Best of Suffolk Reviews 

193
TrustScore 1.5 out of 5

1.6

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Rated 1 out of 5 stars

I wish I’d seen these reviews before I booked because then I wouldn’t have been scammed. The ‘waterfront’ property ‘right on Aldeburgh Beach’ was in fact a couple of streets back. Once I pointed ou... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Staying at Mariners Cottage in Aldeburgh that has building work on one side and lock up garage storage on the other. This morning we were woken at 7, and had to have all doors and windows closed whi... See more

Company replied

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

I had booked to stay in Southwold at New Year. At the time of booking I paid a significant deposit. Sykes Cottages / Best of Suffolk contacted me today to advise that they could no longer honour t... See more

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Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Very nice house and garden, in a lovely quite village. Beds extremely comfortable, house immaculately clean. Local pub good, with entertaining young goats in the beer garden. Great walk from the house... See more

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Company details

  1. Cottage
  2. Travel Agency

Written by the company

Award winning agency specialising in stylish Suffolk holiday cottages. Over 400 beautiful Suffolk cottages available. Book your cottages in Suffolk now!


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1.6

Bad

TrustScore 1.5 out of 5

193 reviews

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No recent history of asking for reviews

This company hasn't invited customers recently, so reviews may not be representative

Replied to 60% of negative reviews

Typically takes over 1 month to reply

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5 reviews in the last 12 months

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Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic cottage in the heart of…

Fantastic cottage in the heart of Southwold. Beautifully furnished & well looked after

January 13, 2021
Best of Suffolk logo

Reply from Best of Suffolk

Dear Claire,

Thank you for your 5 star review.

We are delighted that you found the cottage to be fantastic and hope that you enjoyed your stay with us.

Kind regards,

Harry Peek
Guest Experience Manager

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Aldeburgh House

We’ve booked our Aldeburgh cottages through Best Of Suffolk for a number of years. We’ve been extremely satisfied with their service. The house we stay in is well maintained and spotless. We never had to make any complaint. We can high recommend this company.

January 13, 2021
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Reply from Best of Suffolk

Dear Therese,

Thank you for your 5 star review of our service and continued loyal custom.

We are pleased to hear you have always been satisfied with our service and hope to be able to welcome you back again in the future.

Kind regards,

Harry Peek
Guest Experience Manager

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

A lovely holiday.

A lovely holiday.
Beautiful barn
Delightful host
Easy web-site
Very helpful with the Covid situation!

January 13, 2021
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Reply from Best of Suffolk

Dear Paula,

Thank you your review following your recent stay with us.

We are delighted that you had a lovely holiday and hope to be able to welcome you back again in the future.

Kind regards,

Harry Peek
Guest Experience Manager

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

What happened is COVID

What happened is COVID ! So our holiday was cancelled Best of Suffok were very good and refunded me less my deposit

January 4, 2021
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Reply from Best of Suffolk

Dear Janet,

Thank you for your 5 star review of our service.

We are sorry to hear that your holiday was cancelled but are pleased that the team were able to assist.

We hope to be able to welcome you to one of our properties in the future.

Kind regards,

Harry Peek
Guest Experience Manager

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Best of Suffolk logo

Reply from Best of Suffolk

Dear Robin,

Thank you for your 5 star review of our service.

We are pleased that you find our service to be fantastic and our properties to be excellent. We very much hope to be able to welcome you back to one of our properties again in the near future.

Kind regards,

Harry Peek
Guest Experience Manager

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

My advice is do not stay here and don't…

My advice is do not stay here and don't trust the descriptions on this site. Here is a list of the issues and the response from 'Best of Suffolk' we came across on our visit in August 2020:

There is no 'charcoal BBQ' - it's the old (and I mean old) bakers oven of which all of the grills are completely rusted, making it unusable - not to mention the branches hanging over the chimney making it a fire hazard.
Garden was overgrown and roses not deadheaded in weeks.
Shower room is very poorly designed. The shelf above the very small wash basin prevents anything other than hand washing - teeth cleaning or face washing is impossible. The tiny floor is swimming in water after showering and to get dry you need to stand in the kitchen (no curtains) as it's so small.
Range oven is a poor choice as it not only takes around an hour to heat up it then stays hot for hours afterwards heating up the whole cottage. Not ideal in the middle of summer.
To top it off (in need of a good drink after dealing with the above) there were only three pub beer glasses and a mismatched assortment of three wine glasses and only one very small sharp knife.
We complained whilst staying at the cottage and received a somewhat defensive response explaining that the weather was to blame for the garden, that the owner was planning to refurbish the so called BBQ (therefore confirming the blatant mis-selling of the BBQ). Fair enough they apologised, however the apology was worded 'sorry it didn't meet your expectations'. Their response included that it was one of the oldest cottages in the village and the words 'quaint' and 'unique' were thrown in there too. We explained that we understand what it means to own an old house given that we live in a 300 year old cottage but that this was simply not worth the money we paid. Despite our persistence of a reasonable reduction in the cost we paid, all they would offer was 5% off a future stay in a 'Best of Suffolk' property next year and a bottle of wine.

Like one of the other reviews on here we have used 'Best of Suffolk' to rent another property and were very impressed but this experience was far from impressive both in terms of the product and service received and certainly not the 'Best' of Suffolk. We would not use them again. Just to point out also that they didn’t send me the link so that I could review this property as they knew that we were not happy with it. That’s obviously a way to ensure your star rating is higher than it should be!
In response to Harry Peake - the reason it has taken 4 months to write the Feefo review (used on your website) is because Best of Suffolk did not send our details to Feefo in order for us to write one! I had to request this personally from Feefo. I note that this has happened to others on your site. If a company only puts forward positive reviews for publication, it is a false represention. I would have liked to respond to your questions on my Feefo review but was told by Feefo that you had closed the discussion down.

January 2, 2021
Unprompted review
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Reply from Best of Suffolk

Dear Gerald and Julie,

It is disappointing that you feel the need to share the same comments over 4 months after your departure particularly having already shared these with our team via email and on our review platform Feefo.

As shared in your review, your comments were addressed by a member of the team during your stay and a discount off a future stay was offered as a gesture of good will.

From your review on our review platform Feefo, we understand that you have been able to leave feedback on the property as desired.

We display detailed descriptions, images and floor plans of all properties on our website in order to give guests the most accurate representation possible prior to their arrival so are very surprised to hear that you feel mis sold. This description includes the presence of both a Rayburn range cooker and built-in outdoor barbeque.

We are disappointed that the property failed to meet you expectations but hope that you were still able to enjoy your time in Aldeburgh.

Kind regards,

Harry Peek
Guest Experience Manager

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

High quality of cottages

Have always found your help in finding the right property and the quality of your houses to be excellent. Have recommended you to a lot of friends looking for good dog-friendly places to stay.

December 28, 2020
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Reply from Best of Suffolk

Dear Jane,

Thank you for your feedback and 5 star review of our service.

We are pleased that the team have been able to assist in finding properties for you to stay and we thank you for your continued loyal custom and recommendation.

We very much hope to be able to welcome you back to one of our properties again in the future.

Kind regards,

Harry Peek
Guest Experience Manager

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Lovely Southwold house.

We have stayed in the property before and love it. It is very nicely decorated, modern and has off street parking.

December 28, 2020
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Reply from Best of Suffolk

Dear David,

Thank you for your 5 star review of our service .

We are pleased to hear that you liked the property and hope that you enjoyed your time in Southwold.

We very much hope to be able to welcome you back again in the future.

Kind regards,

Harry Peek
Guest Experience Manager

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful company and wonderful property

I would absolutely recommend Best of Suffolk. Their website was clear and honest. Very easy to book. I had a phone call with a member of staff and she was polite and helpful. The property we stayed in was fantastic and true to the information on the website - if not better!
You deserve 5 stars.

December 22, 2020
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Reply from Best of Suffolk

Dear Niki,

Thank you for your kind comments and 5 star review of our service.

We are delighted to hear that you found the property to be fantastic and hope that you enjoyed your stay with us.

We very much hope to be able to welcome you back to one of our properties again in the near future.

Kind regards,

Harry Peek
Guest Experience Manager

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Best of Suffolk are a brilliant

Best of Suffolk are a brilliant organisation to deal with - very reassuring about bookings in these worrying times. We have stayed in the same wonderful property for a winter break for the last two years and everything was great.

December 18, 2020
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Reply from Best of Suffolk

Thank you for your feedback and 5 star review of our service.

We are glad that you were able to enjoy a winter break with us and thank you for your continued support and loyal custom.

We hope to be able to welcome you back to one of our properties again in the near future.

Kind regards,

Harry Peek
Guest Experience Manager

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

A fantastic birthday getaway week!

This was our third visit to Sea La Vie in Aldeburgh and it was fabulous as usual. Best of Suffolk were so very helpful this year enabling me to transfer my booking to December for my big birthday. A difficult year for everyone but the staff at Best of Suffolk kept me informed all the way and made sure that Sea La Vie was lovely and welcoming on our arrival. A fantastic birthday getaway week! Thank you!

December 16, 2020
Unprompted review
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Reply from Best of Suffolk

Dear Sarah,

Thank you for your kind comments and 5 star review of our service.

We are delighted to hear that you had an enjoyable stay at Sea La Vie and hope to be able to welcome you back again in the future.

Kind regards,

Harry Peek
Guest Experience Manager

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Saving the best till last… Fig Cottage

Saving the best till last… Fig Cottage, Pettistree.

For the last 20 years, we have been visiting the Suffolk region, and stayed in many holiday cottages in that time, I only wish we had discovered this little gem sooner. We are now permanent residents in this fabulous county, but prior to that, I can confidently say we saved the best till last...

This cottage is cozy and warm in the winter, thoughtfully decorated in a Scandinavian style which really works, every facility you could ever want to enjoy your holiday, quiet and private, and a very secure garden for your four legged friend.

The cottage is set in the pretty village of Pettistree, with its own 14th century pub, the Greyhound. Wonderful walks all around the village, and you are literally 5 minutes from the A12, so all your desired go to destinations are within easy reach, including Aldeburgh, Snape maltings & Southwold. You have Woodbridge, Martlesham Heath and Wickham Market all on your doorstep, so great shopping and eateries to be had.

In summary, throughout the last 20 years, we can honestly say that our stay in this cottage has been one of the best experiences ever, our only regret is we didn't find it years ago - full credit to the owners.

November 1, 2020
Unprompted review
Best of Suffolk logo

Reply from Best of Suffolk

Thank you for taking time to provide feedback following your stay at Fig Cottage.

We are delighted to hear that you had an enjoyable stay and will pass your lovely comments to the property owner.

We very much hope to be able to welcome you back to one of our properties again in the future.

Kind regards,

Harry Peek
Guest Experience Manager
Best of Suffolk

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Unclean property rental at Slaughden End

We rented the property Slaughden End, Aldeburgh from 12-19 October.

We were very alarmed at the lack of cleanliness in the property.

Firstly, the floors were filthy and appeared not to have been washed in some time.

There were lots of, what appeared to be, dog hairs that became attached to our clothes after sitting in the living room. I actually ended up with an alien hair in my mouth at one stage. There were dog hairs on the towels that were provided for our use.

The large coffee table in the living room was extremely dirty.

The kettle had a build-up of scale and, much to my disgust, I swallowed some of it when drinking a cup of coffee.

There was quite a build-up of mould around the shower screen.

The bathroom mirrors were smeared.

The kitchen bin was filthy.

Given current covid conditions, best of suffolk claim they are placing extra measures on sanitisation. We certainly saw no evidence if this. We felt very uncomfortable and anxious as these issues presented themselves during our stay.

This coupled with the fact that the written instructions for operating the tv did not correspond with the operation of it which led to the necessity of an engineer calling to the property to show us how to use the tv thereby exposing us to further risk of infection.

During two conversations with best of suffolk's office regarding other issues which arose, we received quite a frosty reception.

When I communicated these issues to best of suffolk I was asked to send them the photos we had taken of the dirt and told they hoped to see us back again!!

Overall, we were left with a very bad impression of Best of Suffolk and would not book with them again.

October 31, 2020
Unprompted review
Best of Suffolk logo

Reply from Best of Suffolk

Thank you for your feedback following your stay at Slaughden End.

Your comments were promptly addressed by a member of the team on 23rd October and I understand you spoke to further members of the team during your stay who were able to rectify the issues we were made aware of.

It is disappointing that you feel the need to reiterate these comments after our initial response, particularly having shared these with our team via email and on Feefo.

We would hope that the prompt resolution for the issues highlighted with the TV demonstrated our commitment to resolving issues for our guests. Having not been made aware of any further issues during your stay we were unable to resolve them and are frustrated to only hear following your departure

We take all cleanliness issues extremely seriously and would have been more than happy to arrange for a housekeeper to attend the property if requested to rectify the areas highlighted. We operate within the guidelines of our Visit England 'Good to Go' COVID-19 accreditation.

To address your comments regarding the risk of infection from the TV engineer, had you have informed the team of your concerns, they would have worked with the engineer to find an appropriate solution that you were comfortable with. A member of our team called you prior to the engineer's arrival to make you aware and you did not express any concerns about him entering the property to complete the works. We also understand from your email that when the engineer first arrived you had left the property to go and purchase fish and chips, the engineer would have been more than happy to complete the works entirely in your absence if desired.

We hope that despite the issues raised following your departure you were still able to have an enjoyable time in Aldeburgh and make the most of the property and its wonderful location.

We pride ourselves on providing the highest levels of customer service and always work hard to promptly resolve anything highlighted to us. A key component in this is communication with our guests, if we are not made aware, we are unable to rectify it. We are sorry that you felt the property was not up to the standards expected but remain disappointed that you did not give us the opportunity to rectify it for you.

Kind regards,

Harry Peek
Guest Experience Manager
Best of Suffolk

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Booked cross wing peasenhall very…

Booked cross wing peasenhall very disappointed broken glass in wood burner part of ceiling collapsed wrong WiFi password outside lights not working best of Suffolk totally uninterested in resolving issues just pursing me for mistake re 2 deposit repayments made to my account very poor

October 19, 2020
Unprompted review
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Reply from Best of Suffolk

Dear Mark,

Thank you for your feedback following your stay at The Cross Wing.

We are disappointed to hear of the issues highlighted but thank you for bringing them to our attention. Following your departure work has taken place to repair the ceiling and exterior light and replacement glass has been sourced for the wood burner. We apologise that this was not completed prior to your arrival.

We know that issues with internet connectivity can be frustrating, I hope that the team were able to rectify this for you once aware.

We hope that despite the areas highlighted, you found the property to be clean and well equipped and were able to enjoy your stay.

We very much hope to be able to welcome you back again in the future.

Kind regards,

Harry Peek
Guest Experience Manager
Best of Suffolk

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Beware the add ons

Beware the add ons. Many of the properties are wonderful and appear on other websites. You will be enticed by the Best of Suffolk special deals and attractive lead price but when you come to check out you’ll be faced with a bottom line, in some cases, nearly £200 higher than the bait.

September 29, 2020
Unprompted review
Best of Suffolk logo

Reply from Best of Suffolk

Dear John,

We must admit that we are a little confused by your comments.

We can only think that the cost mentioned is referring to the good housekeeping deposit, which is fully refunded upon departure to the property provided there is no damage nor missing inventory items. This is standard practice across the large majority of property rentals.

We apologise if this was not fully explained to you, please feel free to get in contact with the team if you require any further information.

Kind regards,

Harry Peek
Guest Experience Manager
Best of Suffolk

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Great accommodation and great service

We booked a short break at Redshanks at Blythview through Best of Suffolk. They provided lots of clear information prior to our arrival. The accommodation was excellent, very clean and well presented. We had a lovely break and the company called me when I was travelling home as the cleaners had found something in the accommodation that they thought that we might have left behind. That is a first for me and shows a great focus on clients from the cleaners and the company. Our security deposit was returned to us at the end of the week as promised without any chasing.
We have no hesitation in recommending them and will use them again if we go back to Suffolk.

September 26, 2020
Unprompted review
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Reply from Best of Suffolk

Dear Dennis,

Thank you for your kind comments following your stay at Blythview.

We are pleased to hear you found the accommodation to be excellent and that the team were able to reunite you with your lost property.

We very much hope to be able to welcome you back to one of our properties again in the future.

Kind regards,

Harry Peek
Guest Experience Manager
Best of Suffolk

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

Lovely few days at meddlars cottage…

Lovely few days at meddlars cottage hadleigh, 7th/11th September 2020, Great location walk into town plenty of coffee shops, pubs bars and restaurants. The George and The kings head pub restaurants had lovely food and was all set up for track and trace and social distancing, lovely river walk near to the cottage down Tinkers Lane, we were very lucky with glorious weather so took a picnic down to the river sat on the bench with our sandwiches and lovely glass of wine feeding the ducks, sat their for a few hours could of stayed there all day. Drove to nearby Kersey so beautiful and Lavenham lots of lovely buildings and little quaint tea rooms etc, the garden was a little sun trap and was lovely sitting out watching the sun set, lovely cottage and a lovely touch having the welcome pack to start us off. Judith was a very welcoming host and showed us around and showed us all the information leaflets she had left for her guests. Thanks for a lovely break away in such horrible times.
Debbie and Vic
Basildon Essex.

September 12, 2020
Unprompted review
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Reply from Best of Suffolk

Dear Debbie,

Thank you for your feedback following your stay at Meddlars Cottage.

We are delighted that you had a lovely few days and enjoyed your stay with us.

It is fantastic to hear that Judith was so welcoming and that you found the cottage to be lovely.

We very much hope to be able to welcome you back again in the future.

Kind regards,

Harry Peek
Guest Experience Manager
Best of Suffolk

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

More Like WORST OF SUFFOLK

More Like WORST OF SUFFOLK
I’ve been ripped of twice now. Will never book again with this company.
Do not stay at the Haven at Coast. It’s gritty and dusty. I had to clean it all on arrival after 5 hour journey.

Do not stay there with kids.
I had an abusive couple downstairs who banged our door in at 11pm at night complaining of noise when in fact it was the sani flow loo making a banging noise. The children were so scared we left a day and a half early. The company didn’t care.

I reported the noise and they said they would send a plumber. They’ve now alleged that we put wet wipes in the loo when we didn’t ! Anything to keep my deposit once again. I told them we used nappy sacks to dispose of wipes. We had a young child.

Disgusting company an absolute fraud. Do not book EVER. They lie and blame the owners and the house keepers apparently say everything was perfect ! It’s a
Shame they can’t clean properly. My asthma started with the dust. The property isn’t a t good for kids either.

Bet I won’t get my £150. If you really want a holiday weekend to Suffolk try
Aldeburgh coastal
Cottages. Angela is lovely. Never had problems like this.

Very annoyed and disgusted.

September 9, 2020
Unprompted review
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Reply from Best of Suffolk

Dear Satpal,

We understand you were in contact with the team directly following your departure.

Kind regards,

Harry Peek
Guest Experience Manager

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

White House with Studio

We recently had the misfortune to rent The White House with Studio through The Best of Suffolk. We were advised to check in later as a ‘deep clean’ was taking place due to Covid. The cottage was filthy. Cobwebs everywhere and everything was sticky. The bbq has not been cleaned, the garden was full of rotting apples attracting wasps, and my dog became extremely ill after eating one of many cigarette butts which were piled into an abandoned sink in the garden. The Aga whilst ‘quaint’ was extremely hazardous. Exposed boiling pipes caused second degree burns to one of our parties who was simply brushing past this on the way to sit down at the adjacent table. I slept in the studio in the garden with my husband and our bed literally moved across the floor each morning with the huge lorries powering past at the crack of dawn, not to mention the noise. Forget sleep! The stairs simply described as ‘steep’ should be part of the next Olympic Games. Large gaps in the hedge onto the extremely busy road running alongside meant dogs and children had to be watched every second of the ‘holiday’ when in the garden. This was certainly not a relaxing holiday more a test of endurance! If you have children please do not stay here....it is a serious accident waiting to happen!

August 30, 2020
Unprompted review
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Reply from Best of Suffolk

Dear Amanda,

We are sorry to hear of your disappointment surrounding your stay at The White House with Studio and hope that the member of your party and dog has recovered.

We understand you were in contact directly with a member of our team following your departure to provide feedback on the property that was shared with the property owner and addressed where necessary.

It was disappointing to only hear of the areas highlighted following your departure, had we have been notified and given an opportunity on your arrival at the property, we would happily have sent the housekeeper along to rectify any issues you felt needed looking at.

We hope that you were still able to enjoy your time in Wortwell.

Kind regards,

Harry Peek
Guest Experience Manager

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Very unhappy with owners at 53 Tern Cottage in Aldeburgh

Stayed at 53 Tern Cottage in Aldeburgh on 27th July for 3 nights. Lovely small cottage and we had a lovely weekend. However upon us claiming our deposit back. The OWNER accused us of breaking their kettle and have deducted £65. We pointed out that we DIDN’T actually use the kettle during our entire stay. But they have taken the money anyway!!! DONT STAY AT 53 Tern Cottage the owners are clearly trying to make up for lost income.

August 9, 2020
Unprompted review
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Reply from Best of Suffolk

Dear Laurie,

We are glad to hear that you found the cottage to be lovely and had an enjoyable weekend.

I understand that you have been in contact with the team who were able to resolve this with you and refund the £64.

We hope to be able to welcome you back to one of our properties again in the future.

Kind regards,

Harry Peek
Guest Experience Manager

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