THE FACTS ABOUT HOTEL DU VIN & BISTRO

England

The Cambridge hotel scene needed an injection of glamour, so the opening last September of a Hotel du Vin & Bistro was welcome news. Housed in five ancient townhouses on lovely Trumpington Street - near The Fitzwilliam Museum, King's College Chapel and the city's more interesting boutiques - the hotel has plenty of idiosyncratic charm, from the decadent May Ball mural in the reception area to the labyrinthine basement bar with its leather chairs sitting snugly in vaulted alcoves. The 41 rooms and suites have bare and painted brick walls, exposed beams and one-off details such as a glass-covered well, plus standard Hotel du Vin comforts such as Egyptian-cotton sheets and monsoon showers. The French-style bistro serves local oysters, smoked meats and greengages, and a sommelier will advise on choices from the good range of reasonably priced wines. There's also a wine-tasting room and a cosy library looking onto a 'cigar shack' (an open-air smokers' lounge) warmed by curtains of hot air. It all amounts to a very good thing, both for guests and for the city as a whole: the Cambridge Garden House recently emerged from a stylish refit, and now The University Arms has embarked on a refurbishment, too. WHEN TO GO Midsummer is lovely for afternoon tea at The Orchard in Grantchester, and Christmas brings the carols at King's. ROOM TO BOOK The Wolf Blass suite, with its twin cast-iron tubs. 1519 Trumpington Street, Cambridge (01223 227330; www.hotelduvin.com). Doubles from £135; Wolf Blass suite from £225 Find out more about England in our destination guides