Historical Thomas Paine Hotel

United Kingdom , Norfolk
THETFORD, 33 White Hart Street Thomas Paine Hotel
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50 reviews shown

8/10

Excellent

05 Mar 2026

Elliot

Great Staff and Very clean and Tidy. No food option was frustrating but overall the room was very spacious and in very good condition.

Self

8/10

Excellent

01 Oct 2025

Martin

Great location, staff & cost.

Business

10/10

Exceptional

14 Sep 2025

David

Excellent friendly service. Room clean, well kept. Recommended.

Leisure Self

4/10

Poor

11 Sep 2025

Ricki

An odd experience

Stayed 3 nights for business. The single staff member on site was very accommodating when we needed to alter the booking date. Unfortunately the rest of the experience was sub par. No hot water for 2/3 days, and the shallow shower tray would overflow onto the floor after 3 minutes so you had to be fast. Arrived back one afternoon to the whole hotel locked up and no one in at all, one of the room keys stopped working so we were stuck in limbo in the hotel stairwell until someone could be reached, 4 phone calls later and a young lad arrived (who was very helpful and professional). Room was not made up one day, and the towels were not changed in the whole 3 days. The restaurant was closed the whole time, this was announced to us via email a couple of days before arrival, and after the booking was made, no breakfast option either so had to eat at the premier inn up the road. The ‘pool’ and ‘gym’ advertised is actually a voucher for the local leisure centre.
Will not be returning to this hotel.
Building is very nice and traditional, but parking limited.
Be wary of glowing reviews for this hotel from new accounts only having made one review ever - fishy.

Business

6/10

Pleasant

06 Jul 2025

geoffrey

the property whilst old and historic was in desperate need of a coat of paint windows were filthy
the bathroom was dangerous the shower drain cover was broken and a wood screw was used to replace the original one it stuck out and was very sharp as i found out when i stood on it,
the room had no airflow / air conditioning the main road was noisy as was the car / house alarm that went off outside our window every 5 minutes from 5am onwards! not great!

Leisure Partner

8/10

Excellent

30 Jun 2025

Donna

All staff were very friendly and helpful. Great communication Rooms were very nice, airy, quality furniture and decor throughout. No air con but fans provided in rooms. Plenty of drawers and wardrobe space. Bathroom spacious with nice shower. No problems parking. Ate one night, both meals nice and i particularly recommend the punjab rajma curry which was delightful. Great location, a quick walk into centre.
Minor critiques ..Music and talking outside my room a little loud until 2am but it was a Saturday night so not entirely unexpected and I’m a light sleeper. Other room slept like a baby. Couldn’t find a key card drop off box when reception was closed at checkout. Don’t know why hotels always use such tiny cups in the bedrooms.. I need a mug in the morning!
I will happily stay again when next in Thetford.

Leisure Family

6/10

Pleasant

27 May 2025

Amy

Doors are locked after 9pm, and unfortunately due to rod delays I didn’t arrive until 10pm, at which point I was charged for late check in (a first in my experience), and the receptionist left shortly after

Business

8/10

Excellent

25 May 2025

David

The kitchens were closed but the owner offered a room upgrade and bottle of fiz as recompense. Friendly staff and spotlessly clean room.

Partner

2/10

Poor

21 May 2025

Andrea

First night no hot water they rang the day after to apologise but nothimg offered in way of reimbursment. Secomd night water was warm at best. Both nights the shower pressure was terrible, barely wets you. The bed is not comfortable in the slightest

Business

4/10

Poor

14 May 2025

Denis

Poor show

Was shown to my room by receptionist room was not made up receptionist made up room served behind the bar prepared and served a light evening meal god knows what they would do without her was far to expensive for service provided and very low water pressure for shower a full refund would not be out of order very disappointing

Business

6/10

Pleasant

26 Mar 2025

Alex

Comfortable stay once the heating kicked in. The hotel was booked in the premise that on Hotels.com showed that it had access to gym facilities. Upon arrival, it was explained this was not the case.

We were greeted kindly and checked in without any issues - booking was already paid for online.

Breakfast - a box breakfast was offered but was also advised we could go to breakfast at a different hotel.

The hotel is unmanned from around 8pm until…well I left at 8.50am and the front doors were still locked.

Would have been great to sort out invoicing issues In person.

Overall, my stay was ok

Business

10/10

Exceptional

26 Jun 2023

Will

After returning to the area after 16 years, we chose this hotel for the personal touch over other chain options. The hotel's staff was amazing and accomodating. They provided great service and every meal was delicious. The Thomas Paine Museum was of special interest and full of information for this history buff. We cant wait to book our next trip.

Leisure Family

4/10

Poor

26 Jun 2023

Nicholas

The room needs decorating, the pillows need replacing and the windows need replacing, preferably with double glazing to reduce the noise from the busy road outside.

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

25 Jun 2023

Petet

Great little hotel. A real find

10/10

Exceptional

20 Jun 2023

Keith

A wonderful stay

Great friendly welcome by Gez and his team - Very friendly, professional service and attention. Room fantastic, drinks great, Goat curry - the best!!! Will be back just for the food and drinks available and attentive staff/friends

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

19 Jun 2023

Pauline

Very nice building.

Leisure Friends

10/10

Exceptional

18 Jun 2023

david

Stayed overnight while going to a gig in Thetford forest. The owner and his wife and staff were perfect hosts, very friendly and helpful. Enjoyed our meal and drinks. Atmosphere relaved and freiedly. Would definately stay again and happy to reconmend.

Leisure Partner

6/10

Pleasant

23 May 2023

Ian

The staff here were super friendly but my goodness, the noisy from midnight until 2 in the morning from the washing machines was terrible, an awful Sunday night

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

15 May 2023

Carol

Beautiful hotel. Owner and staff welcoming and attentive. Absolutely lovely room with everything you need in the bathroom. Good choice of menu at reasonable prices and cooked to perfection. Highly recommended.

Leisure Partner

2/10

Poor

07 Mar 2023

George

Dreadful

The hotel should not have been open
Undergoing refurbishment
No hot food at all

Business

10/10

Exceptional

12 Feb 2023

Roy

Lovely Hotel

Had a lovely stay here great location very friendly staff will definitely be back

Partner

8/10

Excellent

04 Feb 2023

Mr Theo A

Hotel in Darkness

The hotel is not staffed from Monday to Thursday so no restaurant or breakfast and reception. We are met by a lovely young lady who checked us in and left. There are a number of good restaurants within easy walking distance. Strange coming into a hotel in darkness, but certainly not off putting. We will stay there again.

Partner

4/10

Poor

16 Jan 2023

Garry

dont

the site is currently a building site. They are doing the place up..no bar or restsurant. entrance round the back. Dont think nyone on site at night . NO mention of any of this on hotels .com

showr no pressure due to building works assume

Business

8/10

Excellent

28 Nov 2022

Gillian

Lovely room, building work hopefully finished soon

I was upgraded to the Thomas Paine room and it was amazing. A very special room, with sitting area, writing desk, high ceilings and just gorgeous. The shower was not as powerful or user friendly as I would have liked, but I could cope. There was confusion over breakfast - it has to be booked in advance online, and is only a box breakfast. There is currently a lot of building work going on in the public areas, but this is hoped to be finished soon and the final result looks as though it is going to be amazing. The owner was very friendly and proud of his hotel, rightly so. I would definitely go back, especially once the building work is finished.

Business

10/10

Exceptional

20 Oct 2022

Patrick

Amazing food and comfortable beds

Leisure Self

6/10

Pleasant

17 Sep 2022

Verified traveler

Not what I expected

There was a lot of building work being carried out, and the bar and reception was closed. The shower had very low water pressure, too.

Friends_and_family Family

4/10

Poor

23 Jun 2022

Ann

After travelling 260 miles it was very disappointing to find that the entrance to car park was blocked off due to construction work. We had difficulty navigating the one way system and pedestrian walkways etc to find an alternative entrance at the rear of the hotel. Also the main reception door was locked so we had to carry our luggage round the exterior of the property to enter by a make shift front entrance where decorators were working. There was no breakfast available and no bar do to the refurbishments being carried out. Won't be returning to this hotel again as it was definitely not good value for the price paid.

Business_and_leisure Partner

6/10

Pleasant

24 Apr 2022

Chip

Centrally located and check-in service. However the rooms and public areas leading to the rooms could benefit from a fresh coat of paint.

Leisure Self

10/10

Exceptional

30 Mar 2022

Samantha

Fantastic Hospitality

Fantastic hospitality! Gez and Rosie made me feel like I was family in my hometown. The meals were lovingly prepared from scratch and locally sourced beef! They were absolutely delicious! My room was a large corner suite with a newly renovated bathroom…quiet, comfortable and stocked with tea, coffee, milk and lovely biscuits.
The gin selection is fantastic along with great wines at the very warm and friendly bar…staff and family were always on hand to take great care of you.
I would highly recommend a weekend stay if you’re passing through town as a solo traveler.
Then what’s more is the history of Thomas Paine himself…if you don’t know about Thetford’s famous son…then take a trip to the Thomas Paine Hotel for walk through history on inspirational American Independence.
Will definitely be back for a visit!

Self

10/10

Exceptional

24 Oct 2021

Olabisi

The hotel interesting historical place and the staff were well informed to share its history. The stay was pleasant, the room very clean and the service was great. Will recommend this particular hotel for comfort and peaceful stay

Friends_and_family Family

6/10

Pleasant

19 Oct 2021

Lisa

Lovely historical building, however I feel the resident information books need updating or a temporary notice in them to advise, there is no cooked breakfast and meal times don’t follow what is shown in the information. I finished working at 7pm and was looking forward to ordering room service which was shown to finish at 10pm only to be told that the kitchen was closed at 6pm. As I was there for business a cooked breakfast and evening meal would have been nice considering what I paid for the room. On a plus, the staff were friendly.

Business

4/10

Poor

15 Oct 2021

Verified traveler

Hotel wasn't open until someone turned up!

Started with great communication about check in as there was no-one on the reception, in which when i arrived the hotel looked closed. No lights on, no doors open, to which i had to wait for somebody to arrive to check me and another party in. Literally the hotel was closed. This wasn't stated in the booking apart from the restaurant not being open, which is fine.
I dont normally give reviews but this was just an odd experience.
After the nice enough chap booked us in, after turning on some lights he left, leaving what i assume no staff in the hotel.
The stay other than that was ok, bit dated but comfy enough.

Business

10/10

Exceptional

13 Oct 2021

D C A

Arrive as guests, leave as friends

Close to the bar there is a sign saying that you arrive as guests and leave as friends. Exactly our experience.

Rooms were lovely for the price, room comfort was really good. You can judge a lot by whether a room has quality biscuits or not, if at all.

Food in the evening was lovely and the wine was quality. Staff and the owning family are friendly and welcoming.

Very pleased and will stay again.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

27 Sep 2021

Laura

Would stay again

Good sized room and bathroom. Lovely comfortable bed and quality linen. Tea, coffee and milk were replenished each day.
Food in the restaurant was delicious. Large gin range at the bar. Knowledgeable staff.
We really enjoyed our stay. Friendly and relaxed.

Partner

8/10

Excellent

15 Sep 2021

Pamela

Interesting old building in a good location. The only staff member we met was extremely friendly and helpful. We were given a room upgrade so we had lots of space - enormous room and bathroom.
Wifi signal was awful.
Due to COVID there was no proper breakfast and the restaurant was closed on the days we stayed.

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

25 Aug 2021

Rob

Warm welcome from staff. Working away from Home so the hospitality was well received.

Business Self

8/10

Excellent

06 Aug 2021

Verified traveler

Room slight let down but food & hosts were lovely

We booked a 1-night stay at the Thomas Paine Hotel to round off the end of our week-long UK trip. We had been staying in a shepherd's hut prior so we booked the \"luxury\" room as, what we thought, would be a treat. The hotel has recently undergone some renovations but unfortunately the fresh paint didn't make up for the lack of luxury. The room was more basic than luxury, including a dirty tv remote that didn't work properly and no extra frills you might expect. The picture of the \"luxury double\" on the website was much larger than the room we were in. This led us to think that we might be in the wrong room as, after already paying via hotels.com, we received an email saying that we had not paid and needed to pay when we arrived - at a cost £20 less. As it has been difficult for hotels due to covid, we didn't question the cost difference but we'd say the \"luxury\" room was more worth the lower price.

All of the staff, including Gez's family, were helpful and we enjoyed a lovely meal prepared by Gez's wife. It's a shame that the room was a let down because it's otherwise a nice hotel with a lot of character in the restaurant/ bar and the family running it.

Friends_and_family Family

10/10

Exceptional

19 Jul 2021

Carol

Excellent service absolutely lovely family run hotel lovely people nothing is too much trouble

Partner

8/10

Excellent

06 Jul 2021

Verified traveler

Just starting up again after covid and in process of redecorating. Room was fine.

Leisure Family

6/10

Pleasant

09 Jun 2021

Wallwork

Very Basic Hotel at Not So Basic Price

Lady who checked me in was lovely and polite.
I booked the stay on the same day and was then contacted by the hotel to insist I call a mobile number 1 hour before arrival to ensure someone was there. I told them I would be arriving around 10pm and it was as though I said I was arriving at 3am!
Hotel is tired and the shower in my room (room 1) was pathetic and it took me 25mins to get wet.

Business

10/10

Exceptional

14 Mar 2021

Ian

Great stay enjoyed a lot

Business

2/10

Poor

16 Oct 2020

Nigel

Bar, restaurant shut and no warning. No breakfast available. Contrary to website. Was not able to check in when i wanted.

Business Self

10/10

Exceptional

09 Oct 2020

Andrew

Brilliant Hotel

Very friendly staff and a very comfortable stay along with great food and drink.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

02 Oct 2020

Dawn

Great service.

We really enjoyed our stay and the personal service was outstanding,we were happy with the comfort and cleanliness of our room.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

01 Oct 2020

Amie

Thank you!

I had a great stay, I highly recommend the restaurant. The food was incredible and the service was second to none. A big thank you to Nelson for being so welcoming.

Business

8/10

Excellent

07 Sep 2020

Richard

Nice building near centre of town, excellent food, helpful (much reduced) staff doing their best in the current difficult circumstances.

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

04 Sep 2020

veli

there is so helpfuly servis and verry nice rooms and clean i am veryy happy about stay there

8/10

Excellent

01 Jan 2020

Verified traveler

One night stay

It was an overnight stay, over Xmas period so Hotel facilities I.e bar and restaurant were closed. Young chap on reception very helpful. We let ourselves out of the fire exit in the morning and left the key on hall table. It served its purpose but wouldn’t have been very happy if staying longer as no breakfast or anything available.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

14 Oct 2019

Verified traveler

I liked the friendliness of the staff and service. Also the people in the bar where friendly.
Its close to town centre just a little walk.
The food was lovely.

Leisure Self

8/10

Excellent

12 Sep 2019

Daniel

Business 1 night stay

Excellent food. Friendly staff. The whole hotel is dated and could do with modernising which would attract more guests in my opinion. Enjoyed my stay

Business