Hotels are finally booked out after months of lockdown
St Giles House Hotel general manager Liza Dunnell is pictured on the left looking forward to a fully booked up season - Credit: Sonya Duncan
Guests are returning to city hotels for a change of scenery after months of coronavirus restrictions.
Staff are also able to return from furlough as indoor hospitality is now back up and running as part of step three of the government's roadmap.
Among the hotels seeing bookings soar over the days and weeks is St Giles House Hotel where the next two weekends are fully booked, and June currently at 80pc capacity.
General manager Liza Punnell said: "We are mainly getting couples booking who are coming for a break away.
St Giles House Hotel general manager Liza Dunnell with bar assistant Zsuzsanna Kelemen - Credit: Sonya Duncan
"I have been working on my own in the hotel for the last five months so to welcome back staff yesterday and get the finishing touches done was exciting."
A total of 16 staff have returned from furlough with bookings up by a third compared to what they were after the last lockdown where only "skeleton staff" were needed.
St Giles House Hotel general manager Liza Dunnell is pleased to be reopen for guests as part of restrictions being eased from May 17 - Credit: Sonya Duncan
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The hotel is also welcoming non-residents to its terrace and lounge area for tea and coffee.
St Giles House Hotel in Norwich - Credit: Sonya Duncan
Dunston Hall, south of Norwich, has seen some of their regular guests returning already this week, with a full weekend in store in addition to an "extremely busy" school holidays in two weeks time.
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General manager David Graham said: "I anticipate huge pent up demand for the summer and we expect to be very busy. We are seeing many guests staying for multiple nights."
David Graham, general manager at Dunston Hall Hotel - Credit: Ella Wilkinson
Another city hotel seeing bookings fill up is the Namaste Palace Hotel on Queens Road with more than 50 calls coming in to confirm online bookings this week.
Manager Vatsal Kakadiya said there is only room left for Saturday.
Mr Kakadiya said: "Some people come to the door and just want a room quickly but we can't do that."
Melanie Cook, PR and marketing manager for VisitNorwich, said bookings are going well for both The Maids Head and Assembly House in the city.
The latter will be opening four new bedrooms this summer to help meet the demand with selected dates still available.
A spokeswoman for Booking.com said Norwich is ranked 58th in top domestic searched destinations, but Great Yarmouth is proving the most popular in the county with a rank of 26.
