Seckford Hall Hotel & Spa, BW Premier Collection

We stayed at this stunning property in October stayed for 3 days. The property itself is outstanding , historical dating back to the Tudor period. Since this was our first time to visit this place we got astray by car, asked for directions from reception, were sadly misled us a few times that we ended up going around in circles and wasted an hour driving trying to find the place after a long hectic drive from London. The property is historical from the Tudor period, low beamed ceiling, 4 poster bed, takes you back to Tudor era. However, the sofa was dilapidated, with faded material. Needs re-upholstering. The bathroom badly needs revamping. It dates back to the mid nineties..No shower cubicle....only a steep safety hazard high edged slippery bathtub with an obsolete fiddly tap that takes forever to function and mix water. The breakfast was very unhealthy with very little choices. The young blonde waitress who served our dinner was rather abrupt, had very little knowledge of what goes in the menu. Staff lack training. The male middle aged waiter who served breakfast was very polite and accommodating, breakfast was very basic, unhealthy, lacking in berries or superfoods which are supposed to be local produce from the local neighbourhood. All what was on the menu (in terms of fruit) were imported tasteless GMO sour inedible pineapples, watermelon and melon, processed dry cereals and a stodgy commercial English breakfast which did not taste organic, free range or fresh from the local farms. The food and beverage management should encourage the local farming community by resourcing their ingredients from them instead of buying whole sale from commercial suppliers. The dinner was disappointing too...the cooked salmon came across as frozen, stale and flaky (quite tasty though) despite the fact that the town is close to the seaside. They should invest in a more creative chef to live up to the grandiose image of this sophisticated property. Beautiful, breathtaking well manicured gardens and golf course. Lovely statues and historical fixtures. Hygiene standards are quite inferior and shocking. Housekeeping refused to clean our bedroom, change the sheets and towels all throughout our stay, using Covid19 as their flimsy excuse! This beggars belief! On the contrary, Covid19 should be a good reason to frequently clean and disinfect the bedrooms. This is against health the safety. We had to request fresh towels, the young male receptionist obliged, politely apologised stating that this was ‘management new Covid rules’. Such a shame because it’s a stunning property with a lot of potentials. Would have loved to return but sadly the negative attitude left us with very little to be desired, in particular that we paid £280 a night on that weekend to be expected to make up our own bed and get fresh towels ourselves, using a dirty bathroom for a 48 hours stay. This is against hygiene, health and safety less

An enjoyable quiet relaxing break away. The hotel is a truly beautiful place, tucked away in a quiet area of Suffolk. It’s the most romantic and magical place we have ever stayed in and we feel lucky to have been able to stay here and experience it. Whether you stay here for a once in a life time night away, for a special occasion like a birthday, or a romantic weekend away - You have got to so youraelf a favour and do it at least once. You won’t be disappointed. We certainly were not. The breakfast is amazing, all locally produced and cooked to perfection - and everybody is safely distanced. we felt reassured we were being looked after which feels so rare now in this pandemic. We stayed in one of the junior suites, with our own doors just outside of the main building. Super spacious, luxurious, clean and tidy, with both an upstairs and downstairs, and a really lovely spacious bath and shower. The bed was a super king size and one of the most comfortable beds we have stayed in. It was a peaceful and tranquil stay, and one I throughly recommend if you want a romantic, peaceful break away. The staff were helpful, and offered us reassurance in such strange times. Everything was clean and they had hand gel which must be used when entering the building as well as masks on. This however did not affect the atmosphere, and the beautiful setting of this wonderful 16th century house. If you want to treat a loved one, or you want a romantic break away, please do yourselves a favour and ignore the other local hotels and book yourself up!!... Whilst a little more expensive than other hotels in the area, it’s a truly magical experience, in a beautiful hotel and one for all your bucket lists. It’s a place which you will dream of for a long time afterwards. Sadly we couldn’t use the pool facilities on our stay due to the covid restrictions, but the lovely room, beautiful house and the nicest cooked breakfast ever tasted by us more than made up for this. Please support these places when they reopen after the lockdown, as we can’t afford to lose these beautiful places, and they will need your support more than ever. Thank you to the staff at Seckford Hall from us. less

Seckford Hall is a beautiful Tudor country house with a great deal of potential charm. We arrived in the evening and the sight of the house lit up as you turn in through the gates is magnificent. The first clue that this isn’t the premium hotel the cost of the stay suggests is the pitted and pot holed drive way badly in need to some repair. This analogy continues to the hotel itself where once grand ideas have been cheaply renovated in a ‘that’ll do’ kind of way that falls too short of the quality required. The bedrooms in the stable block where we stayed are good sized, adequately furnished. The bathrooms are old fashioned with dribbling showers and need updating. On request, the hotel was able rustle up some decent pillows to replace the lumpy, foam ones originally provided but could not do anything about the musty smell or the worn and holy duvet cover. Good, fluffy white tools but dressing gowns that had clearly seen better days which we had no desire to put on. The public rooms in the main house are comfortable but, with a little effort, could be luxurious. The restaurant is fairly soulless with bright lights killing most of the atmosphere. The food is simple but well cooked and tasty. Limited choice of budget wines but nothing special. The staff are very friendly and helpful. Unfortunately the organisation of the hotel is designed for the convenience of the management rather than the guests. Therefore only the ‘usual’ kind of things are available and anything slightly out of the norm (such a cocktails, tomato juice, decent single malt whiskey, etc...) are not available. In summary, we had an enjoyable and relaxing weekend stay but the cost per night is between £50 and £75 too expensive for the rather mid-market quality on offer. less

The property itself is lovely. Historical reminiscent of Tudor times. The interior is made out of brown oak, low beamed ceilings, rustic and characteristic. Sadly the service is not up to the pomp of the Tudor era. We got lost on the way (since access to the property by car is quite tricky), we were misled few by the members is staff, we ended up turning around in circles several times since we were given the wrong directions in fact three times). The bedroom was grand with 4 poster bed. The bathroom needs upgrading. It dates back to mid 1990’s. No shower cubicle. An uncomfortable safety hazard high edged bathtub with a high risk of slipping and breaking a bone. The shower is fiddly and complicated....rather obsolete. The food at the restaurant was mediocre. Menu is basic, bland and restricted, with poor choices. They need to invest in a good chef. Ingredients were not fresh. Salmon came from a frozen batch despite the fact that the town is close to the seaside. The waitresses were quite rude and unfriendly. They seem to be unaware of their surroundings, the do not even know what goes into the menu. Breakfast was basic and unhealthy with hardly any choices. They did not have berries on the menu despite the fact that berries are meant to be a local produce. The food and beverage managent chose to serve imported tasteless melons, water melons, pineapples and GMO tasteless imported fruits instead of using the neighboring farming resources to the best of their ability. We stayed there for 4 days. Housekeeping refused to clean our room throughout our stay using risk ‘COVID-19 as their excuse to avoid cleaning. Totally unacceptable. In fact COVID-19 should be a good reason for them to regularly disinfect and clean on regular basis rather than leave guest rooms to rot and gather dust! We had to beg them to bring us fresh towels. In fact by doing this they are encouraging spread of bugs in particular COVID-19 The golf course is very pretty beautifully manicured. Sadly the place lacked warmth and hospitality. It needs radical revamping, overhauling at all levels since it has great potentials. Provincial, insular attitude. Would love to return but sadly they made us feel most unwelcome and rejected, contrary to what five star hotels should be about. less

Let me start by saying that we have supported local businesses during this half term by having afternoon tea at a different place each day. This was the 6th out of 7 and by far the worst service. We were seated in a side room, where only 1 other table was, so there was no atmosphere at all. Once the tea and food were bought to the table, that was it. We were not asked once whether we wanted any more tea or whether the food was ok. The waitress served the other table and when we tried to get her attention To ask for some more tea, she purposefully looked the other way and walked out. I advised the receptionist that the service had been less than acceptable, but she was not interested either. The food was just ok, nothing special and we would not return based on the lack of service. Very disappointed. less