The best hotels in Suffolk for boutique stays and seaside cool

The Brudenell

Suffolk offers some of the most beautiful landscapes in the UK, from an elemental coast and wild beaches to heathland and woodland. You can expect to see birds, otters and deer roam, plus lazily meandering rivers, maritime outposts, and ridiculously pretty towns and villages tucked into gently rolling landscape.

Suffolk boasts a vantage point from which to explore both the coast and countryside, and it borders Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex. Plus, with some of the driest weather in the land, when it comes to travel in the UK, this eastern county offers an ideal escape.

Whether you fancy a cultural break, exploring the city, a boutique stay or some sea air, we’ve rounded up the best hotels in Suffolk. From a spa hotel with manicured gardens to a harbour spot with an eclectic art collection, there’s something for everyone to enjoy. Keep scrolling and get your Suffolk trip booked now.

The best hotels in Suffolk are:

• Best for seaside cool: The Swan
• Best for quintessentially Suffolk: The Swan at Lavenham
• Best for a boutique stay: Tuddenham Mill
• Best for exploring the city: Salthouse Harbour Hotel
• Best for the spa: Bedford Lodge
• Best for cultural stardust: The Angel Hotel
• Best for history buffs: Hintelsham Hall
• Best for a proper sea view: Brudenell Hotel

What better way to enjoy Suffolk than to sleep in a sea-facing suite? (The Swan)

Best for seaside cool: The Swan

Location: Southwold

The zingy makeover, warm service, and superb food make the Swan at Southwold one of the top hotels on the Suffolk coast. Pops of interior colour such as the emerald green velvet sofas in the lounge and pink-tipped four posters in the rooms are so inviting that it’s almost tempting to give the golden sands (a 2022 Blue Flag beach), quirky pier and indy shops a miss! The market view rooms are beautiful, and dog-friendly garden rooms a boon but the stellar draw at this Adnams-owned hotel is the delicious and expertly served food: the tenderest Blythburgh pork belly, and cooling coconut panna cotta with lychee sorbet. The Still Room restaurant has two AA rosettes, but it deserves more.

Best for quintessentially Suffolk: The Swan at Lavenham

Exposed beams give the Swan a cosy cottage vibe (The Swan at Lavenham)

Location: Lavenham

Not to be confused with The Swan at Southwold, this elegant bird is set in a town famed for its crooked, timber-framed buildings. It’s a delightful, medieval warren of beamed rooms and wonky floors unfurling across several ancient buildings. One of these is the Wool Hall – once the heart of the Guild of Our Lady – which controlled the cloth industry in Lavenham and was the source of the town’s bygone wealth. Book the Churchyard Suite with its exposed timbers, vaulted ceiling, and handsome fireplace for the full Tudor experience. Relax in the Weavers’ House Spa Vitality Pool or in the exceptionally pretty garden full of lavender beds and cream parasols. The Gallery Restaurant dishes are exceptional, too.

Best for a boutique stay: Tuddenham Mill

Sample some of the fantastic food at the Tuddenham’s restaurant (Tuddenham Mill)

Location: Tuddenham

Sit at the sole table between the ancient water mill and the Miller’s House, order your favourite tipple and soak in the Impressionist scene before you – a dreamy weeping willow dangling over a stream, all green with life and rushes. Top room picks are the cosy Nooks overlooking the water meadows with hot tubs, or the Loft Suites with their oval tubs and calming Scandi-Italian vibe. You’ll come for the very award-winning food (the only hotel in Suffolk with four AA rosettes), too. Chef-patron Lee Bye’s menus are rooted in local produce. The Tipi on the Stream, lit by candles and fairy lights, is strong on sharing plates while the beamed Upstairs at the Mill favours East Anglian meats and fish dishes with a 6-course tasting menu or a la carte. The dainty desserts are exquisite.

Best for exploring the city: Salthouse Harbour Hotel

This trendy spot is perfect for a weekend of art and culture (Salthouse Harbour Hotel)

Location: Ipswich

The Salthouse Harbour Hotel, once a warehouse storing salt and other wares on the quayside at Ipswich, is now at the heart of the buzzy Waterfront, a short walk from the winding Saints streets of cafes and indy shops, and the historic core of the town. Book a Marina room with a copper slipper bath for a soak overlooking the twinkly lights of the marina through the broad windows. By day, grab a pavement table for a drink listening to the tinkle of rigging and watching the sleek white boats and historic fishing vessels come and go. Don’t miss the hotel’s eclectic collection of contemporary art including a Damian Hirst, and quirky collectibles: Russian flight helmet, anyone?

Best for the spa: Bedford Lodge

Try out the hydrotherapy pool or look out over Suffolk from the outdoor hot tub (Bedford Lodge)

Location: Newmarket

Handsome Bedford Lodge, built as a Georgian hunting lodge for the Duke of Bedford in the 19th-century sits in flower-filled manicured gardens on the edge of Newmarket. It’s close to the National Horse Racing Museum, Warren Hill, the galloping ground with a long history, and the racecourses. Smart rooms overlook stables and paddocks or the gardens. Equestrian fans or not, you’ll love the spa with its light-flooded hydrotherapy pool, alfresco hot tub, and relaxing treatments. Not here to relax? Check out the 15m swimming pool. Come for afternoon tea, too, said to have first been created by the wife of the 7th Duke of Bedford, and stay for dinner at Squires where the halibut topped with grilled red prawn, smoked mash and caviar sauce is recommended, as is the genuine warmth of the service.

Best for cultural stardust: The Angel Hotel

Chill out with a book in The Angel’s lounge or sample its famous pie (The Angel)

Location: Lavenham

Charles Dickens may have been the Angel’s most famous guest in the 1800s, but this century Hollywood stars Pierce Brosnan and Angelina Jolie have been welcomed into Bury St Edmund’s starry hotel. The Angel, impressive and covered in Ivy, faces Angel Hill in the heart of the town overlooking Abbey Gate, a carved 14th-century stone gatehouse. You’ll definitely want rooms with these views: huge boudoirs with Georgian sash windows, king-size beds, natty lighting, contemporary fabrics, and copper slipper baths that overlook the gatehouse. After cocktails in the buzzy bar, dine at the Eaterie under suspended delicate, ceramic feathers. Don’t miss the ‘Pickwick Pie’ – a glorious steak, red wine, and pastry dish. The Angel’s best-kept secret? Its sell-out supper clubs held in the hotel’s 15th-century vaults.

Best for history buffs: Hintelsham Hall

Hintelsham Hall at twilight is really something (Hintelsham Hall)

Location: Ipswich

If dozens of painted portraits could talk! The origins of the Grade I-listed Hintelsham Hall are found in the 1400s but much of what you’ll see today dates from the 16th and 17th century – rebuilt by the Timperley family who worked for the dukes of Norfolk and lived on the estate for almost 300 years. Hintelsham Hall, just five miles from maritime Ipswich, is a blend of homely with touches of antique luxury: the library with a richly worked stuccoed ceiling, and some of the bedrooms. You’ll want the Rosette room with a canopied bed facing a carved stone fireplace and an oil painting of the hall in a bygone era with sash windows overlooking the mature garden. Or the beautiful, cosier beamed rooms in the eaves, once the servants’ quarters, with a Downton Abbey-style corridor. Dine like a duke in the grand dining hall (awarded two AA Rosettes) on venison and fish dishes and the prettiest petite strawberry pavlova. Don’t miss a stroll through the summery kitchen garden.

Best for a proper sea view: Brudenell Hotel

At Brudenell, you wake up to the sounds of the sea (Brudenell Hotel)

Location: Aldeburgh

Aldeburgh has inspired Benjamin Britten, Maggi Hambling and Ruth Rendell. Follow in their footsteps and inhale the fresh, salty air in one of Suffolk’s most popular seaside spots. The Brudenell Hotel sits right on the shingle beach at the southern end of the upmarket town. The Georgian building, fashioned into a hotel in the Victorian era, enjoys incredible views of Suffolk skies and wide sea. Smart, renovated rooms 100 and 101 enjoy panoramic sea, birds, and shingle views. My tip? Room 317: a secret spot with a telescope to spy passing boats on the waves and a bedroom overlooking the River Alde meandering through the meadows. Book a leisurely lunch at The Seafood & Grill where four daily seafood specials lure diners. Think lemon sole bathed in a buttery, lemon, caperberry sauce served with Suffolk samphire and herby mash.

Read more of our UK hotel reviews:

• Best hotels in St Ives, Cornwall 2023
• Best hotels in Loch Lomond 2023
• Best boutique hotels in the Lake District

Read more on UK travel:

• Best cheap hotels in London 2023
• Scotland country guide: Everything you need to know before you go
• Where to eat, drink, walk and stay in the Lake District