Enjoy the luxury, charm and character of The Old Rectory, a delightful AA Red Star hotel. The country house is a short journey from Norwich city centre.
The Old Rectory has 8 beautiful, unique rooms and is set in quiet gardens. It offers award-winning service in a relaxing, friendly atmosphere. Most rooms have south-facing views over the gardens and the Yare Valley.
Rooms have a wide-screen TV with Freeview, quality toiletries, comfy beds with fine bedlinen, free mineral water and a hospitality basket with organic and Fairtrade drinks.
Chef James Perry has 2 AA Rosettes for his food. Some seasonal produce comes from the hotel's garden. In summer you can enjoy breakfast under the gazebo overlooking the swimming pool (open from Easter to September).
Norwich International Airport is about 5 miles (8 km) away, and the Norfolk Broads are a short drive away.
Hotel Information
A tasty English breakfast is served each morning in the Dining Room with locally produced bacon, sausages and ham from Barnard's of Attleborough, free range eggs, thick yoghurt with our own home made toppings as well as a choice of cereals, fresh fruit, toast with Norfolk preserves and Fairtrade tea and coffee. In summer, you can enjoy breakfast outside under the gazebo overlooking the swimming pool.
Afternoon tea is available to residents every day from 3.00pm until 5.00pm; home-baked scones with Norfolk jam, delicious cake and freshly brewed Fairtrade tea or coffee.
For dinner, choose from a daily changing, seasonal prix-fixe dinner menu served in our elegant candlelit Dining Room and freshly cooked to order by Chef James Perry who has two AA rosettes for his food. All of our fresh produce is sourced from local suppliers and in the summertime, some of our vegetables, salad leaves and herbs come from our own garden. James is pleased to prepare vegetarian dishes and to cater for other particular dietary needs although we do appreciate advance notice of such requirements. Please note that the Dining Room is closed on Sunday and Monday evenings. A full Room Service menu is available Monday to Saturday until 9.30pm.
Our swimming pool (outdoors) is usually open from Easter to the end of September but if you don't fancy a dip, you can while away time on the pool terrace.
From January onwards, a succession of bulbs pop up bringing colour to the garden through the winter and spring. In April and May our garden birds are busy singing and building nests - we have blue, great and long-tailed tits, robins and wrens, blackbirds and thrushes, greenfinches, goldfinches and chaffinches, the occasional woodpecker and this year, for the first time a pair of nesting jackdaws. We also have pipistrelle bats which flit around at dusk and some guests have even seen foxes and deer in the garden.
In summer our beautiful trees are all in leaf including Holm and Red Oak, Weeping Ash and Copper Beech. We also have Yew, Holly and Scots Pine trees in the garden as well as a variety of different conifers.
During the autumn, the Virginia Creeper which covers the house turns a rich red before it falls and then it's back to winter, when a warming log fire welcomes you back after a busy day.
If you are planning to bring cycles we have plenty of secure storage and space for any maintenance or repairs which might be needed, as well as information on local cycle routes and watering holes along the way!
Surrounding Area
There are some interesting local walks straight from the hotel both on and off-road, including a riverside trail where you can see various birds. Whitlingham Country Park is a short drive away.
The hotel has secure cycle storage and information on local cycle routes.
Transport
By Road
From the A47 Norwich Southern By-Pass (A11/Thickthorn Services Interchange)
Follow the A47 in an easterly direction towards Great Yarmouth and take the A1042 exit signposted to 'Norwich N & E' and Thorpe St. Andrew. Turn left at the top of the slip road and follow the road into Thorpe. St. Andrew. Go straight on at the first two roundabouts. At the third (mini) roundabout bear left onto the A1242. About ½ a mile further a long is a set of traffic lights at the junction with Thunder Lane. Go straight over and our entrance is about 70 yards past the traffic lights on the right hand side a little past the green gates and just by a bus stop. If you reach the entrance to 'Oakland's' Hotel you have gone too far!
By Rail
Norwich Thorpe Railway Station has a twice hourly National Express service to London and an hourly service to Cambridge and is just a few minutes by bus/ taxi. Other operators also provide services to Nottingham, Sheffield and Liverpool and you can change at Ely for Peterborough and services to the North East and Scotland.
By Coach
National Express run coaches from many cities to Norwich and from Gatwick, Heathrow and Stansted airports to Norwich.
By Air
Norwich International Airport is five miles away with flights to and from Aberdeen, Edinburgh Glasgow, Dublin, Exeter, Manchester and Paris. You can connect with flights to European and World-wide destinations via the KLM hub at Amsterdam Schipol or via Manchester. Carriers include Eastern Airways, Flybe and KLM.
Regular bus services operate from the near the hotel entrance to Norwich city centre, the Norfolk & Norwich hospital and the University of East Anglia (change at Norwich Rail Station).
Restaurants
A tasty English breakfast is served each morning and features locally produced bacon, sausages and ham, free-range eggs, thick yoghurt with homemade toppings, fresh fruit, Fairtrade tea and coffee and Norfolk preserves, amongst others items.
Afternoon tea is available to residents every day from 15:00 until 17:00, with home-baked scones with Norfolk jam and delicious cake.
For dinner a seasonal prix-fixe dinner menu is served in the elegant candlelit dining room. The menu changes daily and all fresh produce is sourced from local suppliers. In summer some vegetables, salad leaves and herbs come from our own garden.
James can prepare vegetarian dishes and cater for other dietary needs with advance notice. The dining room is closed on Sunday evenings. A full room service menu is available from Monday to Saturday until 21:30.
Important
The dining room is closed on Sunday evenings. A full Room Service menu is available from Monday to Saturday until 21:30.
