The Ickworth Hotel

Was brought the spa day package for an 25th anniversary. ||I was lovely from start to finish. Beautiful surroundings, staff so welcoming and all so friendly. I had a treatment book with my husband who decided to pass up on the opportunity and relax in the lounge with a cup of tea.The staff were so kind and extended my appointment so I could have both . Wonderful facial and body scrub. They were so kind and even phoned reception to move back our lunch reservation time for us. ||Food was amazing, lovely choice of food. Also a lovely touch of free pots of tea while enjoying your day . ||Pool area wonderful, good changing facilities. We went in the afternoon as a much quieter time.||The whole place felt laidback , loved the fact there were wellies on the doorstep and tennis rackets near the back entrance. Really made you feel welcome.||This visit has really made me want to do the day again and stay over next time .

Family hotel where they have thought of everything!||Really rare to come away from a family holiday more rested than when you arrived so we would definitely recommend a stay here.||Four bears den club worked really well for our 2 boys. The 2 hour sessions are just right for parents to get a bit of peace without feeling guilty.||Lots of things to do nearby that kept us busy all week - I can recommend going to bury st edmunds.||Hotel room even had a portable AC which was very useful in the heat wave.||I know they are refreshing the hotel this winter and I can see that it needs it - it didn't really affect our stay though.||The staff were extremely friendly and helpful. (I saw some reviews to the contrary so thought I would mention our experience was good.)||The reviews about the food price though I have to agree with (and, as a comfortable middle class person, I've never felt the need to leave this kind of feedback ever before). We found ourselves doing everything to avoid the extortionate hotel food (including ordering kids options for ourselves) which was probably priced about 50% too high. It was priced like the Ritz but was probably the quality of a decent gastro pub. E.g. £16 for a prawn cocktai starter, really? The kicker was that didn't even include 12.5% service charge - which was a 'nice' surprise at checkout. Speed of food was slightly slow at times but nowhere near as bad as other reviews make out - again didn't really bother us except maybe once.||I recommend to try and book yourself into the one bull in bury for Sunday roast - super friendly delicious food, reasonably priced and with the lovely abbey gardens right next door. ||Small improvements I would mention for the hotel||1. - install some hot water blending valves under the sinks and set them properly to limit the scalding water - a sign is no good for a 4 year old. You have them already under some but they just need a twist to set the hot water temp!|2. Purees are great for the little ones but I'd also love some simple finger food (carrots, parsnips, broccoli) and maybe a dip. What middle class child isn't brought up on hummus these days? 😅|3. Get some sticky/suction plates and bowls - you will save your staff 90% of the cleanup from food getting immediately chucked on the floor.|

We had a lovely time at Ickworth House. The setting is stunning, and the building has so much character. The staff were absolutely fantastic – warm, helpful, and genuinely welcoming, especially with our young child. We really appreciated the thoughtful touches like the kids’ cinema with popcorn, milk and cookies in the evening, and a lovely library space to relax in.||There’s a great milk service where you can ring down and request milk, which was a big help. However, there was no fridge in the room to store it or any snacks, which made things tricky with a toddler. The toy room was underwhelming – mainly a ping pong table and some pencils – with very little for younger children. The crèche is available, but parents aren’t allowed in, so there weren’t many shared family activities indoors.||The indoor swimming pool was a nice bonus, and the estate has lovely walks and bike rides – great if the weather is good.||However, several practical issues let the experience down. Service was consistently slow, and many menu items were unavailable. Cleanliness wasn’t up to standard: children’s tableware sometimes arrived dirty, our room curtains were stained and let in too much light (not ideal for naps), there was a dead moth in the bathroom, and the shower curtain was marked. More frustratingly, the shower didn’t work properly, and the bath plug wouldn’t stay in, which made bath time a real challenge.||For a hotel marketed as family-friendly – and with a premium price tag – we expected better. The staff were truly wonderful and the setting is beautiful, but several basics need attention to make it genuinely family-friendly.

My partner booked a stay at The Ickworth Hotel for my birthday and son, expecting a special and relaxing experience, but it was anything but. The service was poor—my room wasn’t cleaned, and the staff seemed uninterested in providing proper hospitality. I was repeatedly asked what room I was in while simply walking around, and staff kept reiterating the cost of things in a way that felt unnecessary and patronizing. It was hard not to notice how differently I was treated compared to other guests. On top of that, the hygiene was shocking. The first night, I found hair in my food. I also discovered hair on my baby’s bottle and even ended up with hair in my mouth after using a hotel towel. The hair was blonde, and I am black women with black hair, so it clearly wasn’t mine. The bedroom was really dusty and the furniture old, outdated, and thee curtains in the big room downstairs are all torn. For a supposedly high-end hotel, this level of uncleanliness is unacceptable. The most dangerous issue was their careless attitude toward my child’s allergy. I specifically requested oat milk because he has a cow’s milk protein allergy, yet they gave me cow’s milk. If I hadn’t tasted it first, it could have made him seriously ill. To make things worse, when I brought this up to the manager (Beth/Bethan/Bethany) , she refused to take responsibility, claiming she asked the staff and since no one admitted to it, there was nothing she could do. This kind of dismissal is completely unacceptable when it comes to food safety and guest well-being. To top it all off, the bar staff were inconsistent. I asked for an Amaretto Sour, and they refused to make it, saying it wasn’t on the menu—even though the menu specifically says to ask if you want a cocktail that isn’t listed. The next day, I asked again, and this time, they made it with no issue. It just showed how disorganized and unhelpful the staff could be. Overall, what was meant to be a special birthday trip turned into a stressful and uncomfortable experience. Whether this treatment was due to poor training or something more concerning, I can’t say—but I do know that I won’t be returning and wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone.

We had been bought a voucher from buy a gift for £50 which we topped up to £71 to buy afternoon tea for two and we were expecting a special occasion but it was a very poor experience and we wish we hadn’t bothered! We were initially shown to a very bland side room with a dirty floor, sticky table, cheap furnishings and no view of the garden. We were told there was no room in the conservatory even though we had booked well in advance but when we complained, we were moved. We also advised them in advance that one of us had a fish allergy which was ignored and we were served salmon sandwiches. We were bought the wrong coffee order and when corrected a Luke warm cappuccino arrived with no sprinkles which we were told was because of potential allergies although we hadn’t even been offered any! Service was slow and when the food did arrive it was very mediocre. The scones were good but the three small sandwiches each were very ordinary and the cheesecake was obviously frozen and was melting on the serving dish. Before we had finished eating, the remaining tables were all being laid up ready for evening service and it was only 3.30 which made us feel very rushed. We were not offered any top up drinks and the whole experience was very poor, certainly not the premium experience we were expecting after driving 1 1/2 hours to get there. We were offered a complimentary return visit which was a nice gesture but the whole place felt very dated and had we been paying for this, we would have been extremely disappointed, a trip to the National Trust tea room would have been far nicer and a lot better value!

Great stay at the Ickworth Hotel. The rooms are a great size, the grounds are beautiful and offer so much space to explore. Swimming pool, running routes and tennis court is a great addition to get some exercise. Gardens are well maintained so you can walk at all hours through the summer. All meals in the restaurant were excellent and the breakfast selection was great with quick service on hot food. The team couldn’t have been more helpful!

What is the opposite of 'special'? We have had a very mediocre afternoon tea here today, a shame as it was from a gift voucher. Having said that, we had to pay an extra £10 for this 'experience', and that is probably it's true worth. The Ickworth Hotel is a building site, and we had our tea in a room with tarpaulins attached to the ceiling, fake temporary walls and a view of scaffolding from the window. On arrival we were asked if we wanted water, and we said ' yes, tap water please'. This took 25 minutes to arrive on a day with 30° temperature. My Darjeeling tea was fine but my wife's first pot of Earl Grey was a miserable tea bag. Both teas arrived 15 minutes after the food, despite our reminder as the food was being served. The sandwiches were dry and past their best. The small puddings were supplied without spoons. There was no jam or butter for the scones. On each occasion we had to remind the staff of the basics of what an afternoon tea comprises. Various people served randomly different fragments of the meal but nobody seemed to have responsibility for us, completely disorganised.

We have just returned from the most wonderful Spring bank holiday weekend with our litlle boy, this being our second stay at the Ickworth Hotel and the third in the Family Luxury Hotels chain. |This hotel have thought of everything families could need and wish for, giving us, adults some wonderful pampering time. |Uppon arrival, the reception staff were all very friendly and attentive, our room was ready before time, so instead of 3pm check-in, we had acces to our room-Bloomfield at 1:45 pm. That was pure gold for us, so we enjoyed this extra time walking around the Ickworth grounds of the National Trust exoloring the amazing fields, meeting the lambs and "baa baa sheeps"- to our litlle boy delight since he couldn't wait to see them again. |Back to the hotel, staff were all very kin to help whatever request, they know how to make kids and parents feel relaxed and welcomed, ofering plenty advice on neighbourhood areas, things to do, lists of walks and what's in for the day.|Oh, the room was so cosy, imaculate and clean, great size and view, loved the wide windows with blackout curtains which was a big win since our lil one can't sleep without a dark room. I remember our first stay with you was at Molly's room, bigger in size than Bloomfield with a giant bathroom but the lack of blackout courtains made our boy to wake-up with the first rays of light, arround 4:30 am. ||Superb library full of books, toys and confortabile sofa's. Loved all the frames with the Ickworth Hotel/House history.||On top of this all our dinners were excellent. Food was delicious, I always had the gloriously creamy Fowey mussels for starter along with a bottle of Spanish Albarin̈o, my favourite wine. Felt lucky to find it in your menu's. |The Niçoise salad and the monkfish also to die for, can't wait to come back for more.Tudor loved the ragu rigatoni and the fish fingers. |The staff at the creche were all amazing! I'm so sorry I'm bad with names, next time I'll rigt them all down. Tudor often says he is missing the hotel's kids club and that he had lots of fun. At the end of each session he would hand us litlle gifts he was crafting in the den with the help of the staff, such as bracelets or bookmarks. What a lovely little touch! He also loved the homemade cookies and milk provided by the reception, he was so exited that he can help himself with this and popcorn as well.|The pool time was really nice for us, maybe a bit deep for litlle kids but it was full of floties which made their swim time easier.||The Yoto player available to borrow - a big win! It had a positive impact on Tudor as he completely forgot about phone and went completely screen-free during our stay, thanks to It's versatility. A really fun screen-free audio experience. It's now on our wish list, thanks to you.||On both of our stays we had our expectations excedeed, having endless facilities and activities provided to make a family stay so easy and confortabile. |Ickworth is very dear to us and it feels like a home away from home. The ideal getaway for families to wind down and relax. Will definitely be visiting again this summer. ||Dates of our stay➡️||3-5th of May-Molly's room 🛌 |24-26th of May-Bloomfield room ✨️