Arundel House Hotel - Cambridge , United Kingdom 

Don’t be fooled by the location promises, it is a good 10 – 15 minute walk into the town centre and as for being on the river bank, you would need to be a county standard cricketer to toss a ball into the water across the main road. However tempted you are to get a “riverside” room don’t. The road is busy and noisy, my double glazing was very ineffective, I was woken several times overnight and by 0530 lorries (and awful 2 stroke scooters) are trundling regularly along it. At ?120 for a very average room it’s about ?40 overpriced, presumably exploiting tourists who are unlikely to return. It is the epitome of rip-off Britain at its worst and the sort of thing that gets the UK tourist industry such a dreadful reputation with visitors. My room had a TV with a screen that was smaller than my very cheap laptop, and had only 5 analogue channels which in this day and age with Freeview is pathetic. I was also rather taken by the strength of the air freshener in the bathroom, it was only the next morning after it had cleared that the smell of stale urine on the bathroom carpet became apparent. I mean who carpets round a lavatory, especially in a hotel? The room price, in another rip off masterstroke, only included a very basic continental breakfast, a cooked breakfast was another (rip off) ?8. This was not explained when I booked – the receptionist simply saying breakfast was included. This is not the convention in the UK where if a hotel says “breakfast included” it means being offered a full meal, not simply croissants and toast. Plus point was the staff who were, on the whole, friendly. A good visit now would have seen me staying here at least once a month for probably the next two years – sadly (for the Arundel) for ?120 I know can get far better value than this elsewhere.

We went to Cambridge for a family reunion and had actually booked into another B&B on the same road but after finding the duvet there covered with hair (yuk!) we had to find somewhere else to stay quick. The Arundel was very clean, with comfy beds and a larg enough bathroom. The hotel was only 5 minutes walknfrom the centre along the lovely river path and our room overlooked the river and parklands. The breakfast was limited and did not serve whole milk - my husband didn't like the semi-skimmed on offer so was stuck with toast. Overall we enjoyed our clean, quiet stay.