The Old Rectory

Just a few miles to the north of Norwich, the Old Rectory Hotel is a delightful and very comfortable small, independently owned hotel that makes a perfect base for both the city and North Norfolk, with the Broads National Park just a couple of miles away and the beaches of the Norfolk Coast just a half-hour drive away to the north. 

An 18th-century building that once served the parish church of Crostwick village (now pretty much a suburb of Norwich), it's set within beautiful gardens and has 16 nicely furnished en-suite rooms to choose from, 12 within the main house itself and a further 4 rooms in a cottage on the other side of the gardens. Most rooms have king-size or twin beds (one has a four-poster), bathrooms with walk-in showers or showers with baths combined with toiletries, flatscreen TVs, wifi and tea-and coffee-making facilities.  They also have a couple of family suites – basically en-suite rooms that inter-connect – so it's a perfect place to stay if you have young children, not least because the hotel also boasts a good-sized open-air heated swimming pool for a spot of summertime frolicking.  Also, the hotel's guest rooms are on the ground floor so it's a good place to stay for those with limited mobility too.

Finally, there's a guest lounge, bar and restaurant catering to residents only, and breakfast is sumptuous affair with an excellent Full English, plus they'll even put together a packed lunch for later if you want to stride out across the glorious countryside that surrounds the hotel. All in all, it's a lovely place to stay that combines the lure of Norwich city centre and the big open skies of the Norfolk countryside.