Clayton Hotel Cambridge (formerly The Tamburlaine)

Rooms and decor

Picture a design-led boutique hotel standing right beside the railway station of a famous university town — that's Clayton Hotel Cambridge, which opened as The Tamburlaine, the smart hotel of the CB1 district, before joining the Dalata group under the Clayton name. The first thing that catches your eye in the lobby is the bold, tasteful interior: a soft Cambridge blue palette set against glossy dark wood, velvet chairs, brass detailing, and arty wall pieces that play on the university town with some flair. All 155 rooms and suites share that warm modern theme, and many have floor-to-ceiling windows that pull in so much natural light the rooms feel bright and airy. Beds are comfortable, the linens are good quality, and the small details are clearly chosen with care. Plenty of reviews agree it's a good-looking hotel that photographs well from nearly every angle. If you like hotels with character rather than identical chain rooms, this boutique mood should win you over on sight.

Food and amenities

If anything is the heart of this hotel, it's the library on the ground floor — lined with bookshelves and soft leather-and-velvet chairs under warm lamplight, a place to nurse a drink or read like a member of some old club. It draws a lot of praise and has become the hotel's signature image. Next to it sit the cocktail bar and café, with a good atmosphere from midday into the evening and sometimes live music. The cocktails and coffee are often praised, and the setting invites you to linger. The on-site restaurant serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, open to guests and non-guests alike, and breakfast is another thing reviews mention often — fresh and varied, a good start before heading out. Beyond the eating and drinking, there's a fitness room, free Wi-Fi throughout, and good-looking common areas to work or relax in. All told, it's a hotel where you can settle in comfortably all day, with lounging corners and dining right on site — good for both leisure stays and anyone working who wants a nice spot to sit.

Location and getting there

The location really is the trump card here. Clayton Hotel Cambridge sits in the CB1 district right next to Cambridge railway station — about a 2-minute walk from the platform to the front door. For anyone taking the train from London King's Cross, which takes under an hour, that's rare convenience: step off, wheel your bag a moment, and you're there, with no need to grab a taxi or fuss over getting into town. CB1 itself is a newer area with restaurants, cafés, and a supermarket within easy reach. The old city center — King's College and its famous chapel, the central market, and the historic colleges — is farther out, about a 20-minute walk or a few minutes by taxi or bus. From there you can wander the old architecture or go punting on the river Cam and take in the college views from the water. The bottom line: if your trip revolves around easy rail travel, a day trip, or frequent train connections into London, a station-side address like this scores a perfect ten.

Things to know before booking

To help you decide, here's the honest part. The first thing to weigh is that the location is in the station district, not the old city center. As handy as it is for the railway, if your trip is about wandering the historic colleges and old town every day, you'll be walking about 20 minutes or taking a ride in, and some reviews found it farther than expected. Anyone who wants to wake up and walk straight to King's College might consider a central address instead. The second is room size — because this is a boutique hotel, some room types, especially the entry-level rooms, are fairly compact, and a few reviews felt the space and bathroom were smaller than expected for the price. If a roomy room matters, pick a higher category when booking. The third is service since the rebrand — after The Tamburlaine became Clayton, some reviews note the attention to detail and service isn't as consistent as in its full-luxury days, such as slow responses to requests on busy days. Finally, there's no swimming pool here; the amenities lean toward the restaurant, bar, library, and fitness room, so anyone planning a spa-and-pool break should adjust expectations.

Our take

After reading through plenty of real guest reviews, our take is that Clayton Hotel Cambridge nails the combination of stylish boutique design, characterful lounging corners, and a super-convenient station-side location. If your mental image of the trip is arriving by train from London and walking just a moment to your room, dropping the bags, then coming down for a cocktail in the stylish bar or library before heading out to the old town at an easy pace, this is a fitting and good-value choice in its price range — especially for business travelers and frequent rail commuters. But if you'd rather stay in the old city center to walk straight to the colleges and sights, or you're after a roomy room with a full spa and pool, the station-district location and boutique room sizes here may give you pause. Overall we give it 8.9/10, best suited to couples, business travelers, and anyone who values design and the convenience of a station-side address over staying in the old city center.