The Assembly House

In a city not blessed with a large number of great independent hotels, The Assembly House makes a great city centre place to stay. Run by the well-known Norfolk chef Richard Hughes and his wife Stacia, it's a beautifully renovated Georgian building just off Norwich's market square, and it multi-tasks as a boutique hotel, restaurant and cookery school and wedding venue, with many of its grand rooms used also for meetings, private functions and exhibitions.

The guest rooms are in the two wings flanking the entrance and garden. They're light, spacious and beautifully decorated, each one different, but all with en-suite bathrooms provided with both baths and walk-in showers. Even the smallest rooms are decent sizes, and the decor is luxurious, contemporary yet classic: very comfortable in short, with everything you could possibly need, including high-quality beds and linen, good wifi, flatscreen TVs, bluetooth speakers and plenty of space for extra seating. The hotel also has parking in the carpark next door, and you wake up to one of Richard Hughes' superb breakfasts.  The restaurant also offers a renowned and extremely delicious Afternoon Tea.

You also wake bang in the centre of Norwich – no bad thing in one of the UK's most beautiful cities. You're well placed for Norwich's wide range of pubs (one for every day of the year), restaurants and shops, its famous medieval churches (one for every week of the year) and of course its magnificent cathedral.