Best of Suffolk Reviews 192

We were very disappointed with the customer service we received from Best of Suffolk. Due to a maintenance issue, our original cottage had no heating or hot water so we had to be moved, which significantly disrupted our short break. While we understand faults can happen, it’s how they handled it! The initial alternative properties offered to us were not on par with what we had booked, and we ended up finding a suitable option ourselves on their own website! We were then asked to pay the difference, which felt completely inappropriate given the situation!

When we returned home, I emailed Best of Suffolk to give feedback and asked for a modest gesture of goodwill for the inconvenience—not a refund—they offered 5%, which felt wholly inadequate. More frustrating was the justification that the cost of relocating us meant they couldn’t offer anything further.
This misses the point. When something goes wrong, it should not be the customer who effectively absorbs the impact.

So, I contacted their parent company, Sykes Cottages, who handled things far more professionally and offered a much more reasonable gesture. Overall, a disappointing and inflexible approach to customer care. Shan’t use them again.

Booked a place in aldeburgh, had some issues with cleanliness of the cottage on arrival, considering we had paid £1445 out of peak season, for 1 week, for a 3 bedroom, I was expecting good things. Absolutely no interest in solving the problem, terrible communication, and just overall gave a ‘not bothered’ attitude. Used to be such a good company, don’t know what’s happened. Will not be booking with them anymore I’m afraid.

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 the booking, but gave no explanation why.

They haven't tried to find a solution for us. Merely said that there are no other properties available.

I recently spent a few days in Aldeburgh (Crabbe Corner) and it was absolutely delightful. From the moment I arrived, I was struck by the charm of this beautiful seaside town. The atmosphere is peaceful and welcoming, with stunning views of the Suffolk coast and a lovely mix of independent shops, pubs, and cafés lining the high street.

The accommodation was cozy and well-appointed, just a short walk from the beach. Waking up to the sound of the waves and enjoying morning coffee with sea views was a real treat. The local seafood is a must-try—Aldeburgh Fish & Chips lived up to its reputation, and there were plenty of other great spots to eat and relax.

Whether strolling along the shingle beach, exploring nearby nature reserves, or simply soaking in the town’s artistic vibe, Aldeburgh offers a perfect blend of relaxation and inspiration. I left feeling refreshed and already planning my next visit. Highly recommended for anyone looking for a peaceful getaway with a touch of coastal magic!

the book now for £20 is a scam.

generally a deposit means just that.. and they call this a low deposit which sounds great.. ie low amount to secure your cottage.. But this is completely misleading, disingenous..
normally if you pay a deposit and need to cancel or change your plans then your forfeit your deposit.. not in this case.. you need to pay more!
yes yes the meaning of low deposit is hidden in the terms and conditions.. but bottom line they are misselling..
and to add insult to injury the customer service is a nightmare.. just the basics are completely infuriating..

Booked one of their properties through Sykes Cottages (agent). There was option to have one of double rooms made up as twin singles which we requested and was confirmed by them. On arrival bed was made up as double. We phoned the number given at the property and was told that it would be sorted out. It never happened and we ended up buying a camp bed and sleeping bag for the week.

Terrible after sales service.

Do not book with best of Suffolk.
I booked I £5k holiday and could not speak to a person to reduce one day.
Once you have booked they take your money and you phone the office every option hangs up on you with a link that does not work.
You get sent a link that closes the chat down.
Simply the worst customer service I have ever received.

I received an email from Best of Suffolk 4 days ago cancelling a booking I made 7 months ago for August 25 stating due to emergency repair works. The email offered 3 alternatives suggesting I contact them but it was a no reply email. I have tried to contact them for the past 4 days by email, telephone, Instagram and WhatsApp.The phone suggests contacting via the portal but they have cancelled booking and it will not allow me to message. I finally got through today after being on hold for 40 minutes. They say they have refunded my £700 deposit . Not there yet.

Read my google review…

Do not use this company!

Lovely stay over new year. Very comfortable and thoughtfully equipped cottage. Really went the extra mile in letting us know we could arrive before the formal check in time. Thank you.

Recently stayed at Yew Tree Farm Barn, owner was lovely and Best of Suffolk were really helpful. Thank you and I can't wait to return.

What an awful company. I would not touch them again with a barge pole. Appalling customer service from start to finish despite the fact the 94 year old responsible for the booking was recently bereaved. Couldn’t get hold of them on the phone, app didn’t work, usual stuff. Final kick in the teeth was a £48 spurious extras bill for 2 dirty towels and some spilt washing powder (2 hours extra cleaning apparently. Not joking and they take the money straight from your bank account without warning or able to challenge.) if you plan to use this company I think it’s a massive risk. Read the small print carefully and don’t go with a grieving 94 year olds! They really don’t care.

Don't fall for the book now for £20.00 con. You can't book for that amount as the permanent headline on the website wrongly indicates. Yes, hidden away in their terms of conditions of over 100 paragraphs is the small print. How they are allowed to do this and what type of organisation thinks this is a suitable way to operate tells you all you need to know about them.
And don't try contacting anyone. Hours in phone queues and no calls ever returned.
Probably the worst company I've ever dealt with. Prior to them selling to Sykes their operation and customer service was far better.
The owners are no better. The owners of 3 Tinkers End were also were very happy to take our £660 and not £20 as we thought. Shame on you!!

Have to being enticed to book one of your cottages having seen the advert secure your booking for £20 we were very disappointed to learn that when we needed to cancel the booking due to a family tragedy we were liable to pay the full deposit of over £600. Although I conceded we were partly to blame as we did not fully read the terms and conditions it is quite obvious that best of Suffolk use this ploy and advertisement of securing a property for £20 in the hope that people do fall into the trap we did of taking the offer at face value. After explaining to Best of Suffolk the mistake we had made and that sadly we weren’t able to fulfil the holiday booking due to a family tragedy. They were incredibly unsympathetic and refused to do anything to help. We did suggest that if the property were not booked again on the dates we were meant to go that we would pay the full deposit, but if it was booked again, perhaps they would be able to waive the deposit fee rather than being paid twice on the property. Sadly the owners of Tinkers End would not agree to this and insisted that we pay the full amount despite there being three full months before we were meant to travel. In the past we have booked many cottages through best of Suffolk when it was a family run company. Since being taken over by Sykes cottages it appears that corporate greed has got the better of them. The customer service is appalling and it is near impossible to speak to an actual person. After being disconnected pressing numerous options, the only way I could speak to somebody was to pretend I had a property to let. Sadly having visited Aldeburgh many times and always using Best of Suffolk we would never use them again. The false advertisement is clearly very naughty and is there to mislead people as there is no way to secure a property for just £20 you will always be asked to pay the full deposit. Please avoid this company at all costs!

We fell for the "Book now for £20" offer. We thought we were paying a short-term reservation fee for a house we hoped to rent for our family next year. It was the only week suitable so we thought we'd book it promptly. Unfortunately, the dates don't work for one couple so we wanted to cancel/change. There is no way of doing this without losing the FULL deposit of £1,382. We only got this message after completing the booking. When we tried to call someone to complain the phone system took us round in circles and referred us to the website. Finally getting through we were told they are not part of any holiday regulator and are independent so do what they want. Complaint team say see the small print shows this information is in the terms and conditions and we should have read them fully. We thought as part of Sykes this was a trusted company, it’s not. We feel cheated, warning others, what a scam how can this be legal, its designed to con people. BEWARE

We stayed in satis cottage westleton last week and found some housekeeping issues. 3 wine glasses between 4 of us so we rang and someone was going to bring more but never happened. Very stained and dirty carpet downstairs which has been pointed out before a year ago and nothing has been done. Courtyard needs cutting back as very overgrown and found dried up dog poo. Not pleasant.
I stupidly left some clothes in the single room wardrobe as no hanging space in the double room and a week later despite numerous calls and emails l have no idea what has happened to them. They must have done 2 changeovers since then.
Worst of Suffolk comes to mind.

Well it’s only been 4 months since I posted this review and I get a reply.
We were certainly not given access details to get more wine glasses
I did eventually get my clothes returned thank you after paying a £30 charge which I was happy to do.
Reading other reviews on the Sykes website I am certainly not the only person who has commented on the poor state of the outside space and the unclean soft furnishings and carpet.
Hopefully by now they have done something about this.
We actually left a day early on the Thursday and I reported the lost property that same day so it was certainly not 24hours after departure as you state.

We had two wonderful stays in Albion House in Southwold, but this year Best of Suffolk really dropped the ball. The house was filthy when we arrived, raisins stuck to the floor (which clearly hadn't been swept let alone mopped), high chair and table both covered in food. No soap in bathrooms, no spare bin bags. I spent the first hour our holiday cleaning & also trying to entertain a grumpy 2 year old while my husband unpacked. We wrote an email to best of Suffolk to complain and were promptly told unless we had photos there was nothing they could do in the way of compensation (essentially suggesting we were lying). This is after 3 years of no complaints and spending over £4.5k with them... Not only that, when we realised we'd left something at the property after our stay they said it would cost £30 to post plus any postal charges. What a joke... Very very disappointed.

Booked apostle house Southwold through best of Suffolk. Was sold a £10 insurance protection at time of booking.
Property nice enough in good location. Treated the property as if it was our own as we always do and visit Southwold 3-4 weeks of the year. We eat out almost everyday, so was gobsmacked to receive a message from Best of Suffolk informing us that the cleaning company found heavy scratched marks to the hob ( which we may have used once at best) and a broken fridge drawer. We disputed this claim and suggested that they were pulling a fast one because we took out their insurance cover. They have now deducted £100 from out account 2 weeks later and sent us a bill for £541. They have suggested we use the insurance to reclaim the damages. WE didn’t cause any damage, so why should we! It’s an outrage and an absolute scam. Avoid this company at all costs and think long and hard before booking Apostle house in Southwold. Outrageous theft

Stayed in the 'Field edge' bungalow for 3 nights for my birthday. Prior to booking, we read the reviews which mostly mentioned about how unclean the property is and people wouldn't return. Were not an overly fussy family, and knew we would be out most of the day on walks etc so continued to book our 3 night stay. Had a lovely stay, or though we do agree with reviews regarding not being clean- There were dead flys on the window seal, the bath had a dirty ring around it, bedding wasn't white and had marks on it and cutlery was still dirty from god knows when. However, we stayed the 3 nights, left the property after tidying up to then receive an email stating the company having taken and extra £42 from us for 'extra cleaning time'. They attached images of the bathroom bin with 1x food wrapper in it (isn't that what bins are for?!) And an oven tray with biscuits on (this was not ours) and said due to the images, they had to hire the cleaners for an extra 2 hours work, therefore £42 was charged to us for the extra cleaning. It's outrageous!! What we're they cleaning for 2 hours for this charge?! We are still trying to get our money back a month later, but keep getting fobbed off or not answering. How a company like this is allowing people to charge this much extra is a joke and I will definitely NOT be recommending the company to anyone at all. Stay away from this place, they take your money for no reason!!
Also, once the company have read this review, hurry up and get in touch and refund the money that was wrongly taken from us!

Bestofsuffolk just serve as advertisers for the property owners. If there is an issue or complaint they have no ability to get the owner to refund a stay. There is not formal complains procedure (unlike airB&B). The owners can just refuse an issue and bestofsuffolk do nothing about it. Do not trust them with your holiday.