5 Chapel Street Bed & Breakfast
5 Chapel Street, Cambridge, CB4 1DY
You can keep your carbon-copy chain hotels; we’d rather lay our head in a home that oozes character, boasts uber-comfy beds and serves up a home-cooked breakfast of kings (or queens). This description fits 5 Chapel Street Bed & Breakfast to a T. Nestled in the heart of Chesterton, in a peaceful conservation area, a short stroll from the River Cam, the Georgian townhouse has been lovingly restored and converted by Christine Ulyyan and husband Usama. The couple fell in love with the Grade II listed property back in 2010 and worked with architects to create a friendly ‘home from home’, welcoming their first guest in April 2012.
There’s three charming bedrooms, from a bijou double overlooking the walled garden, to a superking-sized master, flooded with natural light. Each room has its own character, with luxurious features such as Egyptian cotton sheets, modern power showers and Christine’s homemade ginger and orange biscuits (they’re truly scrumptious). There’s also two Dutch bikes that the B&B lend to guests for no extra charge.
Christine’s pièce de résistance, garnering glowing reviews, is her hearty home-cooked breakfasts, using organic ingredients from local suppliers, ranging from the Full English, featuring free-range eggs and Gog Magog Butchers sausages and bacon, to Kedgeree made from Norfolk smoked haddock. There’s also homemade granola, fresh fruit salad and delicious bread from Cambridge artisan bakery Stir and Alison McTaggart’s Bread on a Bike, with loose leaf tea and locally roasted coffee, served in bone china cups.
Ten years on from opening, Christine loves the hospitality side of the business, extolling the virtues of Cambridge to the many tourists who visit. Passionate about baking since a teen (and with a previous career in catering and fine wines), she’s happiest of all in the kitchen, cooking up a storm for her lucky guests.