The Lamb — Restaurant in East Cambridgeshire

With my work, I can stay as many as 150 nights a year in hotels. I'm in Ely area for a project that keeps me here for a couple months during the week. I read reviews BEFORE I pick a hotel when I cant find a Major Brand I am familiar with. I usually read the bad reviews to get an idea about the negatives and pass on the hotels that really sound bad. I needed a room for the first week in town and decided to give The Lamb a try. I am very happy with the place . Yes its older place and doesn't have the amenities of a 5 star hotel and yes it could use some updates , but that also the charm of the place. I have stayed in several different rooms and have been happy with all except the room with 2 twin beds as i'm 6'2 and the beds were a bit small for me . ||As the negative reviews made me hesitate a bit, I thought I might cover a few that I found to be unfounded. ||1. Yeah the hotel could use an update as far as furniture , but bathrooms were great that in itself is the charm of an old INN. I. f you like a modern hotel big hotel chain it will be far from Ely . |2. Sam the manager or General manager ( I never asked ) was very helpful with my bookings and I never saw Sam the person described in a review ... I have stayed more than 20 days over 4 weeks so far and never saw the person described. |3. Handicap access and the review that said it wasn't accessable hotel .. Yes the main hotel has stairs , but there are rooms off the parking lots with walk in shower and wheelchair access. ( I know , I stay in #33 last week) |4. The breakfast staff ... I have had many a breakfast in the hotel over 4 weeks and never had any staff for breakfast or my evening meals that was anything but kind and helpful.. I have also seen many others interact with staff and never saw any different to to other either. |5. Price complaint in a review 3 people in a hotel room for under 150 pounds sounds good to me .... ||Anyway , a rather long review , but since I almost didn't stay here because of the crap reviews ...... I thought I'd share MY feelings. ||If you don't think this is a real review , stop in , I have dinner at 6pm 2-3 nights a weeks until the first...

As their website states, this hotel was built as a 15th Century coaching inn. It has obviously been adapted and “modernized” over the years, but it still has the lovely uneven and creaking floorboards and the narrow maze-like corridors. We had room 14, which is a good size but quite sparse on the furniture front. There is a small open hanging rail with a shelf above. A desk and chair where the tea/coffee making items are. A large settee against a side wall and the tv on an adjacent wall, so not really set up to be watched from the settee. We would have liked some drawers, somewhere to put our underwear, t shirts, etc. We made use of the settee for these!.||One downside of this room was the kitchen air conditioning units, outside on the roof tops. They came on at 06.30am and didn’t go off until 10.00pm. As the weather was very mild we had our window slightly open to get some breeze, but the noise was intrusive and the cooking smells from the kitchen came into our room. ||Be careful when you leave this room as there are a couple of steps right outside and the heavy door likes to give you a push in the back to get you out! The “security/fire door closer” needs adjusting to delay the closing.||All the staff were friendly and helpful, especially with local tourist help and advice. The hotel is in an excellent position, right in the middle of all the shops, bars, restaurants.| |Ely Cathedral is just across the road, with the Almonry Tea Rooms & Restaurant (a must visit), it is a peaceful haven away from the busy local roads. ||Lastly a general comment: why do hotels insist on tucking the duvets in around the base of the mattress? When we pull it out (so we can sleep without feeling like a quashed sardine) the base sheet comes away from the mattress. “Operation Tuck in the Base Sheet” has to be carried out before going to bed. Duvets are designed to lay loosely on top...

The beautiful welcome I received on entering the Lamb Hotel on a hot and very busy Friday afternoon was not reflected in all aspects of the service. There were only two sachets of caffeine free tea, in my room, that I had requested at the time of booking and there was none available at breakfast, then it took two days to get someone to open my secondary sash bedroom window. On the Sunday evening, despite being told that the bar was open I was politely asked to finish my drink in my room.

However the room was comfortable and a fan had been turned on for my initial comfort. Bathroom towels were delightfully large and soft and a bath mat was delivered immediately upon request. When I arrived late for breakfast on the very busy Saturday morning I was led to a table in the bar and served with my order. Finally, my bag was stored after check out so that I could explore the town before my transport home.

Ely is a beautiful town with lots to attract different people. It has decent road and rail access and a choice of cycle and footpaths to explore.

The Cathedral has origins from 672 and it's famous octagon towers can be seen for miles across the fens. Another piece of history is Cromwell's house. Do give yourself lots of time if visiting here as each room is furnished to show life in the time of Cromwell.

On fine weather days there are the streets, shops and riverside to explore and rest is available on a riverboat tour or in any of the wonderful bars and cafes. I can personally recommend the Market Kitchen for it's meals, cakes and service.

Each year the Ely Folk Festival is held. Famous for its family atmosphere, good food, ale and of course an amazing line up. This year's edited event, by Mark Walsh, can still be found on BBC Sounds Radio Cambridge and next year; a date for your...