The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
Making the grade in Cambridge
The first British outpost of the Graduate boutique hotel group gets a high 2:1, says Rachel Cranshaw
In 2018 I took a trip along America’s Pacific Northwest, driving from Portland to Vancouver and stopping in Seattle. I hadn’t expected to love this midpoint as much as I did, but found myself deeply enamoured with the Emerald City; its music history and tech future, all surrounded by mountains. This was in no small part thanks to the hotel I stayed in – the very best city hotels draw on their locale and play a leading role in making you fall in love with a place.
That hotel was the Graduate, part of a small US boutique chain that deals in college nostalgia and strategically places its properties on campuses and in university cities. Seattle’s is set in an impressive art deco tower block and has a rooftop bar-restaurant with knockout panoramic views over Mount Rainier and the Olympic range.
Fast-forward to 2021 and the group has opened its first property outside the US, in the city of Cambridge. I was intrigued when I first heard about this opening: how would this all-American export embed itself in somewhere that has, shall we say, very much its own thing going on in terms of academia?
I was even more intrigued when I learned where it was to be located. While what was formerly the DoubleTree by Hilton has a winning riverside location, it is set in a building that was damaged by fire and rebuilt in the 1970s. In a city that is known for being pretty, that building is not. But in a way, how interesting a proposition is a hotel that has no architectural credentials to lean on; not a period detail in sight to be retained and restored, sympathetically or otherwise?
The opening was delayed, like so many, owing to the pandemic; while a gym and a pool are to be added later this year, a second UK property, in Oxford, ended up opening almost simultaneously. I visited as the finishing touches were being put to Graduate Cambridge, arriving on a Friday night to the warmest of Americanstyle hotel welcomes.
The first thing you notice on entering the hotel is what I originally thought were beds climbing up three floors surrounding a statement staircase (moved from its location in the building’s previous incarnation) – but as my eyes adjusted, I realised they were punts, from original purveyors Scudamore’s, just a few doors down. As hat tips to local culture go, this is a diverting one; fun and thoughtful, visually entertaining and authentic.
Design references to gown are of course as notable as those to town. From the ceiling in front of the reception desk hangs a vast installation representing the double helix DNA structure discovered here. Rosalind Franklin’s contributions to this are acknowledged on one of six key cards that pay tribute to celeb alumni (hello also to a gamine Emma Thompson).
The Graduate style is an ode to maximalism, at its best among the space of the public areas. Aside from the punts, there is parquet and mosaic flooring, a vintage teal velvet Chesterfield sofa (a reupholstered vintage find) spanning an entire picture window, scattered with cushions in shades of sunset, and muted green walls – all before you have even checked in.
These themes continue in the hotel’s 148 rooms, some of which have balconies overlooking the Cam. Tapestrystyle throws, headboards and rugs mix with tartan curtains, while the likes of dark wood bureaus and plump green velvet armchairs contribute to the overall cosy “professor’s study” vibe.
The faux-wood panelling may jar delicate design sensibilities, though I recognised perhaps a tongue-in-cheek nod to that difficulty of competing with centuries of history as a new kid on the block; an outsider. Likewise in the bathrooms, which are maximum-maximalist with pastoral-scene wallpaper, rustic-effect floor tiles, vanity with trompe l’oeil drawers, a university crest-shaped mirror and a shower with honeycomb-tiled bottom and fake brick walls. Phew.
When I asked founder and CEO Ben Weprin about the challenge he had taken on, he substantiated my initial curiosity, saying that “the obstacle was an opportunity”. He was drawn to Oxbridge for obvious reasons of prestige, as well as the loyal alumni base of both institutions, closest in the UK to those of the Ivy League. Though universities here do not see the same scale of returning former students to sports matches, there are still reunions to be had, not to mention visiting parents, academics, and prospective students.
Term has yet to start, but when I was there on a Saturday night in early September, the restaurant was filled with locals (as well as guests) keen to sample a hot new gastronomic offering. On sunny afternoons, the hotel’s outdoor area on the riverbank (being developed to include an al-fresco bar) tinkles with laughter and the frequent pop of corks, both from tables and passing punts. After dark, it is all about killer cocktails (try the dry daiquiri #2; spoiler alert, it’s not too dry and the lime and lychee come through a treat) and ex-Perilla chef Adam Wood’s open-grill kitchen in the Garden House.
The short menu sings with simple ingredients used creatively: the hollandaise made with dulse on a plate of
steamed and grilled veg was so saltily moreish we had to order bread (homemade sourdough, of course) to mop it up, while a tomato tart with summer greens and ricotta, though pricey at £24, made for a chunky end-of-season hurrah. Desserts are just as strong. Don’t underestimate the ice cream, each flavour of which is served individually; the fig leaf is made from a tree just outside.
They seem to have a thing about sauces here, as the hollandaise on the avocado and eggs Benedict the next morning was also one to write home about, visibly speckled with grainy mustard for sharpness but still buttery enough. A slight mishap with our order saw a couple of duplications and a pastry go awry, but we decided to roll with it – these are still the toughest of times for hospitality, not least in a new hotel where staff, who may be new to the industry, are still settling in. Students like one of our waiters at home for the summer will soon be back to their own universities, a cyclical and age-old migration.
I was struck while staying here that I was temporarily semi-immersed in a pandemic-proof world. Students may have had to study at home, but education and the pursuit of knowledge are everlasting; yesterday’s double helix is today’s AstraZeneca. Its concept makes Graduate that much more resilient to the external factors that have wreaked havoc on so many other cities and their hotels; indeed Weprin told me that the idea behind the brand had arisen from the ashes of the 2008 recession after just that observation was made. After all, he reasoned, “Education never goes out of style.”
The hotel’s outdoor area tinkles with laughter and the frequent popping of corks