The Red Lion Hotel - Inn

We booked here because the hotel and restaurant market themselves as dog-friendly, but our experience was entirely the opposite.When we sat down at the table with our well-behaved dog, we were bluntly told that our dog was not even allowed to have a bowl of water with us. For an establishment charging pet-friendly rates or claiming to welcome animals, refusing basic hydration for a dog right at the table feels completely unreasonable and unwelcoming.If you cannot accommodate a dog's basic needs in your dining areas, you should not advertise as dog-friendly. It saved us a lot of frustration to find out, but we won't be returning and cannot recommend this place to fellow pet owners. Save your time and book somewhere that genuinely welcomes your pets.

Beautiful stay at the Red Lion. Our lovely double room had great seafront view with a chair situated in the bay window to relax and enjoy it. The room was classed as a small double but the space was comfortable and adequate to house a wardrobe, bedside tables and drawers, with space around the bed. There were also hooks for coats, which I consider an essential but are often not supplied. Everything was provided that you could want from a hotel room, robes, toiletries, bottled water, replenished daily. I particularly appreciated fresh milk and extra water kept in a fridge on the landing for when you needed it. Breakfast was included in the room rate, and was one of the best and biggest breakfasts I have ever had. Served at the table, not buffet, with several choices of mains and the bonus of a lovely Virgin Mary. There were also some unexpected little extras. Scones in a tin on arrival, with jam and cream and a voucher for an ice-cream each. The room rate was fully inclusive, no little supplements added on at breakfast. Staff were friendly and helpful throughout. We had dinner in the restaurant on our first night, which was excellent. The pub itself was busy with a great atmosphere. We enjoyed a drink in the conservatory when returning from a day out. Great selection of drinks, all beautifully presented. The hotel is centrally placed in Cromer, and a few minutes walk to the restaurants in the town. I would highly recommend staying at the Red Lion.

What a great place. We arrived and had a drink before we did anything else...it's a lovely authentic pub with a great choice of beers (the four beer tasting stick went down a treat)...the pub just happens to be stuck onto a great restaurant and a lovely hotel. Or maybe that should be the other way round.... either way it's a winning combo. Our suite was clean, comfortable, had a superb sea view.... we spent about twenty minutes just watching the lifeboat trying to dock backwards up a slope. (we really know how to live)! There was a fridge on the landing so you could fill and refill your own milk thermos which is a clever way of not having those horrid little milk tubs or sachets. (I apologise to room 15 for nicking some of their oat milk when I didn't have my glasses on). Lot's of hot water, homemade biscuits, warm as toast (but we needed to switch the radiators on...we also switched them off because the world is mad and I'm not wasting anyone's fuel). The restaurant was also fantastic - plate after plate of really good tasty food. I'd never had hen of the woods before and it was lovely....unfortunately (also fortunately) we ate on the last evening of that menu....so our breakfast was the first day of a new menu and having been looking forward to a poached pear at breakfast it had been replaced by hibiscus poached rhubarb with fruit sorbet which is the tastiest thing I've ever eaten involving rhubarb as an ingredient (and that's a high bar as the rhubarb and custard cheesecake the night before was 'so' good) and I've certainly never eaten a sorbet at breakfast before...I'm a convert. Lastly, the staff. Every single member of staff we encountered was helpful, polite and smiley and to the kitchen team - big thankyou. We're only sorry we could only stay a single night. Oh...the negatives...the internet was very slow...so we gave up and read books and gazed out to sea.