Enjoy the finer things in life in Suffolk
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by Paul Acres
If you'd asked me to name 10 places in the UK I wanted to
visit, neither Bury St Edmund's nor Ipswich in Suffolk would have
appeared on my list.
However, having spent a night at The Angel in Bury St
Edmund's followed by a night at the Salthouse Harbour Hotel in
Ipswich, my wife and I can safely say that the two destinations now
make immediate entries close to the top.
The two hotels, so very different in appearance,
atmosphere and style, share the essential ingredients of comfort,
service and luxury.
Formerly a coaching inn, The Angel manages to cater for
modern expectations while retaining its sense of history. This is a
hotel of stark contrasts, but rather than jar, the eclectic mix of
styles provide a visual feast.
The Angel has 75 rooms from traditional four-poster
Victorian-inspired to cutting edge contemporary. Our suite, with
its views across the square to the Abbey Gardens, summed up The
Angel in a microcosm, the odd stain on the carpet, wallpaper that,
in places, was showing signs of wear and tear, and traditional
furnishings contrasted with the wall-mounted flat-screen TV and
Denon stereo, and the crisp bathroom suite with walk-in shower and
heated towel rails.
The little imperfections that we did find merely served to
heighten the sense of history, to give an insight into the hotel's
past, and also to make the place feel more welcoming, more
homely.
The Eaterie is a perfect example of contemporary
minimalism with its wooden tables and chairs, wooden flooring and
soft lighting.
The menu is the same, with no more than half a dozen
starters, mains and desserts. As you would expect, the quality is
excellent.
One of the few quayside hotels in the country, the
Salthouse Harbour hotel offers stunning views across the marina
and, in its own words, an eclectic blend of urban and country,
vintage chic and cutting edge design. Unlike The Angel, the only
clues to the building's past are visible from the outside. From the
huge glass-fronted reception and lounge area, to the Eaterie,
through to the modern and well-equipped rooms, everything at the
Salthouse is bang up to date.
Our room - one of 70 the hotel has to offer - on the fifth
floor, overlooked the marina, with views extending along the river
Orwell .
The Sail Loft Marina room offered flat-screen TV, Bose
iPod dock, wet room shower and, perhaps most astonishingly, a
free-standing copper bath right next to the bed, great for relaxing
with some bubbles in the bath and some bubbly in a
glass.
The Salthouse's version of the Eaterie was a slightly
fussier affair, though none the worse for it. Service was, once
again, exceptional.
Wednesday, May 19 2010
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