As a regular here i was disgusted by attitude by staff. I made a booking earlier in the year ( as id done plenty of times before ) but never received a confirmation email. I therefore never turned up and later found out theyd debited my account for staying! I was very angry. Nothing prepared me however for the attitude of staff. err it was my fault for not ringing up or my email provider for not sending the email. No refund given and they couldnt or wouldnt forward a copy of the confirmation email. Is this any way to treat a regular?! No way. They couldve handled it soo much better - why not 1/ actually ring me up to find out where/why i wasnt at the camp 2/ take my word that no email was sent/received and refund my money. What theyve done is leave a very bad taste which is a shame. Perhaps a customer care course is in order as im not the only one unimpressed.. Indefensible..

Two things you expect from a 'Backpackers' hostel: youth and freedom

Right at the bottom of the main website page it says "please note our very strict child policy in our terms and conditions before booking". This is actually, the almost laughable, "Strictly no one under 21 without parental supervision." condition. I started staying at the hostel when I was 19 and it would have been a massive shame (and short term annoyance) if I had been turned away (this was under the previous management, who were more relaxed about things).

On freedom, as a birdwatcher and someone who appreciates the beauty of the North Norfolk coast at dawn, I like to leave early. But I can't on the last day as I need to wait until reception opens to get my key deposit back (8am weekends, 8.30 weekdays, which is after the first Coasthopper bus - stop just outside hostel, excellent for one-way coast walks). This used to be held against credit card details and I just put the key through the letter box - not any more!

This is definitely the 1950s approach to customer service: "this is what we do, be grateful we are providing you the facilities"

All this said, I am very grateful the facilities are there, they are good value, clean, well maintained and in a great location

As someone who has worked in the customer service industry for the last 10 years I must say I have never experienced such terrible treatment from a group of staff. As part of a large group we arrived late due to traffic issues, and from arrival were were treated poorly. We we're then told on return from a get together that we were no longer allowed to stay as they feared we would create too much noise. Having booked two nights we were left with no choice but to sleep in our cars. To make matters worse on return the following day to ask for our money back (having not even being allowed to stay one night) this was refused!
Please if you are considering staying here, think long & hard, then use your sense & take your money somewhere it will be appreciated & that you will be treated as you expect to be treated.

The way that staff treated us from the minute we arrived it was disgusting. The night manager was on duty as we arrived late and i can honestly say he has zero manners and does not have the customer in mind. When the remainder of our party arrived we were told that, and i quote... 'the dorm room was not a suitable place for us to stay, in fact i really don't think you should be here at all so please pack your things up and leave'. Having driven for over 7 hours to be told you no longer have anywhere to stay was totally unacceptable. We ended up sleeping in a car for 2 very cold nights.

In summary if the staff think that your group will make any form of noise (this includes children playing) then you will be left without accommodation so refrain from booking here. If you also want to be robbed of your money then they do an excellent job of that. There are other places that you will be far more welcome.