The Ostrich

The bed was really comfortable, the shower was great, and the towels were nice. The village was quiet, with plenty of parking, and the two ladies were very helpful carrying my bags and moving me to another room. The man on the phone seemed friendly as well. It was an affordable place to stay when I needed to get somewhere early. My first room was incredibly noisy, like a machine was running, and shouldn't be used for guests. They moved me to a quieter room, but it smelled awful and the carpets were filthy. There was no hair dryer either, though luckily I had one in my car. They need to rethink the rooms before renting them out.

Castle Acre is lovely, so after visiting we stopped in hoping for a drink and a snack. We'd seen the poor reviews, but there wasn't another option, and we figured how hard could it be to get a baguette right? At just under £10, we expected better than average. They said they had no baguettes that day and offered sandwiches instead, which we accepted, one prawn mayo and one tuna mayo, with chips. Both had barely any mayo and no seasoning, so no flavour at all. A petrol station sandwich would've tasted better. The Dorito's on the side seemed like an attempt to add flavour with a spicy crisp, and the chips tasted like old chip shop chips reheated several times. We were very disappointed. The bar staff were friendly and the building is nice, though a bit tired. But after that sandwich, I wouldn't risk trying anything else on the menu.

Really frustrating. My wife is a Celiac, so finding a proper meal beyond things like jacket potatoes is hard, and I always call ahead. The day before, a helpful gentleman told me they had a good selection of G Free meals, so I drove 30 miles round trip. Then two young ladies said all they could offer was Ham Egg and Chips or soup. That's not a good selection of G Free meals. What's the point of checking beforehand?

We were so hungry we skipped the mains after the starters. The nachos platter was Doritos cool original with baked cheese on top, not even a sprinkle of herbs. The place seemed badly run, with uninterested-looking staff and tables left uncleared. We had stopped for lunch while visiting castle acre, but it was a disappointing meal.