Retreat East

Lovingly converted barns & outbuildings, make for a private & secluded retreat. Extensive walking trails, bikes on hand & even a small spa space, make staying on the grounds easy but near enough to good golf & the Ipswich towns nightlife & restaurants, to make this an ideal base for a holiday, mini break or event. The restaurant, The Great Barn is outstanding. We went back for a second dinner after a phenomenal first. The vegetable consume was the best i’ve ever had. Nice piece of Hake for my main & duck for my partner, perfectly matching sides, with the potato hey (which we had as a starter) standing out. Everyone very friendly.

A two night stay in The Burrow with two friends. It was fabulous. The Burrow is really cute! Has a fully functional kitchen, a seating area and a gorgeous little breakfast snug. Two bedrooms with en-suite either side and a decking area with a table and chairs. Impeccably clean. Dinner in the restaurant was superb. Healthy, decent portions and great service. Continental breakfast the next day was deliciously fresh, with cereal, fruit, croissant, toast and cold meat. We weren't rushed at all and could have whiled away our day over breakfast alone. Had the mini retreat spa treatment which was divine. I cannot fault this place and want to return as soon as possible.

We had a lovely stay at Retreat East. Pros: Spa treatment was 10/10 Food was delicious Reception very helpful and pleasant Comfortable bed Evening meal couldn’t be faulted including time of service and waitering staff. Lovely walks Cons: Very slow food service (breakfast & lunch). At lunch it took 45mins to get a club sandwich & poached eggs on toast… which made it then very close to using the complimentary spa facilities. When we sat down for lunch it felt that staff avoided coming over to take our order. Outside tables were left with dirty plates, cups, and glasses outside. I was excited to see the allotment garden but it looked very neglected - many weeds. Complimentary spa was nice, but it was odd having to walk outside past people eating in your towels to get to the hot tub.

Enjoyed a relaxing night away with my daughter in a cosy shepherds hut. We took advantage of all the benefits included in the overnight price. The half hour slots in the outdoor hot tub, and the sauna area gave us privacy to enjoy the experience together. Peaceful to chill out in our robes afterwards, sitting outside our cabin overlooking the fields. Dinner in the Great Barn was delicious and well presented (we had Guinea fowl breast with a spring roll filled with leg, served with lentils and apricots). Following morning, we enjoyed croissants and muffins at an outdoor table before using the complimentary hire bikes to cycle for lunch at the farm shop at Alder Carr. A really lovely stay that felt like more than just a night away.

I booked the Farmhouse for my sisters Hen party, there were 5 of us so needed the biggest accommodation on offer Accommodation The Farmhouse is very quaint with lots of original features but there are a few things that made it disappointing for us. First of all three of the bedrooms are decorated really nicely but the fourth bedroom, which has two single beds is in the smallest room and painted the most horrible dark green, this makes it really oppressive especially as one of the beds is right in front of the window. Because of this my daughter and my niece wouldn't stay in it so ended up sharing with me and my sister. this isn't really acceptable especially as my daughter had paid the same as everyone else for the house. Secondly the house is fall of spiders and spider webs. No one expects there not to be the odd spider in an old house but they have obviously been there a long time and never cleaned up Finally, whilst we were blessed to have lovely warm weather it also meant the bedrooms were very hot. Only one bedroom had a window that opened whilst ours had three broken window panes that was clearly too costly to replace so covered it over with a sheet of perspex rendering the window permanently sealed shut Restaurant The food was really nice, especially afternoon tea but the service was soooooo slow, even though it was fairly empty it was always a wait time of around 30 plus minutes, for every meal, whatever we asked for. Seemed to be very short on staff as was quite difficult to find anyone. Spa /Yoga We had booked the Spa day package which was really lovely. especially the treatments, the ladies were knowledgable in the service they provided and we all throughly enjoyed the day. On the Sunday we had booked Yoga in the meadow, this was heavenly and the instructor was excellent, even adapting the moves to help my daughter who had hurt her foot Overall we had a fantastic time we just felt it was let down by the conditions of the house and restaurant service

A long walk up partial gravel/dusty road from car park for our afternoon tea, which would be even worse in bad weather & was not nice in heat or heels. No sign to confirm which way to the main building from there & there was another track out of the car park which luckily we didn’t take. All seemed a bit hit & miss. Lovely surroundings, but we entered the barn & just stood waiting for someone to wander in, even though we were booked so they should have been aware we were due. Table was incredibly sticky, which apparently was due to being treated & it not being fully dry. I am vegetarian but only abstain from meat which I emphasised when booking. Instead of the lovely open salmon sandwich my hubby had, I got grated cheese on a bit of bread with the largest pile of sickly pickle I’ve ever seen. Really? Such a lack of effort. The wafer thin cucumber sandwich was just like eating dry bread, hardly visible cucumber & no moisture. The rest of the tea was really nice, though I don’t consider a square of sugared jelly appetising & I left it. On vacating our table we went to the desk & presented our gift card. The lady had to go to the bar area to verify/confirm it. A different lady returned with our card, tapped the screen for a bit, then went to go back to the bar area. I questioned why & she said the card needed to be verified or whatever. I queried why this wasn’t done on arrival & she said “we didn’t have your card”, & I confirmed I offered it on arrival but was told it wasn’t necessary. Having to go back & forth 3 times to verify it? All a bit of a faff & frankly annoying. It would have been nice also, to have had a fresh plate for desserts, as my plate had pickle all over it . A fresh knife for the scone as we had used ours on savouries. We asked for & were given them, but it’s just not considered beforehand. To relax with our cuppa after eating, a few magazines or newspapers would be great, which we’ve had at other venues. On leaving the site, a banner on the verge completely obscures the view to the right, so it’s impossible to see if a vehicle is coming. Sorry Retreat East, but you could do with being a bit sharper. Why didn’t we say something whilst there? Because we didn’t want to feel awkward on our treat from our son & it wouldn’t have altered the situation. I tried to send a private feedback message but there didn’t seem an option on the website.

We're a couple who travel on a regular basis and stayed in many varied places in the UK. Congratulations for coming up with a unique style of accommodation and facilities which I'm sure will suite many people. I'm afraid our stay didn't leave us with a feeling of having enjoyed our experience. We arrived at lunch time so decided to visit the restaurant. We only wanted a light lunch as we had booked in for dinner. Between us we had a cheese and onion sandwich, club sandwich and 3 glasses of sparkling water. The price charged was £39:48, and the presentation left a lot to be desired, no garnish and we were sadly left with the impression they just couldn't be bothered. Because of our lunch experience we cancelled our dinner and went to a local pub for dinner. Unable to comment on comfort of accommodation as we unfortunately had to leave because of family issues.

Lovely relaxing place to spend a weekend, the rooms are beautiful, food is excellent and the staff are outstanding, fabulous outdoor bath too. We got on the bikes supplied by Retreat East to explore, the countryside is gorgeous. You will love this place.

I organised a weekend retreat for my running and wellness group and Retreat East delivered on all accounts. The accommodation was stunning, the food was delicious and the customer service went above and beyond to ensure we'd have a fantastic stay. Will happily return again.