Morston Hall

Morston Hall is a flint-and-brick country house on the north Norfolk coast road, small enough that the whole operation feels like a private house running at a very high standard. Galton Blackiston's kitchen has held a Michelin star for many years, built around a set daily menu rather than extensive choice.

There are only a handful of bedrooms, split between the main house and a garden pavilion, along with a conservatory for pre-dinner drinks and well-kept gardens. The scale is the point: service is close to personal, and dinner is the evening's fixed event.

Morston quay is a short walk, with boat trips out to the seal colony on Blakeney Point. The whole stretch of coast — Blakeney, Cley marshes, Wells-next-the-Sea and the Holkham estate — is among the best birdwatching and walking country in England.