Secret Meadows Glamping — Hotel in East Suffolk

After ten years of visiting Secret Meadows as a family, a review is long overdue. So, here are ten things we love about it:||1. You can enjoy all the best things about camping - cooking on the fire, playing and relaxing outdoors, being close to nature…|2. But with the luxury of a seriously comfy bed and a tent which doesn’t let in the sunlight at 5am! The tents have everything you need, they are like a small house with canvas walls. The box bed is a highlight, and we toss a coin every year to decide who gets to sleep in it|3. The goats. We cannot let a day go by without visiting the goats, such lively and engaging animals with distinct personalities. We also love the chickens (thanks for the tasty eggs!), rabbits and cows. Sometimes we’ve been lucky to spot deer out in the woods, too|4. The surroundings are peaceful and beautiful. We’ve stayed here in every season and there’s always something new to experience, from rare orchids to rutting deer. Every year we enjoy the short walk across the fields to Boulge church and a race around the labyrinth|5. Night-time, enjoying a campfire with toasted marshmallows, gazing up at the stars and listening to the owls call to each other. The stars are also amazing when viewed from the hot tub |6. The wider area. If you want to, there’s a massive choice of day trips in the surrounding area and these are all listed in the info pack. If you don’t, you can happily spend all your time on site, or a bit of both|7. Relaxing in the hammock or on a swing, or even up a tree. Each tent has its own swing and our kids enjoy arguing about which is the best. It’s a tough call with no clear winner|8. Ross and family are so friendly and helpful, and always happy to share their knowledge of this beautiful place and the wildlife within it. Staying here feels very personal in a way that we’ve not found anywhere else|9. Its private but sociable. Each tent is nestled in its own bit of greenery, so you have privacy and quiet. But if you want to camp next door to friends or your kids are looking for playmates, that’s also easy to do|10. It’s great at any age. We first camped here when our kids were very young. Now they are older, they no longer build dens and make mud pies, but we’ve found new things to do like wildlife photography, cycling and fire-building. And you’re never too old to enjoy feeding a goat!||Secret Meadows is a special place. We’ve seen there are now other places with safari tents, but for us it would be impossible to better the experiences we’ve had here. As a family, we enjoy change and new adventures, but coming back here each year is something we all look forward to and never tire of. It goes without saying that we would highly...

We took a 4 day stay at Secret Meadow - our family of 5 along with our friends and their family of 5, in 2 luxury lodge tents - in July and were blown away by the standard of the tent and furnishings, the set up, and the welcome and service from Ross and the staff at Secret Meadow. It's a beautiful, small site, with personal service and everything the traveller could wish for, including a beautiful little cabin 'The Pantry' stocked with goodies from the local Farm Shop, and 'The Wood Shed' for all your wood/ kindling/ firelighters/ candles etc (and a charging station! very important detail) needs.

The tent really is a luxury lodge! 3 'bedrooms' and a fully flushing toilet, shower with as much hot water on tap as you need, a proper kitchen with the best wood burning stove to cook roasties or jacket potatoes in as you BBQ your meats outside. Spot on.

The beds were all comfortable, and very snuggly wool blankets on each bed if the going got cold (which it didn't but an almighty 2 1/2 hour storm did arrive in the middle of the night and was an added excitement...I didn't know just how loud a storm could be!).

The location of the site is also stunning - set in a nature reserve with woodland walks, room for the children to play and build dens to their hearts content, and close to Woodbridge (pretty market town), Orford (fabulous English Heritage castle), Aldeburgh (fish n chips on the sea front!) and the beautiful Suffolk coast. A breakfast at Barn Cafe nearby (where there is also a well stocked farm shop) and dinner at The Coach and Horses at Melton (fabulous food) when the weather was not good enough to BBQ, or you just need to not cook!

What more can I add...? Everything is supplied, or readily available (a bonus if, like us, you're travelling in the UK from overseas and can't take the kitchen sink with you) and it's the sort of camping you can happily do in the unpredictable UK summer, as I'm sure, like us, you'd welcome the rain just to have an excuse to stay in your tent with a bottle of red in front of the roaring stove and listen to the patter on the canvas roof overhead...

Thanks to Ross and the Secret Meadow team from 5...

From the moment we arrived at Secret Meadows, I felt like we’d stepped straight into a storybook. The setting is breathtaking — lush meadows, whispering trees, and the kind of peace you can feel in your bones. Every detail of our stay was perfect. The safari tent was not only beautifully furnished but also spotlessly clean and filled with thoughtful touches that made us feel instantly at home.||This is camping for people who are scared to actually camp — and I mean that in the best possible way! You get all the magic of the outdoors without sacrificing comfort. We had a proper shower, a real toilet, and even a fridge — so you can still chill your wine while pretending to be rugged and outdoorsy.||One of the absolute highlights for us was the animal feeding experience. The kids were thrilled to get up close with the animals, and Ross was brilliant — friendly, patient, and incredibly knowledgeable. He shared fascinating facts and made sure everyone, big and small, felt involved. It was the perfect blend of fun and learning, and the children haven’t stopped talking about it since.||We also loved taking a lovely walk through the countryside to a great local pub — the perfect way to spend a lazy afternoon. Secret Meadows is also in the ideal spot for exploring nearby treasures like Southwold and other charming seaside towns. We spent one day wandering along the beach, enjoying fresh fish and chips, before heading back to our cozy glamping base for a sunset campfire.||The staff were absolutely wonderful — warm, welcoming, and clearly passionate about making every guest’s experience unforgettable. I’ve already recommended Secret Meadows to all my friends (and one of them is so excited, they’ve booked to come next week!). This place isn’t just a getaway; it’s an experience that leaves you recharged, inspired, and a little reluctant to return to “real life.”||If you’re looking for somewhere to truly switch off, reconnect with nature, and make magical memories, look no further. Secret Meadows is, without a doubt, my new favourite escape — and I can’t wait...