The Essex Resort & Spa — Hotel in Essex

Read the reviews people! We didn’t and we’re so disappointed with our stay! When booking the website is luxurious and uses a lot of fancy words that makes you feel like this will be a 5 star stay. Unfortunately this was all it was a bunch of fancy words. I agree with other comments, it feels like a highway pit stop hotel with nice grounds. The room had poor quality linens, scratchy to the touch. The curtain rod was broken hanging off the wall. How a housekeeper didn’t notice that I have no idea. Our shower didn’t drain well so it left us standing in ankle high water while showering. Gross! And the shower curtain was stained and had holes in it. This does not feel like a resort experience. Although the distance from the property to dt Burlington is not there fault. On the website we booked through. Best of New England it advertised it as being in Burlington. Not until we arrived did we realize this was 25 minute drive into that downtown area. This left us really restricted for dining options. The Junction was absolutely outstanding. Literally the only saving grace for our stay. However we were told they were overbooked and couldn’t accommodate us. As we were walking past to go to the tavern as an alternative we saw the Junction completely empty besides the staff. The waitress asked us if we would prefer eating there and we shared that we were told they were overbooked and she was baffled and confused. We were so very grateful for this mistake bc the food and service was 10/10. The spa! When I say this is the reason for my review I am fuming writing this! I have never felt so robbed in my life! This was suppose to be a relaxing romantic weekend for us. To start the receptionist acted as if she couldn’t be bothered. We weren’t greeted at all. We basically had to say hi we are here for spa services. Next we were taken to the locker rooms. We changed and checked out the sauna and steam rooms. The steam smelled of a old mildewy sweaty locker room. I passed on that option. Next I go to meet my boyfriend in the shared lounge. There is dust everywhere. I have no idea when the last time this place was cleaned. It grossed me out. It reminded me of a motel 6. The whole relaxation room had stained filled lounge chairs. Just gross! I meet my boyfriend to see he is in his shorts because the robe doesn’t fit him. He usually wears a XL so although he is not in a small size, for the price for services he should be able to be comfortable in his robe. Multiple staff walked past him and didn’t ask or say a word about it. When taken into our couples massage both therapists were very friendly. I want to make it clear from a personality sense they were very very nice. As for the massages…. I have no words. I hoped while having my service my boyfriend was having a different experience but that was not the case. We love getting massages so it’s something we do often. This is by far the WORST massage we both have ever had. I felt like I was being pranked. I felt they spent more time walking around the table than actually massaging us. There was no pressure, it was the lightest touch. I don’t even know how to describe it besides it was horrible! After they asked how was it and I was so uncomfortable and dumbfounded I mumbled fine and we got dressed as fast as we could to check out and be done with this nightmare. At checkout with at least 4 other people in the spa front desk area the receptionist says do you want to keep or change the 22% gratuity. If they ever said well we didn’t know it was because we were so uncomfortable saying we hated our services. We actually ended up cutting our trip short a night and headed home. This was the most expensive waste of money!

Do not...

This place is a hidden gem! We had trouble finding a hotel in a Stowe/Burlington area for a reasonable price, but stumbled upon this one. It was a trip with a buddy, so we weren't looking for a romantic getaway, just a place to relax and sleep for 1 night between days of skiing. The Essex was one of the lowest price options in the area and it was perfect. It felt small and personal, while still a large enough of a resort that it wasn't awkward.

Some reviews mentioned that the place was in disrepair, but we found it to be a great, modern feeling building and all of the details were on par or above what could be expected for the price point. Our double-queen room was in the same building as the front desk, so I'm unsure if other reviewers may have stayed in another part of the resort, but our room looked just like the advertised photo.

We didn't partake in the cooking class or eat at the restaurants, but several guests and even the local day-visitors spoke very highly of the restaurant. We really enjoyed the included spa access and indoor pool and outdoor hot tub. The spa area (at least the men's side) was very nice with a locker room that had short use digital locks, a dry sauna, and a steam room. Plus there were really nice rainfall showers and all of the spa amenities like plenty of towels and fancy soaps. There was also a small lounge room with a TV and fireplace. All of these things were gender separated and part of the men's spa locker room. We didn't wait around for the sauna to warm up, but enjoyed the steam room and did not notice any mildew smells like other reviewer's mentioned. The spa locker room and amenities were very nice and well kept. The only negative was that when entering the spa, we were not greeted or instructed in any way by the spa's front desk personnel. I had to ask where the locker room was, and then go in and back out to ask for a robe and sandals.

The indoor pool was nice, but we really came for the outdoor hot tub. It's a figure 8 shape and probably fits about 10 adults very comfortably, but a few more if you squeeze in. It was great that the hot tub was open late (10pm on the Friday night we stayed), but it's good to know that the spa closes earlier (8pm on the night we stayed). The pool and hot tub have a separate locker room from the spa, but are all in the same building as the spa. The pool locker room was much less nice than the spa, and didn't have short term use digital locks to store your clothes. If you go when the spa is open, definitely use the spa locker room and just walk to the hot tub in a nice plush robe.

All in all, we really enjoyed our stay. Considering we checked in at 4pm and checked out at 6am, we got a great value out of a nice place to stay and really enjoyed the spa and hot tub access. Unlike other reviews, we did not have any issue with surprise charges since the resort fee (about $27) was very apparent when booking on their website. However, like some other reviewers, I noticed that they appeared a bit stingy with salt on the outside walkways and parking lots. It's nice to not have salt tracked everywhere inside the buildings, but there were definitely several slick areas when walking...

My husband and I planned a Vermont destination wedding and we chose the Essex because it checked off so many of our boxes. We booked it without even seeing it in advance. We were excited that all of our guests could stay in one place and make a whole weekend experience and it is conveniently located just outside of Burlington given that the majority of our guests were flying in. People could easily explore all that Vermont has to offer in the peak Fall season.

Given that it was a destination wedding, we relied heavily on communication with the day of coordinator that we were assigned as part of our package. We were able to do an in person walk through at a visit prior to the wedding and the coordinator appeared organized and eager to meet our needs. However, email communication leading up to our wedding day was poor. We would have large lapses in communication, details were missed, and multiple times our banquet bill had errors. Had we not been reviewing it thoroughly, we would have been overpaid. Despite their ongoing errors regarding financials, we found that the Essex seemed to nickel and dime us for just about everything. For example, if you need something hung that would require a ladder, they would require an Essex staff member to be involved and would charge $150/hour. The pricing reflected on the Knot is inaccurate and I would highly recommend reviewing a contract thoroughly.

Our coordinator stopped communicating altogether and a week prior to our wedding we learned from management that there was a new coordinator that would be with us the day of our wedding. This didn’t exactly put us at ease since there were was poor communication with our second coordinator and further mistakes being made.

We choose to host a welcome bonfire the day before our wedding and it was a wonderful way to greet people as they arrived and this was very unique to our guests coming from big cities. Our guests were able to enjoy the grounds of the Essex which are for the most part beautifully maintained. The bonfire area, however, is quite dark and was not really suitable for our elderly guests. Blankets are an extra charge and no one maintained the fire for the $250 fee.

Overall, the serving staff was wonderful and the Atrium did look beautiful. We did get compliments on the food and our guests enjoyed themselves. We were disappointed that one of our vendors did not receive the meal that we paid for.

Given the hotel rates during peak season, we would have hoped for more upscale finishes throughout the hotel and more welcoming, friendly, and professional staff. Given the investment to host a wedding, we did not feel that our guests or we received...