Hotel of the week Graduate Hotel, Cambridge

WHERE AND WHY: US brand Graduate Hotels, which has properties in college town locations, has debuted its first European outpost in Cambridge on the banks of the River Cam.

The quirky lobby is filled with nods to the university city, from the punts lining the walls to the huge installation suspended in front of the reception desk representing the double helix DNA structure discovered by scientist Rosalind Franklin.

The retro theme is carried through to our room, one of 148, with a green velvet upholstered armchair, wood and leather desk bureau and flamboyant tapestry headboard. The bathroom sports a rural-scene patterned wallpaper and a mirror in the shape of a university crest. Many of the rooms overlook the river and the view from ours stretched to the Mathematical

Bridge.

ON THE MENU:

Chef Adam Wood has brought his skills from London’s award-winning Perilla restaurant to the open grill of the Garden House. His passion for local and British produce shone through in the eclectic seasonal dinner menu, kicking off with an amuse-bouche of moreish coffee and seaweed-flavoured crisps.

Dishes are served tapas style. So the starters of grilled sweetcorn with honey (from the hotel’s beehives) and fennel butter, £7, and Cornish bass, cauliflower and brown butter, £17, arrived at the same time as our mains. Our mains were grilled Norfolk quail with girolles and redcurrants, and local Flourish Farm’s onion with Berkswell cheese tart, £22.

The signature dessert, a slice of Cambridge burnt cream tart, £8, and the surprising salted caramel flavoured mushroom ice cream, £4, delivered a sweet finale.

The Garden House was also where the breakfast was served, offering a continental selection of pastries, fruit, cheese, yogurts, cereals and home-baked breads, £12, as well as hot dishes including a vegetarian full English of Glamorgan sausage, portobello mushroom, spinach, tomato, egg and baked beans, £14.

WHILE YOU’RE THERE:

Take a punt along the river by joining a tour with Scudamore’s on the hotel’s doorstep. Explore the breathtakingly stunning King’s College Chapel, £10, shop.kings.cam.ac.uk. It’s only a short stroll to the city with its teashops and historic open-air market.

WAKE-UP CALL:

Doubles from £189 per night. Parking £21. graduatehotels.com/cambridge