Suffolk’s green, bucolic landscape, its beautiful and historic villages of greens bordered by half-timbered houses, thatched cottages and charming pubs, and its wide shingle beaches is the kind of England many international visitors are here to see. Suffolk has impressive churches, elegant country houses, a mild climate, and a relatively unspoiled feeling — considering how conveniently it is located for London. With that in mind, our Gurus have included some proper English country house hotels, cosy B&Bs and ye olde inns for their list of the best places to stay in Suffolk, along with charming seaside hotels, picks for Newmarket’s racegoers, and some foodie favourites.

Ipswich is the largest centre, and architecturally interesting, with many fascinating layers of maritime history, but if you’re after real historic charm you’ll probably find more likely candidates for the best places to stay in Suffolk in Lavenham, or Bury St Edmunds. Both have an impressive amount of medieval architecture. For the quintessential family seaside holiday try Southwold or Aldeburgh, which hosts an impressive annual arts festival too.

Suffolk has its own Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, but it’s also just below the Norfolk Broads, and there’s a wonderful cross over of waterfowl and other birds into Suffolk’s North Sea marshland and wetlands, so the best places to stay in Suffolk are excellent recommendations for bird watchers, as well as walkers and hikers. The Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is close to Aldeburgh and Southwold, and these are good places to pick up one of the region’s famous walking trails. Dedham Vale, much-loved and painted by Constable, is an area of real rural charm, and offers another quintessential English landscape. Suffolk is also a rich landscape for archaeological interest — this is where Sutton Hoo was discovered, along with several significant burial grounds and treasure hoards.

The Best Places to Stay in Suffolk

For a Seaside Holiday

• The Sail Loft is a fantastically located property on the road by Denes Beach, Southwold, just outside the centre of town. This is essentially a restaurant-with-rooms, and the excellent restaurant could be described as elevated beach shack-pub chic, with lots of wood and incredible views. Upstairs are four rooms, simply decorated in pale, neutral colours, with large windows and spacious bathrooms. Bring your kids and enjoy being by the sea!
• The Brudenell is in Aldeburgh, and boasts sea views, good-sized rooms and the promise of comfort and relaxation. It is llocated at the quieter end of Aldeburgh’s promenade, and its sunny terrace is a peaceful retreat at the busiest time of year. The decor in the 44 rooms and suites is classic, with a little dash of nautical charm, and some great photography of the local area. The restaurant specialises in seafood and coastal gins.

For an Historic Stay

• The Swan at Lavenham is 15th century, timber-framed coaching inn, surrounded by an equally atmospheric collection of medieval, timber-framed charmers. Expect plenty of character, but don’t come anticipating straight walls or floors! The decor is very comfortable, though, so the quirkiness of the building doesn’t cause any actual discomfort — unless you stop looking out for the low ceiling beams! The larger suites offer plenty of luxury, including four-poster beds and plush living spaces. There are lots of little sitting rooms and outdoor terraces, plus a spacious dining room and restaurant, and a bar. And even a spa.

For Families

• The Ickworth is a National Trust property in Bury St Edmunds, with a 27 room family friendly retreat and function centre. Its gardens include the 1800 acres of National Trust parkland and gardens, and the views are incredible. Inside the rooms and suites are well set up for families, with clever layouts and a free creche and babysitting service. There’s also a fantastic kids club and kids’ games room, and acres of grounds to explore. Dogs are welcome too.
• The Swan Hotel is our pick for families staying in seaside Southwold. It’s a historic hotel on the main square, with good views of the town and the sea, and classic hotel interiors offering unfussy comfort. Although if you want historic beams and open fire places, some of the 42 rooms and suites have them. The restaurant has two AA Rosettes for its French fusion cuisine — with an emphasis on seafood — and the staff here, and in the hotel, are excellent. Right by the shops, and just two minutes from the promenade and the beach.
• Aldeburgh’s The Wentworth is a comfortable and traditional seaside hotel, with 35 generously proportioned rooms and suites, a very nice restaurant, and plenty of charm. This is the sort of place people come back to time and again, and they’ll remember you too. The best rooms are those with sea views — and binoculars — but the rooms in the Garfield House annex are larger, and ideally suited to families.

For Romance

• The Marquis is a picturesque village hotel in south Suffolk, with lovely views of the Brett River. As well as beautifully styled rooms and suites where contemporary design sits effortlessly alongside period features, you can expect a cosy bar and award winning restaurant which champions top quality seasonal local ingredients. Book the Cornwallis Suite for a romantic hideaway with unrivalled views of the surrounding countryside.
• The Angel is an impressively historic, and ivy-clad hotel, right in the centre of Bury St Edmunds, opposite Abbey Gardens. It has 80 rooms and suites, in a good range of shapes and sizes, all decorated with a contemporary, yet traditional style. The most romantic rooms have four-poster beds, and free-standing copper baths. All around the hotel are prints and original artworks, and the hotel has a chic modern British restaurant, and a cool cocktail bar.
• For a romantic getaway with a hint of cool, we'd recommend Salthouse Harbour Hotel in Ipswich. it's a boutique property right on Ipswich's waterfront, converted from a salt warehouse. The vibe is funky and chic and the luxurious rooms offer a truly smart stay. Go for the best you can afford, then you'll be guaranteed huge windows for great views and some come with indulgent in-room copper tubs.
• The Northgate is a small and stylish choice, converted from a lovely mansion, also in Bury St Edmunds. Its ten rooms and suites are unfussy, but definitely stylish, with antique-style furnishings in pastel tones. Each of the rooms is individually designed and decorated, plus there’s an intimate restaurant, a chic cocktail bar and a sunny courtyard.
• The Bedford Lodge Hotel & Spa is an indulgent spa hotel converted from a sprawling estate in Newmarket. There are 77 rooms and suites, lots and lots of green space, and a huge spa with a big, bubbly pool and ESPA products. There’s no scrimping on anything here, from the high quality bedding to the Tea Pigs teas. The restaurant, lounge and bar all feel ready for a special occasion, and there’s a sense of delicious decadence.

For Foodies

• Sutherland House is a family-run restaurant-with-rooms, in an historic building in the centre of Southwold. Originally dating from 1455, this building is now part Jacobean, part Victorian, and has interior features dating from both periods — and from when it was used as a military headquarters during the Anglo-Dutch Wars. The Duke of York room has an exceptional pargetted ceiling, dating from 1660, and the Earl of Sandwich room has a slipper bath in front of an open fire. The restaurant has two AA rosettes, and is known for its seafood dishes. Enjoy!
• The Westleton Crown in Westleton has won several culinary awards, so it's safe to say it provides more than just gastropub fare; expect the cuisine here to be a bit fancier. You can assume the same about the rooms of this converted 12th century coaching inn — there’s Egyptian linen and duck down duvets and pillows and bathrooms by Fired Earth. It’s romantic, but also family friendly.

For a Rural Retreat

• The Toad Hall Lodges are a collection of just five, adults-only log-cabins set in a peaceful spot, on the edge of the Heath Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Each stand alone lodge has its own little deck, and a fire pit, and inside there’s a cosy bedroom and chic, slightly industrial bathroom. There’s no restaurant, but the lodges share an outdoor kitchen, as well as, surprisingly for this really outdoorsy retreat, a gym. And you’re just a few miles from the North Sea coast.
• Tuddenham Mill is a converted water mill, just outside Bury St Edmunds. The original building dates from the 17th century, but the interiors are super stylish and contemporary, with white walls, stand-alone bath tubs, Starck-fitted bathrooms and Bose sound systems. Almost all of the 15 rooms have living space, and incredible views of the meadows around the property. The restaurant is fine-dining, spilling out onto a waterside alfresco area when the weather is fine.

For the Horses

• Newmarket’s The Jockey Club Rooms are an obvious choice for horse and racing fans, long associated with British horse racing, and decorated with a pleasurable plethora of horse-y art, decor and memorabilia. The 21 rooms and suites are gloriously proportioned, with country house hotel style, a nice collection of antiques, and large bathrooms. The cosy lounge bar is lined with more equine portraiture than you can imagine, and the restaurant won’t disappoint on that score either. They offer a luxury package involving a seven-course meal in the Members’ Dining Room.

For Great Value

• The Angel Inn is a 16th-century inn in the heart of Constable country, with original oak beams and features, and with all the mod cons. Traditional country pub at the epicentre, it also has a restaurant serving the finest local produce. Every room is individually designed, and they’re very reasonably priced.
• The Packhorse Inn is a seriously stylish pub with rooms in the village of Moulton, just a short distance from Newmarket. The eight, individually designed, rooms are contemporary in style — think light colours and wooden furnishings. And the food is good too.

Best Pubs with Rooms

• The Long Melford Swan is a luxurious inn set in one of Suffolk's most picturesque villages, Long Melford. A fantastic restaurant serves up contemporary pub fare and the bar delivers excellent cocktails alongside a well selected choice of ales. The seven rooms are all individually styled and immaculately finished.
• The Sun Inn is a charming old coaching inn in Constable’s village of Dedham, a typically idyllic English country village. The inn is just across the road from the church where he painted. It has seven rooms, some with four poster beds and all of them with nice views. Peaceful and quite romantic.
• Just two miles from Sutton Hoo, The Crown at Woodbridge is a chic gastropub in a charming Suffolk village. As well as offering great food — especially seafood — the pub is known for its Suffolk ales. There are ten simple, yet rather luxurious, rooms in cool, modern shades of pale grey.

Best B&Bs

• The Chippenham Park Kitchen Garden Rooms is an intimate, five room B&B on a small part of a huge estate, surrounded by beautiful landscaped gardens and parkland. The Kitchen Garden part of the name is important, because these five rooms have been created from converted potting sheds which open onto the working kitchen gardens. The rooms are simply, but very smartly and comfortably decorated, and open out onto a sunny courtyard, backed by the beautiful gardens. The morning starts with a wonderful English Breakfast in the courtyard, or the breakfast room, and guests have access to all the pleasures of the estate’s grounds.

Prefer a Private Apartment or Cottage?

• If you'd prefer the privacy of a self-catering option then browse through the wide variety available online with our partner, Booking.com.

Travel Information

• Want to fly to Suffolk?

• Suffolk doesn’t have its own airport. but much of it is close to Norwich International Airport as the crow flies, and London’s airports are convenient too, especially London Stansted Airport and London City Airport, and Heathrow is well connected by rail. You can also sail in from Holland or Rotterdam, with ferries arriving in Harwich, across the bay from Felixstowe.
• If you want to hire a car we recommend you visit our online partner, Rentalcars.
• Suffolk’s North Sea coastline is most popular in summer, but if you’re here for the horses at Newmarket, or the historic sights of Bury St Edmunds, or Lavenham, then you can really explore Suffolk at any time of year. If you’re considering an out of season beach break Suffolk is a great choice, because there are lots of indoor activities for the wetter days.

Still not sure where to stay?

• Refine your search to just the best places to stay in Lavenham, Newmarket or Bury St Edmunds
• Search for the kind of accommodation you’re looking for for example the best pubs with rooms in Suffolk
• Or you could contact one of our friendly Gurus for personalised advice.

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