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The Victoria is ideally situated just a few minutes walk from the golden sands of Holkham Beach and at the gates of my family's Palladian ancestral home, Holkham Hall. It is perfectly placed for discovering the county's windswept coastline, seaside towns and villages. This summer we will have been running the hotel for eight years, following our extensive refurbishment in 2001. My wife Polly and designer Miv Watts created a really special feel to the hotel; a sort of shabby chic with strong colours, voluptuous fabrics and ornate Indian furniture.
The hotel is small though, with only ten individually styled bedrooms. So in 2004, in the quest for more accommodation, we started to restore and furnish three ancient "Follies" in and around Holkham Park. For these we used another friend Monica Vinader and her design studio. Monica brought a more contemporary feel of opulance to these unique buildings.
We have stayed in all of them and I can promise you they are fantastic, I can't recommend them enough; places you can totally relax in.
It is arguable that our main attraction though is the food we serve in our restaurant. Our two rosette kitchen team are producing some of the most consistently good food in Norfolk. They are led by Roger Hickman who came to us at the end of last year from the Michelin starred Adlard's in Norwich, having been at Tom Aitkens and Pied à Terre in London before. Our main themes are Fresh, Local and Seasonal. The quality of our ingredients is paramount, whether it be shellfish, fish or samphire from the north Norfolk coast, beef from our farms on the Holkham Estate, lamb or pork from one of our farm tenants or soft summer fruit from a friend's fruit farm along the coast and, in the winter only, wild game from our family shoot or venison from our herd of Fallow deer.
We have a wide and eclectic yet sensibly priced wine list, which I am sure you will appreciate. And of course we must never forget that we started life as a pub, so we always keep a good selection of beers on tap, including three real ales from local brewers, Adnams and Woodfordes plus a guest beer in peak season.
All of the above would be for nothing if it were not for our staff, all of whom I am immensely proud of. We attach great importance to training and are so lucky to have such a dedicated and professional team. But perhaps their most alluring quality is their relaxed good nature, and it is that which is so important in welcoming you, our guests.
"I sincerely hope you choose to visit us, even if only for a pint after a brisk walk on Holkham Beach. You will be assured of a warm welcome from Ian and Lisa Clark. I am so pleased to welcome them back to the Victoria. They were our first managers when we re-opened the hotel to general acclaim back in 2001-2003. They know, love and understand the place as much as we do and we are happy to have them back. We look forward to welcoming you."
Viscount Coke
The Victoria at Holkham
Park Road
Holkham
Wells-next-the-Sea
Norfolk
NR23 1RG
Email: victoria@holkham.co.uk
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