Ivy House Country Hotel

Good sized twin room, with tea/coffee making facilities. Clean & tidy. Nice big bathroom.

Hard to get hold of anyone by phone. Once off the main road, a very rough single track, with limited passing places, to the hotel.

We had the Oak Suite, my wife was over the moon with it. The place is quiet and rural with lovely ponds. Tranquil.I am sure to be back in the future. If you take the footpath out of the back you can walk to the bridge.

Food excellent in general good quality & nicely cooked

Lacked some little touches one has got to expect : No bread roll with dinner No small biscuit / chocolate with coffeeBreakfast orange juice very poor

The location is quite nice and peaceful.

We'd booked an executive room and were shown to our room when we arrived which was in a separate block called the Garden Suites. The room didn't look as though it had been vacuumed, the bath was unclean and the metal rum of the shower inside the shower tray had become detached from the door. The bottom of the bath was wearing away and there was a stool in the bathroom with rusty legs. The desk in the room was leaning at an angle and when my husband sat in one of the armchairs, the leg fell off. We went to reception to report it and were moved to another room in the next block. It was far smaller, one of the tap tops was missing, there was no plug hole in the sink and there was a broken pane of glass in the bathroom window. At breakfast, you could see that the lining underneath most of the chairs was hanging down. We had travelled almost two hundred miles and have only the website to go on, which looks stunning. The venue however, is tired, neglected and furnished with items from the sixties. Certainly not the luxurious stay we expected for the amount of money we'd paid which I might add, is only for an entry level room. The hotel did discount our stay in fairness and advised that they are aware that it requires attention...but seem not to accept that until a lot of money is spent on it, that it's not approved to charge london pricea. Either do something about it or readjust your prices to reflect it's current state. I would avoid this if you think it's a luxury venue and don't be fooled by the website.

Whenever I am in Oulton Broad/Lowestoft I stay at the Ivy, and have done so for a number of years. The location next to the Broads is restful, the rooms are excellent. and the staff are super friendly. Generally, I don't eat in Hotel restaurants, but I make an exception at the Ivy. Having the same menu in either a formal dining, or a relaxed dining area is awesome. The food has always been good, I've met the chef (Owner) and he produces good food every time.

One thing. I thought I had booked a courtyard room (ie ground floor). I got a farmhouse room (upstairs). I was travelling for a month, and don't travel light. Lugging a heavy suitcase upstairs at 74 years is taxing. Next time I will specify ground floor room as I will be travelling with my wife, which means two heavy suitcases.

Good facilities and great breakfast.

Bed was uncomfortable and not worth £170 a night. If the bed was better the price would be acceptable.

Beautiful location and dog friendly and staff can’t do enough for you.

It was all great

The staff were all so lovely and welcoming, you felt like they were genuinely happy to see you. The grounds are stunning and although in a rural location it's just a short walk from the station so accessible by public transport. The barn is a beautiful dinner location and we enjoyed the food, very generous portions and tasty and good value! Huge rooms, nice, bright and clean. A pleasant walk to Oulton Broad and the Carlton Marshes nature reserve, the paths were trainer friendly so you can make the most of your country retreat without too much kit!

The room furnishings were a touch out dated but had everything you needed and honestly we didn't spend much time in the room as the grounds were so lovely!Given you have to go outside to get from your room to the shared areas it would have been handy to have some umbrellas available in the bar and your room to protect from the rain.

The hotel is lovely, excellent food, staff are very friendly and accommodating. Room was clean, if a little dated, but comfortable.

Lowestoft isn't somewhere I need to visit again.

Every member of staff was brilliant. A business or property are nothing. It's the people who make a business. The staff here were exceptionally friendly, cheerful and professional, they are 10 out of 10.

Nothing really except the pictures in the bedroom were uninspiring, They need replacing with something brighter?

Lovely experience of staying at Ivy House. Beautiful building and comfortable roomsFantastic wedding venue

The drive leading up to the hotel needs some work

Property could accommodate a larger group.Receptionist was very friendly.

Thought the property was very tired generally. Mould on our bathroom ceiling. One of the staff serving at breakfast was not not the friendliest although younger member of staff was lovely.

The location

From the moment we arrived we were made to stand around in the blistering heat for over 40 mins waiting to be checked in, there was a wedding happening and everything seemed to Center around that! There was also a group of woman booking/paying for another wedding & rooms for next year!! The receptionist was alone and seemed to take forever! Even though she could clearly see I was also a bride & stood on my wedding dress! But again booking a wedding seemed far more important than checking other quests in! When we were eventually checked in i barely had time to go to the room & quickly change into my second wedding dress & go to my reception, so didn’t really get the chance to see the room fully.When we got back later on the evening & I wanted a shower etc, it was awful! There was a separate shower cubicle & bath but could we get that shower go work? No! And who is going to run a bath at midnight & a long day celebrating our wedding! Then the toilet, going for a wee was barely passable! The toilet wouldn’t flush properly & the toilet roll remained for a good few flushes, could you imagine needing more than a wee? On top of this the bathroom sink was blocked! I washed my hands & it filled & wouldn’t drain away! The dirty water remained there all night! Which then meant I was unable to brush my teeth & remove my makeup etc! To add more.. Booking.com advertised this property had room service.. it did not!.. a mini bar & fridge in rooms.. it did not! A flat screen tv in all rooms… it was the size of an a4 piece of paper! The furniture in the room was outdated, the emergency fire light on the ceiling was broken & help up with black tape! And under the make up mirror was an ants trap with dead ants all over the carpet next to it! Also the heated towel rail in the bathroom was rusted and very dated!

Grounds and location, breakfast in light and airy restaurant with amazing outlook. Staff all very helpful. Breakfast was well presented and plenty of food.

Could do with more staff at breakfast had to keep asking for table items not put out and items to be topped up in self service breakfast. For one waitress to be taking breakfast orders, bringing out food and relaying tables and top up self service is not always possible and hence hot cooked breakfast got cold waiting for cutlery not set.

breakfast very good, could not fault

room too warm, needed a fan not enough in hotel

Location, food & service great.Reception staff very efficient.Size of room & bathroom great

Cobwebs & spider on beams in bedroom. Room a little tired looking in places. Unfortunate early fire alarm call at 6.45am!

We got moved to the flat which was just lovely with great views lovely location and exceptional staff…we had not 1 thing to complain about

Beautiful setting, we had a dog friendly room that was spotless. The restaurant was very nice the food was very well presented and tasty ,and reasonably priced , the staff were very pleasant and very helpful ?, I would highly recommend

Comfortable bed. Nice size room and bathroom.

Wasn’t particularly clean. Cobwebs and grimy paintwork. Toilet needed bleach. Entrance was covered in cobwebs.

Brilliant staff, food and location

All very good.