The Suffolk Hotel

We was booked in here for 2 nights whilst having to visit for a family funeral, we set off and had severe engine trouble 1 hour into the 4 hour journey where the engine lost oil due to a hole happening on the way down , whilst we had a 3-4 hour wait for the rac we thought best give the hotel the heads up looking like we wasn't going to make it they said we had to deal with *********** ,which we did and they told us not to worry to much they would email the hotel and explain the situation just get ourselves safe and sorted. the hotel took the full money after speaking to bookingcom again the hotel hadn't replied to them so i emailed them in various ways no response the via facebook they read it and ignored finally after emailing again today they responded saying it had been passed to manager to deal with .but they wouldn't deal with me only bookingcom spoke with bookingcom today who finally got to speak to the hotel spoke with the admin lady who said she had spoke to james the owner who refused to refund anything even under the circumstances of the visit and our unfortunate issue on the way there. absolutely disgusting customer service avoid at all costs!!!!

We had a great visit, and was a bit worried about the pub music when we arrived but the music stopped exactly at 11pm so there was no need to worry. Room was very clean / warm and the coffee machine was excellent. Breakfast was freshly cooked and nothing was too much trouble.

I got an email on the day we were going there giving an instruction that to get the key from ‘keysafe’ I had no idea what that meant. As such, I called a number it gave (if unsure) and it transferred me to a company servicing that particular premises. I asked the person what it meant. The individual didn’t know and promised that someone would call me. No call received. In the meantime, while driving, I asked our satnav to take us there - which it did. Thank you satnav! When we got there it was a pub and there was no reception. We asked someone at the bar, connected to said establishment, about the key and she seemed rather confused. Eventually we got our key and entered the room - which was excellent. Other than the TV which, for some weird reason, kept turning itself off. We weren’t too bothered because we just wanted to sleep. Which we did. The following evening we also slept - until about 4:30am, when the fire alarm went off. So we got dressed and plodded out to the fire exit area. Turns out a resident in the hotel was smoking in room! Can’t blame the hotel for that! All in all, my opinion of said hotel is that it did the difficult things really well and the easy things quite badly.

Having read some of the other reviews a couple of days before we travelled, I decided it would be safer to cancel, but having had assurances about the noise and the promise of a room upgrade we decided to risk it. Sadly a bad decision on my part. This is a pub with rooms, the music from pub dominates the whole place, it was still audible on the second floor but thankfully it stopped by 11.00 pm, only to start again at 8.00 am. Is music essential at breakfast, especially when it's the same old thing on a loop? Is this for the benefit of the staff or customers? Whilst the music was an irritant, the state of hygiene in the place was disgusting and unforgivable. Cobwebs everywhere, dead insects in the bathroom, I thought the toilet was bad until I lifted the toilet brush out to use it, absolutely gross. I found a broom and cleared the cobwebs (I should bill them for my time) but could do nothing with the squashed dead insects on the bedroom ceiling. As an apartment, it had a kitchen area, home to spiders the size of ping pong balls and a filthy oven. We tried to use the coffee machine but the long life milk was off and curdled. The cutlery consisted of one fork. But it got worse - we asked for extra pillows, examining them in the morning we found that under the pillow cases the pillows were absolutely filthy with brown and red stains, just vile. Daylight also gave us a view out of the windows, well it would have done but for the glazing of pidgeon poo and cobwebs on every window - surely a health hazard. We couldn't face another night there so had a day on the coast and checked out later that day. Haverhill has little to recommend it. There's a half decent "Turkish" restaurant and a Whetherspoons but otherwise only the usual High St. takeaways - they have officious PCSOs that pounce on you for taking 30 seconds on a yellow line to unload your case and a lack of parking adding to the joy. The car park at the rear of the hotel is completely unlit making paying for the parking difficult, and if you value your car think twice about leaving it in an unlit town centre car park - I was just glad mine was still there in the morning. I have photos of all this lack of cleanliness but I think I need to delete them and forget about it. The only reason for this not being a "terrible" is the attitude of the staff who seemed friendly and helpful at all times and the breakfast was good. Though how clean is the kitchen if the rest of the place is anything to go by? If loud music and squalor are your thing enjoy, otherwise think twice. I need another shower just writing about it.

Really nice hotel, very modern & clean. Our room was massive. Only downside is the noise from the pub which we were pre warned of. Parking is easy, huge public carpark right outside which cost £5.60 overnight which isn't unreasonable. The included breakfast wasn't very good. The hash browns were uncooked in the middle and waited 40 minutes for it.

Bedroom and bathroom really nicely decorated but not clean enough. Bedroom floor needed a good hoover and so much dust on skirting boards and in radiator. Stairway up to rooms loads of cobwebs. Shower very dusty. Room looking out on high st so very noisy all night til early hours. Only good thing was breakfast.

Staff appeared to have no training, had to ask for milk for cereal, butter, yoghurt. No marmalade for the 5 days, 2 types of cereal on offer and one of those ran out after 3 days, leaving only wheatabix available. What could have been an enjoyable stay in comfortable bedrooms was spoilt by the poor service and availability at breakfast.

This place could be so good, but just a few things let it down. It scores well with the quality of furniture in the room (and has a mirror near a plug and a light which is unusual). Rooms are well lit and comfortable and mostly clean. But things like tea and drink stains on the wall and the base of the shower cubicle door slightly let it down. Which is a shame because everywhere else is spotless. Because of the position of the hotel on the high street near the market square, there is some early morning noise, but nothing that some earplugs won't cure. There is also a large community of pigeons that congregate on the roof of a morning for a chat, but again earplugs sort that. The breakfast was a mixed affair with 2 of us getting great breakfasts hot and fresh, but one of our party had gone for breakfast earlier and waited for 45 minutes for a dish of a lower standard. Food in the bar was good, however when we ordered burgers on the Thursday evening, we were not told about the 2 for 1 offer, and it was only after we had eaten that one of us went the loo and seen the poster for the offer. The staff are all very friendly and happy to help with everything. Plenty of play and display parking at the rear of the hotel in Swan Lane ( perhaps a better location to set your sat nav to). One strange thing is that this is essentially a pub with rooms, but the bar closes very early. 9.15 on a Thursday. It was due to close at midnight on Friday but it was all closed up at 11.45 when we returned from our event. I would stay here again, but think it just needs a bit of tweaking.

We had a lovely stay at The Suffolk Hotel. Lovely warm welcome and really pleased with our room, which had a lounge area. Clean, spacious and complementary drinks. We chose the hotel for its location. Amazing cocktails and a great atmosphere. One of the most comfiest beds I’ve slept, so enquired about the mattresses!