‘Avoid room seven’: The Inspector calls at a Grade II-listed Georgian inn that’s set in the pretty Norfolk town of Holt – while it’s ‘not bad value’, he’s disappointed by his ‘tiny’ bedroomThe Inspector stays at The Feathers, a 17-bedroom inn on Holt’s High StreetHe enjoys his venison hotpot at dinner but isn’t a big fan of the breakfast buffet Remember, the Inspector pays his way… and tells it like it is
Festive lights are subdued this Christmas — but not in Holt. The pretty North Norfolk town is ablaze with illuminations in what could be seen as a riposte to cost-of-living scrooges.
The Feathers — part of the East Anglia Chestnut group — is a Grade II-listed Georgian inn on the High Street with 17 rooms, all of which, we’re told at reception, have been refurbished.
Ours is number seven and it’s tiny. We’re surprised it’s sold as a double. The shower is so small I have to open the door to turn round without bashing the sides.
The one window looks out at a wall and there’s a constant noise from a kitchen extractor.
The Inspector checks into The Feathers, a Grade II-listed Georgian inn on the High Street of the pretty North Norfolk town of Holt
‘Fancy seating’ in the hotel’s bar and restaurant
Turn on one of the taps and it swivels at a right angle; the bathroom door paint is chipped and the bedroom curtains look like they belong in a student flat.
The bar is at the back of the building near the open kitchen. More fancy seating is on either side of the front door, where we find a corner table, but just as we’re about to sit down, a member of staff comes over.
‘Your table is here, my love,’ she says, pointing at one almost opposite the front door.
The friendly ‘my love’ theme continues throughout the evening, as in ‘… and what can we get you to drink, my love’ and ‘everything okay with your mains, my love?’
Everything is okay with my venison hotpot and with my wife’s sirloin steak — but the blast of cold air whenever the door opens is an unwelcome distraction.
Not as unwelcome as breakfast in the bar area, where, on asking for a double espresso, I hear the fateful phrase ‘we only do cafetieres at breakfast’.
‘Everything is okay with my venison hotpot and with my wife’s sirloin steak,’ the Inspector says of his meal at The Feathers
The Inspector says that ‘festive lights are subdued this Christmas — but not in Holt’. Above is The Feathers adorned in fairy lights
It’s a full buffet, with one of those awful toasting machines, where you have to put the bread through at least twice before it browns up.
The fried eggs swimming in oil brings to mind a 70s works canteen and the whole room needs a proper airing.
We come away with the feeling that much of The Feathers is pinched — but it’s not bad value if you can avoid room seven.
TRAVEL FACTS
The Feathers, 6 Market Pl, Holt, NR25 6BW. Doubles from £132. For more information call 01263 712318 or visit thefeathersholt.com.
Rating out of five: **
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