroll rather than the courtesy car, to build up our breakfast appetite, then walk off breakfast coming back afterwards. The walk only takes about 10 minutes, and is a nice little route.|We were checked out by friendly Katie and were so reluctant to leave. Another night ( plus time to enjoy the spa) would have been just the job,|All in all we had a smashing stay, and would definitely love to return again.|Big thanks to all the great team at Talbooth House, Talbooth Restaurant and Milsoms Hotel, for a truly memorable...

WOULD BE GREAT IN THE SUMMER BUT NOT IDEAL FOR A WINTER SPA.|the positive points: the house and grounds are stunning, well maintained to a very high standard. The staff are exceedingly attentive and friendly.|Unfortunately the negative points: |The check in is great and the lounge and fire are gorgeous, we were shown to our deluxe suite, which lived up to the expectations visually. However we were directed to the spa, which is a few hundred meters away from the main hotel. It was a freezing cold day and so we had to put coats and boots on and take all our swimming stuff across in a bag.|Unfortunately we did not realise that all spa facilities are outside. Luckily it was not raining otherwise it would have been a total waste of time. We ran to the jacuzzi which was only warm, definitely not HOT, we managed to stay in there for 5 mins before trying the steam room, which is tiny, with 4 of us in there it was not possible to lie down and other guests had to wait as there was no room when they tried to join us. We went inside for our treatments and when we came out we tried to sit in the outdoor lounge, with fire, but even with the hot water bottles and blankets provided it was just to cold to enjoy this area. We return to our room at 5 PM, we noticed that it was very cold in the room as well. I turned each individual radiator up to the maximum. However, after an hour, the radiators were still just tepid, not even warm. We asked reception and they were exceedingly helpful and could see we were getting ready for our meal at Mason talbooth and would look at it when we went out. This meant we had to get ready feeling very cold. We also noticed at this point that we wished to blow dry our hair after washing it and discovered that there was not a dressing table with a mirror. Or at the bare minimum a plug point near a mirror, we had to blow dry our hair sitting on the floor with no reflection. I don't expect to be doing this in such a high-end establishment.| We returned from our room after our meal and it was still cold. The receptionist explained that she had turned the boiler to the oil setting as the pellets did not seem to be working and this should solve the problem. Unfortunately as the room is so luxurious and large, the radiators were not sufficient to heat the room and all 3 of us had to sleep in thick pyjamas, socks and dressing gowns which was not conducive to a good night's sleep. Thankfully, this was not a romantic break as there would definitely have been no romance.!!|So this place was great but we ere cold from the time we arrived until we left. I have emailed them 4 days ago, but have...

WOULD BE GREAT IN THE SUMMER BUT NOT IDEAL FOR A WINTER SPA.|the positive points: the house and grounds are stunning, well maintained to a very high standard. The staff are exceedingly attentive and friendly.|Unfortunately the negative points: |The check in is great and the lounge and fire are gorgeous, we were shown to our deluxe suite, which lived up to the expectations visually. However we were directed to the spa, which is a few hundred meters away from the main hotel. It was a freezing cold day and so we had to put coats and boots on and take all our swimming stuff across in a bag.|Unfortunately we did not realise that all spa facilities are outside. Luckily it was not raining otherwise it would have been a total waste of time. We ran to the jacuzzi which was only warm, definitely not HOT, we managed to stay in there for 5 mins before trying the steam room, which is tiny, with 4 of us in there it was not possible to lie down and other guests had to wait as there was no room when they tried to join us. We went inside for our treatments and when we came out we tried to sit in the outdoor lounge, with fire, but even with the hot water bottles and blankets provided it was just to cold to enjoy this area. We return to our room at 5 PM, we noticed that it was very cold in the room as well. I turned each individual radiator up to the maximum. However, after an hour, the radiators were still just tepid, not even warm. We asked reception and they were exceedingly helpful and could see we were getting ready for our meal at Mason talbooth and would look at it when we went out. This meant we had to get ready feeling very cold. We also noticed at this point that we wished to blow dry our hair after washing it and discovered that there was not a dressing table with a mirror. Or at the bare minimum a plug point near a mirror, we had to blow dry our hair sitting on the floor with no reflection. I don't expect to be doing this in such a high-end establishment.| We returned from our room after our meal and it was still cold. The receptionist explained that she had turned the boiler to the oil setting as the pellets did not seem to be working and this should solve the problem. Unfortunately as the room is so luxurious and large, the radiators were not sufficient to heat the room and all 3 of us had to sleep in thick pyjamas, socks and dressing gowns which was not conducive to a good night's sleep. Thankfully, this was not a romantic break as there would definitely have been no romance.!!|So this place was great but we ere cold from the time we arrived until we left. I have emailed them 4 days ago, but have...