With a car, then Chelmsford does become somewhat more feasable, though it is a bit of a moot point as to whether it is a nice place, or not!
It is a sprawling town that used to have a lot of light industry going on. With the loss of Marconi and the very recent closure of Britvic, this is getting less and there are many run-down buildings around.
However, there is also a lot of "good"! The town centre has extensive shopping, some interesting old buldings like the Shire Hall and some nice walks along the River. There are some lovely parks, including Hylands, and easy access out into the countryside.
If you wait for the rush-hour to subside, then the A12, M25 and A13 will get you to Dagenham pretty reasonably. Brentwood is closer to the M25 so would cut your journey time by 20-30min, if you decided to stay there instead, but public transport to Dagenham would be complex.
Romford is closer still, but driving in fact might not be so easy from there as there will be more urban roads to negotiate. However, it is well set up with chain Hotels like Travel Lodge, and has quite a few small independent Hotels, Guest Houses and B'n'B's that might be worth asking if they will do you a deal for a relatively long stay...
Edited: 9 years ago