Dunston Hall Hotel

I spent a wonderful weekend at Dunston Hall for my 30^th birthday and took advantage of a spa break and dinner deal which made it very reasonable on the wallet. We were stunned when we saw the building from the drive — it is very beautiful, and then stunned again when we found our rooms — which were very dated and in need of some tlc. The spa was in a similar condition and could do with a bit of a sprucing up, its very dark in there (it’s in the basement) which is fine, but I think a lot could be done to improve the overall feel of it. Overall, we had a great stay and ate in the restaurant twice due to the wonderful staff. Each breakfast we had was also really nice, and we spent a lot of time at the golf bar as well which I would also recommend. We are already planning to return for my 40^th — just hoping the rooms are sorted by then…

I have to give Dunston Hall a ⁵⁄₅ for several reasons. First the British cuisine they serve is amazing. It is the best British cuisine I have ever had in my three years of living in England. Every lunch and dinner meal is a buffet that serves an entire ham, turkey and beef roast. The meat is always cooked to perfection. They have a chef that will slice it for you. Always freshly vegetables and mashed potatoes. Lots of vegetarian options. Always a fresh bar with pasta, rice, cold appetizers such as fresh fish, craw fish and pâté. The deserts are always lovely. The breakfast is always spot on. A variety of eggs, sunny side up and scrambled. The traditional British breakfast spread. Black pudding is always served, but I am still scared of eating it. They also serve meals off of a menu, I never tried the menu, but I always opted for the buffet because it was always a lovely spread. The food alone gets ⁵⁄₅.
The bar is quite nice. They have a wide variety of beers on tap. They have several bars across the hotel. The hotel is actually a mansion turned into a hotel. It has a home feel to it.
The beds are extra large King sized beds. They are so comfortable. I wanted to take the bed home with me when I left. One night I stayed in just so I can lay in the bed all evening and night. The rooms are very cozy. They also have central air conditioning. The bathrooms are nice. They have a nice selection of tea and coffee in the room (located in the closet).
I wasn’t so crazy about the pool and hot tub. I could have done my whole trip without spending time in there. They do have a sauna and a steam room. The hot tub isn’t very hot and there is a ton of chlorine they put in both the pool and hot tub. I have never been a fan of in door pools and this could be the reason. This review does not account for the pool and hot tub.
They also have a nice gym. It is upstairs and downstairs. A wide range of cardio equipment; rowing machines, elliptical, treadmills, sit down bikes and a stair climber. Also lifting equipment. I did enjoy the gym.
They also offer a full service spa.
There is a beautiful golf course on the property, I’m not a golfer, but if I was, I would go here to golf so I can sleep and eat in that beautiful gothic style mansion.

I’ve stayed at the picturesque Dunston Hall twice now for work purposes and can confidently say that it’s not a bad place to stay in Norwich. It’s close to Lotus Cars (where I need to go when I’m in the area) and Norwich centre (for the social/​after-​work) and the train station.
It’s affordable, especially if you book online. Typically 70GBP a night.
The breakfast is your typical British selection in buffet format. Cereals, breads (croissants, muffins, toast), beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, hash browns, fried toast, sausage, bacon, fried eggs (although rather oily), a selection of fresh fruit, juices ranging from orange to grapefruit to tomato, coffee and tea.
The bar and lounge offers some decent food selections (I recommend the chicken caesar wrap) and decent drink selection. The bartender didn’t know what a Shirley Temple was though… maybe it’s really just an American drink?
Rooms in the main building are much nicer and modern than the rooms in the other buildings, I’ve found, but every room has free internet hookup available. The bathrooms are typically clean and the towels are ok (not as soft and sometimes I sense a strong bleach odor). The place is generally a maze and the numbering system with the rooms doesn’t make sense either.
I’ve heard golf is quite big here since they have a huge course, but I’ve also heard of stories where the golf course was sabotaged years ago for whatever reason… weird.
Service is decent, but not as friendly as I would like… maybe that’s just the British way. I’ve never experienced great hospitality in Britain anywhere. A clear example is that my card key didn’t work when I walked down to my room with my luggage. So I went back to the front desk and asked them if they could help fix it… well, this happened another 2 times and as you can imagine, I was quite frustrated after a long day and having to walk all the way to my room and back to the front desk 3 times (WITH my luggage, mind you) when they insisted the card key worked every time. No one offered to go with me and they wouldn’t change my room. Eventually they gave me a new key which did work, but I was really pissed at them for being so unhelpful and unapologetic.
It’s probably a cultural thing… I would never expect this to happen in any hotel I stayed at in America though… or even in Japan or China.
Overall though, it’s a good place for the price. Can’t beat the price. Although next time I’m definitely going to consider somewhere else if I have to stay for more than a week.