The Varsity Hotel & Spa

It’s a conscious rekindling of the romance once contained in the phrase “going up to the ’Varsity.” Established by a quartet of Cambridge graduates, The Varsity Hotel & Spa is a modern building, but through its floor-to-ceiling windows you’re steeped in the old Cambridge — you’re practically on top of Magdalene College, and you’re not much farther from St. John’s, Trinity or Jesus. And while it’s the views that largely make the atmosphere, the hotel does an admirable job of fitting itself to its surroundings, with rooms named for Cambridge (and Oxford) colleges and decorated with portraits of alumni.

Needless to say, it’s quite a few steps up from typical student digs. The look is contemporary, with a modern English taste in bold accents, patterned wallpapers and antique tubs in modern bathrooms. They’re fully wired as well, with iPod docks and game systems — and you can’t host visiting academics without wi-fi. There’s a spa as well as a pretty remarkable gym in an antique brick-walled space, and the restaurant is of the impressive modern British variety which has finally put an end to the old quips about UK cuisine. All in all it’s a strong package, one that would come top of the class in most any town — that it’s in Cambridge, and this particularly scenic part of Cambridge no less, makes it truly extraordinary.