Cool Place of the Day: Bank House Hotel, King’s Lynn

Every day, a new place to discover or explore in the UK, from coolplaces.co.uk

Bank House Hotel: A creakily grand and evocative old place

The old port of King’s Lynn may not be the most obvious place for a weekend away but at its heart it’s one of England’s most historic towns, with more listed buildings than York and a waterfront district lined by Hanseatic warehouses and medieval mansions that is as unique as it is underrated.

It’s good to know too that King’s Lynn is also home to one of North Norfolk’s best boutique hotels in the Bank House Hotel, which occupies a fantastic Georgian merchant banker’s house right on the quay. It’s a creakily grand and evocative old place, done up with a good dash of contemporary style, and has a choice of eleven distinctive rooms, refurbished by Jeannette and Anthony Goodrich, who took the place over around a decade ago (after cutting their teeth on the excellent Rose & Crown in nearby Snettisham).

Rates vary according to size and levels of comfort, but most of the rooms enjoy marvellous views over the river (the large Captain’s Room or Bath Room are the ones to go for if you can). Ask also if you can have a peek at the downstairs cellar, which like some of the nearby houses dates back around eight centuries.

Finally, be sure to have dinner at the hotel’s corner bar and restaurant, where the food is always good and whose lights act as beacon at night to hungry waterfront-strolling locals.​

Martin Dunford is Publisher of Cool Places, a new website from the creators of Rough Guides and Cool Camping, suggesting the best places to stay, eat, drink and shop in Britain (coolplaces.co.uk)