University Arms

Excellent hotel in beautiful town. Good facilities, great atmosphere. Lovely bar and restaurant. Gym was reasonably well equipped.

Staff excellent, location excellent and the hotel was very nice. Room was spacious and bed was comfy. Concierge was very friendly and helpful.

Lovely stay, gorgeous room, reception team lovely & room was ready for early check in as requested. Didn’t eat at the hotel so can’t comment on food. Had a late drink in the bar & wasn’t very impressed by the staff, drink or inflated prices. Very handy for exploring Cambridge, would recommend & stay again.

Hotel is in a great location right in the middle of Cambridge. If you go by car, expect an expensive parking charge. We paid £31 for overnight plus 2 daytime hours in a Cambridge Council car park, Hotel parking is even more. Not easy to find other options (park and ride is expensive overnight). The concierge was great, super helpful, checking in was fine early afternoon but another guest we met said they had to wait 20 mins or so Our room was lovely, although a bit noisy from the winter wonderland next door (but it finished at 11pm). We chatted to another couple in the lift who were horrified by stains on their carpet, had visted before and felt the hotel had deteriorated We had a difficult episode with service in the hotel bar in the evening, which was probably the worst I have ever been spoken to in a hotel, but to be fair the individual involved and the duty manager put it right. Breakfast service was excellent from Siddhi! Really friendly and helpful although my wife felt the buffet breakfast selection wasn’t great for the volume of people. In my experience few hotels are great at breakfast….unless you order a la carte (which we did; omelette and porridge were good) Overall a good stay, it’s a hotel that had an £80m refurb pre Covid and one that has had a great reputation. My overall assessment is that the management is probably not as good as it used to be post the change in investors earlier this year. They need a strong manager in a hotel this size, focused on getting the basics right or they will over time suffer the consequences. The Duty Manager at breakfast spent the whole time we were there on her mobile, leaning against the bar not focused on customers…. Maybe it’s a captive audience given its location, but given the quality of the hotel, although some positives, there were too many negatives including staffing, service and general maintenance (only one lift worked), they do need to do better!

A perfect hotel experience, and especially beautiful in the approach to Christmas. I was in Cambridge with my husband for a medical appointment, so didn't expect to have a lovely little relaxing break at the same time. Food was beautiful, staff were so friendly and accommodating. The hotel exudes old time luxury - a cosy retreat in the middle of a bustling and beautiful city. I've bookmarked the University Arms and will be back!