A LUXURIOUS hotel set in one of East Anglia's most historic country houses is an ideal location for lovers, according to a new guide.The Ickworth Hotel is featured in the exclusive Mr & Mrs Smith guide, a collection of hotels that promise "a wonderful and sexy experience.

A LUXURIOUS hotel set in one of East Anglia's most historic country houses is an ideal location for lovers, according to a new guide.

The Ickworth Hotel is featured in the exclusive Mr & Mrs Smith guide, a collection of hotels that promise "a wonderful and sexy experience."

They have been judged to be "perfect for that romantic break with the 'missus', or dirty weekend with the secretary".

But the venue, which only opened last year, is also praised for its family facilities in the upmarket guide.

Based in the east wing of Ickworth House, near Bury St Edmunds, the hotel opened to the public last summer.

Peter Lord, general manager of The Ickworth, said he was delighted with the hotel's write-up in the guide.

"The whole thing about the Mr & Mrs Smith title and the dirty weekends is tongue in cheek," he said.

"We do have a lot of families visiting and we are under the 'great for kids' section in the book, but we do get a lot of couples visiting for a romantic weekend away."

Built in the late 18th Century, the magnificent Ickworth House has been the ancestral home of the Hervey family for more than 200 years.

Drug-addled John Hervey, the 7th Marquess of Bristol, died at his home on the estate aged 44 in January 1999.

The title passed to his half-brother, Frederick Hervey, whose sister is socialite Lady Victoria Hervey.

The Mr & Mrs Smith guide, written by Tamara Heber-Percy and James Lohan, is out now.