The Norfolk Royale hotel serves afternoon tea between 2-5pm every day. The hotel is located on Richmond Hill (BH2 6EN), just a short walk from the town centre and beaches.
What was once two Victorian villas home to the Duke of Norfolk, is now the 4* privately owned hotel with 95 en suite rooms.
Parking is available at the hotel in an underground car park, or alternatively there is parking close by in the multi storey car park on Richmond Hill.
Afternoon Tea Choices At Norfolk Royale
When booking afternoon tea at the Norfolk Royale, you are presented with a few options. If you’re looking for a light option, a Dorset cream tea of warm scones, clotted cream, jam and tea is offered.
Traditional afternoon tea includes finger sandwiches. The fillings include smoked salmon, egg, cucumber and ham. Warm scones with jam and clotted cream alongside an assortment of mini cakes and pastries. All served with a choice of tea or coffee.
If you’d like to make your afternoon tea a little more special there is the option to add prosecco or Champagne for an additional charge.
Afternoon Tea Setting At Norfolk Royale
The Norfolk Royale afternoon tea is served in the cosy lounge in the hotel. If the weather is fine, you can choose to dine in the garden or the veranda.
The private garden is a pretty setting for a relaxing afternoon. There are plenty of comfy chairs around spacious tables.
Our Experience
Booking an alfresco afternoon tea in Spring is obviously a gamble where the weather is concerned.
The forecast was unsettled, however we arrived to some lovely sunshine, and enjoyed our first cup of tea thoroughly enjoying the warmth.
There were possibly too many staff trying to do the same job the day we arrived, as our crockery was brought out to us twice. Too many staff is preferable to not enough however.
We weren’t seated for long before our afternoon tea was brought out to us. Everything looked delicious and the only slightly negative point I could add was that the sandwiches had begun to dry out.
I’m assuming the trays had been prepared in advance, possibly just a little too early for our arrival. There is always plenty of food in an afternoon tea, and this one certainly wasn’t lacking in choice.
With a good choice of sandwich fillings, there was something to suit everyone around the table. What I did like was the warm scone. It was a nice treat to pick it up and realise it was still warm, and there was certainly plenty of jam and clotted cream to go around.
The mini cakes and pastries were also plentiful. The tiny fruit tart and macaron were a firm favourite.
We managed to eat the majority of our food before the weather turned, and it started to rain. It wasn’t possible to sit at the table and we had to abandon for some shelter under the barbecue area.
Prior to the rain starting, the staff were very attentive, offering more tea and coffee and making sure everything was OK. We didn’t see anyone for a while when it was raining, but that’s not really surprising.
Sadly we weren’t able to salvage what was remaining as it was all a little soggy, however no-one can control the British weather.
We all enjoyed our afternoon tea at the Norfolk Royale, and will definitely return again, but perhaps sitting inside.
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