The Best Luxury Hotels in Suffolk

Watch the boats bobbing in the quay from your juliet balcony and imagine you’re in St Tropez. The Salthouse Harbour hotel gives you a taste of the French Riviera in Ipswich. Inside, enjoy modern art, madcap sculptures and souvenirs from the owners’ travels abroad. Some rooms include panoramic views, window-side copper baths and Bose SoundDocks.

You’ll soon discover why this former Georgian hunting lodge in Newmarket bagged a Visit England breakfast award. Earl Grey-poached apricots, buttermilk pancakes and poached smoked haddock are a few of the breakfast treats on offer. Dinner in the two AA-rosette Squires restaurant – headed by chef Sean Melville, previously at The Ritz – is just as special. Enjoy comfort food such as baked lobster mac ‘n’ cheese or be daring and try a duo of rabbit. Reacquaint yourself with your youthful looks with an ESPA age rebel facial at the spa.

Enjoy a paddle along the River Stour in a kayak, free of use for guests. Stay in the Garden Room, one of only two in the Grade II-listed cottage, and watch giant dragonflies from the neighbouring Chad Brook buzz around your private garden. War poet Edmund Blunden once lived here and you can browse some of his works. It’s a B&B but it’s only a minute’s stroll to the pub and restaurant on the village high street.

History surrounds you at the 500-year-old Seckford Hall Hotel. From stone walk-in fireplaces to timber panelling and hefty oak beams, a stay here will transport you back to Tudor royal courts. It’s thought that Queen Elizabeth I stayed here and Edward VI died in an armchair that now resides in the Grand Hall. For hand-carved four-poster beds as old as the mansion itself, book into the Tudor or Seckford rooms. The lodge’s junior suite, which sleeps four, has a private garden. The pool is housed in a 16th-century barn.

Owner Lesley, Lady Henniker-Major, makes you feel like a friend who’s been invited for the weekend at the three-room Thornham Hall near Eye. Sit by the open fire and chat with her about the porcelain and artefacts she has collected on her overseas travels. Breakfast of smoked salmon and scrambled eggs is served by Lesly herself under portraits of her Henniker ancestors. This is a very classy B&B.

This was once the film set for chef Robert Carrier’s 1970s TV cooking shows. Carrier used to own the Grade I-listed Hintlesham Hall, which dates back to the 1400s, and filmed his series in what is now the Cherry Orchard Suite. Carrier’s Restaurant still pays homage to him, using beans, peas, Swiss chard and herbs grown in his former vegetable patch. Enjoy a game of golf at the par 72 course next door or visit the spa for Elemis pampering. Want to impres? Arrive in style by helicopter.

Immerse yourself in Britain’s horse-racing history at this equine-themed hotel and the Jockey Club’s Newmarket HQ. It’s a shrine to the sport with paintings of past winners on the walls and racing artefacts by the saddle bag-load, including a life-size bronze of Hyperion, one of Britain’s most successful horses. Much of the time, it’s members only, which have included six former Prime Ministers over the years, but the rest of us can stay on selected dates. Opt for a deluxe room overlooking the racecourse stables.

Writer Charles Dickens and actress Angelina Jolie have stayed here so you’ll be in good company. This ivy-clad Georgian mansion, once a 15th-century coaching inn, manages to combine the nostalgic with the here and now. Crushed velvet sofas sit aside lime green walls, free-standing copper baths aside monsoon showers. Stroll outside and you’re in the heart of Bury St Edmunds with its historic buildings and market.

This child-friendly hotel offers family pool sessions, a free crèche, games room with an Xbox and kids’ film nights. Borrow wellies, bikes and a geocaching kit and explore the 1,000-acre estate’s sheep-strewn fields. Enjoy a game of croquet on the lawn or head off into the woods to explore. Stay in a family suite or choose the Butler’s Quarters and have its three bedrooms, lounge, kitchenette and private garden to yourselves.

This Victorian townhouse in Bury St Edmunds cleverly fuses eccentric with traditional. Geometric patterns and period fireplaces sit alongside working men’s club-style tables and glass chandeliers; vegan wines alongside vintages; and, on head chef Greig Young’s menu, glazed beef short-rib aside chicken kiev. Choose from one of 10 Suffolk gins or try a cocktail, inspired by seasonal produce.