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4.0
#1 of 2 hotels in Horringer
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Value
The East Wing at Ickworth was home to the Hervey family before it passed to the National Trust. The surroundings are as grand as ever but the idea that “children should be seen but not heard” has gone right out of the hundred or more windows. Where else can you go that offers luxurious surroundings, outstanding facilities, exquisite cuisine and family friendly activities? The Ickworth is unique. It's also one of the finest luxury family hotels in the UK.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
HOTEL STYLE
Quiet
Family
Languages Spoken
English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and 1 more
Location
The Street, Horringer, Bury St. Edmunds IP29 5QE England
The Ickworth Hotel
1,366 reviews
Getting there
Somewhat walkable
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Nestled in a charming setting, The Ickworth Hotel captivates guests with its quaint features and child-friendly amenities. However, opinions on value and upkeep vary, with some visitors expressing disappointment over what they deem as overpriced experiences and poorly maintained facilities. Service at the hotel is hit-or-miss, with reports of both disorganization and helpfulness.
While the atmosphere is generally appreciated, the decor's tired appearance hasn't gone unnoticed. Room experiences also diverge, ranging from spacious and clean to neglected and in need of repair.
Atmosphere
Charming
Rooms
Unkempt
Value
Expensive
Cleanliness
Mixed
Service
Inconsistent
Amenities
Underwhelming
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I always try to be fair in my reviews and so will start with the positives : beautiful location, very friendly staff, lovely conservatory where we had our evening meal, attractive grounds . That would suffice for an average hotel but as this hotel deems itself " luxury" I will outline why I feel it does not fall within that category. Starting with my main gripe with many hotels, it's a double room, 2 people, therefore why only 1 chair! We took turns in sitting in said chair! Yes it's an old , traditional building which I love but the furniture can be traditional without being tatty (and in some cases hideous ) I refer to the furniture in our room. Maintenance is lacking. We kept our window open but would have been wary of closing as a pane of glass looked dangerously close to falling out. We had dinner and breakfast. Again the staff were friendly and attentive but the food was unpredictable. My pasta dish was delicious but my partner had to return his steak as it was raw in the middle ( he had requested medium/ well done) . The starter of salmon was ok but seemed to have heaps of ice sprinkled on the top. Why?? At breakfast I had my favourite poached eggs and smashed avocado on sourdough bread. The eggs were perfect, the bread not sourdough and goodness knows what the chef had done to the avocado. It tasted awful. We had to remind the waiter we had ordered toast.When it came there were no side plates. We stay in hotels a lot from premier inn to 5 star. I always judge a hotel against the criteria of its category I.e would not expect 5 star service from a Premier Inn ( although I have been pleasantly surprised) The Ickworth Hotel is perfectly adequate but not luxury.
Although I dont have young children, I would say it would be a perfect place for young families. It was lovely to see children enjoying themselves.
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Date of stay: September 2020Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Faye Kelly, General Manager at The Ickworth Hotel
Responded 13 Nov 2020
Thank you for taking the time to write your review from your experience with us at The Ickworth. I am sorry to see that you were left disappointed with some of the areas during your stay. I have discussed this feedback with the team so that we can make improvements where necessary. I am pleased to see that the staff took good care of you both. We hope to welcome you back again. Best Wishes, Beth Operations Manager
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This was our second stay at Ickworth (previous visit, summer 2020) and after another 4 nights here our views are much the same as before: the grounds are great, the staff are friendly and the food (breakfasts and 'fine dining' evening meals in particular) is excellent, but for the price, the bedrooms and common areas are worn, and the service is slow.
The service levels were improved from our last visit and we could not fault the politeness of the waiters, waitresses and cleaning staff who are all working hard. But there were still several occasions when it was either difficult to track down a staff member or the wait for a food or drink order was unreasonably long. For a hotel which bills itself as luxury, it should not be so hard to order a coffee in the lounge during the afternoon, and the used coffee cups from previous guests should be cleared much more quickly.
On the plus side the swimming pool remains a good feature, the kids clubs seemed well run (if a bit on the basic side) and the location so close to Bury makes it ideal for a few nights' stay.
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Date of stay: August 2021
Rooms
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Faye Kelly, General Manager at The Ickworth Hotel
Responded 27 Aug 2021
Thank you very much for taking the time to leave your feedback. Our restaurant management team and I are working hard to implement an intense and structured training programme for the whole department, to ensure that our service is up to our usual high standards in these difficult times. I apologise that there are aspects of your stay that were affected by this. We hope to welcome you back to The Ickworth again soon. Best Wishes, Beth
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I booked one night here Inc dinner with a special offer from Travelzoo. The grounds are beautiful, our room which was in the lodge was gorgeous. The room included tea and coffee, cereal milk, water, an iron and hairdryer. The bathroom had elemis products to use which was a treat. The food in the restaurant was very nice. The cheapest bottle of red wine was £32 which I thought was very extortionate though... It wasn't very nice either unfortunately. The waitress was informative and friendly. If you stay at the hotel you also get free access into Ickworth house but much of it was shut for maintenance which was a shame. All in all a lovely 1 night stay and we would definitely go back. This hotel is very suitable for families with young children and even dogs! They have a cinema room, a swimming pool and bike hire.. plus games and dvd' s you could borrow.
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Date of stay: February 2020Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Paul Sandu, Other at The Ickworth Hotel
Responded 4 Mar 2020
Dear Catgracie21, Thank you very much for your super feedback. I am so glad that you had such an excellent stay with us and we all loved reading your comments. We hope you will become a regular guest now that you have found us. The main house will be opening at the end of March and the works will finish around August 🙂 Kindest regards Paul
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We (my husband and I and our 2 girls - 4 and 2 years) booked a 3 night stay at Ickworth Hotel as our family holiday this year as our holiday to Greece was cancelled. We were recommended the Ickworth as a family friendly, comfortable hotel. On arrival we were excited with the play area and general ease for kids. When we went to our room (a connecting family room) we were greeted with a chocolate bar wrapper on the bedroom floor, a child’s sock (not ours!) on the bathroom floor and dusty tables. In normal times, this is not what we would expect but particularly so during a Pandemic when people are particularly sensitive (and rightly so) to hygiene levels. This made us feel uneasy and we politely raised it with reception to allow them to rectify things.
Unfortunately, despite raising it as an issue, we returned to our room that day to find a used coffee cup (not used by us) next to the kettle. We decided it was best to cut our trip short and leave as we felt uncomfortable that the hygiene levels were so low during a period where it is more important than ever.
We found the hotel generally to be grubby and in need of a really good clean (the toilets by the swimming pool were filthy). It is a simply thing that would have made our stay so much more enjoyable. Otherwise the food is nice and the garden area was ideal for kids. It was a shame the standards otherwise were so low.
The only positive really was how the reception manager handled the situation. She could not have been more apologetic and we were grateful that she made our swift exit stressfree and refunded us our money promptly (although we are yet to receive our deposit back!)
Overall would highly recommend not spending your hard earned money at this hotel.
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Date of stay: August 2020Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We have just returned from our 4th visit to this lovely hotel, and it will always be one of our favourite. Reading previous reviews I am amazed how much people spend and then feel they aren’t getting value for money. If like us you don’t have to go on a specific day, you can just look at the calendar and find rooms with breakfast for £129 which I think is good value. A friend recently spent £150 at a travel lodge, so all hotels have expensive days as well as reasonably priced ones. Rooms have an eclectic mix of antique furniture, some of which is shabby but very chic, and some great paintings. If you want unadulterated luxury with bell boys and staff standing around waiting for you to click your fingers, then this is not for you. It’s casual, like home; the staff are helpful, chatty and kind. Children adore it here, but we adults do too. We have yet to use the pool, but the main reason for our repeated visits is the large estate surrounding the house. We bring our bikes as there are miles of cycling opportunities with no cars to worry about. There was a fridge in our room with fresh milk [not those little tubes that are difficult to open] coffee machines (decaf was strange tasting) and breakfast cereals. This is a thoughtful touch for those little people or us older ones who want something NOW, and healthier than biscuits. The weather does make a difference, and this time our trip was during a hot spell. However we have been here in the rain, and with the right gear it’s just as good. Food is on the pricey side, but you don’t have to eat here, though the burger and chips wouldn’t break the bank. My one quibble is that the meat dishes don’t come with sides, these you have to order separately. We will certainly come back, as we sleep well, get plenty of exercise, and always have a great breakfast.
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Date of stay: September 2021
Value
Rooms
Service
Room Tip:Rooms in the Lodge are larger
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Faye Kelly, General Manager at The Ickworth Hotel
Responded 15 Oct 2021
Thank you very much for taking the time to leave your feedback. I am so pleased that you had another great stay with us - it is always lovely to see familiar faces! We look forward to seeing you again. Best Wishes, Beth
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We stayed in a glorious hexagonal room in the Lodge, nespresso machine, coffee, fresh milk in a fridge and even breakfast cereals, on Dinner Bed &Breakfast.
Made full use of the National trust grounds, exploring the various walks, and enjoyed a leisurely lie in for our 0930 booking for breakfast. Dinners were 5 choices per course, perfect portion size to enjoy all 3 courses without feeling bloated, or overcharged for teeny portions!
NT House closed for renovations of the rotunda (plus Covid-19), but the grounds were sufficient to hold our interest.
Main bonus - the staff, especially Beth our restaurant angel, and Gillian the housekeeping at the Lodge - nothing too much trouble for them both, and made my wife and I well and truly fed, watered and rested.
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Date of stay: September 2020
Location
Service
Sleep Quality
Room Tip:The Lodge is 800m walk from the main hotel, so good price, but gorgeous rooms and private...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Faye Kelly, General Manager at The Ickworth Hotel
Responded 13 Nov 2020
Dear John, Thank you so much for taking the time to write your review of your stay with us. I am so pleased to see that you both had a great time! I will pass on your wonderful comments to the team. It was a pleasure to have met you and your wife. We hope to welcome you back again soon! Best Wishes, Beth Operations Manager
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This has been our third visit and we love coming here. The rooms are comfortable and indiviually furnished; the surrounding countryside vast and worth exploring; the breakfast perfect. There is a coffee maker in the room, free bottled water and great bathroom products. Its a great shame that the NT house has been closed as you miss out on a little gem. f If you have a bike this is heaven as you can cycle for hours, and if you dont you can rent one for £10. However each time we come here we are always disappointed with the food on offer in the evening. We have now tried everything on the menu and quite frankly the only thing we thought excellent was the soup. The food is expensive and the portions tiny. There is no bread offered and when you ask for it they sound surprised that you might need some to mop up the sauce. The pasta is bland, the small steak and chips outrageous priced at £28, the Persian lime and chickpea exactly that, a lot of chickpeas and quite spicey. There is nothing on offer that makes me want to ask for the recipe. Apart from the small portions you have to order vegetables separately which we always find annoying. We definitely will come here again and hope that they might change the mains list as otherwise we might just try the pub in the village. Alternatively next time we might just order two starters and a dessert and forgo the main course.
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Date of stay: October 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Faye Kelly, General Manager at The Ickworth Hotel
Responded 13 Nov 2020
Thank you so much for taking the time to write your review, and thank you for your ongoing support at The Ickworth! It is always a pleasure to welcome back our return guests. I am sorry to see that you were left disappointed with the food during your stay. We will be re-opening post lockdown with a new menu which I am really excited about. We hope to see you again soon! Best Wishes, Beth Operations Manager
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We spent two nights at this lovely hotel. Saskia on reception was very helpful orientating us to the downstairs areas and directing us to our room. The room, Augustus Harvey, was spacious and well appointed, the bed was huge and nearly needed a step ladder to get on! The bathroom was lovely, my partner especially liked the bath. The toiletries were gorgeous and I can see why they had “please don’t take me” labels on them, the large bottles were a refreshing change. There is no milk in the room, you take your bottle to reception and they fill it with fresh milk. We ate in the restaurant on our first night. Small choices, mainly fish dishes but food was hot and tasty. Emma our waitress was friendly but not intrusive. Obviously the prices were what you would expect from a top hotel. Breakfast was good especially as it was included in the price which some hotels do not do. The only negative is the toaster takes an age! One bonus of our stay was the free access to the adjoining Ickworth House. What a treat! The house provided the chance to embrace some history and art, the basement with the notices to the staff were particularly entertaining. The cafe was good but very busy and the terrace area was particularly in demand! The surrounding area was great to get some fresh air. The second bonus was the indoor swimming pool. This is in one of the outbuildings so you need to get a towel & access key fob from reception. There are limited changing facilities so we used the bathrobes & slippers from our room to go over. What a treat, lovely pool. A couple of negatives on our stay ….I asked two different staff for extra pillows as they were very soft but they did not appear. And on our second day I returned to the room and it was unlocked after housekeeping had serviced the room which was a bit alarming as we had valuables in the room and there was no safe, part of the quaintness of the hotel is the rooms are all locked with proper keys. I did inform reception of this oversight so hopefully it was a one off. I would also say that if you want a relaxing stay then you should avoid school holidays as this hotel is VERY child friendly! They appear to have great facilities for all ages of children and they all seemed to be having happy and loud fun! My final point is to thank Selina in the spa…….I had the most amazing massage. She really knows what she is doing and was kind and considerate. We bumped into her in reception as she was finishing her day and she noticed that I wanted some milk for I room which she quickly fetched for us, super service, a credit to the hotel 😊
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Date of stay: July 2022Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Avoid school holidays if you want a quiet relaxing time!
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Bethany Glass, Guest Services / Front Office at The Ickworth Hotel
Responded 14 Aug 2022
Dear Tracey, Thank you for your feedback. Saskia is fairly new to the team and she is doing very well. She will be happy to know she has been able to help you during you stay with us. I am glad to hear you liked your room, it is beautiful! Our baths are the same in each room in the main hotel so be rest assured, if you visit again you partner will not be disappointed! All our our lovely Bramley products can be bought at reception if there are any you particularly liked. At Ickworth we focus on looking after the environment and so we no longer use milk sachets in the rooms. I am pleased to know that you enjoyed visiting the Ickworth House and the swimming pool, these are very popular features for our guests. Although we consider ourselves a very safe environment, we do take security very seriously and housekeeping are trained to ensure the safety of guests belongings. I am sorry to hear on this occasion it wasn't carried out appropriately. This concern has been addressed with the housekeeping manager and the staff member has been reminded of this importance. Emma and Selina are both superstars and I will pass your comments onto them directly. We hope to welcome you to Ickworth again soon. Kind regards, Bethany Glass Front of House Manager
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We had a gorgeous room, lovely big bathroom and comfy beds. Breakfast was great and the hotel had made safe distancing of the tables etc... The hotel was very airy with all the doors open and the ceilings are very high so it felt safe. The swimming pool was very nice and you book a slot so there are never too many people in there. The grounds are absolutely beautiful. It's a really nice place for an escape. I could see that it's very family-friendly and dogs are also welcome and this adds to its nice atmosphere. The staff were kind and helpful. Altogether a lovely relaxing break here.
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Date of stay: August 2020
Rooms
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Faye Kelly, General Manager at The Ickworth Hotel
Responded 13 Nov 2020
Thank you so much for taking the time to write your lovely review. I am so pleased to see that you had a great stay and that you enjoyed our beautiful grounds. We hope to welcome you back again soon! Best Wishes, Beth Operations Manager
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On the whole we enjoyed our stay, we stayed in the main hotel which I think is just about worth the upgrade over staying in the lodge due to the convenience of anything you want to do being close by.
Room was a nice size looking out into the gardens at the rear of the hotel. Bathroom looked tired in where shower is in bath, you can see shower has been replaced at some point and where old screws had been some silicone was just smeared on to seal hole instead of replacing the tile with hole in it, also silicone just smeared around shower valve where pipes come out of wall. Poor maintenance work more than anything and on the whole room was good. Spotted a radiator in one area that had obviously leaked before and just has a dishcloth wrapped around the pipe to stop it. All minor things though I suppose.
Food/Dining, food was average, for £20 you get a burger in a bun and a few thick cut chips, no salad, no sauces offered by the waiter who served it. They also add a service charge to all bills. There is no bar at the hotel, if you want to have a drink you need to find a member of staff and ask for a drink, seems truly bizarre they have no bar or at least a dedicated member of staff in the lounge area to take drinks orders. I requested a drink from one waitress who said she would bring a drinks menu to me and totally forgot, so I had to go and find her again to order a drink. Drinks are expensive, about £28 for a bottle of wine which would be £8 at the most in a shop. £16 for a basic cocktail. On the whole the staff are very good, one waiter who just didn’t seem like he wanted to be there. Staff working around the reception area all seemed great. Bike hire is free, which is good. Bikes need some maintenance, brakes not working on some of them. Pool area, changing rooms need investment, no reason for them to be like they are, a small investment to refurbish them is all that is needed, doors not closing, showers just look old and dirty. Pool itself is nice, ceiling of pool area again needs work, rusty nails showing through that could easily be rectified with some simple maintenance. Hotel offers a baby monitoring service which is good. Hotel grounds are great but you will have seen the photos already.
Would we stay again? Possibly, for me the price you pay for one night, for us was £380 you expect to not have to go looking for a member of staff to take a drinks order for you and food did not warrant the price and this is what let’s the hotel down apart from a few shoddy maintenance repairs spotted here and there. Just needs a bit of investment to refurbish some areas and the lack of bar/drinks ordering situation needs a rethink.
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Date of stay: April 2022Trip type: Travelled with family
Room Tip:For a family with small children I don’t think the Lodge would be enjoyable.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
There are more places to choose from in the Horringer area.
PRICE RANGE
$237 - $354 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
ickworth hotel horringer
LOCATION
United KingdomEnglandEast AngliaSuffolkBury St. EdmundsHorringer
NUMBER OF ROOMS
39
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