About

Our story

Serenity Cottages was born in 2016 with Owl’s Hoot Cottage, a clay lump grade two listed detached barn that was in need of some love.

The owner John Howard, a local reporter with the East Anglian Daily Times, converted and extended the single storey detached barn into his first holiday home.

We then welcomed our very first guests back in June 2016, with the help of a grant from Mid Suffolk District Council to convert and save the barn.

The cottage soon had its own hot tub, then welcomed dogs, and from there flew.

Dog friendly accommodation Suffolk

We welcome dogs

When John moved from Oak Cottage next door, a chocolate box grade two listed cottage with two fireplaces into neighbouring Lavender Cottage, Oak Cottage became our second cottage for holidaymakers arriving during March 2018.

Lavender Cottage, a four bedroom cottage with fireplace followed too when John moved out of the village after 19 years, during December 2021.

Honeysuckle Cottage, at the other end of Stoke Ash near Eye, then opened but was destroyed by a thatch fire that swept through from next door.

Thankfully, no one was hurt and the property was beautifully restored over the following two and a half years, enhanced even further into a beautiful holiday home reopening and welcoming our first guests again during September 2022.

Thankfully now both Honeysuckle Cottage and the neighbouring property both thatched no longer have fireplaces, and Honeysuckle Cottage has a stunning electric fireplace.

The latest addition is the gorgeous vine cottage is in Walsham le Willows, within walking distance of two historic pubs, and a fine food delicatessen shop, which opened to holiday guests the same month during 2022 too.

Our services

Our vision is to create a private oasis for our guests to enjoy time away from their busy lives, relaxing in the hot tub, unwinding in saunas, and relaxing in front of the fire.

All our cottages are pet friendly, and we love to welcome your well-behaved dogs and cats.

If you have other pets you would like to bring, please just ask us and we will be delighted to welcome them too.

Awards

We have earnt cyclist, ramblers and Visit England awards in recognition of our commitment to our guests.

Visit England cyclists welcome

Visit England walkers welcome

Visit England Gold Award

Visit England 5 stars

What our customers say about us

We are proud that at the time of writing across 838 reviews on Airbnb alone, our overall rating is 5 out of 5 from our guests who have stayed with us. We welcome our guests feedback so that we can always improve even further, and if we ever get anything wrong for you, we will put it right quickly. We have been awarded Airb@b superhost status recognising our cottages’ cleanliness, our communication, accuracy of property descriptions and pictures, locations, and value for money for our guests.

Please read our reviews to see what our hundreds of our customers say about us. We look forward to welcoming you soon too.

Reviews