The Harper

Style

Revved-up rusticity

Setting

Place of flint-erest Langham

The flint-lined buildings that once housed Langham village’s glass-blowing factory have been shaped into something just as artful: modern-minded North Norfolk hideaway the Harper. Updated by the Cutmore-Scott family, its interiors now have primary-hued velvet couches, flashes of red brick, industrial design elements (a nod to owner Sam’s engineer grandfather) and sleek four-posters in most rooms. And service is as forward-thinking as its style, welcoming muddied dog-walkers and urbane cocktail-clinkers alike. Go ‘gillying’ and coast-walking, play pool in the Den, feast on the best of land and sea, and end your day with English wines by the fire pit in the tree-shaded terrace.

Facilities

Rooms

32, including one standalone cottage.

Checkout

11am, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 4pm.

More Details

Rates include breakfast for all room types except the Cottage, where you can pre-order a Continental hamper for £15 a day, or head to Stanley's for a cooked breakfast (from £25).

Also

There are two accessible rooms (101 and 103) set on the ground floor of the hotel.

Free Internet Access

Pet Friendly

Pool

On-Site Restaurant

Room Service

Spa

At the Hotel

Games room; bikes to borrow for free (subject to availability); and free WiFi. In rooms: LED TV, digital radio, Nespresso coffee machine with Roar Gill pods, tea-making kit, minibar with pre-mixed cocktails, air-conditioning, Irene Forte Skincare bath products, and flip-flops (for the spa).

Our Favourite Rooms

The Harper may be an ample country home, but there’s not a dust-ruffle or heavy gilded frame in sight; decor is modern, down to the clean-lined four-poster beds most rooms have. And, sometimes size does matter, when you’re presented with Big, Bigger and Biggest rooms – the last of which satisfyingly lives up to its name. And, if you’re visiting as a group or with the kids, granny and grandad, the mother-in-law, etc, in tow, the Cottage is secluded standalone hideaway with its own kitchen and utility room for longer stays.

Poolside

With leafy courtyard views, the pool at the spa is lined with smooth stone, features Roman steps and has a hot tub tucked into one corner. It's open daily from 7am to 10pm for private 30-minute bookings only (subject to availability and advance notice), during which time you'll have use of the pool, sauna, steam room and hot tub to yourselves.

Spa

Ease your coastal-walk-worn muscles in the clean-lined modern spa, which has a pool, Jacuzzi for bubbly soaks and a range of Irene Forte Skincare massages and facials (including prenatal pampering). An acupressure-styled ‘Harper Trio’ focusing on your back, neck and shoulders will work wonders; polish off with a mani-pedi. Be sure to book ahead for any soothing spa treatments.

Packing Tips

Bring buckets, spades, inflatable flamingo rubber-rings… And clothing you’re not too precious about for splashing in rock pools, mucking about on sightseeing boats and fishing for crabs.

Also

There are lots of nods to both the building’s past as a glass factory (notably the ‘Blow me away’ sign in Ivy’s lounge) and owner Sam Cutmore-Scott’s mechanic grandfather, with industrial touches.

Children

Little ones are welcome to stay. There are several family rooms and one cottage suited to multigenerational trips. You’ll need to provide distractions, but the North Norfolk coast is awash with seaside fun.

Gallery

Food & Drink

Top Table

The Yard’s fire pits and fairy-lights are very inviting. Otherwise, bask in the coloured light that streams through Ivy’s stained-glass windows on a comfy couch.

Dress Code

This is more Belstaff than Barbour, and swap muddy tweeds for rich colourful fabrics.

Hotel Restaurant

You can tell beamed, red-brick-lined Stanley’s doesn’t take itself too seriously by the smiley cracked-egg sign hanging on the wall. The fine dining menu is determined by that season’s bounty from the land and sea. Breakfasts here are brown-butter waffles slathered in clotted cream or very full Englishes washed down with mimosas and Bloody Marys. The Harper menu can be served in the Yard, a lovely lavender-scented alfresco space with olive and fig trees and views of the 14th-century tower, plus a fire pit for chillier nights.

Hotel Bar

The Harper’s Bar may be a more modern take on a countryside watering-hole, but you’ll still feel more than comfortable settling here with a paper and a pint. Go upstairs and you’ll find Ivy’s, an equally laid-back lounge, where you can settle in with a cup of tea, or linger over a book by the wood-burner. Alongside bottled local beers (a selection from Duration or Barsham ales), you could try a Countryside cosmopolitan (with vodka, Cointreau, cranberry and lime) or salted-caramel espresso martini, or get to grips with Ivy’s wine dispenser; and be sure to soak them up with the seasonal bites on offer. And the Den acts as a snug to the main bar, with a pool table, cards and board games, and a 120-inch screen for movie nights or sports events.

Last Orders

Breakfast is from 7.30am to 10.30am. The Harper menu is available 12:30pm until 9pm; dinner in Stanley's is from 6pm until 9pm Wednesday to Saturday.

Room Service

No need to leave your comfortable four-poster – an in-room menu runs from 7.30am to 10.30am for breakfast, then from 12pm to 9pm.

Planes

Norwich Airport, which has a few direct routes to Europe, is the closest, about an hour’s drive away. Otherwise, London’s big four (Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton) are within two to three hours’ away by car.

Trains

Sheringham (or Sherngham) Station on the Greater Anglia line is the closest, a 20-minute drive away. From London Liverpool Street, you can connect via Norwich.

Automobiles

To see more of the coast’s Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and dive down in the Broads, wheels will be essential. There’s free parking at the hotel (you’ll need to use spaces marked with an ‘H’), Pod Point chargers (£2.50 an hour even when full, so be sure to move it for other guests to use once done).

Worth Getting Out of Bed For

Langham is a village of flinty cottages, a listed church and peaceful pastures. It’s darling indeed, but also gives you easy access to the North Norfolk shore and its Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Dubbed the ‘champagne coast’ for its grand houses and luxury stays, pleasures around here are simple and timeless too: walking rugged trails (staff can provide maps), building sandcastles, collecting shells… The stretch between Wells-next-the-Sea (a 15-minute drive away) and Brancaster is especially picturesque, with rolling dunes, pristine sands and pine forest; Brancaster Beach is famous for kite-surfing, and land boarding or buggying; and Holkham Beach is simply famous – you may have seen it at the end of Shakespeare in Love or Annihilation, or in All Saints’ Pure Shores video. Nearby, you can also walk across the mud flats to the Scolt Head Island National Nature Reserve, an unpolished haven with salt marshes and shingle. Come June to September, head to Morston Quay to hop on a boat and seek out seals basking in the sun (if you want to catch pups, take a frostier trip out come Christmastime). In Cley-next-the-Sea, a windmill rises above quaint terracotta-tiled houses, notable for being in singer James Blunt’s family for generations. And you’ll find a smokehouse, indie bookshop, deli (ideal for picnics if the hotel hasn’t packed you one already), and tea shops in the surrounding streets; plus the area is known for its sea bass and mackerel fishing. From here, walk the Norfolk Coast Path, which leads onto the Peddars Way National Trail at Holme-next-the-Sea. Go ‘gillying’ or crab-hunting at Wells-next-the-Sea (find nets, lines and bait at the Gilly Hut), check out the happenings at contemporary arts centre Wells Maltings, then ride the teeny Wells & Walsingham Light Railway to the sand. Come over all Bridgerton at Palladian-style Holkham and Houghton Halls, or Jacobean-Georgian Felbrigg Hall and mediaeval Oxburgh Hall in the fenlands.

Earn or Redeem Points with World of Hyatt

This Mr & Mrs Smith hotel participates in the World of Hyatt loyalty program. As a member, you can earn and redeem points and enjoy exclusive benefits for qualifying nights. .