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We stayed in the Dower House apartments between Christmas and New Year and really enjoyed our holiday. We would definetly go back or try another hotel in the Luxury Family Hotel group.

Sarah Thomas 18/04/2005

Two nights at the Dower House apartments at Ickworth with two six year old boys left us with a rare feeling of having relaxed and completely enjoyed ourselves. Over the course of two days we swam, played tennis, table tennis, badminton, walked on the estate and watched deer, played on the adventure playground, cycled, and had a very good neck untangling massage in the spa while the kids had some rare indoor playtime in the nanny supervised den.

Ickworth is a stupendously comfortable environment for adult and kids. Our two bedroom apartment in the Dower house (Holm) had a dainty French sofa and chairs in the living room but also three big squashy floor cushions. The bedrooms were furnished with high soft French beds and wardrobes and luxurious contemporary textiles (and yes there was a hairdryer in the wardrobe). The kids had z beds one in the passageway, one in the main bedroom and with that layout the apartment would have accommodated two couples and two children, or a couple and four children.

Evening meals were particularly well organised to allow maximum enjoyment potential for all ages including the grown ups. We all ate at Inferno one evening - salads and pizzas and a good wine list by the glass. The boys ate the two course children's menu - salmon or chicken kebabs with rice and fresh vegetables, pasta or pizza, followed by icecream or jelly with berries. After their meal the boys took themselves off to the unsupervised CLUB/BLU playroom which is 20 yards up the passage from Inferno to play on the Playstation, We finished our wine and joined them for some seriously competitive after dinner table tennis. On our second night we could feed the children and get them back to the Dower House in time for a very civilised dressed up fine dinner at Fredericks at 8.00pm. The hotel arranged an experienced babysitter at 24 hours notice.

The Dower House is about three quarters of a mile from the main hotel, set in its own beautiful gardens. There is no room service at the Dower House, but there is a well equipped kitchen corner with fridge, microwave, dishwasher, which offers great flexibility, and you can order meals from Cafe Inferno and pick them up from the restaurant when ready, if preferred. The route back to the hotel is along a broad gravelled drive which is completely flat - ideal for using the bikes and tow-alongs which are provided for guests' use in outbuildings adjacent to the main hotel and the Dower House. At the hotel and the Dowe House you can pick up fresh transport and there were sufficient permutations of adult bikes, kids bikes, bikes with rear childseats and bikes with tag alongs that we could pick up what we needed when we needed it.

Indoor and outdoor activities were well balanced with all sports equipment readily available in child and adult sizes. It was a big hit with the kids having a playstation and games library downstairs in a cushioned communal area and integral TV/DVD players in each bedroom of the apartment as well as the living area. Both children were also particularly taken with Sam the Dower house housekeeper's very well exercised black Labrador who can be taken for walks around the estate.

We packed as many activities as possible into our two days yet came away relaxed after our massage and completely adult dinner out, thinking we could easily have spent five days there without us or the kids getting bored.

Karen Johnston, April 2005

We stayed at the Ickworth during its first week of opening last year with
our 2 month old baby boy. Everything you could possibly need at that stage,
and oh boy is there a lot, was provided within our room (steriliser, kettle,
mini-fridge and all the other essential kit). The staff were so helpful and
were around to assist when necessary. Despite its contemporary setting, the
atmosphere overall was so relaxing mainly due to the many other families
staying at that time. Whilst we were not able to use the creche facilities
on offer, we did book a babysitter for the evening and have dinner in the
restaurant which was great. Despite looking after our colicky baby, the
babysitter (who just so happened to be a midwife by profession) coped
flawlessly and was well worth the £5 per hour. We are now looking to try
somewhere different for a few nights in November (with our now 16 month old)
but expect that our expectations have now been set a little high! 13/9/03
Expensive 2 nights - stayed in the Dower House apartments which were not
exactly luxury in my opinion. Small TV's, and up 2 flights of narrow steep
stairs. DVD library consisted of 4 films, the most recent of which was
Austin Powers - Goldmember. Booked for an anniversary for me, my wife and 8 month old daughter. No real catering facilities other than a combi microwave
- yet room service was not available. Babysitters (not baby listening) were
available. Fantastic location and my wife enjoyed the spa treatments. Spent
the second day trying to sort out a meal for the evening and in the end left
a day early. The hotel itself looked great and certainly seemed child
friendly but if booking the apartments be aware that these are some distance
from the hotel, don't have full equipped kitchens and offer babysitting not
baby listening (babygoes2 comments: although this is a safer option if
parents are not 'on site', and the apartments are spearate from the hotel).
Was advised that the main restaurant is a 'no baby zone...'

paul
Lawson-Jackson
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