It is a nice hotel in pleasant surroundings but I may have stayed there on a bad day as it's not somewhere i'll be planning to stay again.
It's location is on the outskirts of Cambridge so not ideal if you need to get to/from the city centre. A big negative point for me was the local traffic in the morning. I had to get to a meeting in the city centre and it took about 10 minutes just to get out of the hotel! It eventually took about 45 minutes to travel the few miles into town but I can't blame the hotel for that. Just be warned, if you need to get somewhere, leave yourself plenty of extra time for sitting in traffic.
The hotel has a health and leisure club which looked very nice although I never had time to use the facilities when I stayed. The hotel (and leisure club) car park is big enough to allow most guests to park their car. There was of course the usual big expensive car parked right outside the front door causing a bit of an obstruction which the hotel did nothing about.
The reception staff were very friendly and very helpful. When I asked for directions into town, I was there for 10 minutes being talked through in great detail, the roads I should take. They even printed out some directions from a route planner website so can't fault them for that.
The reason I didn't score this hotel very highly is mainly because of the food, service and restaurant environment. I ordered room service of a simple burger and chips. It took around 50 minutes to arrive which I think was way too long. When it did arrive, the burger and the chips were burnt yet not very hot. I ate them nevertheless, in fear of waiting another hour for a replacement.
Then in the morning, I went down for breakfast but walked out of the restaurant almost as soon as I walked in. There was absolutely no atmosphere, deathly silent apart from the chinking of spoons against bowls as people sat on their own eating their cornflakes. There were no staff around and I really didn't want to sit in that room at all so I grabbed a croissant and got on my way - which turned out to be a good thing because of the traffic - see above! It's website claims to have an award winning restaurant! I have no idea what award it won or how long ago but the food I had was a disgrace.
The rooms were ok, nothing special but at least they were clean. I was a bit unlucky I think because the TV in my room would only pick up 1 channel.
Overall, the hotel was let down by a few failings which could be easily improved. I can imagine though that many customers like it there and I was just unlucky the day I stayed. So I probably would recommend this hotel, providing you don't have a deadline to meet in the morning. The other things, within the control of the hotel, could be hit and miss but with only 1 experience to go by, I couldn't say whether it is always like this.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
This characteristic, Grade II listed former watermill, featuring award winning food, real ... more
ales and 40 malt whiskies, is set in 11 acres of beautiful gardens. Originally built in 1830, the Watermill, Miller's House and Timber Framed Barns have been care...
Information:
Price is per double room per night and may vary depending on date booked...
A real gem a characterful Grade II listed former watermill featuring award winning food ... more
real ales and 40 malt whiskies This family owned hotel has a Health Club with a 12 metre indoor pool spa sauna steam room and 30 piece fitness studioSet in 11...
Information:
Price is per double room per night and may vary depending on date booked...
very helpful by (100%):
