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Morston Hall - Morston

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Michelin-starred seaside gorgeousness

Where should we start with Morston Hall? The beautiful, luxurious bedrooms? The stunning North Norfolk scenery that surrounds it on all sides? The friendly and welcoming staff? Or the Michelin-starred restaurant – the only one within a 50-mile radius? It’s an exhausting list of credentials, but if you’re wily, and lucky, enough to choose Morston as your weekend destination, enjoying all four shouldn’t be too much of an effort.

This country house haven is the brainchild of local culinary legend and multiple award-winner Galton Blackiston (just mention his name in the neighbouring town of Holt and watch the middle-aged ladies go into melt-down…) and his wife Tracy. They have created a really relaxing retreat that’s small enough to feel intimate, yet big enough to avoid feeling like you’re getting in the way. Bedrooms are big and sumptuously furnished, with gorgeous en-suite bathrooms and those little luxurious touches you expect from somewhere so special. A recent addition to the hotel are the super-swish Pavilion Rooms – a row of contemporary rooms a short stroll from the house, with the kind of design and facilities you would expect from a London penthouse. Huge beds, under-floor heating, tiled bathrooms with their own flat-screen tellies and private terraces looking out onto the countryside beyond. Blissful.

Of course, it’s the food that really puts Morston Hall on the map. UK critics have heaped praise on Galton’s menus, which change daily and encompass as much local and seasonal produce as possible. The restaurant offers a set dinner menu every day, with just the one sitting, so that diners (both residents and non) can really relax and savour their meal. Tables in the conservatory part of the restaurant offer views of the Hall’s own smokehouse and vegetable gardens, if the home-grown qualities of the food you are enjoying were ever in doubt. The accompanying wine list is outstanding, and experts are on hand to guide you through your choices.

Where is it?

Morston Hall is, unsurprisingly, in the small Norfolk village of Morston, 2 miles from the coast at Blakeney. Morston itself is little more than a few cottages and a pretty village church, but its position is beautiful and more than lends itself to great walks right from the Hall’s doorstep.

The seaside village of Blakeney is hardly a metropolis in comparison, with narrow streets of fishermens’ cottages leading down to the quay, but it offers some of the best in coastal walks, views, wildlife and stone skimming (very important) in the whole of Norfolk. Famous for its mud flats and salt marshes at low-tide and winding creeks of sea water, it is the 3 and a half mile long sand and shingle spit at Blakeney Point that draws the crowds. Along with countless species of bird that gather here to breed, the top wildlife attraction are the hundreds of grey and common seals that bask on the sandbanks. You can catch a boat at Blakeney to take you out to the spit – Beans Boat Trips are one of the best operators (www.beansboattrips.co.uk Tel: 01263 740505).

If you want to explore further, the rest of the North Norfolk is all within spitting distance of Morston. The pretty market town of Holt is just 10 minutes’ drive, while the famous beach at Holkham, part of the gorgeous estate at the magnificent Holkham Hall (www.holkham.co.uk Tel: 01328 710227), and stand-in for a Caribbean desert island in Shakespeare in Love, is half an hour away.

Click on to The Weekenders Guide to North Norfolk for a full run-down of what to see and where to eat in the area.

Where can I eat?

Hmmm… let’s think about that one. Room tariffs at Morston Hall generally include dinner, bed and breakfast, so there’s no reason not to indulge. And you can’t get better than enjoying an amazing dinner and some delicious wine in the knowledge that it’s only a few steps to your comfy, king-sized bed.

If you really have to look for an alternative, or fancy a top-notch lunch away from the hotel, The White Horse pub in Blakeney (www.blakeneywhitehorse.co.uk Tel: 01263 740547), a short stroll from the quayside, is a stylish, yet cosy, bolthole that serves some of the best seafood in the area.

For some more fantastic places to eat in the area, read The Weekenders Guide to North Norfolk.

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Where should we start with Morston Hall? The beautiful, luxurious bedrooms? The stunning North Norfolk scenery that surrounds it on all sides? The friendly and welcoming staff? Or the Michelin-starred restaurant?