The Hoste Arms

Standing at the bar at the Hoste Arms, with beams overhead and a worn stone floor underfoot, it’s impossible not to contemplate those who have done so before. Such is the heritage that seems to ooze from every nook and cranny, the history that hangs around like a sea fret on a cold morning.

Among its illustrious former owners were the Pitts and it’s tempting to conjure up images of William Pitt the Younger – Prime Minister during the Napoleonic Wars – sharing a quick half with Lord Nelson, who is known to have visited to receive his dispatches every Saturday from 1788 to 1793.

Originally the manor house of Burnham Westgate and constructed in 1550, first accounts of the building as an inn were recorded in 1651, when customs officers on the lookout for smugglers and tax-evaders were among the regulars.

Indeed in its three centuries-plus, the building has witnessed many goings-on. It’s been a livestock market, a hotel, a brothel and a courthouse, where the famous Burnham housewife murderers had their preliminary trials before being sentenced to death at Norwich prison. It became the Hoste Arms in 1811, but whether this was down to Nelson’s protégé, Captain Sir William Hoste, or because the Hoste family were prominent local landowners remains unclear.

At the heart of Burnham Market – a thriving Georgian village just a few miles inland from the North Norfolk coast and popular with locals and weekenders – the Hoste has pride of place. A grade-two listed building; it dominates the village green and is rarely out of local conversations. 

It is also delightfully two worlds. Walk through the bar and beyond the talk of the day’s catch, the tide movements and who’s left who for whom and you move from a much-loved village local to a hotel rich in personality and able to compete head on with the world’s best.   

With 36 fabulously lavish rooms tucked away along a warren of stairs and corridors like hidden gems, the Hoste is like a Tardis – an opulent, welcoming Tardis. From the stone floor of the bar, you enter a sanctuary of lush carpets, warm colours, beds piled high with cushions, intricate, traditional detailing and antique furnishings.

The mixture of the local pub and luxury, award-winning hotel seems to mirror the theme of classic and contemporary styling recurrent throughout the building.

The Hoste is owned and managed by husband and wife team, Paul and Jeanne Whittome. Paul handles the business side, while Jeanne oversees the interior design and is the creative side of the partnership, making regular buying trips abroad to sources pieces from all over the world.

A self-made success, Paul Whittome started with a caravan on the side of the road selling potatoes. He built it up into a £10m turnover business and bought The Hoste Arms in 1989, with three staff and no bedrooms. With considerable reinvestment, he has developed it into what it is today – impressive considering dyslexia saw him regularly come bottom of the class at school.
 
Jeanne, who was born in South Africa, travels widely picking up inspiration everywhere she goes, from Marrakech, Ibiza and Zululand to Florence, Los Angeles and Sydney. The Zulu wing at the Hoste is a clear example of the fruits of Jeanne’s labours. Featuring a magnificent boardroom, two luxurious suites and six double bedrooms, each decorated with shields and other Zulu artifacts, it’s a striking embodiment of her passion for design.

This year the Hoste is investing £350,000 in an extension to the lounge restaurant. As well as building outwards, they are building downward. There’ll be private dining in a new restaurant with views into the newly created underground cellar, which itself will house an extensive collection of more than 300 fine wines from around the world. £40,000 alone is being spent on Fired Earth tiles to create an atmosphere of decadence and luxury.

Rooms will feature slate, antique bronze, acid glass, bronze mosaic tiles and lights in the floor and walls. The extension will also include what Jeanne and Paul hope will be the “best toliets in the UK”, with iridescent tiles on the ceilings, black marble and pebbles which, says Jeanne, should add a “smooth, exotic and individual feel”.

“The locals come in,” says Jeanne, “the fishermen come in – they can come in their gum boots and shorts – and people come in dressy. And they’re all welcome.”

The Hoste is also something of a magnet for celebrities keen to enjoy the tranquility of the North Norfolk coast. Jeanne and Paul, however, guard their guests’ privacy well. “We have a lot of stars here,” says Jeanne without naming names. “They come here because it’s quiet and there is no press.

“The Hoste is a meeting place. It’s not pretentious. It’s not a big place, but it’s got all these hidden rooms and extensions. The old barn, for example, was the dancing barn; it had fallen down and Paul reinvested all the money to do up the place.”

Paul says: “This is an exciting project and we aim to provide our guests with the best in quality. We have the most diverse range of fine wines in the country and we are providing the perfect environment in which to house them.”

Jeanne is passionate about creating the right look for The Hoste Arms and choosing Fired Earth, she says, has helped her achieve just that. “ I love Fired Earth products – they’re good quality and add that extra luxury”.

“The hotel doesn’t feel huge and intimidating. The furnishings are soft, but they are not pretentious you don’t feel like you can’t sit down in them and you’re not welcome. It’s got this incredibly welcoming feeling.

“You have to create that – it doesn’t just happen. I try to be a visionary. I’m interested in the finer details. Everything you see I have purchased – I do all the buying. I’ve got my own look, my own style. It is contemporary and traditional. I want to be surrounded by warm natural things that look uncluttered and fantastic.

“People want luxury, so we knew we had a choose a company with an emphasis on quality. I wanted to use something which was going to accentuate what we’ve got. Fired Earth always create a classic feel and they mix with our traditional style.”

For further details and booking information contact the Hoste Arms, The Green, Burnham Market, King's Lynn, Norfolk PE31 8HD Email: reception@hostearms.co.uk Tel: 01328 738 777 Fax: 01328 730 103