ONE FOR THE BOOKS
Cambridge’s oldest hotel in its latest incarnation strikes the right balance between studious and sexy, says Cathy Adams
Cities can be many things to many people. So can hotels. Or at least that’s how I feel about the University Arms, Cambridge’s oldest hotel.
The boutique had many incarnations (it opened in 1834 as a coaching inn), but the one that looms large for this writer, who grew up just south of the city across the Essex border, is the drab business hotel with ugly, triangular, pokey glass windows.
Last summer, this 19th-century behemoth reopened, glowing under an £80m renovation. It still overlooks Parker’s Piece, a magnificent piece of city greenery and one that I definitely didn’t spend
my teens drinking Bacardi Breezers on – but I can barely believe the change. First impressions Gone is the black brick and creepy underground car park (its defining feature from my teens). It’s been turned into a light-filled, polished monochrome-floored porte-cochere, replete with portrait of a boilersuited Winston Churchill and butlers that look eerily similar. To the right is Parker’s Tavern – more on that later.
The hotel’s original 19th-century facade, which faces the common, has been lovingly restored and grand suites, some with roof terraces, added.
Looks Architect John Simpson (behind Buckingham Palace’s Queen’s Gallery) is behind the redesign, while interiors expert Martin Brudnizki is responsible for the eclectic mash of books and paintings, which carefully treads the line between studious and sexy.
Perky college colours of green, blue and red pop on leather sofas, throws and statement walls; portraits of boat races, book covers and literary heroes dot every wall going.
Fancy white porcelain baths with gold claws stand jolly in the bathrooms, which come with posh Dr Harris toiletries; while bedrooms are stacked with freshly printed hardbacks in all shades – I spied both Dolly Alderton’s Everything I Know About Love and Daphne de Maurier’s Rebecca in my suite.
Feel
Cerebral, if a hotel can be such a thing. Rooms named after literary heroes (I ended up in a suite named for my literary nemesis, Virginia Woolf, whom I still haven’t forgiven for ruining my final year of my degree). Her portraits hang ever-so-slightly menacingly in the clever, carefully curated and colourful room. To be fair, I doubt she’s forgiven me for skipping Mrs Dalloway either. Downstairs at destination restaurant Parker’s Tavern and adjoining bar the vibe is light and fun, with guests sipping on cocktails inspired by the city (such as a gin-soaked Bloomsbury Boozer, named after the “set” that met at Cambridge). On a Saturday night the restaurant was full, with Cambridge’s movers, shakers and graduates sliding into the red leather banquettes and joyfully ordering plates of steak and fish.
Extras
The Library sinks thigh-deep into its cosiness: all dark wood, real log fire, squashy chairs and importantlooking books selected by Mayfair bookshop Heywood Hill.
Outside Slightly out of the city centre. The Cambridge Arms is a brisk 10 minutes’ walk to Cambridge station, along university college-filled Hills Road. Another five minutes further down the street is the city centre, which has also had a sensitive regeneration over the past few years. The nearby Grand Arcade with flagship branch of John Lewis is worth a wander around.
Alongside adjacent 25-acre Parker’s Piece there’s plenty of greenery nearby, so ask the concierge to help with a running trail to Jesus Green and Midsummer Common. Or do as the students do and pub crawl
along the River Cam – almost theatrically good during the long summer evenings.
In a nutshell
Smartly renovated boutique ripe with college nostalgia. Doubles from £205, universityarms.com