The Charming Chudleigh

First of all, my best recommendation is don't go to Clacton. There are other seaside towns with far more charm and far less trash in the street. (Yes, I know the seagulls did it.) But if you must go (as we must), try staying at The Chudleigh.

It's a small hotel - one website I looked at said there were 10 rooms. We stayed in Room 14, so I'm not certain how many rooms there are. We knew before we made the reservation that there was not an elevator, but they had such high ratings, we just had to give it a try.

Once they discovered that we'd flown in from the U.S. we were offered a ground floor room. It was spacious enough for a queen-size bed (comfortable), a sitting area with two chairs, and a desk. We could walk all the way around the bed without tripping over anything. Wonderful! In addition to the typical room amenities of toiletry items, we were also supplied with some cookies, tea and organic chocolate. It even had free wi-fi!

It was a short walk to the seafront - although the weather was a bit too cold for strolling by the sea. It was conveniently located to pubs and restaurants and it was very quiet.

The breakfast was cooked to order and was exceptionally good. Very telling that of the three small hotels on Agate Street, The Chudleigh was the only one with no vacancy. I'd say that's quite a feat in February.