Suffolk · England
The Swan at Lavenham Hotel & Spa
Medieval timbers and a modern spa in England's best-preserved wool town
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The Swan occupies a run of timber-framed buildings in the middle of Lavenham, a village so completely preserved from the medieval wool trade that it is regularly used as a film location. Parts of the inn date from the fifteenth century, and the interior is a warren of low beams, crooked floors and open fires.
A spa was added in a converted barn in the grounds, which gives the hotel a genuinely modern wellness offering without disturbing the historic fabric. There is a brasserie alongside a more formal restaurant, and an airmen's bar preserved from the Second World War, when American crews stationed nearby drank here.
Lavenham's guildhall, church and crooked house fronts are all within a few minutes' walk. Long Melford, Sudbury and the Suffolk coast at Aldeburgh make straightforward excursions.
At a glance
What to expect
- Weavers' House Spa
- 46 bedrooms and suites
- Fifteenth-century timber-framed inn
- Historic Airmen's Bar
- Two AA Rosette dining
- Four-poster rooms
- Afternoon tea
- Village-centre location
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