I have parents living near the hotel and have stayed a few times. the hotel/restaurant and staff are all much of a muchness with this sort of small chain hotel, however, I will NEVER stay again, as each visit has been ruined by the inadaquate parking facitilites at the hotel, there's space for about 7 cars on the grounds, and you can only park anywhere within walking distance for a total of 2 hours, this should at least be made clear at the time of booking.

RUBBISH

My partner and I found the Phoenix Hotel very pleasant. The room was clean and comfortable. Just your standard 'travel lodge' style. The breakfast the next day (and service) was definately more than we expected....however.....just a small warning if you stay on a Saturday night as we did, 2 words, church bells!! They started at 9am and went on and on and on....I think it may be bell practice on a Sunday morning! Oh but if you get a room round the back of the hotel - it seems to be ok? (as confirmed by some of the diners in the morning, who said they hadn't heard them!). Also, you do get the people leaving the club (the Pit) walking past the window at about 2am, usuing the usual colourful language you would expect!!

We stayed here for three nights in early September as a friend was getting married nearby.

There were pros and cons to the hotel; the stairway to the rooms smelt really musty and there was a plant on one of the floors that definitely had seen better days! We were put in a slightly better room because there had been a mix up with our booking but the room was still no more than average in size. Everything was clean and tidy; a decent sized bathroom but with a non-too powerful shower.

our biggest complaint was that the room was like an oven, despite it not being that hot outside! we had our window wide open and still had to sleep on top of the bed covers. it felt very uncomfortable; and when we enquired about this at reception we were told it was because of the age of the hotel and all the hot pipes running round it.

Breakfast is what redeems this hotel. The lady who served us was one of the friendliest i'd met; there was a superb choice of cooked breakfast - all individually prepared; and enough choice of cold buffet (although not everything that was stated on the menu!).

would probably use the hotel again if i had to stay in Dereham; although i'd probably check out the prices of the other 2 hotels in the town first!

Clean, comfortable and of a higher standard than we envisaged. Prices were reasonable and location (for us) ideal. We would estimate that both the bedroom and the common areas must have been refurbished no longer than last year. All the staff were polite.

The only fault is that we would have expected the windows to be double glazed bearing in mind the street is quite busy. We stay in many hotels (frequently Travelodges) and always take ear plugs anyway!

The hotel was very flexible with our requirements. We had to reschedule our wedding to the UK after our "wedding planner" in Crete messed things up. Although we didn't use the hotel for the wedding (only for meeting, lunch and D, B&B) and we were a very small group (only 5), the hotel staff literally bent over backwards for us to make the occasion special. This was a quiet period - I believe the hotel had only 6 people staying in 4 rooms that night.