There are sometimes so many negative comments about Byfords but I have always loved this place. The food and ambience are lovely but what makes it is the service. The staff are so friendly and look pleased to see you. Some places if you are over a certain age no one seems to bother. We often go in with our grandchildren and they really look after you.

A young girl who is assistant manager at a rival place trained at Byfords and it shows, she told us they are taught to remember small things about regulars and that really matters. She has changed things since she started and various friends have said the same.

Byfords will always remain one of our favourites for dinner my wife loves the hot chocolate in the mornings too.

I am judging this as a hotel too as my son recently stayed with his wife and we had a look round. It was stunning.

We wanted a romantic break with a bit of luxury and picked Byfords after reading the reviews. We were not disappointed. Our room, Room 3, was even better than the photos - absolutely stunning, much bigger than it looks on the web,with a wonderful, luxurious bathroom. We loved the Arran toiletries, fresh lilies in the bathroom, home made shortbread, complimentary tea and cake on arrival (a lovely touch), and the fact that there were lots of helpful staff on hand, Not cheap, but worth the extra. We booked 2 nights DBB - warning, the portions are huge, particularly the deli boards and half chicken. We failed miserably to eat everything on our first night! The cafe seemed to be permanently busy the whole time (and this was mid-January) so I can imagine people might have to queue in the summer. While the bedroom was immaculate, we felt the front room of the cafe looked very tired and much in need of fresh paint, but this really was the only negative point we could find. We will return!

I am just back from another lovely experience at Byfords. My partner and I booked late on a bed and breakfast with free dinner 'winter warmer' offer and stayed in room 15. We managed to grab the last spot of the tiny car park (which we have been told they may have means to sort ASAP) and were checked-in by a very cheerful and polite gentleman.

We've previously stayed in other rooms so looked forward to trying a new one. We weren't disappointed. Fantastic decor as always and the bathrooms never fail to impress us. This particular bathroom had a walk-in shower (no need for a door as it's so large!) and the double ended bath was a fantastic size too. The room was, as always, impeccably clean and comfortable, with lovely touches such as fresh lilies and candles.

We had dinner for 8pm and the service was faultless. As it was my birthday the waiter kindly brought over two complimentary glasses of bubbly, which really added a lovely touch to the evening. I had a little pot of mussels for my starter, which were fresh and tasted great. For my main I had the sirloin steak; which was cooked to perfection. My partner had the crispy beef with soy sauce for a starter, which we both thought was delicious. He enjoyed a main of Byfords' famous half chicken, which again he had no faults with.

The cooked breakfast was prompt and service was once again very good. The only grumble I would have is that the scrambled egg really wasn't cooked enough and was really rather unappetising to look at, (unfortunately it was runny and not of a great consistency). However, this is the first time that I've had means to moan about a breakfast item at Byfords so has not put me off.

The checkout procedure was very straight forward as always and we will definitely carry on returning time after time if it stays this way. We can't thank the lovely staff and management enough!

We last stayed here in November 2011, which was about the 12th time we stayed here. We are going back again in a couple of weeks time. The staff are very friendly and helpful and do every thing they can to make our stay a pleasure. The beds are lovely and comfortable and the food is excellent. We always look forward to our stay at Byfords. The town of Holt is a pretty Georgian town with lots of good and unusual shops. All in all a delight, no wonder we keep going back time and again!