Broom Hall Country Hotel, Saham Toney

Broom Hall Country Hotel is a charming Victorian country house located at Saham Toney near Thetford in Norfolk. It was established as a family run hotel in 1994. It is found off a country road and you then approach the hotel by going down a winding driveway boarded by trees. To unload you can stop in the covered porch right outside the entrance but this is not allowed for long as otherwise you block any other car coming round. The owners make sure ...
...there is a car park just a short walk from the entrance. The hotel is set in lovely grounds but we didn't have the chance to explore given the bad weather we experienced during our stay. However, there are wonderful views of the gardens from the lounge.

The hotel is small and family owned so we were surprised not to be immediately welcomed. It would have made a far better initial impression. They were also not keen to supply bedding ... more

Broom Hall Country Hotel is a charming Victorian country house located at Saham Toney near Thetford in Norfolk. It was established as a family run hotel in 1994. It is found off a country road and you then approach the hotel by going down a winding driveway boarded by trees. To unload you can stop in the covered porch right outside the entrance but this is not allowed for long as otherwise you block any other car coming round. The owners make sure that you are aware of that! They point out that there is a car park just a short walk from the entrance. The hotel is set in lovely grounds but we didn't have the chance to explore given the bad weather we experienced during our stay. However, there are wonderful views of the gardens from the lounge.

The hotel is small and family owned so we were surprised not to be immediately welcomed. It would have made a far better initial impression. They were also not keen to supply bedding for the cot on legal grounds but we were allowed to fold adult sheets in it, at our own risk! The rooms were up an impressive flight of stairs but quite daunting with everything brought for a small child's needs. We were allowed to leave our pram on the ground floor behind the said stairs, as after all it was of no use upstairs for us. It was left at our own risk but we couldn't imagine anyone sneaking in at this remote location and stealing a pram!

We had a large family room with an en suite bathroom. The bath was an unusual curved shape and spacious enough for one of us to bathe with the child after our swimming exploits. But we didn't spend much time there.

The main feature for us of the hotel was the swimming pool. This was reached on the ground floor through an unused lounge. Sometimes you needed to ask for the room to be unlocked and sometimes you needed to take the cover off the pool. If this happened then this meant you were the only user, which was great and fortunately this was often the case. The pool is a very good size with walk in steps at one end and it was always warm. There was space all around the pool for walking and for sitting, which was good for when we got tired. There were also large windows all around to see outside though these often steamed up. By the entrance there was even a changing room and toilet facilities. We always changed upstairs in our room but the existence of the toilet was very useful given a small child and the distance to the next available facility! We spent a good deal of time here, especially with the weather not being so good during our stay. It was always a bit of a shock to the system when we came out of the warmth of the pool area back into the normal temperature of the rest of the hotel.

Meals were served in the smallish dining room and we found the food to be very nice. Off the dining room was a large lounge. It was not really family friendly with potential hazards lurking for a small child. The chief amongst this was the fireplace and its fire that was lit on cold nights. It was very attractive and indeed warming but the whole atmosphere was set up for quiet relaxation and not for active children. Another problem was the smoking rooms. There was a general policy of no smoking in the hotel, except the Rose Room Bar and Chestnut Function Room. However the smell cannot be retained in particular areas and we did not like how it invaded the places we occupied.

One of the rooms had a full sized snooker table and some puzzles. We played snooker very badly but it was good fun to have a go. However, our child had a bad fall whilst watching us. She stood on a chair to be able to see over the edge of the table and watch us hit the balls. But she slipped off, banged her chin and bit her tongue so badly it poured with blood. We knocked on the owner's private door for assistance but it wasn't very forthcoming. They simply gave us some salt water and the telephone number of a doctor. We had to use a payphone in the corridor to call and were disappointed to find out the doctor would not come to us and we would have to go in search of him. Given that it was late and dark and we not being sure where to find or how long to get to this doctor, we decided to wait until morning. We felt rather vulnerable, cut off in the country. Fortunately, the bleeding stopped and she fell asleep. Now she has a permanent mark on her tongue but she is not the worse for wear for the experience.

The hotel is in a reasonably good location to explore places in Norfolk such as Thetford Forest Park and Banham Zoo, but it was a significant drive to Norwich or the coast.

Overall it is a reasonably nice hotel with great décor and a lovely pool. However, we thought it could be more family friendly for those with young children and it could lose the smoking!
 

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