We booked a short break as a surprise for my partner intending to stay for 2 nights but ended up there for the whole week !! What a joy. It is a classic Edwardian Hotel but has the atmosphere to bring it up to modern day. We spent hours people watching while enjoying lovely coffees and then a meal to die for in Boltons Bistro locally and freshly cooked crabs and lobsters being my favorite. We especially enjoyed walking on the seafront which we could view from our room. We choose an executive on the third floor wow!! If you want to treat someone its not cheep but worth it!

Stayed for 1 night during a short break in Norfolk during early February. Looks great on website, prides itself on Edwardian elegance and indeed, the welcome at the hotel etc is very good.
The Hotel appears to be going through some refurbishment. We stayed in an 'executive' room on the top floor with a turret overlooking the sea. Room refurbished,if a little dated decor, but huge with a lovely window seat overlooking the sea. Comfortable bed and huge bathroom with a lovely jacuzzi bath but the worst shower I have had in a long time!

The key positive at the Cliftonville has to be the staff. We ordered room service, which was prompt, we had some problems with the heating in our bedroom and this was dealt with quickly and efficiently. The food in the bistro, however, was where it all started going sadly wrong.

My partner is very allergic to bell peppers, so we told the waiter this as we ordered. His deep fried brie came out on a salad of....
.....bell peppers. This was sent back! The next lot that came out looked great (no peppers). However, on cutting into the brie he spotted a huge piece of green mould in the crust of the breadcrumbs. At almost the same moment I removed a huge hair from my mouth that came courteousy of my mussels starter. It went from bad to worse. The main course came with a pepper garnish.............the potatoes and vegetables were old and flabby like they had been cooked for a couple of days and reheated.

We were told that this was the first time that the chef had left the kitchen in the charge of his sous chefs. I would suggest he doesn't do this again until he has trained them to cook. Our meal spoiled what could have been a good experience. I certainly would not return.

POSITIVE - the food was excellent. the evening meal was a pleasure, the breakfast generous. The restaurant is a pleasant space with a Edwardian Gothic decor.

NEGATIVE - the whole place needs a redecoration and some new furniture bought. The rooms I saw were too small. The plumbing needed seeing to and the shower stopped altogether on one of the hottest days of the summer!
The hotel has a lift and a very narrow ramp access - and that is where any resemblance of disabled friendly stops. The toilets are very low and the cramped rooms are very difficult to negotiate if you have any mobility promlems. Most of the chairs in the hotel are low.
I found some of the staff to be unfriendly and unhelpful.

CONCLUSION - If you are looking for a holiday in a traditional English seaside hotel then this would fit the bill. However, It is overpriced and not at all suitable for anyone with mobility problems.

Suddenly needing somewhere to stay on the Norfolk coast we broke our rule of looking at Tripadvisor before booking. The web site looked promising – an Edwardian hotel with ‘Gone with the Wind’ staircase, all rooms with sea view. At £114 for double room and breakfast we thought it ought to be of a reasonable standard.

We arrived at 7.30 pm on the hottest day on record after several diversions to avoid traffic hold-ups. What we had not realised from the photograph of the hotel was that the main Kings Lynn/Cromer road was a few feet from the front of the hotel – so close that when we parked on the ‘guest’s parking area’ at the front of the hotel the car bumper was half over the pavement.

Our room (Number 20) was via a lift and up a short steep flight of stairs but no assistance with luggage was offered. The room, although fairly recently decorated, was very small and up in the eaves of the hotel. The only seating apart from the bed were two small wooden chairs at a small table in the window. There was a small musty ensuite shower/toilet but the wash basin was in the corner of the bedroom. We were now too tired to argue or look for somewhere else.

We decided to eat in the Westcliff Dining Room – a beautiful room with minstrel gallery and stain-glass windows. We were looking forward to the local speciality of crabs but at 8pm there were none left (nor three other main courses on the menu even though only three other tables were in use) Our waitress did advise if we wanted them the next night we should order them at breakfast. The food was very good although slightly over-priced for what we had. The dining staff were all very pleasant but the ambiance was spoilt by the choice of music – more pop than classical.

Bring an older hotel there were plenty of fire-doors which were constantly banged as people returned to their bedrooms. As the room was so small and with a low ceiling it was far too hot to sleep with the windows shut. We then discovered why the windows were double glazed – heavy traffic passed under the window continuously throughout the night. In addition there was thumping from the plumbing whenever the people next door used the bathroom.

We often stay in hotels and rarely have any problem sleeping.
We had booked for two nights but after virtually no sleep we decided to book out after breakfast. At breakfast the waitress made a mistake of asking did we sleep well. On being told no she asked why and replied that it is even worse in winter. The rooms are too hot and with the windows open you get the noise of the sea as well as the traffic.The receptionist could not have been more apologetic but there was no way we would ever stay there again.