Family-Friendly Luxury Hotel: Our Stay At The Ickworth, Suffolk

13 Jul 2022

The Ickworth Hotel, Suffolk

There can be a lot of “you’ll never do X again…” when you’re pregnant, most of which I chose to ignore because a) it’s annoying and b) so many of these things are dependant on what you find manageable as parents. Even I was willing to admit, however, that staying in a luxury hotel complete with spa and pool was off the cards for the foreseeable when we had a baby in tow. What did I know eh? 

The Ickworth hotel, Suffolk

The Ickworth hotel, Suffolk

The Ickworth hotel, Suffolk

The Ickworth hotel, Suffolk

The Ickworth hotel, Suffolk

The Ickworth hotel, Suffolk

The Ickworth hotel, Suffolk

The Ickworth hotel, Suffolk

The Ickworth hotel, Suffolk

The Ickworth hotel, Suffolk


The Hotel


The Ickworth hotel is one of five (I think) in a set of family-friendly luxury hotels in the country. This one is set in the Ickworth National Trust grounds in Suffolk. The premise is simple - everything you’d expect from a luxury hotel only it’s acceptable to bring your children and has been subtly adapted for them. There’s a library room with children’s books and toys, a cinema room with a kid film shown every day and a nursery with 90-minutes free childcare included for every night of your stay. A travel cot, changing mat and nappy bin were waiting for us in the room when we arrived and we were able to hire an off-road iCandy pram free of charge for when we wanted to go walking in the grounds. Our room was a traditional style, complete with big oak-style bed and chaise-lounge and the bathroom had a large standalone bath complete with a set of fancy toiletries. The hotel has a homely feel, on a grand scale. Comfy but luxurious.


The Ickworth hotel, Suffolk

The Ickworth hotel, Suffolk

The Ickworth hotel, Suffolk


The Ickworth hotel, Suffolk

The Ickworth hotel, Suffolk

The Ickworth hotel, Suffolk


The Food 


Food was served in the beautiful orangery which was full of light, pink tones and a impressive display of greenery growing across the wall. There was something quite freeing about being a new parent, eating fancy food in a fancy restaurant, and it still being acceptable for your five-month-old to a) be there and b) shriek and throw Sophie-the-giraffe on the floor. There is an adults-only dinner served later in the evening (the hotel can provide you with monitors to leave in the room) but we chose to eat earlier as we didn’t feel quite ready to leave baby alone in a room just yet. On our first night, we indulged in a three course meal which was delicious. Highlights included roasted beet hummus with a sunflower seed dukka, a wild mushroom risotto with truffle oil, a huge burger with garlic aioli and an incredible dessert which was a combination of apple crumble and apple pie with filo pastry and oats. Hard to describe, tasted amazing. We also tried out the Matilda Afternoon Tea, based on the beloved Roald Dahl book. It included a small ‘Crunchem Hall’ sandwich selection, ‘break time’ banana bread, ‘Lavender’s Macarons’, ‘Matilda and Miss Honey’s after school cream tea’, an enormous slice of ‘Bruce Bogtrotter’s chocolate cake’ and ‘newt juice’ (apple juice, banana, spinach & mango smoothie). It was all very tasty and I very much enjoyed the concept, but we did feel it was a tad overpriced for what you got - although this feels like an issue with afternoon teas in general these days. Breakfast was included in the room and included everything from pancakes to full English to every type of egg.  


The Ickworth hotel, Suffolk

The Ickworth hotel, Suffolk

The Ickworth hotel, Suffolk

The Ickworth hotel, Suffolk

The Ickworth hotel, Suffolk

The Ickworth hotel, Suffolk


What we did 


We were there for two nights and the intention was to relax as much as possible with a five month old. As The Ickworth is set within National Trust grounds, you get free access at any time of day and we both really loved being able to go for evening walks and feel like we had several acres to ourselves. I very much enjoyed the opportunity to go for a massage in the spa as well as languish in the huge standalone bath in our room. We took A swimming for the first time in the beautiful swimming pool which was full of light and big windows with views of greenery and real bee hives. It made for a lovely place to take him swimming for the first time and a special memory. We spent some time chilling out on the squashy armchairs in the lounge, including on the second evening where the lovely staff brought food to us so we could eat in a more relaxed setting. We mooched around the, frankly, stunning National Trust estate and also spent an afternoon exploring the lovely Bury St Edmunds which is a ten minute drive away. 



The Ickworth felt perfect for people with a young baby who don’t yet have to worry about food/lots of entertainment for them just yet (although there were people there with older children as well), and are looking for a little slice of that pre-baby adult break feeling. The only downside is, unsurprisingly, it is not cheap. However, if you fancy treating yourself (and hell, after childbirth and those exhausting newborn days, you definitely deserve it), then The Ickworth is a gorgeous way to do so. 


The Ickworth hotel, Suffolk

The Ickworth hotel, Suffolk


Comments

  1. Thanks for sharing, the hotel looks a lovely place to stay :)

    Nic | Nic's Adventures

    ReplyDelete