Great Yarmouth

[tamirra]

Hi, myself and my husband want to go to Great Yarmouth at the end of June, can anyone recommend a nice place to stay for 2 nights, we dont want a b and b ,either a nice travel lodge of some kind or a hotel, not too expensive. Thank you.

[Oneeyedvic]

What is your budget? I live in Great Yarmouth and know a fair few hotels.

The closest travelodge is in Gorleston (newly built) just around the corner from my office. Not particulalry convenient for Yarmouth.

I can highly recommend the Hamilton Hotel (Rachel Bayliss is the owner there), The Imperial Hotel (Nick Mobbs owns it), The Burlington Park Hotel (owned by Richard & Bridget Delf) or The Furzedown(owned by Paul Garrod our former Mayor)

All of these are on the sea front.

If you are younger, the Hamilton is probably best place.

If you want to know the better restaurants, let me know.

[tamirra]

Hi oneye, we are in our early 40s and it would be my birthday and our 24th wedding anniversary, so if this was you which one would you stay in wihout taking the budget into consideration, then the next best on an overall budget of about 100.00 too 125.00 for 2 night budget, and yes please for the restaurants. Your very helpful, and also is there a very nice Greek restaurant there as my hubby is a cypriott. Thanks very much. xx

[Oneeyedvic]

Obviously living here, I don't stay in these hotels - but I do know all of the owners personally and can say that they are all good people who own them. The Burlington probably has more coach parties than any other so cater for a slightly older client base.

I am 36 and my wife is in her fifties, so we are somewhere between you. Personally i would probably stay at The Hamilton. If you call there (01493 844662) and tell Rachel that Victor sent you you will probably get slightly better service.

Two favourites for Greek - one is a place called Charcoal Grill on the Sea front (about 800 yds from the Hamilton). It is always busy there. Andrew the owner is also a Greek Cypriot and always most welcoming. Before I started my own business (and money got tighter!) we used to go there every week - we now make sure we go at least once a month. Good value food there - from a lovely home made steak and ale pie costing �6.50 through to Kleftiko at about �11.00 He doesn't do a lot of Greek traditional food but a broader range (from traditional roast dinners through to fish and chips and a great steak - so much so that I don't eat steaks anywhere else as I tend to be disappointed).

The other Greek place is a place called Toni Ponis or Columbia Tavern on Crown Road. It is very good (my ex boss who is a millionaire still frequents the place). Not badly priced - they do a good Meze for around �13.50 per head (minimum 2 people) but also do more traditional Greek dishes. Have eaten there on a number of occasions and highly recommend it. This is off the beaten track (you wouldn't stumble across it by accident) but is easy to get to and find. Much more a local restaurant than one for tourists.

With both places I would recommend booking in June if on a Friday / Saturday night as otherwise you may be disappointed.

[Oneeyedvic]

With regards other food places - Bombay Nites on King Street is the Curry place to go to. If you don't want to travel far the Imperial Hotel have recently renovated their restaurant (Cafe Cru) and do a fish deal on a Friday night.

The Olive Garden on Regent Road has a good reputation, but I have only eaten there once and thought it average.

If you get a chance, try and visit the Time and Tide museum - a brilliant award winning museum. The Eye also sees a welcome return to the Seafront at The Pleasure Beach and offers fantastic views over the town and the sea.

If you are staying mid week then it is worth going to the Beach on Wednesday night as they do a spectacular fire work display during the school holidays.

Any questions, post back on here or you can email me at oneeyedvic{deletethisbit}@gmail.com

[tamirra]

Victor what can i say, your so helpful you really are. Ive looked at the ones that you put down, and i do like the look of The Furzedown, good choice would you think? x

[Oneeyedvic]

Yes, ate there quite recently. Paul and his wife Lisa are actually one of the first people we met when we moved to Yarmouth. He bought us a drink in our local pub so he can't be all bad :)

Paul is a volunteer lifeboatman as well as a councillor and was Mayor of Yarmouth last year. He really is a good bloke and I think you will be well looked after there.