The Grove Cromer

We booked a five night stay in The Bungalow. Arriving on Sunday afternoon, first impressions as we walked through the patio doors were of extreme disappointment and dismay. Indeed, had we not had appointments booked in Cromer on the Monday and Tuesday we would have left immediately. The whole place is extremely shabby and grubby and in need of thorough refurbishmnent. I am certain no room in the hotel will be in this state. We left before 10.30am on Wednesday and my husband informed Reception of the reasons for our early departure. Whoever was on Reception at that time made notes of the points raised. No one from the senior management contacted us to investigate the issues raised or offer any sort of accountability or apology, that was until I completed the review form. Only then did The Grove make contact, if you can call two lines making contact, to say the Manager would not be back until Saturday and he would contact us then. I emailed The Grove for the attention of Mr Grayling expressing our disappointment and listing some of the issues. These included: the door to the lounge which cannot be fully closed due to poor fitting, the door to the bedroom only opening about one third of the way due to being restricted by the carpet, mould on the pipework in the kitchen, mould in the bathroom both tiling and the grab handles in the shower, dirt and mould on the inside of the front door, dirt and mould on the patio door, the bedroom curtains which were hung on a cheap plastic rail with too few hooks and when closed were extremely difficult to open. There are other issues and we took photographs of all mentioned here. I eventually received a response thanking me for drawing these issues to his attention and that many had now been addressed. As you can imagine, this is of little comfort to us! It is difficult to believe that management was unaware of these issues as they certainly did not occur between one let and another, these are long standing faults which have never been addressed. There would appear to be no planned refurbishment of any of the self catering cottages, all money and focus obviously is on the hotel. Obviously, the people who choose this sort of holiday are not given the same high standards and attention to detail offered to those who book into the hotel.....if those reviews are to be believed. Despite leaving after three nights, The Grove proceeded to take the balance from my bank account on the Friday. In effect we have paid in excess of £800 for a three night stay in substandard accomodation.....and nobody at The Groves cares or sees fit to think this is unacceptable. Rather, they think it is perfectly acceptable to take people's money regardless of the standard offered. This is the assumption you come to given their response and actions. Obviously, we will not be returning, there are many other cottages in the area of a far higher standard and cheaper. Ironically, I received a marketing email this week telling me that the self cate

We stayed in the bungalow in the grounds of the hotel. It was very dark, cold and gloomy. Quite depressing and not cheap at over £200 a night. My sister stayed in one of the cottages which was definitely better. The food in the hotel restaurant was expensive and very mediocre. The food in the TiPi was cheaper but very basic pub food. Overall, although the place looks amazing in photos online, we were disappointed in our stay.

What a time we had - cannot believe it was only one night at The Grove, as we've come home feeling as if we've had a fortnight away. Wonderful. We were celebrating a significant birthday for my husband, and wanted somewhere relatively close to home that would feel special. The Grove was certainly that. We loved our room (6). The celebration package of fizz, chocolates and flowers was very classy and generous, and we had also opted for an early check-in, so there was time to have lunch outside from the bar menu before our 40 minutes in the pool. Having the pool as private slots is so much nicer than taking potluck, and again, felt very luxurious. Anyway, making full use of the facilities we enjoyed a pot of tea - made to our spec, perfectly - again in the garden. We ate in The Garden Rooms - having an aperitif in the bar first, unhurried and well tended by such a friendly staff team. We've never been before but the team made us feel very warmly welcomed and cared for, which is not always easy at such a busy time of year. It was appreciated. We will be back at some point and in the meantime will happily recommend this lovely, family run hotel to others. What a special stay - exactly what we needed.