Victoria

Couldn’t recommend more highly we only stayed one night for business but the service was exceptional. I took my two spaniels with me and they had a fab time too walks on the beach and complimentary sausages at breakfast. On top the dinner was fabulous

There is no doubt that the Victoria Inn at Holkham is in a very beautiful location, sitting as it does at the entrance of the drive to the hall, and a short walk to one of the most beautiful stretches of beach in the UK. We were lucky enough to spend several nights in Hanging Fallows room, in what would have been the attic space of the original inn. We also dined in the restaurant each night of our stay. The bedroom is lovely and spacious, with a nice big comfy bed and good quality bedlinen and towels, along with lots of complimentary hospitality treats like homemade shortbread. They even restock the complimentary mini fridge on request. The downside of the room is the windows. There are three in total: one is a skylight, which you open by remote, and the other two are Velux-style windows that look out over the drive to the hall. The problem I had was that the windows were filthy. I do appreciate that keeping windows at such a height clean can’t be easy, but given how comfortable and clean the rest of the room was, these windows really let the side down. Onto the bathroom – lovely and clean, bright and airy, with a lovely deep bath and shower. Absolutely no complaints. As I mentioned, we ate dinner on each of the evenings we were there and, whilst the menu is interesting and changes daily, out of our four meals, two were good and two should have been better. Inconsistency let the kitchen down. Breakfast was good – all the usual offerings, all cooked to a good standard. What sets the Victoria Inn apart is the exceptional standard of service. Everybody was friendly, efficient, professional, and nothing was too much trouble. In terms of “bang for your buck”, this isn’t just Norfolk gastro expensive – the Victoria is expensive, and when you add a 12.5% service charge, you are in eye-watering territory. But everything comes at a price, and I feel, largely, that we got value for money.