Crown and Castle

Fantastic long weekend stay. First time visit but won’t be the last. We were recommended this Hotel by friends and it didn’t disappoint. Our room was lovely, the food was incredible - the chef puts a lot of love in to the food and it’s not the usual same old menu many other places offer. The quality is amazing and so fresh. Breakfasts AND dinners. Sunday roast lived up to the hype. Puddings (which we don’t normally do) were delicious. Huge thanks must go to all the staff as they were all so welcoming. The manager John was a credit to the Hotel and his attention to detail is fantastic. Thanks for a great stay. We will be back!

The Crown and Castle is an ideal, luxury getaway, from the lovely, well appointed room, to pre-dinner drinks in the bar, followed by an excellent dinner .... not to mention a breakfast to set us up for the day ahead. Orford is a lovely town, right out of a picture book. Everything about the stay was perfect. We love the hotel and all that the town has to offer. A visit to the castle was fascinating and we brought lovely goodies home from the smoked fish shop and bakery.

We stayed a few nights in a superior seaview room, including evening meals on a couple of evenings. First, the positives: service from all of the staff is excellent, helpful and attentive. Public rooms are pleasantly decorated and the overall hotel position is fantastic in a lovely village, surrounded by easy walks with a walking map provided if required. Breakfast ingredients are of high quality and overall breakfasts are good; a complimentary paper is provided. Our bedroom was certainly bright and was larger than average. Fresh chilled milk is provided. There are some slight downsides. For one evening meal a vegetarian main comprised 6-7 sorry pieces of gnocchi served with (plenty of) broccoli and a completely tasteless puree. It was rather underwhelming. Evening mains overall are ambitiously priced and I’d expect something more special for what was charged. Despite the lovely views, the rooms lack personality. Largely painted in white, offset with grey cupboard doors and a black radiator, they felt to us to be stark and anodyne, crying out for a bit of wall-art (a tv screensaver doesn’t suffice) and maybe some marine ornamentation: public rooms have it, so why not upstairs? Beds are ok but furnishings looked like they’d come from an Oak Furnitureland catalogue. It was quite cool weather when we stayed but the room was hot. A fan is supplied but I can imagine in summer it could be very sticky. Bathrooms are all in white, which is fine but does show up mould, which needs to be kept on top of. Overall, a pleasant and relaxing stay with great staff but room for improvement here and there.