Given that there seems to be a dearth of decent hotels in Norwich, this wasn’t bad. The room was fine on the whole, especially for the price (a very reasonable £61 per night). Good sized room, bed was very wide and comfortable, though not long enough really to accommodate partner’s 6’2’’ height. Minor complaints: duvet instead of sheets and blankets (I wonder if this trend is to reduce labour costs in actually making the bed). No wardrobe or drawers, just an enclosed clothes rail and some open shelves. Also: window wouldn’t open more than an inch. It was very hot that weekend and fortunately the room had a very efficient (if noisy) air-conditioning machine. Flat screen TV was fine.
The public car park was a bit of a pain as we arrived on Friday afternoon when it was probably at its most full, but £5 for 24 hours seemed very reasonable.
Having seen other reviews, I asked for a room not on the ground floor and away from the noisy security doors. This was taken on board (they have obviously read the tripadvisor reviews)and we were put on the 4th floor about as far from the security doors as possible, so I was impressed by this. We were a bit taken aback by the over-the -top security arrangements at the hotel – we had to use our keycard three times actually to get up to the room, leading us to worry that we were staying in a very dangerous area indeed! The lifts were very slow and creaky.
The person who checked us in seemed to be reading from a script from his computer screen, which was a bit weird. They charged my card for the room when we checked in, an experience I haven’t had since we stayed in a couple of hotels in Liverpool, where they clearly expected you to run away without paying given half a chance. We also had to pay on the spot for breakfast! Have never come across this before. (except, as before, in Liverpool, where you had to pay for a compulsory breakfast token and could get a refund if you didn’t use it). Having said all this, there was the advantage that we didn’t have to queue up to check out when leaving; just handed in our key cards.
The cooked breakfast wasn’t that nice. Continental was OK, with fruit salad, croissants etc. The restaurant was a bit cramped.. Various families with children were well treated, which I thought was nice.
Wifi cost £5 for an hour, £12 for 24 hours and £24 for a week.
Read an article in the Guardian recently which compared Norwich favourably with Bath and York – well I don’t think so, though the cathedral is impressive and the area around it is attractive. We went to Sandringham which was quite interesting though the grounds aren’t all that…. It was rather sad (but perhaps not surprising) that Prince John, epileptic boy who died aged 13 in 1919 (whose story was told by Stephen Poliakoff in “The Lost Prince”) had been wiped out of the history of the place, although he lived there with his nanny in a house nearby and is buried in the churchyard.
I wouldn’t necessarily choose to go back to Norwich again but, if I did, I would be quite happy to stay here.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
Would I recommend this hotel to my best friend?
Most likely
I recommend this hotel for:
Young Singles, A romantic getaway, Girlfriend getaway, People with disabilities, Older Travellers, Families with Small Children, Families with Teenagers, tourists
I do not recommend this hotel for:
Great pool scene
I selected this hotel as a top choice for:
Museums / Cultural / Historical sites