In the know

Our favourite rooms: We love Room Two, a Principal Suite, for the views of the lawn it offers through its gorgeous sash windows. It’s an incredibly romantic place to be on a misty morning. We also like Deluxe Room Nine, which has a similar view, for its enormous bathroom that comes with a deep bath and separate shower.
Packing tips: Bring deck shoes and a windbreaker. The hotel can arrange trips on the Orwell, a 60ft Sunseeker and will take out parties of 12 or more from the port at nearby Ipswich.
Also: In addition to its military history, Milsoms Kesgrave Hall was once a boys' prep school. The old science wing is currently being refurbished into eight new rooms, available from early June.

Suffolk hotels: Milsoms Kesgrave Hall, need to know

Current offers

Smith card offer: A bottle of champagne on arrival
Current special offer: Free Sunday when you stay Friday and Saturday

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Milsoms Kesgrave Hall

Suffolk, United Kingdom[view map]

Style: Thoroughly modern manor
Setting: A stone’s throw from Woodbridge

Built as a family home in 1812, Milsoms Kesgrave Hall, close to the Suffolk hubs of Ipswich and Woodbridge, then became the US air force mess quarters in World War II. The striking hotel is set on a vast manicured lawn, and is backed by some gloriously dense woodland. Decor is bold and contemporary, yet reassuringly rustic. All in all, it’s the ideal country retreat.

Need to know

Rooms: 23, including 11 suites.
Rates: £88–£191, including taxes. Breakfast is an additional £10–£15 a person.
Check-out: Midday, though this is flexible depending on availability; earliest check-in, 2pm.
Facilities: Free WiFi, DVD library, laundry service. In rooms: flatscreen TV, DVD player, iPod dock, air-conditioning, minibar, tea- and coffee-making facilities, Ren toiletries.
Also: If a weekend in the country just isn’t the same with your beloved four-legged friend, fear not. Dogs are welcome to stay in the hotel’s ground-floor rooms.

Food & drink

Hotel restaurant: Milsoms@Kesgrave Hall is where chef Stuart Oliver serves up wonderful European-influenced cuisine made with local produce – smoked haddock fishcakes with wilted spinach and poached eggs, steak and kidney pudding with clapshot potatoes and pork ‘holstein’ with anchovies and beurre noisette – to hungry diners whose appetites have been piqued by all the fresh Suffolk air. Thanks to the design scheme – inspired by the building’s former incarnation as a mess hall for the US air force – the atmosphere is informal and laid-back, and diners sitting at the timber tables write their orders down on the notepads provided and pass them to the waiters.
Dress code: Jeans, jumpers and open-necked shirts are perfectly acceptable attire here; flimsy frocks and stilettos would look a bit out of place.
Top table: In warm weather, ask for a table out on the terrace in the shade of the huge sail. Those with children can send their brood out onto the lawn to run around between courses.
Last orders: The restaurant closes at 10pm; the bar stops serving at midnight.
Room service: Guests can order from a full menu between 7am and 9.30pm (10pm at the weekend).
Hotel bar: The lively and casual bar, reached via two arched doorways from the restaurant, is where guests and locals mingle to drink cocktails – make sure you try the barman’s signature Smartie – to a gentle jazz soundtrack. The decor blends rustic floorboards and a white-timbered bar with contemporary artwork and splashes of vibrant colour, and the furnishings include chocolate-brown leather armchairs. The bar plays host to live-music sessions on Tuesday evenings from 7pm.

Also worth knowing

Children: Kids are welcome, and the hotel has 11 family rooms that come with four-person truckle beds and their own fridges. Cots are available for £10 a night and extra beds can be put into rooms for £20 a night.

Smith Members offer

A bottle of champagne on arrival

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