Hotel Felix

, Cambridge, United Kingdom
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Hotel Felix

, Cambridge
4 star

Rooms: 52

Whitehouse Lane - Cambridge - England - CB3 0LX - United Kingdom Hotel Website | | 44 01223277977
284 Traveller

Reviews - Hotel Felix

1/10
What a mess up!
Submitted by: A Travel Library User in 23/10/06
  • Age Group:
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Booked two nights in a premier room at the Felix for my first wedding anniversary. On arrival, we were told that the booking had been cancelled by "Charlotte". As neither my wife or I know anybody by this name, we were a little perplexed as well as annoyed. Apparently, my booking was cancelled 10 minutes after I had made it. I can only assume that my booking page was still open on the system when the cancellation came in. I had subsequently e-mailed the hotel with a request which was never acknowledged. Surely at that point, they should have realised that something was amiss? We were told that the hotel was fully booked with a shrug of the shoulders and so I called the duty manager. The situation was explained and we were asked to wait while it was investigated. No explanation was found but a room was offered. As I had booked a premier room, I asked if the available room was the same standard as I had booked and was assured that it was. We were finally taken to the room 75 minutes after arrival and lead into a dark and dreary little room on the ground floor with an overflow pipe pumping out water right outside the window. I called for the manager and said that I was not satisfied with the room. We were then offered another room at the other end of the building down a maze of corridors lined with piles of towels and lead into another small and darkly depressing room which looked like it had been used for storage. Grouting was hanging out of the tiles in the miniscule bathroom and all of the surfaces of the furniture was badly scratched. Once again, we went back to see the duty manager and at this point we decided to leave the hotel. The only good part of our brief stay at the Felix was that the duty manager was sincerely embarrassed by the hotels errors and did try to help us, even by attempting to book us into another hotel in the area but at 4pm on a Saturday afternoon this proved impossible. We subsequently returned home - a two hundred mile round trip - and stayed overnight at a local Marriot. Yes, they are very "corporate" but you know what to expect, the service is excellent and I got a suite five times the size of the room offered at the Felix for half the price. From what I saw of the Felix, it appeared to be an unattractive mish-mash of styles - part Victorian house, part 1970s hospital and as for its attempt to enter the "boutique hotel" market, they are just trying too hard. Perhaps Ikea has not reached Cambridge yet but it was sure in evidence at Hotel Felix. Stylish? Not really. Expensive? absolutely! (you will finder larger and more attractive rooms in a travel lodge)Likelyhood of me returning? Not in a million years!!!
Check Rates and Availability for the Hotel Felix
8/10
Modern & different!
Submitted by: S in 30/11/05
  • Age Group: 31 - 40
  • From: United Kingdom
  • Traveller type: Young Couple
The appearance & layout were a little surprising. One half looks like a Travel Inn, the other half, a country house. Once inside, there are a series of corridors. The bar & restaurant are lovely - colourful & with a great atmosphere. The food was the best we have eaten for some time (and we're fussy!). Service was also good. The room was lovely, very modern & comfy. Loved it!

Historical Traveller Reviews of Hotel Felix

Gratified at the Graffiti

from A TripAdvisor Member
I took three friends to the Graffiti restaurant at the Felix Hotel in Cambridge on 11th January. Two of these friends had been particularly kind to me recently and I wanted to treat them to as pleasant an evening as I could. I couldn't have chosen a better place! The Felix Hotel is only a few minutes drive from the centre of Cambridge but far enough away to be free of the bustle of students experienced by many other restaurants in the area. Right from our arrival at the restaurant, we were made to feel like valued guests. We were shown to a smart and comfortably furnished lounge area and were able to indulge in an excellent champagne, at reasonable cost. Before we were shown to our table the General Manager came to introduce herself and explain that many of the staff had the evening off and were also having a meal in the restaurant for some special celebration. She said that they would do their best to see that we would not be disadvantaged by this in any way. I felt alarmed immediately and feared that we would not get the level of service or food that I was hoping for. But my fears were unfounded, I am very pleased to say. The service was faultless and the food superb. Everything was cooked the way we had requested it (and I like my tuna very rare!). It was also beautifully and carefully presented.

I was so pleased when my guests said that it was one of the best meals they had ever had and that they would definitely be eating at the Graffiti again. Next time I am in Cambridge I will be doing the same! I heartily recommend it to you as a place of quiet refinement and wonderful food.

Abysmal, Terrible, HORRIBLE - stay away

from A TripAdvisor Member
Me and my partner recently stayed at the Felix in Jan 2005, booking a 'superior' room - this was the beginning of our problems. Upon showing up to the hotel our room was 'not available'. After arguing with incredibly rude staff (and them trying to change our room rate) we were given a room. The king bed is not a king bed but instead 2 single beds pushed together and hence you roll into each other constantly. The bathroom was not clean and the TV didn't work. In the morning our 'complimentary' newspaper didn't arrive. Throughout all dealings with this hotel the customer service was really terrible. The worst part was that they made us feel so unwelcome and after all this is the one thing that you want from a hotel. It is tremendously overpriced for the bad experience.

Uncluttered hotel, good food

from A TripAdvisor Member
We stayed the weekend at the Felix. It was possible to drive there, they have plenty of space to park. Rooms modern, clean and uncluttered. Cotton sheets a joy. Coming from London, food very good and resonbly priced. A perfect weekend getaway to unwind.

It an Ok place.

from A TripAdvisor Member
We stayed at the Felix having not been able to find a hotel at the right price in the centre of Cambridge. Booking online you can get a room for around £100 and a Taxi to town is about £6

The hotel from the outside looks a little like a hospital and has no grounds. Inside it is very well decorated, which if you go in winter makes up for the lack of outside space.

Our room was not stunning, but a very stylish business style room, with a good bathroom. I do agree with one of the other contributions about being disappointed that double beds were two singles zipped together. They could disguise this by buying some mattress covers!

The major down side was that the house keepers office was near my room (50) and caused a lot of noise from 6am in the morning as the staff started work. Not good for a 5* hotel.

It also has no pool or health club on site.

Overall I think the Felix is acceptable and probably not a bad option in a City with pretty poor choice in fair priced hotels.

Comfort in January

from jordanmuskerry
My wife and I stayed for two nights early in January ;it was very well appointed,clean everywhere.. and comfortable.The restaurant staff were very efficient at all times and the food exceptionally good.
Overall a very friendly and efficient hotel with a distinctly modern style;very welcoming in the bleak midwinter!

Best in Cambridge

from A TripAdvisor Member
Having been to most hotels in Cambridge, during my days as a student and business trips in subsequent years, I would definately say that the Hotel Felix is the best in the city and that is why I keep on returning.

It is a sleek, modern, and extremely well run establishment. The rooms are comfortable and the staff corteous and attentive. However, my favourite feature is the consistently delicous food that they serve up in the Graffiti restaurant.

Deserves a five star rating.

A Truely Terrible Place To Stay

from A TripAdvisor Member
I had the misfortune of booking their £200 "superior" room for a weekend at the end of September. Alarm bells should have started ringing when I checked in to the chorus of a several people complaining at the restaurant service. However, I missed this golden opportunity to abandon ship and terrible night in this monumentally inept place.

There is so much wrong with this place, I will just give you some of the "highlights":

1) They will check you into a smoking room unless you explicitly say when you book that you don't want you room to smell like a pub.
2) Their double bed are actually two single mattresses pushed together. If you try to snuggle up to you wife in the night, expect a couple of weeks in traction the next day.
3) The restaurant is amazing poor. Although can be relatively entertaining, if you don’t want to eat. I spent nearly an hour watching the waiters running around taking abuse from extremely irate customers who have waiting 30 mins for things like a fork!
4) The staff are well adjusted to taking abuse. So if you have a complaint, expect slow progress when trying to communicate your dissatisfaction. Remember, they will have heard it all before; several times over!

Please don't stay here; it's typical of us British to an expensive dump like this. Go elsewhere, anywhere, really you can't do worse!!!

Dirty room, appalling service and incompetent staff

from A TripAdvisor Member
My husband and I booked to stay here at the beginning of December. When we checked into our room we found that it was unclean - hair in the bath and all over the bathroom floor, unwashed glasses in the bathroom and the bedroom floor clearly hadn't been hoovered.

We complained and the management eventually asked us to leave the room while they cleaned it - a huge inconvenience as I am seven months pregnant and was clearly in need of a rest.

We had dinner in the restaurant that night which wasn't too bad. However don't bother with breakfast. There were so many guests complaining about wrong breakfasts or lack of them that after waiting 20 minutes and having asked three times if I could order a coffee my husband and I gave up on breakfast and left the restaurant.

The management weren't interested in our complaints and had no authority to deal with them properly. We are still trying to track down the ellusive General Manager.

FABULOUS HOTEL IN CAMBRIDGE UK

from REPIN
THE FELIX HOTEL

Historic Cambridge has long lacked a stylish, privately owned hotel. It changed all that in October 2002 with the opening of the FELIX. Originally built as a Victorian mansion in 1852, the hotel is now a chic and contemporary property providing 52 elegant rooms. Best of all Felix boasts a sensational restaurant Graffiti where we dined the two days we stayed in this fascinating university city. Grafitti serves excellent modern mediterranean food in lovely although contemporary surrounding where the walls are hung with large, specially commisioned canvasses. ( the seared scallops and slow baked plum tomatoes, galettes with basil icecream brought tears to our eyes while the wild duck, foie gras and quince terrine with pomegranate juice was to die for) We found the rooms generously sized and gracefully styled. The hotel is set about 1.5 miles from the center of town in landscaped gardens and surrounded by fields. It is a very quiet and peaceful location. At taxi ride to Cambridge set us back GBP 10. We feel that Felix offers a refreshingly different experience to staying in the city of Cambridge.

The artwork around the hotel has been selected to create an ambience and feel for the various interior spaces. Artwork from Gail de Cordova in the very efficiently run reception are of particular interest. The hotel amenities include things like baby listening moniotors, modem and ISDN facilities, an impressive selection of CD's ( my wife and I enjoyed Mozart clarinet Concerto in A and after dinner we tuned in to Midnight Jazz Collection featuring George Shearing, Chet Baker and Sonny Rollins).

Previous correspondents remarked on the newly constructed bedroom wings to the main building. We found the melange of old and new buildings in total harmony and cleverly designed.

We gladly go back.

Bill Mulder

Not really that good.

from kkk747
We stayed 2 nights at the Hotel Felix a couple of months ago and I have to agree with a lot of the reviews here. You pull up and its immediately disappointing - travel lodge - horrible. The website does a very good publicity stunt here.

Rooms - Not bad - but really not worth the exhorbitant price either. I actually had to check with our porter if the room we were given was actually a superior!! It was pretty small.

Breakfast - Shambles - they didn't have a table for us in the main dining room (which looked nice) - and we were shoved into an offshoot corridor outside the door to the kitchen. It was soul less. The staff couldnt cope and people were walking out. It took 30 mins to get a pot of tea. To add insult to injury, only a continental breakfast is included in the price, cooked breakfasts are additional £7.50.
I don't understand why a hotel would have a restaurant that isn't big enough for all its guests.

Would I go back? - No way!!

Top Local Tips for Cambridge

Graffiti A great restaurant and a real trendsetter for regional hotel restaurants - its superb and the staff are great.

Punting in Cambridge A trip in cambridge is not a trip without taking a punt. There are so many to choose from, and unfortuantly most seem interested only in your money and swarm around you like sellers in a foreign flea market. Punting is a truly romantic, informative and great way to see cambridge, and therefore I strongly recommend you choose a company such as Granta Punt Hire who offer chafeured trips. Superb price, very knowledable staff, and very professional. Book in avance with Granta

Kettles Yard A hidden art gallery and museum - surprisingly full of Cornish art

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Other names for Hotel Felix

  • felix hotel cambridge
  • Address: Whitehouse Lane - Cambridge - England - CB3 0LX - United Kingdom
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8.0/10

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"What a mess up!" - A Travel Library User

"Modern & different!" - S

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