Norfolk Hotel

You get what you pay for and the only time you should ever complain about a hotel is if the room and food were not worth what you paid... think about the amount of money you paid before complaining. This was a cheap coach trip for us for 4 nights half board at this hotel. Our coach trip also included door to door pick up, several day trips and a 7 hour journey each way... all this travel eats money so how much money was left to cover all our food and room costs?... think about that. ...I was really not expecting much to be honest, in fact I was expecting to have to eat out every night as I didn't think the food would be any good. I am back at home now and I still don't understand how this hotel manages to pull off a faultless restaurant service twice a day and provide great menu options that all taste great.... we never even thought about eating out plus we had a great view of the sea / beach from the dining room twice a day!. We were in room 8 which was at the end of a corridor on ground / dining room level... it suited us fine and was obviously recently refurbished and looked very fresh and clean. The shower cubicle was small but fine for us. The radiator in the bathroom needs looking at / re painting. We were happy with our room and would stay again. The hotel manager along with all the restaurant staff are a real credit to the hotel and especially good with my sister who has a learning disability. I own and run a bespoke holiday cottage so I really understand and appreciate great customer care when I see it.

Positive points: The hotel was clean and the food provided was good. However, on arrival it was quite clear that the disabled access to the hotel was poor. The were eight steps up to the front door and no handrail. Several people were seen trying to take their walkers up the steps. The coach drive tried to help where he could but, with ten of us with varying degrees of disability on the coach, he couldn’t help everyone. There was a lift though this only went up to the second floor. It obviously served the ground floor and also, the basement where the bar was situated. There were however floors above the second and there were rooms up there. It has to be said that the lift was quite old and small. It only held four people and, this led to lengthy waits in the run up to meal times etc. it was also quite gloomy in the lift. There appeared to be possibly four lights in the roof of the lift but only one was working. We were warned at the time of booking that the lift only went to the second floor and that there may be some steps to be negotiated after exiting the lift. The general state of decoration was not great. There were instances of chipped and scratched paintwork, the lift being the worst example. The en-suite lavatory in our room was prone to blockages. The hot water tap to the hand basin seemed to alternate between running cold for ages and, offering hot water in a trickle. Generally, service was good in the restaurant though the slips left on the tables for guests to indicate what courses they required at their next meal time caused some confusion. That said, there was no indication on the slips how the requirements should be written down. There is no reason for this. These slips were produced on a computer and an extra line of text explaining the acceptable method of filling them in wouldn’t go amiss. It would have prevented some unpleasant scenes and the feeling of some guests that they were having their homework checked, For precautions were basic. A sign inside the bedroom advised that in the event of fire, guests should make for the nearest fire exit. There appeared to be three leading to to outside: the main entry door, a door to the rear and, an exit from the bar in the basement. Personally, I would not have liked negotiating through steps from the front door to the pavement with other people trying to make a speedy exit. The fire exit from the bar in the basement also had its problems. The door marked as the fire exit led to a small vestibule part of which seemed to be used for storing materials some of which may have been flammable (paint and wood?) Exiting this way one would have to turn right and through another door into a small basement courtyard. Within the courtyard were two flights of steps, no handrail on either side, leading up to a gate in the wrought iron fence. This gate was secured by a very rusty bolt that resisted my efforts to open it. My wife mentioned quite early in our stay that we had stayed in much

Lovely location, sea view. Room clean and comfortable. Good entertainment Food was good if limited choice for vegetarian, service a work in progress, very slow. Came with a coach holiday and overall happy. Shower roomier than in some hotels. It would have been nice to have tea,coffee with evening meal.