The Ickworth Hotel And Apartments - A Luxury Family Hotel

I have never given a hotel full marks in every category before (and I have stayed in a lot of hotels all around the world). Location (in the National Trust property) and surroundings perfect. Staff friendly, efficient and professional. Food excellent. Room furnished with period furniture but well appointed. Large well appointed bathroom (again period furnishings) Overnight stay only so did not use the spa facilities. Seemed well appointed for children (but we did not have any with us)

Nothing

We liked the privacy of The Lodge and the opportunity to explore the estate, use the pool, the use of the family-friendly swimming pool and the BearsDen club for my grandson for two morning sessions.

The booking process was a bit tortuous.I couldn’t find real details of the different apartments on the website but did so on Booking.com. This led to some confusion about when payment due = immediately on booking - and also about special dietary requests; the latter ultimately satisfied when we had our first breakfast.

Total relaxation. Never got bored. Grounds are amazing and so quiet. We had lots of walks and we were the only ones out early morning and evenings. Love how kid friendly and dog friendly it is. Activities for kids are fab . They also kindly left an anniversary card in our bed. And the waitress Alex was absolutely wonderful. What an asset. She also got us a card and she was incredibly sweet and breakfast was delicious.

The fact that we couldn't go to the pool because they have no time for adult only swims. It would be lovely if they dedicated just an hour in the morning and evening for adults only .so it was a shame to miss out.Would of loved some more budget friendly options for evening meals. We drive elsewhere to eat dinner .

Our stay was absolutely fantastic. The view of the house when you arrive is majestic and everyone from the reception staff to the wonderful manager Beth, were friendly and going out of their way to make us feel welcome and made our stay memorable. We're a family with two teenagers who also loved it. There's a lovely genteel, relaxed country house atmosphere. The pool was great - clean and good water temperature. Floor to ceiling windows looks out into small courtyard gardens with beehives - so interesting to watch them while you relax inside. Dinner was just amazing. The special of the night was ceviche on a creamy avocado base with chilli. Oh my goodness, I could have eaten that for a main and dessert too. Might have to stay over just for that! The mains and dessert were all good, we couldn't decide which one was the winner. Breakfast was very good. There's beautiful grounds to explore and you can visit the National Trust house for free if you're a guest. Some guests have complained about the dining area feeling impersonal but I don't get it. It's at the end of the house like a conservatory with windows looking out to the garden on two sides but there is only about 12 tables in there of which only 2 could sit more than 4 people so not a massive room at all. Also it is child and dog friendly but for us it added to the relaxed, casual but still grand feeling.

Having to go home!

it was a beautiful property with excellent facilities for all the family! the staff were so helpful and attentive. the food was great! the room was great! check in and check out were super smooth! swimming pool was a fantastic extra!

not necessarily a dislike but with the swimming pool I think it would be nice if there was a set couple of hours during the day where it was for 18+ only just because when I try to have a swim there were families in which is not a problem but just made a little bit difficult for me when I was just trying to swim lengths up and down the pool.

Beautiful building, good food, excellent service from the staff, plenty of convenient parking. The hotel is marketed as a family hotel and there were many families staying there, however, after three stays as a business traveller I would recommend the Ickworth for business as well as family travel.

No biscuits or milk in the room with the tea/coffee tray. Milk was available on request, but having to go to reception to ask for it was a little inconvenient.

The hotel staff could not have been more helpful. They were so attentive to all of us, especially children and dog! It was so great to be able to leave the dog in reception whilst we ate, much better than having to leave hiom in the room as has happened in other "dog friendl;y" hotels.

Not much! at one point there were three dogs in reception, and it nearly didn't work .. maybe consider identifying a larger palce for the dogs, as people seem to want to bring dogs with them more and more these days?

Everyone was so friendly, polite and helpful. Ikworth is such a lovely peaceful place. We loved the grounds and enjoyed having complimentary access to the House and Grounds. Breakfast,which we had on our final morning, was really delicious and beautifully cooked and presented. Beth , the Hotel Manager, couldn't have been more welcoming and helpful, than-you sooo much!

This was an overall very good experience (better than expected). The room was spacious and well appointed. Staff were excellent and food was very good especially breakfast The ability to stay with our dog with limited restrictions was well appreciated. The National Trust should do this with more properties.

Food menu was a bit limited and prices a bit high. Lounge could do with a face-lift but these are all relatively minor points.

The property is situated in a beautiful national trust park - I was upgraded to the main house rather than the lodge I had booked - but the thing I liked the most was the staff - every one was really lovely, welcoming and could not do enough to ensure that I had a good stay - it really made a difference.

The mattress was too hard for me..