Raisingkids’ editor Catherine and her family spend a weekend at the Ickworth hotel to see how they've cornered the market in luxury family holidays.

Since it launched over a decade ago, the Luxury Family Hotels group has gone from strength to strength, opening its fifth hotel, the Elms in Worcestershire, this summer. I'd heard some great reports from friends who'd been to stay with them of a mythical balance reached between parents and children having a great holiday. Could it be true? There was only one way to find out…

I chose to visit Ickworth Hotel in Suffolk with my husband Stephen and daughter Emily. Carved out of the East Wing of the marvellous stately home which used to belong to the Earl of Bristol, the corridors that would have once housed raucous parties are now more used to the early morning call of the lesser-spotter toddler.

It was clear on arrival that the smallest member of our family was going to assume the role of most honoured guest. The hotel's head porter Robert formally introduced himself to Emily, asking her name and making sure that her parents understood the hotel rules about children playing in the hotel – in that there were none.

Judging by the happy families we met on our tour of the hotel, this wasn't lip service. Whether indoors or out, there was loads for both children and grown-ups to enjoy and the friendly staff gave Ickworth a relaxed feel despite the grand surroundings.

Come into the garden
We were lucky enough to be there on what proved to be one of the few gorgeous weekends this summer. Outside, in the walled garden, children were on the swings, bouncing on the trampoline and riding bikes, while contended parents sat idly by reading the weekend papers. Bliss!

Ickworth has a stack of family-friendly facilities, including The Four Bears' Den – a supervised nursery for younger children and Club/Blu for older kids. Because you didn't have to pre-book the Den we popped Emily in for an hour in the morning and the same in the afternoon, which was perfect for both of us. She had already made a friend within the first few minutes of arrival, so didn't give her father or myself a backwards glance, and it gave us the chance to do boring, grown-up stuff like touring the National Trust part of the house, as well as enjoying the odd facial or two.

Taking to two wheels
Happily for any parent who's usually a stranger to bicycles, Suffolk is a very flat county. The grounds of Ickworth being mostly car-free were an ideal place for the whole family to take to two wheels (or four if you're counting stabilisers). We also found time for Emily to have her first ride on a pony, as well as fitting in a trip to the indoor swimming pool, which we had all to ourselves before breakfast on the Sunday.

The weekend we were at Ickworth, the hotel had joined forces with the Soil Association to offer a healthy child-friendly menu. Certainly Emily had no problems working her way through salmon fishcakes and roast chicken – and I liked the fact that the children's menu was nuggets-free.

As for the grown-ups, we tried both restaurants in the evening – the more formal Fredericks restaurant and the Conservatory for relaxed dining. Of the two, our favourite was the Conservatory – the menu was less fussy and as a result more successful. It certainly didn't hurt that while the sun went down we had a final beautiful view from here over the gardens.

A quiet night in
Evenings here are pretty quiet – were most of the parents collapsed back in their rooms? But we weren't complaining as we had the run of the hotel to ourselves, fancying ourselves as Lord and Lady of the manor with a retinue of servants at our disposal. Well, we can dream…!

Over the course of our weekend at Ickworth we tried both child-minding services. On the first night we had a babysitter who was a huge success – and at £7 an hour, pretty reasonable we thought. The second night we used the hotel's baby listening service, which went well once our daughter was introduced to the person who'd be listening to her and was reassured by us that we'd pop up ourselves and check on her during the evening. After a day spent swimming, riding and trampolining she was asleep before we'd even reached the stairs.

So did Ickworth live up to the hype? Well it's certainly at the expensive end of the market but, as the hotel manager Peter Lord pointed out to us, Ickworth's room rate includes everything from free bike hire to use of the pool and daytime childcare. It also includes as many kids as you can comfortably fit into a bedroom, which makes it more reasonable. Our verdict is that it's definitely worth saving up for a trip here as a real family treat.

Information
A standard double at Ickworth costs £310 for dinner, bed and breakfast – the rate is per room and not per person. Do check out their website for late booking offers – when we looked, rooms started at £175 per room for bed and breakfast stays.
Ickworth also offers family apartments at the Dower House on the Ickworth estate, which is part of the hotel. Apartment rates start at £200 for the night on a dinner, bed and breakfast basis for two adults. Children stay free, paying only for their meals.

Getting there
We took a One Railway train from London's Liverpool Street to Bury St Edmunds station which is just four miles and a £6 taxi ride from the hotel. For tickets and information, click here.

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