Hi Dog Pals,
Now we are allowed to travel and stay in holiday places, Hum & GlennDad took me on my holibobs to The Dales Country Park Hotel in Sheringham, North Norfolk. Hum loves Norfolk as she used to live there so she was really excited as was I ‘cos I loves holibobs and staying in hotels.
The Dales is part of the Mackenzie Hotel Group and all 3 hotels are dog friendly! When we arrived at The Dales, we found a pretty impressive building surrounded by gardens and we got a great welcome from the staff who all wanted to make a fuss of me.
With regards to dog friendliness, The Dales is pretty impressive. When we got to our room, the first thing I found was a dog bed, dog bowl, treats and a special towel for me to wipe my paws on if I got muddy! The room also was on the ground floor and had French windows opening onto the garden! Perfect for pooches.
Hum thought the room was a bit old fashioned and small but it had everything she needed – power points in the right place; light by the dressing table; plenty of storage space and a modern bathroom with toiletries and big fluffy towels and robes. She would have liked a little fridge in the room (for my food) but she did have her cool bag with her and the staff regularly re-froze the cool blocks for us so that was really good of them!
Now before any of you say I shouldn’t be on the bed, the staff said it was OK for the photo as long as I was on my blankie and slept in the bed provided which I did.
Dogs are allowed in the bar, reception area and the library but not the restaurant. This suited us just fine, as the library is a little room with one table by the window and you have it all to yourself! So the whole time we was there, we had our own special private dining room! How cool is that peeps! Hum and GlennDad ate 2 evening meals at the hotel and said the food was extremely good quality and delicious – Hum had crab and lobster and stuff which she said you had to have at the seaside and she enjoyed it thoroughly.
So that was evening. Hum and GlennDad thought the bed was comfy and the bedding wonderful so slept well but then came breakfast……or rather it didn’t, well not for about 40 minutes after they put in their order….They thought it was because we was in the library but then GlennDad heard other people complaining so realised it was just as it was. The staff were charming and really lovely to us and me in particular but Hum reckoned they were just very short staffed and hadn’t really go back up to speed after lockdown. When breakfast did arrive, the food was local and great quality and yummy (especially the bacon) but by then the coffee was cold so Hum wasn’t the happiest I have seen her….
Another issue (again possibly due to staffing) was the room cleaning. Twice when we came back from our walk early afternoon, the room hadn’t been cleaned; towels hadn’t been changed and toiletries; coffees etc. hadn’t been replaced. That really didn’t please Hum at all I can tell you but when she let the staff know, they did their best to put things right for her.
Not only is The Dales Hotel surrounded by lovely gardens of its own, it also backs onto Sheringham Park and there is access directly from the hotel grounds into the park. The park is enormous! Meadow, woodland, landscaped parkland and you can spend hours exploring and doing different walks depending on how fit you or your humans are.
So how would we rate The Dales Country House Hotel?? Well for us four-legs, I think it is special and wonderful – all the goodies (they even had a tin of treats in reception for us); the dog bed/treats; the gardens; plenty of places we could go in the hotel and lots of walks outside right on the doorstep. BUT for the human-folk, I think there could be a few improvements (well according to Hum & GlennDad). Even so, we had a great stay; good food, comfy sleeps and amazingly friendly and helpful staff. We met people with their dogs who come back regularly too! So for a dog friendly stay in a wonderful location, I would definitely recommend for you to pack your doggy bag, grab your humans and go stay. Well that’s all from me for now folks – night night and sweet dreams. Zuki xx
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