Best Western Plus Oaklands Hotel

An excellent stay in a lovely hotel. Superb facilities, excellent staff, amazing food, great location, can’t recommend enough. Our suite was huge, very quiet, surrounded by trees, a stone’s throw from the river. Everywhere was immaculately clean.

This hotel did not meet my expectations, in fact, it was a disappointment in many aspects. Headlined as a Best Western PLUS Hotel I was expecting a first-class, high-quality experience however what was to be presented was far from special and did not live up to the billing on the website and the PLUS rating. I should have realised that all would not be as promised when I approached the hotel’s entrance which has the characteristics of the back door of a ram-shackled shed leading from a pot hole-riddled car park, what a disappointing first impression. The cramped reception was more welcoming, the team member greeting was false just another receptionist team member going through the motions with no interest in the guest or their requirements. Felt like I should believe that I was privileged to stay at the hotel rather than a welcomed guest, not a nice feeling. The room allocated was on the second floor, surprisingly the hotel has NO lift which is not mentioned on the website, no choice but to drag my luggage up four flights of stairs, not even a hint of an offer of any assistance from the hotel team. I finally reached my room at the end of a long series of sometimes unpleasant stale food-smelling corridors, the room seemed at first to be well appointed and would be a nice place to stay and would as the website stated ‘guarantee a good comfortable night’s sleep’ this turned out to be far from the truth. Noise was an issue from the outset, with it becoming an increasing problem later in the day. External noise came from the adjacent railway line and the main highway at the bottom of the garden which could have been negated by the installation of double glazing to replace the old single glazing present at the time. Internal noise came from the residents in the room adjacent who you could hear through the thin walls; all of which made for a disturbed night's sleep. Another factor that contributed to my troubled night's sleep was the terrible worn-out mattress and poor duvet. Though the en-suite was clean having a shower was an issue as there was no water pressure and limited height clearance. The television was pitiful with a cracked screen and missing numerous free-view channels and the Wi-Fi was very slow at times. I was unable to eat in the restaurant or bar due to a party going on and having not booked a table which I was not informed was a requirement at check-in. The location of the hotel is in a leafy suburb of Norwich, so not in the city or close by. Parking is easy at the hotel. Public transport options are available via a bus from the city and the train station yt these are very limited after 18.30hrs, a taxi from the city will be £10 to £15 one way I feel like I was duped into staying at a far superior hotel than it is in reality. What makes it a Best Western PLUS hotel I have no indeed.

We stayed here last Sunday evening for the special Sunday offer. As always the receptionist when we checked in was lovely and so welcoming. The room was ok but not as good as what we have stayed in before as it is need of some updating. The restaurant menu was very limited being a Sunday but we ordered the roast which was good. We slept well as the wedding party was away from our room. Breakfast was good with plenty of choice, the quality of the sausage and bacon is great. Just a couple of niggles, the windows in the whole hotel need a good clean as does the glass roof in the conservatory area of the restaurant, just lets it down a bit. The staff are wonderful with brilliant customer service skills. We will definitely be back.

Lovely hotel. Very friendly staff and delightful setting. Furniture both inside and out was in superb condition. The breakfast far surpassed our expectations and we were shocked that this was only a 3 star hotel! The staff were excellent at their jobs, professional, friendly and very helpful! Perfect base to explore the Broads and we will definitely return. Absolutely no hesitation in recommending this awesome hotel.

Misleading images on website, nothing like advertised. Do not waste your money and book somewhere else. I have just spent a week here as a group of 6 on a business trip. Upon arrival we were met by police in the carpark attending to a drunken disorderly family having a domestic in the car park, this was at midday!! Not the best 1st impression although this is not necessarily the hotels fault. Carpark is of poor layout and very tight. As advertised, the hotel is very popular for occasions and functions resulting in parking being impossible for hotel guests but more on the functions later. The entrance to the hotel is very unwelcoming, the drone of the huge extractor fan from the kitchen towering above the building was quite impressive, instantly grabbed my attention for all the wrong reasons. Decor across the hotel is very dated and in need of an entire makeover, signs are displayed stating upgrades are ongoing, by that they mean a few small areas are being painted, it needs more than this. Rooms are very dilapidated and in need of modernisation. Room was very small, too small and only had x1 velux window that could barely be reached to operate, I'm 6ft. Room was very dusty upon arrival and bathroom looks like it was decorated in the 60s. The condition of bathroom facilities was poor: broken toilet holders, broken tiles in the shower, no water pressure in the shower, shower mixer loose, toilet handle hanging out of the wall, toilet seat was too small for toilet...... the list goes on and on. Assuming I had the worst room of the group, I was wrong, others had wall paper hanging off the walls and damp around their window. Breakfast was good after several long waits of up to 40 minutes, not good when you have somewhere to be. Beer from the bar tastes 'eggy' and in much need of a pipe clean. We mainly went elsewhere where in the evening. As previously stated, Oakland's is very popular for functions. The function rooms are large however the noise level at night is simply horrific meaning none of the group have slept well for the duration of our stay. The staff were polite so no issues there. This trip has been very disappointing, even when i wasn't the one paying for the bill. I have recommended that Oaklands be removed from our company list of potential hotels for future trips. Do yourself a favour and book somewhere else.

Myself and my partner had two nights here and the hotel itself was lovely, amazing food in the evening, a range of breakfast options, a great range of drinks at the bar and the room we stayed in was clean and spacious. There was a two for one deal on cocktails too which was a nice touch. The let downs for us would be the staff, most staff members we spoke to were uninterested and unhelpful, the lady on reception our first evening was however very accommodating! It was a shame not everyone had the same attitude as her. Also, the room had a sofa bed, when we pulled it out there was no cover over this which wasn’t very nice. There was a lack of information regarding the events at the hotel, we found ourselves seeming to interrupt a group in the evening because we wasn’t told they would be occupying the restaurant at a certain time, we would’ve happily had dinner at a different time if we knew this as it did feel as though we were pushed to the side.

Don't stay at this hotel if you want to stay in comfort. Bed was awful with mattress springs non existing. Ended up sleeping on sofa. Staff were not interested when complained. For the price paid per night it was a total waste of money after a lovely day at a wedding

I love Great Western hotels and this one looked equally nice. The staff were lovely and very helpful. Unfortunately the night of our stay there was an even taking place which went on until midnight. Our allocated room was directly above the event and when we understood we would not be able to sleep until it was over, we tried to watch TV but we struggled to hear it over the music one floor below. Then to make matters worse, after the event finally emptied out there was over an hour of tables moving around, banging , clanging and vacuuming as the event area was cleaned. It’s understandable that the hotel would host these events but they should consider ensuring the affected rooms are allocated to those attending the events rather than those that have booked in for a nights sleep. Breakfast was amazing and staff outstandingly helpful. However, when we returned to the room to shower before leaving we found the water was stone cold and despite running it for some time and two cold showers taken, it remained stone cold. We were quite disappointed to be fair, as this stay did not live up to our expectations. The room was pretty, staff were great but lack of sleep and cold water lead me to believe 3 stars was being quite generous. Hopefully the hotel has sorted the hot water situation out and will consider accommodating non event attendees in quieter areas of the hotel.

Several issues with room Rude receptionist Issues not rectified Still got to email after my visit ti raise issues with management even though I did at tge time of arrival I was there for 2 days