Have you ever looked forward to staying in a holiday cottage or hotel and been disappointed when you arrived? I have. And that is not what I wanted when I created this development of seven luxuriously appointed, Self-Catering Holiday Cottages in the beautiful Suffolk Countryside.
My secret? Create a comfy, cosy, high quality luxury haven that I would like to stay in. It’s not rocket science!
It’s vital to me that guests love it here, want to come back time and again and bore their friends with how amazing it is. That’s why we work tirelessly on keeping everywhere looking good, nice and clean, well maintained and with quality furnishings.
We get loads of repeat business and recommendations so we must be doing something right. Don’t take my word for it though, have a look here at our thousands of guest testimonials if you haven’t already.
So what do we give you when you take a Luxury Self-Catering Holiday in Suffolk with us?
Breakfast Basket
Every Luxury Self-Catering holiday starts with having a nose at your brekky basket which includes eggs, bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes, bread, butter, milk, fruit and even a jar of cookies. Yes it is Self-Catering so you will have to cook it yourself!
With the emphasis on Luxury we supply you as standard with bath sheets, hand towels, spare loo rolls, luxury hand soap in the bathroom and kitchen, quality shower gel and shampoo, quality bedding comprising duvet & duvet cover, quality pillows, pillow cases & fitted sheets. To me, these items should be standard rather than thinking of them as luxury but that’s why we include them.
Mattresses – Some people will find them hard, some will find them soft but providing you with hotel quality luxury mattresses we have done all we can to make your self-catering holiday as comfortable as we can.
So do you need more to make it a self-catering holiday with all the luxurious touches you could want? Well, we give you more anyway!
Woodfarm House has three bathrooms; two of which have superb roll-top slipper baths and yes we include Radox, allowing you to luxuriate and totally relax. All the Holiday Barns have a modern powerful shower, with a bottle of quality shower gel and shampoo. We don’t have the fiddly little bottles that one finds in many hotels.
With every one of our seven Luxury Self-Catering Holiday Cottages, also comes:
BBQ and patio furniture in your enclosed, private garden
Bikes – for all ages and we even have a tandem with a third kiddie seat!
Smart TV
Central Heating (included in your price)
Clothes Airer
Cooker and Hob (Woodfarm House has a large Aga-style range oven)
Fridge with ice box (Large fridge-freezer in Woodfarm House)
Ground Floor Shower room
Ground Floor Toilet
FREE Wifi
Luxury hand soap with all sinks and basins
Internet Access (FREE)
iPod docking station
Microwave oven
Off Road Parking
Open Fire or Wood-Burning Stove
Television – Large flat-screen
We also have:
High Chairs & Travel Cots available free of charge to all holiday cottages
Iron and Ironing Board (There are a few in a central point for the barns – Woodfarm House and the Granary Barn have their own)
Washing Machine facilities – Woodfarm House has its own and there is a laundry room that guests are welcome to use upon request
Luxury Suffolk Food Hampers in your Suffolk Holiday Cottage
You can pre-order one of a selection of deli-cious hampers crammed with tasty foodie treats. Check out the options on our separate post here.
We have seven luxury self-catering holiday cottages in the heart of the rural Suffolk countryside.
From our stunning 500-year-old luxurious thatched farmhouse to our six holiday cottage Suffolk barns, we can accommodate anything from a romantic weekend for two, to a full on family celebration for up to 19 adults. All in sumptuous luxury, in a beautiful, rustic country setting.
Spring is in the air and Woodfarm House and Barns is a great place to take a luxurious holiday cottage this time of the year.
It’s the perfect place to enjoy an Easter holiday and being Britain, we’ll take whatever the weather is doing in our stride! Our Luxury Holiday Cottages are surrounded by open, rambling countryside, winding country lanes and loads of great public footpaths taking you off the beaten track. We have beautiful picture postcard villages, sandy and shingle beaches and marshland teaming with wildlife. Suffolk is an ideal place to escape and enjoy the Spring.
Warm morning air with a crispness to it as the sun wakes up and reaches for his hat; a perfect time to leave your luxurious holiday cottage and stroll along the hedgerows down the lane here at Woodfarm Barns to the church before tucking into your breakfast basket that we provide in all of our cottages.
You can make your stroll as short or as long as you like then head back to your cottage for eggs, bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes, toast and butter; all provided as part of your package, along with fresh coffee, tea, sugar and milk.
The bacon comes from our local butcher, Neaves of Debenham, and you also get a couple of little taster jars of jam and marmalade made in the village, from Fruits of Suffolk.
You’ll have a great start to your first Suffolk morning.
Whether you stroll or take a wider tour of the lanes on one of the bikes that we provide free of charge, if you can think of a better start to the day then let us know!
This is the lane we are on, looking down to the church next door but one.
Whether you are in Woodfarm House, The Granary Barn or one of the newer ‘Woodfarm’ barns, you’ll relax and enjoy the oak-beamed ceilings and bags of rustic, country charm. Having been doing this for many years, we seem to have struck the right note for our holiday guests, whatever the season. You choose which luxurious holiday cottage to take.
The farmhouse has a wonderful open fire and all six of the barns have great wood-burning stoves so if the temperature drops in the evening then you can get a cosy fire going and chill out with one of hundreds of DVDs that we provide, again free of charge.
You’ll find country lanes, thatched cottages, classic out-of-season seaside resorts at Aldeburgh and Southwold, meandering rivers and great pubs.
Kids are welcome. Woodfarm House sleeps 2, plus travel cots for toddlers and all the barns have room for a travel cot (provided free of charge). See our ‘Activities’ page for some ideas on what to do with the children.
Three well-behaved dogs are welcome in all the cottages too – see our separate ‘Pets Welcome’ page.
Spring is defined by the Met Office as March, April and May. Our Spring 2016 prices start from just £243 for a two night Friday & Saturday break and £324 for a 4 night Monday to Friday break.
Luxury Holidays in the beautiful rural Suffolk Countryside in our self-catering cottages. We have now developed a specific website, called Where Do We?… for this as there’s lots to do when you holiday around the area but have a scroll through here for just a few ideas. Check out www.wheredowe.co.uk
Walking, Nature reserves & Bird Spotting – We have a separate page for all this here
Cycling
Golf
Equestrian activities/ Horse riding
Art- Local Galleries, local exhibitions and craft shops
Theatres
Kids activities
Ski-ing & Snowboarding
Gliding
Sailing
CYCLING
We have a selection of bicycles here, free to use for all of our guests. We have ladies and gents mountain bikes, as well as a couple of racers and a couple of kids bikes too. We also have a fabulous tandem too, called Daisy! She is sure to make your holiday memorable! Some of the bikes in our shed, along with hundreds of DVD’s, books, CD’s and Tourist Information
You can cycle straight down the lane to Coddenham as mentioned above and there are some great circular routes around the nearby villages of Helmingham, Ashbocking, Framsden and Pettaugh
We have local OS maps available to you and there is one up in the shed on the wall with some of the local routes marked out
There’s a 15m cycle route either turning left or right out of here, known as the Gosbeck route. You can view the route on www.cycle-route.com
If you click on Suffolk you can see the nearest ones to here;
They are The Stowmarket County Tour (18m), the aforementioned Gosbeck Route and the Ipswich Loop South Route (18m) – There’s also one in Southwold on there (43m!)
GOLF
There are a number of golf courses and driving ranges around us;
Stonham Barns Golf Centre
Literally 2 minutes round the corner from Woodfarm, a 9 hole golf course, 28 bay floodlit driving range, mini-golf putting, Golf Direct UK golf store and PGA professional golf tuition – 01449 711545
Stowmarket Golf Course
A mature course, with a wide variety of trees that provides a wonderful spectrum of colour throughout the changing seasons. A course set amongst trees with an array of wildlife that makes one feel part of nature. At 6107 yards, Stowmarket is a par 69 that is rarely beaten, even by the most accomplished of players.
It is challenging enough for the English Golf Union to designate it as a “Centre of Excellence” to use on a regular basis to develop and train the county’s best Junior Golfers
You do need to be a member of another course to prove you are ‘serious’ enough to play – 01449 736473
HORSE RIDING/ EQUESTRIAN ACTIVITIES
There are lots of riding schools and liveries nearby. The following is a list of those within 10-15 minutes of Woodfarm House;
Topthorn
Grove Farm, Debenham Road, Stonham Aspal, Stowmarket, Suffolk, IP14 6BX
High House Farm, Mendlesham Green, Stowmarket, Suffolk, IP14 5RQ
Tel: 01449 766716
Contact: Mr D Nunn
ART – Local Galleries, local exhibitions and craft shops
The Grainger Gallery – Round the corner from Woodfarm on the A140/ A1120 crossroads
Pete Grainger was born and grew up in Nottingham but now lives in Suffolk. Pete has always had an interest in drawing, which led him to study an art foundation course in Ipswich. The following year he enrolled at Norwich School of Art where he studied for a degree in Fine Art. He found that he could not get enough of learning and believes he did 5 years in 3 as he would invariably arrive at university first thing in the morning and would be last to leave in the evening, with the caretakers locking up behind him!
Pete appreciates all art and is never short of ideas, he makes a mental note of anything that catches his eye, from chickens and pigs to a Suffolk cottage in the moonlight, and then sketches them down to work on later. His love of art stems particularly from his liking of people whether it is a group of people laughing in a restaurant or someone stood looking in a shop window. He is extremely inventive and enjoys trying new ideas and techniques. For the last couple of years he has been experimenting with plaster, which he calls his modern day version of frescos. Pete feels quite excited and positive because when they work they are quite beautiful.
Pete is approachable, friendly and enjoys chatting. He loves to get feedback from people who come into the Gallery where there is always a cup of tea on the go!
Open Sat & Sun 10 – 5 (Closed Jan & Feb)
Tel: 01449 711813
The Crooked House is in the heart of Lavenham – a Suffolk village famous for its preserved medieval timbered buildings built by wealthy cloth merchants in the 15th century
The Gallery is in the medieval building of the Crooked House, one of England’s most vertically challenged structures! Originally built by a wealthy cloth merchant around 1395, The Crooked House is the service wing of his grand hall house: one of many historic homes in Lavenham, Suffolk
The Gallery is run by Clare Calder-Marshall and artist/writer Alison Englefield. It is a treasure trove of original and inspiring artworks – many of which are by East Anglian artists and can be purchased by mail order
Some crafts & gifts are available at The Alder Carr Farm, The Chilli Company and the Deben Rose in Debenham – all withing 10 minutes fo Woodfarm Barns. There are also craft items available within the Stonham barns complex just round the corner on the A1120
Other outlets nearby include;
Brook Farm, Buxhall, Stowmarket, Suffolk IP14 3DH
01449 736 363
C and S Crafts
20-22 Bury Street, Stowmarket IP14 1HH
01449 675 918
They make their products at home and sell them throughout East Anglia at craft fairs, via their website and also an e-bay shop
E-mail – info@candscrafts.co.uk – 01449 616838 or 07936 683239
Bridge Farm Barns – A great complex South of Needham Market – Well worth a visit
01449 740456
Monks Eleigh, Suffolk IP7 7AY
Bridge Farm Barns incorporates Corn Craft (01449 740456), Black Barn Toys & Games (01449 740456) and Bridge Farm Plants (01449 740502)
Click here to have a look at Bridge Farm Barns website
THEATRES
Corn Hall, Diss, IP22 4LB – Half an hour away to the North on the A140
The Corn Hall is a fine example of a 19th Century corn exchange, located in the heart of the historic market town of Diss, half an hour up the A140 from here
It is managed by local volunteers, ‘The friends of Diss Corn Hall’ and stages a wide variety of theatre, music, dance, cinema and comedy
The box office can be contacted on 01379 652241
or by email; boxoffice@disscornhall.co.uk Monday – Saturday 11 til 4
For the latest activities, productions and events at Diss Corn Hall click here
Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds, IP33 1QR – ½ an hour away, A14 (West)
Now that the theatre is fully restored to its original 1819 glory, their Revisit programme will offer our visitors a unique theatrical and heritage experience.
As the sole surviving example of a Regency playhouse in this country, the Theatre Royal has a fascinating story to tell. A story not just about its own eventful past, but also about a previously missing link in the history of English theatre.
Under the banner of their restoring the Repertoire series, they’re going to be rediscovering much of the undeservedly forgotten theatrical repertoire of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries
You can also take a guided tour of the Theatre or take a more leisurely look during one of the regular Open Doors sessions. They plan to establish a programme of lectures and workshops, as well as a comprehensive library archive
Spine tingling plays, critically acclaimed aerial and music theatre, comedy confections with some of the finest comics from around the world; there’s always something for everyone
Call the Box Office on 01473 295 900 or visit their website here
KIDS ACTIVITIES
Debenham Leisure Centre
Leisure centre and community hall, facilities include a multi-use sports hall, squash courts, dance and fitness studios, sauna, bowls green, football pitches, astroturf tennis courts, and a lounge bar with satellite television. The centre also offers a range of regular sports and fitness, and cultural and social activities.
Leisure centre with swimming pool, spa bath and sauna, well equipped fitness studio, climbing wall, squash courts, indoor bowls and a selection of exercise classes. Centre facilities also include registered creche, cafe, licenced bar
A brilliant day out for all the family. The zoo has had millions spemt on it over the years and a great deal of emphasis has been placed on animal welfare
Crazy Golf @ Stonham Barns round the corner – Check out their website here
Suffolk Ski Centre, Bourne Hill, Wherstead, Ipswich, IP2 8NQ
The focus for Ski & Snowboard Activity in Suffolk, South Norfolk and North Essex with their main slope at 180 metres long incorporating a contoured ‘red’ run, a softer ‘blue’ run; and a new 40m junior slope they can accommodate beginner’s improvers and experienced skiers & boarders The main slope is serviced by 2 lifts, and all slopes are fully floodlit…..
Toboggan Fun!
If you want the chance to try something fun, fast and fabulous then tobogganing has to be it. Their plastic toboggans are great fun especially for kids, and are used on a safe carpeted slope away from the ski slopes, close to the ski lodge.
Learn to Ski & Snowboard
Whether you want to learn or improve your skiing or snowboarding they have a course to meet your needs, availability and skill levels, all provided by a first class team of qualified and certified instructors.
Closed on bank holidays.
Telephone 01473 602347 – Suffolk Ski Centre Website
Easton Farm Park, Grundisburgh, IP13 0EQ – East along the A1120 (25 minutes)
There are lots of animals to see: kid goats, bunnies, guinea pigs, little piglets and two new Suffolk Punch foals to meet. Activities take place every half hour and are included in the entry price, including pony rides, cart rides, hug a bunny, hold a chick, pig fun, barrel bug ride and the family train.
Easton Farm Park is open every day from 10:30am to 6pm – 01728 746475
Enjoy Painting at the Teapot Pottery and relax in a friendly atmosphere and create your own design. They will glaze and fire it for you, simply return in a few days and collect your creation. The Studio Fee is around £5 per person and the pots range from £3.00 – £50.00. Booking is not normally essential but preferable!
Baylam Rare Breeds – A wonderful day out with all the family. Spend a day in the country by a lovely river and a lake and enjoy feeding their friendly animals. Have a light lunch or bring a picnic and why not indulge yourselves with a Suffolk clotted cream tea or homemade cakes. You can meet breeds that were well known 80 years ago, White Park, Old Gloucester, Shetland, Berkshire, Middle White, Large Black, Norfolk Horn, Greyface Dartmoor, Balwen, Llanwenog, Herdwick, Ixworth, Scots Dumpy, Scots Grey. Meet the foreigners; the Kune pigs and the Ouessant sheep and let the children spend their pocket money in the Visitors Centre
GLIDING
We’ve teamed up with Rattlesden Gliding Club to offer our guests an exclusive short-term membership! For breath-taking views of Suffolk as experienced only by the birds, why not combine a break here at Woodfarm Barns with the tranquility and silence of a glider flight?
See our Blog Post here on the exclusive offer from Rattlesden Gliding Club
SAILING
We’ve also teamed up with Suffolk Coast Sailing for those guests wishing to enjoy a sailing adventure on board a modern Beneteau yacht. The skipper is RYA Yachtmaster Simon Read, based just down the road from Woodfarm Barns on the River Orwell (so good we named a barn after it!) at Woolverstone Marina between Pin Mill (great Pub there – The Butt & Oyster) and Ipswich
Have a look at the Blog Post we did on Suffolk Coast Sailing here
We have only covered a handful of things on this page but suffice it to say that there are lots of things to do while on dog friendly holidays at Woodfarm Barns and Suffolk in general. For lots more ideas have a look on Where Do We?…
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