Wherry Hotel, Lowestoft

Author's product rating:   

Advantages:	Lots of Character, Friendly, Reasonable Access
Disadvantages:	Not the cheapest, lacks facilities

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

The Wherry Hotel is a fairly small hotel on Oulton Broad near Lowestoft, Suffolk, overlooking Oulton Broad, and part of the Elizabeth Group of Hotels, a fairly small chain with hotels mainly in East Anglia, and also northern England. I have been staying there at least once a year for a number of years now, it can't be much short of ten, normally for a long weekend in September (Friday to Monday), and once for the same time in April.

The Hotel
As above, the hotel is fairly small, with 3 floors, and around 30 rooms and 3 suits. The guest rooms are on the upper two floors, the majority on the first floor, with the suits mostly on the top floor. The ground floor has the reception, the restaurant, a café, two bars (one for guests, one general) and a function room. It is an old building, dating from the 19th century, but manages to mix modern comforts with period character. Other than those mentioned, the hotel does not have many facilities, but it's location means that there is plenty to do outside the hotel day and night.

The Rooms
The hotel has a mixture of single and double rooms, as well as the 3 suits. My own experience has been the single rooms, and I have probably stopped in most if not all the single rooms in the hotel at one time. Due to the age of the hotel, all the rooms are different, and this adds to the character. My parents have stopped in double rooms and also one time one of the suits, and I have obviously visited them in there rooms as well. The rooms are quite compact, but comfortable and fairly well equipped. All have a wardrobe of suitable size (single for single rooms, double for double rooms), a desk and an on suit bathroom. As far as I know, all double rooms have a bath, single rooms either have a bath or a shower. The rest of the features of the rooms are standard for most hotels in a similar class, tea and coffee making equipped, with the added extra of complementary biscuits, a TV, with the recent addition of some Freeview channels, and a standard bed. The rooms have all recently been refurbished, but keep many period features and a general décor that fits with the character of the hotel, although the bathrooms are modern in appearance. The windows are double glazed and quite effective at keeping sound out, useful due to the fairly busy nature of the location, yet as common with buildings of that age are large, over 6ft high. The guest rooms are on 3 sides of the hotel. About half face out over the broad, these being the best rooms, particularly those with access to the balcony, a few others face towards the bridges, and the rest simply face out over the car park and neighbouring streets. A particularly nice room is on the corner, with a view over both the broad and the bridges. The suits are larger, the best being the honeymoon suit with a small private balcony looking over the broad, and have both a bedroom and a day room, the latter with a sofa bed and cot for families.

Facilities
The main facilities for guests are the restaurant and the guest bar. The former provides both breakfast and dinner. Since my stays are working trips, volunteering at the nearby East Anglia Transport Museum (see my review of this for more details), I usually either don't have time for breakfast, or am too tired, so can't comment, but it's pretty much standard for hotels. The meals at the restaurant are very good though. It is open for both guests and none guests, so pre-booking is recommended, and as well as a small selection of meals, including vegetarian, offers a great carvery. There are usually 3 types of meat on, Turkey, Pork and Beef being most common, and these are carved by one of the chefs. You then help yourself to vegetables, potatoes and sauces. I have never had a complaint about the food at all, and really, it's one of the reasons I keep going there. They also offer a selection of deserts from a carousel. The guest bar is basically a smoking lounge, but none smoking, with a bar, a large fireplace (don't know if it's ever lit, since I've only been in later spring and early autumn) and comfortable seats, and is great for a quiet drink. It is open 24 hours, although getting service can be a little difficult at times due to the small number of staff on duty, but keep pressing the bell and they will come. As well as the usual selection of drinks, it also serves local Adnams beer. You can also order freshly made sandwiches and other refreshments. Next door is another bar, which is for the public, and tends to be more lively, depending on what you want, but closes at 11. There is a café as well, which I have never tried, that seems to sell sandwiches as well as drinks etc., again open to the public. The hotel also has a fairly large function suit, and a conference room.
Room service is offered, with food and drinks from the bar, breakfast and newspapers available for delivery to your room, although there is a fee.

Staff etc.
The small staff at the hotel are all very friendly, both the ones that you only see one visit, and the regulars who have been working at least as long as I've been going. They have always been very good at dealing with problems on the few times they have occurred. The cleaning staff do a good job both in the public areas and the rooms, which are all kept nice and clean. They are also very good at restocking the rooms, something quite rare I find. Like with most hotels, quietness is a luxury, not normal, and activity starts early and finishes late, and much depends on your fellow guests. As I've said before, the windows are very good at keeping out external noise, and this includes noise from the function suit which is joined onto the side of the hotel. As with many older hotels, pipework can be a source of noise, although not as bad as some I've been in. The only time I've had a real noise problem has been in one room next to the lift, which was an early source of noise as the hotel came to life in the morning, but this was some years ago so may have improved.

Location
The Wherry is located right on the east shore of Oulton Broad, a large broad (a man made lake) off the River Waveney, which joins at the opposite end. It is alongside the dyke which links the Broad with Lake Lothing and the sea. As the lake is directly linked to the sea, but the Broad is linked via the rivers, flowing out to sea up the coast at Great Yarmouth, the water levels are different, and therefore a lock is provided, fitted with double gates due to the fact that water can be higher or lower on either side, depending on the current state of the tide (Oulton Broads tide is some way behind Lake Lothing's, and of lesser magnitude). Boats pass through the lock quite regularly during the day, although to do so they must be fairly small due to the size of the lock, and no hire boats on the broads may pass through. The hotel is alongside the DDDFSF road which crosses the dyke via a lifting bridge, linking the two halves of Oulton Broad village. There is easy access to nearby Lowestoft and via the A12 to the north (Norfolk) and south (Suffolk), and the A146 towards Norwich and the West. To the north of the hotel along the road are a small number of shops, and a few bars and take-aways. The main shopping area is just to the south, and also has a few bars, restaurants and take-aways. Due to it's touristy nature, Oulton Broad is quite well provided for its size, and also quite busy, both in season and out, and seems to have a quite active night-life. A short trip into Lowestoft provides much the same on a bigger scale. The location is far from peaceful, but as I've said, the hotel windows mean that you shouldn't find it much of a disturbance, and generally it quietens down fairly early. The same applies to road noise, and also noise from the bridge sirens when that opens, and also trains crossing the nearby Swing Bridge.

Local Attractions and things to do
The hotels location on the border between Norfolk and Suffolk makes it an idea place for exploring what those counties have to offer, including of course the Broads. Boat tours and boat hire are available a short distance from the hotel. The East Anglia Transport Museum is just a few miles south at Carlton Colville, and is a must for anyone interested in transport, or who wants a nostalgic trip on long gone forms of transport like the Trolleybus and the Tram (proper ones, not today's "Light Rapid Transit"). For more details, see my review. Really, the area offers so much, that I'm not going to go through it all here, it would take forever.

Transport and how to get there.
The hotel is nice and easy to find by car, being just off the main AAAA through Oulton Broad, which links to the A12 at the north and south. The A12 goes to Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, and down to London via Ipswich. From the West, the A146 comes in from Norwich, joining to the A47 from the West, which also links in with the A17 and A1 from the north. The hotel has a quite large car park, but a downside is the lack of guest only parking, so at times finding a space can be hard.
Bus provision to the hotel is not great. Only the hourly 607 from Yarmouth to Carlton Colville passes the hotel, although the half hourly X2 from Norwich to Lowestoft stops quite nearby. The 607 also passes the two local rail stations.
Rail services can be found at 2 stations, Oulton Broad North and Oulton Broad South, although both are a fair walk, at least 10-15mins. The North Station is on the line from Norwich to Lowestoft, and is best served, with trains hourly, running quite late. From Norwich, connections can be found to London half hourly, and via the hourly Liverpool service to Peterborough for services north, and the Midlands. The South Station has trains direct to London via Ipswich, also from Lowestoft, but only once ever 2 hours.
The nearest Airport is Norwich International.

The Wherry is a good quality, friendly hotel, although not the cheapest at rack rate, but so many good deals can be had on hotels via the internet these days that I'm sure you could get a very good rate. I would say it's more suitable for older people in general, and less suitable for families with younger children, due to their being little to occupy them both in the hotel and the immediate area, especially in the evenings. That's not saying it's family unfriendly either, but it depends on what you and your family want. I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone, and although I keep thinking it would be nice to find somewhere cheaper, or more convenient for my own needs, I keep going back year after year.