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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Smith card offer A bottle of champagne on arrival

If you're a member of Mr & Mrs Smith, you can get special privileges at every Smith hotel you book through us. Just show your Smith card at check-in to claim the offer featured on every hotel page (like the one above).

Not a member? Join now

Smith concierge

If you'd prefer to talk to someone, or don't want to book online, call our travel team on 1 866 610 3867. We guarantee you’ll get the best available rates, and we don’t charge a booking fee.

Milsoms Kesgrave Hall

Hall Road, Kesgrave, Suffolk