The Dabbling Duck
They have all their ducks in a row at this wisteria-decked gastropub-with-rooms overlooking the green in a village where mallards glide on old abbey fishponds. More
Good Hotel Guide Review
They have all their ducks in a row at this wisteria-decked gastropub-with-rooms overlooking the green in a village where mallards glide on old abbey fishponds. ‘It is an excellent pub, serving good food,’ our inspectors found. Under the expert management of Mark and Sally Dobby, ‘the young staff are absolutely lovely, very well trained’. Rooms above the pub are presented in cottage style with a king-size or double wrought iron bed. Larger rooms in a garden annexe are a shade more contemporary, with a touch of rustic chic, and there are individually styled premium rooms in a refurbished house adjacent to the pub. All have home-made vodka and biscuits and luxury toiletries. A few doors down, three-bedroom Duckling Cottage is now available for self-catering. You can eat in the bar, library, conservatory or, if you fancy wood-fired pizza, in the barn or garden. The menu, with blackboard specials, includes pub classics, game from local estates, fish and shellfish from the Norfolk coast – maybe fish and chips, ‘great burger stacks’, or smoked buttermilk squash with girolles and chicory. ‘We certainly would stay there again.’
Hotel details
Address
11 Abbey Road
GREAT MASSINGHAM
Norfolk
PE32 2HN
England
Telephone
01485 520827
Bedrooms
12. 3 on ground floor in garden annexe.
Open
all year.
Facilities
bar, 3 private dining rooms, hallway/library, in-room TV, barn and garden (pizza oven, alfresco dining).
Background music
jazz and soul throughout the building.
Children
all ages welcomed, extra bed £20, children’s menu, play castle.
Dogs
allowed in most bedrooms by arrangement (£10 per night, doggy menu), in bar and 1 dining room.
Credit cards
Amex, MC, Visa.
Prices
B&B doubles from £160, singles from £110. À la carte £30.