On our weekend away in Suffolk, we discovered The Crown and Castle Suffolk quite by accident, whilst our little pup was having one of her ‘turns’. We had originally planned to take Betsy the Chihuahua to the Jolly Sailor, but alas, she was barking at everything in sight! Unfortunately, she’s going through one of those stages (at 7 months old) and sometimes we just have to relent and head back to the car, for fear of ruining everyone’s quiet Sunday lunch!

Luckily for us, Betsy’s turns don’t tend to last too long and by the time we got to the other end of Orford, she had calmed down enough for us to poke our heads through the door of the Crown and Castle to ask if it was dog friendly. After a resounding yes, we placed ourselves firmly in front of the log fire to relax for a good hour or so. Betsy was offered a treat by the friendly staff and she rested her weary legs on a special doggie rug, after drinking water from a bowl that was left out for any dog-guests that happened to be passing.

The Crown and Castle is owned by Ruth Watson (Hotel Inspector) and her husband David, along with business partner, Tim Sunderland, who like to think of it as a ‘restaurant with rooms’. As we were only passing on the way to Bury St Edmunds we can only comment on the service that we received for the drinks we took, but the rooms look wonderful on their website and we’d love to stop in and stay sometime in the future. Betsy the Chihuahua was treated very well and we had a very relaxing hour, on a cold Sunday afternoon in January.

We give the Crown and Castle 9/10 – A great pitt stop, very dog friendly and somewhere we’d like to stay some time soon.

Date Of Visit: 28th January 2013
Dog Friendly UK Rating: 9/10
Points to Note: The Crown and Castle recently won César award from The Good Hotel Guide.