Upper Lodge, Shotley

This was our third visit to Upper Lodge.

The property is modern, spacious and airy with wonderful views over the Orwell and to Felixstowe. We really love the peaceful, quiet, secluded location and the opportunity for country walks from the door. The accommodation is very well equipped, especially the kitchen, with ample cleaning products under the sink and toilet cleaner in the bathrooms. Shower gel, shampoo and conditioner are also provided. We have enjoyed walking to Shotley Vineyard, only 20 mins away, as well as to Pin Mill. We really enjoyed the welcome bottle of white wine on arrival. We look forward to returning next year.

This property worked really well for us, it was interesting and comfortable and allowed us to rest and recuperate in a beautiful part of the country, perfect!

An imaginative house designed to capture light and the views of the countryside it sits in.

We enjoyed our stay in the property, exploring the surrounding area. We hope to return at some point.

Lovely Property thoroughly enjoyed staying there.

But it wouldn't work for 6 adults. There is no comfortable seating in the lounge area or the viewing room. In fact the sofa upstairs is so uncomfortable, with no head rests. and there is not enough seating to all sit in one area together. The mattress protector on one of the twin beds was stained with what looked like blood and covered in hairs! Could be a fantastic place with a little more quality furnishings and maybe a superking zip and link bed in each of the rooms so couples can use and be split if needed. No heating (just towel rail) in the bathroom so very chilly in there. On the plus side great views asnd lovely base for walking. Great kitchen too. Just the seating and beds need sorting. we would come again but only on our own.

Lovely accommodation in a fabulous setting - the views across to Folkestone were amazing and the walks along the estuary and up to Pin Mill were great.

The kitchen has everything you need, the dining table and chairs were good, the beds were comfy and the rooms sizeable. There were areas which could do with a bit of re-decoration and one of the ensuite showers was getting a bit tired but generally nicely presented with lovely art etc. However, some of the furniture was in need of replacement. There were three of us visiting which was fine but had there been four to six of us stopping there wasn't enough comfortable seating/sofas for everyone, and the upstairs sofa was uncomfortable and sagging. The tumble dryer didn't work and there was no live TV on either of the TVs (though streaming was fine). These are all points which could be sorted easily, and when they are this would be a first class accommodation.

We have stayed at Upper Lodge many times before and the first thing we really noticed was the house had been cleaned to an incredible standard, very impressed by this.

The peace and tranquility were once more very welcome break, from our busier lives back home. It was a "working from home" week for me, the WiFi and internet signal worked extremely well. Our 2 labradors, enjoyed the local walks, I guess one possible future improvement, would be to make the garden secure, from a doggy point of view? But a thoroughly wonderful stay again.

This was our 4th visit to Upper Lodge and we loved it as much as ever.

We took our greyhound and, for the 1st week, our family and grandchildren. We then extended by a week to recover after they had left! We all had a brilliant time and they loved it too. The accommodation was very clean and bright and warm, and very well appointed and equipped. However neither the dishwasher nor the tumble drier were working. This was not ideal with 6 people staying. These unserviceabilities were not the fault of Sykes Cottages and certainly not the Owner. But when reported to Sykes their attempts to rectify things were pathetic verging on non-existent. Contact with the owner got the dishwasher replaced in short order; the tumble drier never was rectified because all attempts to contact Sykes left me fighting their dreadful automated response system. Even when they responded with a contact phone number to ring - it was answered by the automated system again! I gave up in the end as the effort of trying to contact Sykes was spoiling our holiday,

We love coming to Upper Lodge.

The beauty of the landscape and the wonderful light never cease to inspire us. We had everything we needed - thank you.

The place was great.

Really enjoyed the lovely light house. It's in a quiet spot, so no houses nearby, if you like that. Well equiped house and very warm!

We were returning guests at Upper Lodge, always such a pleasure being there.

Very peaceful and such beautiful views over the fields to Felixstowe which is strangely hypnotic watching the comings and goings of the tankers. Wonderful walks and great pubs nearby. Can’t wait to get back there, certainly didn’t want to go home!

Another great stay - our third - and even though the weather was a little disappointing this time, we still enjoyed the walks and the views.

Our family and grandchildren joined us for the weekend, and were kept amply entertained by all the board games - and the table football! We had a heating issue (not helped by the cold winds!) but the owner responded immediately and it was rectified the next day. A really good late winter break in this lovely property.

Overall a lovely property.

It was clean, warm and well appointed with comfortable furniture and beds. The kitchen, too, is well equipped with all the appliances we needed during our stay. There is some overdue maintenance although none of this affected us or our enjoyment of the property. The views from the windows, particularly upstairs are lovely, well worth stopping for a while to take in.

The property is very well presented and most comfortable to live in and the cleanliness is deserving of top marks.

If you feel like making one improvement I would suggest replacing the mattress in the first bedroom by the front door as that was the only negative. I personally having Parkinson’s Disease would have appreciated a grab handle in the shower. Apart from these two small issues our stay was most enjoyable and I thank you for the use of such a lovely house.

This was our second stay and we enjoyed it very much once again.

The house is very comfortable and well equipped, is very quiet and peaceful, and has stunning views.

Having stayed at Upper lodge for the last seven years, March 2023 was the first time we felt the need to write a review.

The owners apologised and asked us to give it another go. So in March 2024 we did. On arrival we found the waste bins were not emptied and were left in the main bedroom. The bathroom and en suite bins were full to the brim with the previous occupants rubbish and still in their respective rooms.After emptying the bins we could not find any replacement bin bags in the kitchen drawer at all. Once again we found dog hair on the furniture and seating area floor downstairs. The towels and quilt covers and pillowslips in both double rooms had some dubious stains on them. Some of these stains could have been from the washing machine door rubber which was disgusting and really needed cleaning,which we did before we used it..The tea towels had been washed but still looked grubby. We could not start to enjoy our stay until we had vacuumed the lodge right through with a hoover that desperately needs new floor tools and cleaning out and a new bag fitted. Upper lodge is a stunning property in a beautiful location and we understand that it is a holiday let that is in need of some TLC but it should be CLEAN! We are sorry to say that we are very disappointed as we really look forward to holidaying there.

Another great stay in this lovely property.

The location is perfect for us - lots of walks and wildlife, with great views across to Felixstowe and Harwich.

We had a lovely pre Christmas family stay.

Spectacular views from upper lodge and plenty of space for all. Great walks in the surrounding area and places to eat!

Upper Lodge is a stunning property with fantastic views from the front and back windows of the viewing gallery.

We enjoyed looking at the views through the telescope. The property is in a very peaceful location. The kitchen is well equipped and we very much enjoyed our week's holiday here. We would disagree with the wording on the Sykes website which states that "children and any pets can run around safely" as one side of the back garden is completely open and leads to the road (albeit a quiet country lane). Because of this, we would have appreciated some outdoor lighting in the back garden.

Yes there were a few things the steps on from door are not wheel chair friendly the flooring needs replacing cracked in places frying pan was always making food stick not enough seating in the loung area for 4 people but generally clean and liveable but we didn’t let this spoil holiday

We loved our stay at Upper Lodge.

The river and harbour views are amazing, across the fields, and the huge windows really maximise these views. The top floor look out room is stunning. The house is very light and very peaceful, and there are lovely walks from the house. The house is very well equipped, especially the kitchen. One bedroom is more suited to children with children's single beds, (although they are full length), and without storage or hanging space for clothes. The Shotley peninsula is such a pretty, rural area to explore. We will return for sure.

We loved the peacefulness of the location and the light.

Walks from the door and plenty of space to relax at the house.

Lovely house really enjoyed our stay.

More sofas are probably needed downstairs we struggled to all sit as a family comfortably down there. Maybe some a few children's toys too in the bedroom.

Fantastic property in fantastic location with fantastic views.

We enjoyed our week there having breakfast on the decking and watching the ships coming and going from Felixtowe and Harwich. There are lots of places to visit all relatively nearby. Very peaceful and secluded with lots of wildlife to watch. Would not hesitate in recommending this property.

The lodge was spectacular in every way.

Beds comfortable, linen and towels pristine. And every thing you might need in the kitchen. One downside was that the flooring in the kitchen living area was split in places and could cause tripping. The outside doors were difficult to open and close especially for us older people. Fantastic bird watching, we saw marsh harriers and twite also a few brown hares.

We have been to Upper Lodge a number of times and always want to revisit.

However, the last two visits the people before us had dogs and the furniture and floor were covered with black dog hairs which my wife had to vacuum before we could unpack or enjoy our holiday. Not a good start to our holiday! There were also stains on the downstairs lounger cushions which stopped us from using it at all. I do think that also the bedding should have pillow protectors for hygiene purposes. These seem to be standard practise in every other place we have stayed . Other than that we had a lovely time.

At short notice we felt we needed late winter break and our search criteria (dog friendly, two bathrooms, country location, price, within about 2 hours from home) included Upper Lodge in the short list.

My wife's review of the photos and description immediately confirmed it as easily the top contender, and we booked it. 3 days later we were there and loved it so much we extended our stay by 3 days! It's a beautifully designed property, very spacious with huge windows and with superb views across the River Orwell to Felixstowe. But the real clincher was the walking around the river and bird life - it was fantastic. The Shotley peninsula is a well-kept secret - beautiful and very quiet, yet within easy reach of South Suffolk's renowned beauty spots.

Very enjoyable stay, with all the required facilities plus more.

Will definitely look to get back again in the future.

A relaxing and tranquil stay in a beautiful house with spectacular views across the fields to Felixstowe docks and the Orwell.

Great for children and adults alike, whatever the weather.