Style

Suffolk-rooted sybarite

Setting

Steps from the shingle

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In a storied seaside town resonant with classical music heritage, restaurant with rooms The Suffolk hits all the right notes. At this restored 17th-century inn, steps from Aldeburgh’s shingle beach, each detail is designed in harmony with its surroundings. Downstairs, a polished brasserie menu spotlights local seafood. Above, six antique-dotted rooms take Suffolk’s meandering rivers as their moodboard. Days play out with slow-tempo coastal strolls, crescendoing to dinner, followed by vinyl-soundtracked martinis in the bar — quite the coda.

Smith Extra

Get this when you book through us:

A Sur-Mertini (or soft drink) each on arrival

Facilities

Photos The Suffolk facilities

Need to know

Rooms

Six.

Check–Out

11am. Check-in is at 3pm, but both are flexible, subject to availability.

Also

Although the main entrance, bar and restaurant at The Suffolk are wheelchair-friendly, unfortunately there are no rooms that are suitably adapted if you have mobility needs.

At the hotel

Pantry, dry robes to borrow and free WiFi throughout. In rooms: Roberts radio, free bottled water, bathrobes and Norfolk Natural Living bath products.

Our favourite rooms

Each room has its own character, courtesy of the hand-picked vintage and antique finds. For a sea view, opt for the Orford Ness or the Haverford — the former has a bath tub, and the latter a bay window seat made for wave-gazing.

Packing tips

With no TVs in rooms by choice and a turntable soundtracking the bar, this is the place to go analogue — bring a paperback and a pen and address book for writing postcards.

Also

Fend off between-meals munchies with a trip to the guest pantry. Here, you’ll find free tea and coffee and a fridge stocked with cheese, charcuterie and homemade cocktails to help yourself to.

Pet‐friendly

Dogs are welcome in the Iken and Havergate rooms at The Suffolk for a one-off £30 cleaning fee. See more pet-friendly hotels in Suffolk.

Children

Welcome. Rollaway beds can be added to the Little Japan, Orford Ness and Havergate rooms for a charge of £50 a bed.

Food and Drink

Photos The Suffolk food and drink

Top Table

For the inside scoop on the area’s past, pick a spot near the bar and ask the staff for a story or two.

Dress Code

Laidback and sea breeze-tousled — throw on a vintage knit or pair of pearl studs for extra on-theme cred.

Hotel restaurant

The Suffolk’s intimate, seafood-focused brasserie keeps local, seasonal sourcing as its polestar. Head chef Luke Truelove has forged relationships with a handful of carefully chosen Suffolk producers and suppliers, meaning most ingredients come from within a 25-mile radius. Gnocchi is paired with seasonal veg from regenerative farms; the Côte de Boeuf comes from the town’s family-run butcher, and the signature whole brill (a two-person feast) is fresh from the North Sea. But in the early mornings, you’ll find Luke down on the beach discussing the day’s catch with Aldeburgh’s fishers, so keep an eye on the specials, too.

Hotel bar

Kick back in the lobby bar for coastally inspired cocktails, elevated small bites and a collection of vintage vinyl records for you to spin. Pair your smoked trout rösti and seaweed poppadoms with a Sur-Mertini, made with oyster gin, or go full county pride with a Suffolk 75, which swaps champagne for Aspall premier cru.

On fine days, the rooftop terrace opens. Sit out and sip your way through the thoughtfully curated wine list as the waves break on the shingle below.

Last orders

Breakfast and coffee are served from 8am until 10am. The restaurant serves lunch, noon to 2.30pm, Wednesday to Sunday, and dinner, 6pm to 9pm daily. The bar is open all day, with the full menu available from noon until 11pm.

Location

Photos The Suffolk location
Address
The Suffolk
152 High Street Aldeburgh
Suffolk
IP15 5AQ
United Kingdom

You'll find The Suffolk on the high street in Aldeburgh, a pretty seaside town with a rich artistic pedigree.

Planes

The hotel is around a two-hour drive from both London Stansted and Southend Airports. London Gatwick is two-and-a-half hours away by car; for Heathrow, it’s closer to a three-hour drive.

Trains

Saxmundham is the closest railway station to the hotel, a 15-minute taxi ride from The Suffolk. Mainline routes can take you as far as Ipswich, from where there are onward regional services to Saxmundham.

Automobiles

Aldeburgh is around a three-hour drive from London. There’s no carpark at the hotel, but some free parking is available on Crag Path, parallel to the seafront. Otherwise, go for the paid King Street carpark, a two-minute walk from The Suffolk.

Worth getting out of bed for

From your spot at The Suffolk, in the middle of the quaint high street, you’re in pole position for a mooch around Aldeburgh’s indie shops. The sweeping pebble beach is in pad-down-in-your-robe distance, too — head out for a sea dip, or just to admire Maggi Hambling’s Scallop sculpture, a tribute to Benjamin Britten. If that piques your interest about Suffolk’s famous son, learn more at the Red House, where Britten wrote some of his best-loved work. Or explore the modern music scene being cultivated at Snape Maltings, a cultural hub with a varied concert programme.

For a gentle, sea-gazing stroll, hug the coast down to Thorpeness, where you can take a rowing boat out on the Meare and spot the whimsical House in the Clouds peeking above the treeline. Bring binoculars for a wildlife-spotting walk through the heath and woodlands of North Warren Nature Reserve. And seeing the archaeological marvels of Anglo-Saxon burial site Sutton Hoo should be on any history buff’s bucket list, but the Henry II’s Orford Castle is worth exploring, too.

Local restaurants

Try the fabled fish pie at the Cross Keys, a sea-view pub with a menu emphasising local produce. Family-run local stalwart Aldeburgh Fish and Chips has three locations around town — dine in at the Upper Deck to keep your meal serenely gull-free. If you’re enticed by the deli at Aldeburgh Market, sit down for feast-like platter of highlights from the seasonal fish counter.

Local cafés

For a decadent coffee or brunch date, wander down the high street to Two Magpies Bakery, where the counter is piled enticingly with all manner of tempting cakes and pastries alongside their signature sourdough. At ice cream o’clock, head to Harris & James Store, a bean-to-bar chocolatier with a sideline in gelato made with Suffolk milk.

Local bars

For a pint of Adnams in an old-school local, the White Hart is your place. G&T devotees should ask staff at The Suffolk to book a tour and tasting at Fishers Gin, a family-run distillery set right by the beach.

Reviews

Photos The Suffolk reviews

Anonymous review

By Mr & Mrs Smith

Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this epicurean hotel in East Anglia and unpacked their dry robes and Dubarry boots, a full account of their sea salt-scented break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside The Suffolk in Aldeburgh… 

There’s lofty pedigree spanning centuries behind The Suffolk. Rumour has it that back when it was a coaching inn, it was host to Charles I. Today, it's helmed by restaurateur royalty George Pell, of Soho’s L’Escargot. But there’s no excessive fanfare at this coastal restaurant with rooms — just thoughtful style, sea air and a celebration of Suffolk’s homegrown bounty.

The brasserie menu, pairing seafood fresh from the North Sea with produce from organic, family-run farms, lays out the blueprint for a sense of place that’s carried throughout. Thoughtful restoration has left heaps of period charm, with uneven ceilings and centuries-old beams now serving as the backdrop for paintings by local artists. And the antiques you’ll find in Aldeburgh-based designer Kate Fulford’s interiors were scouted from nearby auctions and restored by local craftsmen.

A martini-nursing evening on the sea-view terrace paints the full picture — this historic pearl has been carefully polished, allowing plenty of authentic Suffolk character to still shine through.

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