Strattons Hotel and Restaurant Review
Telephone: +44 (0)1760 723845
The owners of Strattons met at art school and have transformed this Grade II listed building into a stylish country hotel that's a swirl of colour that shows off their aesthetic minds.
There are mosaics, murals and chandeliers in the lounge and hall rooms, and you have a choice of ten themed bedrooms, such as the theatrical Red Room with a four-poster bed and fireplace, and the Stalls with lipstick-patterned pillows situated in a modern annex across the lawn from the main building.
After a pint of Swaffham Gold (from a choice of five local beers) in the lounge, we moved to the white-washed, candlelit restaurant for celery and cashew nut soup, local roast pork and a platter of local cheeses splashed down with organic red wine. Most of the food is organic, seasonal and nearly all sourced from local suppliers in Norfolk.
Our room was the Boudoir, with Renaissance art prints splashed over the wallpaper, and we retired for a seriously comfortable night's sleep.
The ten rooms are individually styled, with styles ranging from this cool, contemporary look to the theatrical Red Room
The hotel is tucked well away from Swaffham town centre, so it's very peaceful. For breakfast, there was a local theme once more -- apple juice from Ashill Fruit Farm, kippers from Cley Smoke House and homemade croissants and jams.
Strattons has won many awards for the quality of its food, but also for its environmental policies. The owners say they have halved the amount of waste produced over the last five years, chiefly by reducing packaging and either reusing or recycling as much as they can. Only two per cent goes to landfill, they say.
In our bathroom there were refillable soap dispensers and a non-patronising note encouraging guests to be mindful of not wasting water when brushing teeth. I was told that the staff receive 'energy-reduction training', though there are no solar panels or wind generators (apparently down to the limitations of being a listed building).
Other than that, Strattons is proof that it is possible to run a boutique hotel in an environmentally friendly fashion, without compromising on delivering high-quality service.
[box]Essentials: Rooms cost from £120 per room per night, including breakfast, for one person, or £150 for two people. There is a minimum stay of two nights on the weekend or three nights over bank holiday weekends. Downham Market Station and King's Lynn Station are both a short taxi ride from the hotel. Ash Close, Swaffham, Norfolk, PE37 7NH, England.[/box]
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