The Best Beach Hotels in Norfolk

Thanks to a clifftop position, Dormy House near Cromer has pinch-me panoramic views over the north Norfolk coastline. Sit on the enclosed terrace – designed to keep sea winds at bay – preferably with a plateful from Dormy House’s daily carvery, nicknamed the “best roast on the coast”. Book into a room overlooking West Runton Beach, then head into town for a Cromer crab sandwich, or to Sheringham for cafes, pubs and antique shops. West Runton railway station is nearby, so leave the car at home and let the train take the strain.

Get your hands on the top room at The White Horse – from here you can eye up, through your own viewing telescope, the lobster pots and oyster beds in the salt marshes below. You might just see your dinner being landed, as shellfish in the White Horse restaurant comes from the local area. Order the seafood sharing platter with lobster, crab, shell-on prawns, cockles and oysters. Look out for gin cocktail evenings and lobster barbecues.

The vaulted timber roof and mullioned bay windows in the Clement Scott bar at the Sea Marge Hotel are reminders of why Overstrand, near Cromer, was once a favourite coastal retreat of the elite and wealthy. Indeed, Winston Churchill used a phone at Sea Marge to mobilise the British navy at the start of World War I. Potter down the terraced lawns and you’ll find yourself on a wide sandy beach. Haul yourself back up and locally caught crab and glorious sea views await.

Just a 10-minute walk from Caley Hall lies Hunstanton North Beach, a boulder-strewn swathe of sand with deckchair-striped cliffs made up of layers of pure white chalk, red iron-stained chalk and gingerbread-hued carrstone. It’s one of the most-photographed images of north Norfolk, so join the melee and whip out your phone camera. Recharge with fish and chips on the patio back at the 17th-century manor house hotel, once a prison for the smugglers caught with hauls of Geneva gin.

The terrace at The Cliff proffers a ringside view of the beach at Gorleston-on-Sea, so tuck into a sirloin or ribeye steak from the chargrill and people-watch for a while. Work it off with a beachside stroll to Hopton cliffs and back up to Great Yarmouth. Check out the memorial plaque in the hotel garden, which salutes the Air Area Rescue unit that was based at the hotel during World War II.

Launch a weekend in Wells-next-the-Sea with fizz and chips at The Crown, a fun feast for two with haddock goujons, battered tiger prawns, fish cakes, skinny chips and a glass of prosecco. Knock it back on the sun-soaked terrace of this former coaching inn and life really couldn’t be much better. There’s even a free-standing copper bath beckoning on the private terrace of the rooftop suite.

Once a Victorian farmhouse, this smart boutique hotel peers over Titchwell Marsh RSPB reserve. It’s also just a few minutes’ walk from salt marshes and the coastal footpath. When the tide goes out at nearby Brancaster Beach, hop over the huddles of razor shells and take a closer look at the shipwreck of the SS Vina, used for target practice by the RAF ahead of the 1944 Normandy landings, but later stranded on a sandbank. Back at the hotel, go for sea-spotting rooms in the main house or romantic bolt holes with private hot tubs around the herb garden.