Question Venue recommendations

[Bearded Shrimper]

Has anyone ever had or been to an event at either the Freight House in Rochford or the Holiday Inn at Southend Airport?
Need a venue for my wedding reception next August.
Or any other recommendations near Prittlewell.
Ta

 

[OldBlueLady]

We're at a wedding at the Rochford Hotel in a couple of weeks, can let you know about that, however, those involved in organising it have been full of praise for them so far. Freight House I've only been to for Conference type events, Holiday Inn is very nice though not been there for a wedding either. Went to a wedding at the Roslin last year which was great. There's the Park Inn too.

 

[MK Shrimper]

The Spread Eagle. Just avoid the suspicious stains...

 

[Bearded Shrimper]

Thanks,
Rochford Hotel is a bit more expensive whereas Freight and Holiday Inn are more in our price range.

What was the conference thing like there?
the place is fairly alright, but i like my food and its odd not being able to try anything there before going along

 

[Pubey]

Freight house is fine for a wedding venue, if you're happy with one large space. We viewed it for ours and it wasn't quite big enough. We had ours at the cliffs pavillion which was great.

Not quite the prittlewell area but the westcliff hotel is an option.

 

[OldBlueLady]

Thanks,
Rochford Hotel is a bit more expensive whereas Freight and Holiday Inn are more in our price range.

What was the conference thing like there?
the place is fairly alright, but i like my food and its odd not being able to try anything there before going along

It was a few years back, and not all that, to be honest. Have a look at the reviews on their FB page https://www.facebook.com/pg/freighthousevenue/reviews/?ref=page_internal

 

[Bearded Shrimper]

the facebook reviews seem fairly positive, their google ones are pretty mixed so hard to say. I was hoping someone had tried the catering there, that's my only thought.
Cheers anyway, we'll probably go Holiday Inn as they are offering us free accomodation and is overall a bit cheaper (can't argue with that)

 

[Mad Cyril]

We're at a wedding at the Rochford Hotel in a couple of weeks, can let you know about that, however, those involved in organising it have been full of praise for them so far. Freight House I've only been to for Conference type events, Holiday Inn is very nice though not been there for a wedding either. Went to a wedding at the Roslin last year which was great. There's the Park Inn too.

I used to work at the hotel when it was Hotel Renouf back in the late 80s.

I helped make lots of the wedding meals and buffets.

 

[OldBlueLady]

There's also the Arlington Rooms which is quite an intimate venue - not sure what their prices are like. I think whatever it's now called at Chalkwell Park (Chalkwell Park Rooms?) does weddings too. And, of course, there's always the good old Far Post bar at Roots Hall! :smile:

I used to work at the hotel when it was Hotel Renouf back in the late 80s.

I helped make lots of the wedding meals and buffets.

Ah, Renoufs, duck specialities - lovely!

 

[Massimo Giovanni]

Chalkwell Park Rooms has new owners in last two years & have spent good money on it; also do good catering.
CPR are owned/run by SUFC fans and recently the club held the annual community awards there.
Ask for Gary and tell him you are a Shrimper and cut a deal!

 

[Mad Cyril]

Chalkwell Park Rooms has new owners in last two years & have spent good money on it; also do good catering.
CPR are owned/run by SUFC fans and recently the club held the annual community awards there.
Ask for Gary and tell him you are a Shrimper and cut a deal!

Do they do onions on the burgers?

 

[rigsby]

There's also the Arlington Rooms which is quite an intimate venue - not sure what their prices are like. I think whatever it's now called at Chalkwell Park (Chalkwell Park Rooms?) does weddings too. And, of course, there's always the good old Far Post bar at Roots Hall! :smile:



Ah, Renoufs, duck specialities - lovely!

If the budget is really tight then the South stand tea bar would be better. Especially if its a free bar because of the appallingly slow service.

Jokes aside I was at a wedding at the Lawns last summer and it was nearly £5,000 just for the venue. The happy couple had tried a lot of places and were saying there is a lack of venues?hotels in the Southend area. Roll on FF, we do need a good sized hotel with the facilities for weddings and conferences etc.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Has anyone ever had or been to an event at either the Freight House in Rochford

I can't believe this thread hasn't had more responses considering half the board is usually there each November!

 

[Benfleet A1]

I can't believe this thread hasn't had more responses considering half the board is usually there each November!

Probably too drunk to remember.

 

[OldBlueLady]

Said I'd give you feedback after the wedding....they are offering "special deals" at the moment so might be worth looking at - I think it was around £3,500 for up to 50 guests for 2018.

Nice venue, especially having some grounds for the little people to run around in to burn off some energy. Food was very good although service was a little slow, especially over coffee and serving the sparkling wine for toasts - don't think you need a gap between the two, especially as they just wanted to get on with the speeches.

Evening buffet was well managed, with them replenishing it twice to ensure the hot food was served hot, also very tasty - some excellent home made sausage rolls for instance. Not a lot of good beer on offer although they did have bottled Doombar so hubby was happy.

Rooms were good, quite generous size, decent size and comfy bed, great shower and hot drink station on the landing as well as the usual facilities in the room.

We did have issues over checking out, with them trying to charge different rates to some guests, to those agreed as part of the booking package, the families are going to be following this up with the management of the hotel who weren't available yesterday morning.

 

[slapheadsteve]

I can't believe this thread hasn't had more responses considering half the board is usually there each November!

I will bite Yorkshire Blue as the Organiser of that little event in November.
Freight House does have at least two area's you can hold a wedding which one dependant on your purse, and how many people you want to invite!.
It's not really a intimate venue but it is very good for transport, and they would do you a good wedding.
You could do better and you could do worse.
The Rochford Hotel is probably a better venue but would probably cost more.
Holiday Inn Rochford would probably be a bit more pricey, and lots of tourist's there.

 

[Bearded Shrimper]

Said I'd give you feedback after the wedding....they are offering "special deals" at the moment so might be worth looking at - I think it was around £3,500 for up to 50 guests for 2018.

Nice venue, especially having some grounds for the little people to run around in to burn off some energy. Food was very good although service was a little slow, especially over coffee and serving the sparkling wine for toasts - don't think you need a gap between the two, especially as they just wanted to get on with the speeches.

Evening buffet was well managed, with them replenishing it twice to ensure the hot food was served hot, also very tasty - some excellent home made sausage rolls for instance. Not a lot of good beer on offer although they did have bottled Doombar so hubby was happy.

Rooms were good, quite generous size, decent size and comfy bed, great shower and hot drink station on the landing as well as the usual facilities in the room.

We did have issues over checking out, with them trying to charge different rates to some guests, to those agreed as part of the booking package, the families are going to be following this up with the management of the hotel who weren't available yesterday morning.

cheers.
just to check, which venue do you mean? I assumed Freight House but then the beds bit threw me.
Ta

 

[OldBlueLady]

cheers.
just to check, which venue do you mean? I assumed Freight House but then the beds bit threw me.
Ta

No, Rochford Hotel, said we were there for a wedding and I'd let you know after. Mentioned the offer as didn't know what your budget was but thought it would give you an indication.

 

[Bearded Shrimper]

No, Rochford Hotel, said we were there for a wedding and I'd let you know after. Mentioned the offer as didn't know what your budget was but thought it would give you an indication.

right, i'm with you, thanks. All this wedmin is gets pretty confusing after a while

 

[OldBlueLady]

right, i'm with you, thanks. All this wedmin is gets pretty confusing after a while

Haha, it'll get a whole lot worse before the day!