Maids Head Hotel

I can't give this place five stars - because it's not the Stafford or the Savoy. That said, it deserves it.

A superb location - right next to the Cathedral - and staff that have clearly managed to understand customer service. The place rambles around and has a great bar (the oldest in Norwich - 700 years old), a great restaurant, great staff (did I mention that?) and really functional rooms.

If I was going to be picky - and I'd have to be - the wardrobe in the room is too small, I can't hang my shirts up in the bathroom to straighten them because of those annoying "don't steal me" hangers and I can't stand up straight in the bath/shower - ok, ok, I'm 6'5 ..... I did say being picky.

The breakfast is truly amazing and the prices - for somewhere that could probably charge what they want - are really reasonable. So much so that I might bring Mrs Aardvark here to sit somewhere and watch the toothless, web-footed locals wandering by.

In reality, I can't fault this place and the free wi-fi is just the icing on the cake.

I shall return.

I’m staying here on business, and this is the hotel that our company always uses. I’m not sure whether anyone’s seen 'Howl’s Moving Castle’ but the town that it’s set in at the very beginning, where the hat lady lives, is just like the area that this hotel is in. There are higgeldy-piggeldy tudor shops and cobbled streets, and the Cathedral is absolutely stunning at night, with its uplights on.

The hotel itself is comfortable. I was really expecting more, I think, because people had commented on how beautiful and 'olde-worlde’ it was, but my room, if I’m honest, is pretty basic. It’s got the usual TV (although it’s not a fancy plasma one), tea and coffee facilities, iron, hairdryer and free wi-fi (that wins it an extra star, I have to say, bringing it up from a measly 3 to a 4 starred review), but there are little things it lacks. Like, for example, a curtain hook for the right hand curtain - it’s hanging down in a rather tired fashion right now, even though I’ve had go at fixing it (my OCD about things being 'just-so, I’m afraid) and failed. The bathroom’s compact and clean enough, although on closer inspection, I realised that the toilet’s very badly stained and when I had a bath, I was sitting in gritty particles and it wasn’t very pleasant.

I thought I’d have a nice cooked breakfast this morning (£12.50 if it’s not included in your stay), but after I’d ordered with the somewhat ditzy waitress, she brought it out without black pudding (which I’d ordered) and told me they’d run out. I said 'oh’ and she (kindly?) asked 'do you want something else then?’ - I think she meant in place of the black pudding, but given that I’d got the rest of the breakfast in front of me I wasn’t exactly going to say 'oh, ok, let’s have a look at the menu again, what shall I have instead?’ Bit half-hearted and not the greatest service.

All in all I’ll clearly be staying here again, and it’s not bad, but it’s not the best place I’ve stayed in by a long shot. Having said that, it’s cheap. I think my standard double room was £79. So I shouldn’t really be whinging should I?

I have been visiting this hotel for over 10 years now - since I was very young and my family keep going back.
Firstly the location is excellent, right opposite the Cathedral (some rooms have views of this) and right next to a Wetherspoons. It only takes 5 minutes to walk into town so once you park at the hotel you don’t need to use your car again for the whole stay if you are just on a weekend break to see Norwich!
The hotel itself is lovely, I know they have just had some rennovation work done which I think will greatly improve the hotel. The rooms here are all large which is a plus! The staff have always been lovely to us here.
There are often special offers on breaks here so keep an eye out and you may well get a bargain.

The oldest bar in Norwich I think…...so it has survived the test of time! As you go in the main entrance to the bar and restaurant you start to notice the history that surrounds this place - take time to read the plaques and see the old things about you, even if you are only popping in for a quick drink or something to eat.

Food and drink is not cheap here, and the rooms are not exactly at the lower end of the price spectrum. To a certain extent the Maids Head is stuck in a bit of a time warp, but I don’t think that is a bad thing - a bit of traditional hotel space is much needed to compete with the cheap and cheerful chains that are now popping up all over the place.

Located in the old part of the City, the Maids Head Hotel is ideally located for visiting Elm Hill, St Andrew’s Hall and Norwich Cathedral, which is right on its doorstep.

I visited the hotel as my friend got marriee and had her reception here, I was told the building is over 700 years old. It’s close to the wetherspoons and Norwich cathedral. Style wise it’s olde worlds yet modern chintzy. I could easily of gotten lost, too many stairs and halls and rooms and entrances. The bar prices are expensive, but one of the bars does do 2 for 1 cocktails between 7pm and 9pm, so check that out! My friend got married in a small room on the ground floor and had her reception upstairs in a really nice bright, characterful room, with a dancefloor! The food was really great! Staff were friendly too.