The White Horse

The superb setting of the Nye family’s hotel overlooking salt marshes to the sea and Scolt Head Island is matched by a ‘really good atmosphere’, say readers, who visit year after year. ‘It was wonderful to return to such a well-managed hotel,’ runs a typical report. Food is served outside from noon till night, allowing diners to fully appreciate the big-sky landscape and spectacular sunsets. You can eat sea-fresh shellfish cooked over coals 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, with ‘excellent food and service’, the menu ranges from fish and chips to lobster or marsh-grazed dry-aged sirloin steak. ‘Extremely comfortable and nicely decorated’ refurbished bedrooms have new carpets and linen, local artwork, a Norfolk seascape palette of green, blue, lavender and sand. The split-level ‘Room at the Top’ has a balcony and telescope to better appreciate the view. Spacious, dog-friendly garden rooms, built into the contours of the land, under a sedum roof, have a private terrace, a stroll from the Coast Path. (David Craig, SP)