My wife and I stayed at the Old Rectory the weekend before xmas for a well earned break and for xmas shopping in the fine City of Norwich. We were keen to find somewhere close to the City centre but a little distance away from the hustle and bustle of the City scene. We trawled Tripadvisor and came across The Old Rectory. We don't usually stay in anywhere less than 3/4 star, that's not being snobby but we like our hotels to be of a good standard, clean, and provide excellent value. The reviews were excellent for The Old Rectory so we thought we'd try it. What a gem of a hotel. WiltshireLover's review highlights the excellent menu, and cleanliness of the hotel which I can whole heartedly endorse.
My wife is a 'borderline' veggie and only occasionally eats meat, and when we mentioned this to the staff, the chef prepared a complete vegetarian menu specially for her.
We were upgraded to Room No 1, a lovely spacious room with large en-suite, power shower over bath and all the usual soaps and gels.
The only gripe was the toilet flush which required several attempts to make it work, annoying when in the middle of the night you feel you're waking the hotel up while you're repeatedly pushing the handle until it decides to flush the loo.
The hotel is only a 10 minute drive away from Norwich City centre in the area of Thorpe St Andrew which has it's own little collection of pubs and restaurants, but having stayed D,B&B and sampled the exquisitely prepared food at The Old Rectory, I wouldn't hesitate to stay full board there again.
As has been said previously, this hotel punches well above it's 2 star rating and is a credit to the proprietors Chris & Sally, with their very able and attentive staff.

We chose this hotel for Christmas shopping break based on other tripadvisor reviews.
We were not disappointed.It was a truely relaxing break in a lovely hotel.
The breakfasts and dinners were always excellent .The excellent balcony room on the first floor was spotless as was the rest of the hotel.Chris the proprietor was always on hand with help or advise if needed and nothing was too much trouble.
The hotel was situated a short distance outside Norwich city centre and was very peacful.
Parking was no problem. We will be back!!

The Old Rectory Hotel in the Thorpe St. Andrew area of Norwich has the features we look for when choosing a hotel: too small for noisy weddings, too expensive for stag and hen groups, and owner-managed or other evidence of close quality supervision. We have found that to be the formula for a good experience.

We stayed here four nights on a pre-Christmas shopping and sightseeing trip to Norwich.

Our room (No. 1) was large and beautifully decorated. The two large easy chairs in that room were especially appreciated. This room at the front of the c.1754 main building overlooks a garden with mature evergreen trees.

I want to highlight the delights of dining in an upmarket small hotel, this one in particular. We had all our evening meals in the hotel dining room except for Sunday evening, when the dining room was closed. At the risk of repeating what you may already know, the etiquette of upscale small hotel dining in Britain is as follows: Always book in advance, as the hotel may only have six or eight tables; if you are a vegetarian, mention that when you book, as you can expect the menu of the day to consist of about three meat and fish main courses from which to choose; on arrival you go to the hotel guests' lounge and order drinks; the menu arrives while you are having your drinks, and you order in the lounge; only when your starter/appetizer is ready are you shown to your table in the dining room.

We really enjoyed the attractive presentation of the food, the moderate portion size, the delicate flavours, and the sauces specially prepared for each dish. No chips/french fries, no ketchup, no loud music, easy to hear the conversation with your dining companion. Staff relaxed and smiling. To us, this is the best way to dine.

With a chef in the kitchen, the menu changes every day. Our starters included cured salmon with salad, pork terrine, and breast of wild wood pigeon. Our main courses included sea bream, baked cod, breast of duck, and beef. Our desserts included a delicate cake with sauce, meringue with fruit compote and cream, sorbet, and a selection of mostly local cheese.

I can't comment on the wine list, as we don't drink. And unlike in some restaurants, there is no danger of anyone at this hotel sneering at a guest for that.

Dinner here is fixed-price. During our stay, dinner with two courses was £20 and with three courses, £26, except on the Saturday when there was one price, three courses for £28.

It was a delightful experience I wish I could repeat often, but I don't live in that part of the country.

If you are wondering why I didn't put this under restaurant reviews, it's because I don't like to see a nice place ruined by a crush of customers.

This place is a real gem and deserves five stars not two! It was outstanding in every way, from the friendliness of the staff, efficiency of service, cleanliness of the room and the food which was superb. Would definitely recommend and wouldn't hesitate to stay there again.