THE LOWDOWN

The Fellows House, a smart apartment-style hotel, opened in Cambridge three years ago and was a much welcome addition to the city’s hotel scene that until recently was rather depleted. At first you might think the hotel is in a rather strange spot – on the corner of Milton Road and Gilbert Road, a residential area to the north of the city. However, the location was specifically chosen to be both attractive to tourists and business travellers heading to the nearby Science Park, and is actually a real bonus because you won’t get snarled up in city centre traffic, there’s space to park on site (a real rarity in a Cambridge hotel) and you’re just 5 – 10 minutes on foot from the river and all the main sights and shops.

Cambridge is well known for its beautiful historic buildings, but The Fellows House has a much more modern, functional façade – you could mistake it for smart university accommodation at first glance. This hotel’s beauty lies within though, with super stylish interiors inspired by the colleges, so you certainly don’t want to judge this book by its cover.

THE VIBE

There’s a really homely, relaxed vibe in the hotel, probably due to the fact that instead of your average rooms, the hotel is a collection different sized apartments that attract families and longer-term visitors, who want to make the space a home-from-home during their stay.

The ground floor is all open plan, with lots of sumptuous velvet armchairs and sofas to curl up in with a book or a Cambridge fellow-inspired cocktail (there’s everything from Attenborough’s ‘Life on Earth’ to Stephen Hawking’s ‘A History of Time’). The reception area spills over into an atmospheric bar that feels like a members club (or very smart take on a Cambridge student common room) with a pool table, TV, and fireplace.

Walk through to The Folio Restaurant and the vibe changes slightly with large windows letting in a lot of sunlight, monochrome tiles, art-lined walls and house plants – it’s a space that wouldn’t look out of place in New York. Outside you’ll find a large courtyard garden, and in summer the doors fold back to give a wonderful inside-out feel to the place.

The interior scheme is all dark wood, marble, soft lighting, metallic touches and antique mirrors and the longer you stay the more you notice all the fun artistic details such as a DNA wall panel by the bar, an exposed brick wall featuring paintings of the colleges coats of arms by the lift, a bicycle sculpture by reception and copper columns by the entrance featuring Enigma-code etchings that you can work out if you have enough time and brain cells.

The designers have also managed to squeeze in a wellness area with pool, sauna and steam room. When we say squeeze, we mean it though – the pool is the skinniest we’ve ever seen and is much more suited to relaxing and bobbing around rather than doing exercise. Thankfully there are separate adult and family sessions though as I imagine adults without kids wouldn’t find them very endearing at such close and wet quarters!

My six-year old son had a whale of a time in the pool though thanks to the submerged bench seating at the side that meant he could keep his head above water with no help. Next to the pool there’s also a well-equipped gym, ideal for anyone staying for a while.

SCOFF & QUAFF

The restaurant has recently unveiled a brand new offering, afternoon tea, which is a lovely modern take on the tradition. We were treated to three tiers of dainty sandwiches with wow factor fillings like avocado and hoisin caviar and tomato and goat cheese baguettes as well as teeny tiny quiches and arancini balls. Classic sweet treats followed such as macarons, mini Victoria sponges and chocolate tarts. We washed it all down with tea, but you can upgrade things with one of their signature cocktails named after the brainiest of Cambridge’s scholars.

In the past we’ve also enjoyed a standout Sunday Lunch in the restaurant as well as a smart dinner, so it’s one of those restaurants that you can rely on for any occasion if you live nearby. It’s also really child-friendly, even though it looks rather grown up, and has a kid’s menu and a relaxed pizza menu that my son enjoyed one evening.

the sage of cambridge at the fellows house

As well as the restaurant, there’s also a lovely light and modern cafe at the front of the hotel called The Sage of Cambridge that’s great for a coffee and pastry or a healthy brunch. This space also holds many of the hotel’s monthly events including themed brunches, art classes (with cocktails!) and talks.

PILLOW TALK

As a mother of two young children, I wish more hotels were like The Fellows House. The concept of apartment-style rooms is really brilliant and makes life so much easier for pretty much every type of guest, but especially families and any guests who are staying for over a week.

The hotel is a real Tardis and has 163 rooms that come in four categories – standard, studio, apartment and duplex. The room types are named after famous fellows of the university including Rudyard Kipling, Quentin Blake, Alan Turing, Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin. Nearly all come with a fully equipped kitchen area (seriously there’s even a cook book if you’re lacking recipe inspiration!) and lounge space which means you can mix self-catering with the hotels restaurant as and when you please. Some apartments sleep three, while there’s even an interconnecting option that sleeps five.

The bathrooms are luxuriously kitted out and there are plenty of little extras throughout the rooms that give it a luxe edge – White Company toiletries, reading books by the bed, fluffy white robes to use when going to the wellness area, and lovely crisp linen on the beds.

OUT & ABOUT

If you want to see Cambridge like a local you can hire bikes from reception and take in all the sights on two wheels. Punting is the other quintessentially Cambridge activity and the hotel is just a few minutes away from several mooring stations on the corner of Jesus Green. Choose a chauffeured punt to take you along The Backs for all the best views of the colleges. You can easily walk to the market square and main shopping area from the hotel too.

KID-FRIENDLY?

Definitely. From the family-friendly apartment style rooms and cots on request to the kids menus and friendly staff – little ones are most welcome here. The pool is definitely more of an adults affair though, so if you’re bringing swimming stuff for kids you’ll want to head to Parkside Pool with its diving boards, slides and toddler pool instead.

DOG-FRIENDLY?

The Fellows House isn’t a pet-friendly hotel.

ACCESSIBILITY

There are seven accessible rooms with showers suited to wheelchair users and plenty of space in the kitchen and lounge areas. There are also lifts to all floors and the underground car park and as it’s a modern hotel you won’t find any unexpected steps or wonky floors to deal with.

THE MUDDY VERDICT

Good for: Any visitor to Cambridge will find a lot to love at The Fellows House, but it’s particularly well suited for families, larger groups and anyone looking for a long-term stay thanks to the apartment style rooms and the fact that you can park here.

Not for: If you’re looking for an authentic Cambridge experience, where you’re surrounded by history, college and Instagrammable sights in every direction as soon as you step out the door this probably isn’t the hotel for you.

The damage: Rooms at The Fellows House Cambridge, Curio Collection by Hilton, start from £136 per night for 2 people staying in a Kipling King room on a B&B basis.

The Fellows House Cambridge, 33 Milton Road, Cambridge, CB4 1UZ. Tel: 01223 949499, getintouch@thefellowshouse.com

Review: The Fellows House, Cambridge

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