In 2019 the riverside hotel, The Varsity, underwent a £2 million refurbishment.  The 44 bedrooms were revamped with herringbone wood floors, marble bathrooms and luxury touches. The corner suite, with incredible panoramic views of the city, is pretty special.

The hotel’s spa and gym (Glassworks) has a jacuzzi spa pool that looks over the River Cam, so you can watch the punts and the world go buy from a bubbly hideaway. Elemis treatments are on offer, plus there is also a sauna, and steam room. The gym is impressive with state of art equipment in a cool warehouse setting – if you’re really feeling energetic try one of the many popular classes too.

Now enough of all that exercise malarky – what about the bar? If you have no issues with heights, the rooftop bar is a must on warm days, for those great views of the city and beyond, accompanied by classy cocktails. On a hot summer day there are queues to get up there, so get there early. The hotel’s restaurant – Six- is one floor below the open rooftop bar, and also has those great views of the colleges and famous landmarks. Six is decorated like a shiny and glam French brasserie, with gilt mirrors, tiled floor, and those lovely wicker café chairs that you get in Parisenne pavement cafés, which all adds to the holiday feel. There’s a large bar area if you just want a drink and a snack with a fab range of cocktails, plus 30 gins to pair with eight different tonics. Is there a Cambridge don that can work out how many G&Ts that is with all the combos?  The restaurant offers great bistro-style food – we love the rotisserie chicken with fries, a top choice from this restaurant that specialises in dishes from their wood stone oven, grill and rotisserie. If steak is more your thing then there is the River Bar Steakhouse and Grill to try too, serving up 28-day dry-aged prime beef in a classy riverside restaurant.

With two restaurants, bars, and a spa – you don’t really have to leave the Varisty, but you are minutes from the city centre shops and restaurants. You are in a prime location to walk along the backs or punt along the river (Scudamore Punts is minutes away). Or why not cycle around this bike-friendly city on one of the Varsity’s complimentary bicycles.