I found it often easier to get a hefty last minute discount at one of the larger hotel chains (Hilton etc) that brings it below the price of a Travelodge although my preference is for the more quirky individual hotels.
One annoying UK habit is charging per person rather than per room. How much extra can it cost to wash another towel?
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Some excellent points and much to bear in mind. I think our problem stemmed from thinking we would finish the move on Saturday and then finding we had another day's work which dawned on us about 8 pm! Because we couldn't face driving round Cambridge to find a decent B&B we thought the chains would be best but Sleep-Inn had just let their last room. Holiday Inn would not bargain on price - it was £120 or nothing as was the other chain at £160 ish. Travelodges all seemed to be too far away to make it worthwhile. Next time I shall take one of those guide books mentioned above. On another tack - any enterprising entrepreneaurs fancy opening a Formula 1, Etap and Ibis near Cambridge offering good clean accommodation at prices from £25 - £50 a night or would land cost and rates here double those prices?
thanks for replies
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Phil,
Land and property values are staggering in Cambridge and have been spreading by the mile over ten years or more. Any enterprise needs very good returns.
Funnily enough we are not to far away and, in keeping with the time of year, would not turn away a couple who were unable to find room at the inn when there was a nice warm stable to spare.
M.M
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As M.M. says property values are obscene in Cambridge, also it's interview season at the colleges so all accommodation places are in peak period mode! Another time of the year may have been rather different.
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I used to visit Cambridge a lot in a former job when the Royal Greenwich Observatory were based there. I built up a list of 4 or 5 good but cheap B+Bs and I would work through them in turn if they were available. I have always found the Cambridge travel lodges to be very busy and usually fully booked if you try and arrange a nights stay at short (<48 hours) notice.
Ian L.
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Get yourself a pub guide and a B&B guide. You can sometimes also get some surprisingly good deals on mainstream hotels by pitching up and negotiating direct, or alternatively use a late booking facility like www.lastminute.com
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Been there ,done that with Helicopter Jr.
I think you maybe just hit Cambridge at the wrong time of year. The University candidate interviews etc at this time do mean that any city centre bed is likely to be taken by anxious parents and students from around the world.
Also there always seem to be more Japanese and other tourists than you can shake a stick at who all want a bed for the night.
As to the price of property, the colleges are so rich that they buy up any property that comes on the market for their student accommodation.That said you can sometimes get a guest room cheap from the various colleges if you ask at the Porters lodge.
But IMO you'd have to go a long way to find a more beautiful sight than Kings college chapel from a punt on the Cam on a summer afternoon
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Why is EVERYTHING so expensive here you should have said...
Not for nothing is GB known as "Treasure Island"!
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When staying in Cambridge I stop at the Crowne Plaza in the centre of town.
Book an Internet Saver for £88 a night room only but fit upto four people, plus £7.50 parking, on the Crowne Plaza Website.
Found no else as nice.
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Agree with HXJ; my parents, especially my father, are regulars there and has been for six years since I started university and now my sister's in her fourth year there.
It's more than they'd usually spend on a hotel but it's not bad value for what you get; the location is excellent, you can have a drink and a choice of restaurants, the breakfast is fantastic and the rooms are large, quiet, comfortable and well specified.
Best of all, you don't have to worry about a taxi or parking in the centre of town. If you can get the Crowne Plaza for less than about £100 it makes more sense than spending £60 on a Travelodge and then most of the difference on taxis to and from the centre if you are going out.
It is expensive, but with the university Cambridge is a conference centre, plus you get all the tourists and visitors for students - plus there's no room at all to build in the centre, so you're pretty much stuck with one of the three 4* plus hotels, or something very nearly as expensive and not as good, or something much further out.
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