Cambridge is a beautiful city to visit in England, yet one which we’d surprisingly never made it to before we stumbled across the delightful Hotel Felix to take us and our dog companions in. Steeped in history and with lashings of olde England at every turn it’s a fantastic city for a mini break to escape the humdrum of everyday life, whilst also stay safe in the knowledge that if you get Starbucks withdrawal you’ll be able to find one! There are students here, after all…
No trip to Cambridge is complete without a walk around some of the famous grounds, including King’s College and the American Cemetary and Memorial, however the purpose for our trip was somewhat different. We were treating the dogs to a holiday.
Hotel Felix is nestled just a few minutes drive from the center of Cambridge making it easy to ensure you don’t miss out on any of the city highlights during your stay, but their standout feature is their dog friendly nature. On checking in the staff were keen to enquire about the little furry ones, pointing out where they’re able to roam (basically anywhere except the main restaurant) and to ensure us that they’re happy to cater for anything required.
I’m sure most dog owners will agree with us when we say that entering a hotel room with 1 dog, let alone 2, makes you a bit nervous. “What if their paws are dirty?”, “Don’t let them on the bed!”, “Move everything so it’s out of his reach!”, but Hotel Felix were keen to put us at ease. So much so that 5 minutes after arriving in the room there was a knock at the door with a dog bowl and a packet of posh dog biscuits along with a note to the dogs wishing them well for their stay. Yes, a note to the dogs. I’d forgotten that on booking the room they’d asked for the names of both dogs, but those little touches are what makes Hotel Felix stand out.
We should probably point out here that Hotel Felix isn’t JUST for people who have dogs. It’s a lovely hotel. The room’s newly decorated, bright furnishings and a modern bar and restaurant area make it a great stop over for couples, families and tourists to the area as well. The gardens around the hotel make for a lovely setting for afternoon tea and put the hotel in a very picturesque position, whilst only being a very short distance from the town.
The pups are welcome into the hotel’s bar area. With it’s clean and crisp feel, it’s nice to feel like they’re actually welcome rather than being shunned to the back room with the old furniture, as is often the case. You can also dine from the main restaurant menu in this area if you wish to dine with the dogs or opt for the main restaurant and give the dogs some chill out time in the room. Knowing the likelihood of Dog 1 to give me sad eyes and whine whilst I was eating we thought we’d check out the main Graffiti restaurant and leave the dogs to their posh biscuits.
As we’ve already said, this hotel isn’t just for dog families, and the main restaurant certainly proves this point. The food was excellent all round, with starters including scallops with cauliflower puree and venison tartare with roasted beetroot and quails egg, it’s a high end restaurant, which sits well in the setting of the rest of the hotel. It was also obvious whilst dining that the restaurant was frequented by locals and business visitors as well so booking is highly recommended. For mains, the likes of the the roasted guinee fowl and the rib eye steak provided generous portions and certainly didn’t disappoint. Whilst the menu isn’t the cheapest, with starters ranging from £5.95 (soup) to £11.95 (scallops) and most mains sitting around the £17 mark, the prices didn’t seem unreasonable for the setting and the food quality.
Of course if you’re staying in the hotel then breakfast is as important as dinner. Breakfast came included within the price of the room and consists of a continental buffet with pastries, cereal, fruit, granola and yoghurt and then a choice from the menu for cooked options. Sampling the full english and the smoked salmon and scrambled eggs, both options were a good start to the day. Not as much of a highlight as the meal the night before, I might add, and the scrambled egg a little light on the portion size, but that’s why the pastries are on hand!
For dog owners this hotel comes highly recommended for the following stand out reasons:
> Dogs welcomed, not just tolerated
> Small touches such as dog bins discretely placed around the gardens
> Dog bowls and treats provided in rooms
> Dogs welcomed to dinner in the bar area
> Lots of other dog friends!
Add on top of that the beautifully furnished hotel rooms, excellent food and fantasic location, Hotel Felix gets a massive Cool As 9/10 rating.
Hotel Felix has 52 rooms with prices from £220/night. Full information can be found on the Hotel Felix website.
We were invited to stay as guests of Hotel Felix but all opinions are our own.