The superb setting of the Nye family's hotel overlooking salt marshes to the sea and Scolt Head Island is matched by 'exceptional food and service', say readers who go back year after year. 'It's hard to think of much that can be improved at this hotel,' write happy readers. Food is served outside from noon until night, allowing diners to fully appreciate the big-sky landscape and spectacular sunsets. You can eat sea-fresh shellfish cooked over coals and 'Norfolk tapas' in an open-sided marquee (ponchos provided), dine under a parasol in the courtyard garden, or by the fire in winter. In the glass-walled restaurant, 'fish features strongly. Both the hake and the grill were good. The lobster was excellent.' Mussels and oysters are harvested just off the garden. Bedrooms feature local artwork, a Norfolk seascape palette of green, blue, lavender and sand. A reader had a 'big comfy bed, plenty of room and storage space'. Another enjoyed the 'wonderful view across the salt marsh' from the split-level 'Room at the Top', with a balcony and telescope. Spacious, dog-friendly garden rooms, built into the contours of the land under a sedum roof, have a private terrace. (Brad Barker, Peter Anderson, and others)