We had found the delightful ivy-covered Old Bridge Hotel, a historic hotel in Huntingdon, by lucky chance when taking speakers for repair at Quad, and after our first lovely lunch and a look at the wine shop dispensing wines by the glass from the Enomatic machine, we were entranced.
A Champagne dinner in January 2003 lured us back. This time, not fancying driving drunk in the dark of January, we booked a hotel room.
The Beautifully Appointed Bedroom
We chose an upgraded room, were given room 6, and were thrilled by the four-poster bed. It had no drapes.
The refreshingly chatty, conversational and honest, half-humorous website describes it as open. You can see the four handsome posts on the hotel website. The size of the bedroom was good.
The Big Bathroom
The astonishing equal sized bathroom contained a freestanding bath, a shower, an exposed toilet and bidet (no privacy)
I ate the heart shaped biscuits provided. We used the coffee table with two chairs by the bathroom window. We could have phoned down for fresh milk, but had our own, which we parked on the cold windowsill between the double glazing in the bathroom.
The window had a side view of the river and the lively road view on the front was good. It meant you did not feel lonely in the daytime. Double glazing sheltered the occupants from any noise.
But next morning we took a tour of the other half dozen bedrooms on our side of in the main house, after the other guests had checked out. Every room was a different delight, so the cheaper double rooms were almost all equally amazing, not all as large.
My two favourite bedrooms were the piggy theme bedroom and the four-poster honeymoon suite. The piggy room was the most unusual, with little cartoons on the wallpaper as well as the curtains.
The Beautiful Honeymooner's Four-Poster Bed
The four-poster bed had proper drapes. I looked inside and admired the pleated canopy overhead.
I recalled that one room had a dual aspect, double light. One window overlooked the quiet river on one side. The other window showed the traffic moving in daytime and the occasional walker.
The room did not have a coffee maker. (Never mind. We had brought our own.)
More rooms are up another staircase on the other side of the house. Further rooms are in an annexe. The receptionist told me that we could see them on Tripadvisor.
We had booked through booking.com. We like it because they offer particular deals, such as the ability to cancel. One hotel told us that they paid 15 % to booking.com on a deal.
Stairs
You go up and down two sets of stairs to get to the furthest bedrooms.
The Champagne Dinner
This was delightful. The man who runs the place is amusing and his wife is a charmer. The girls on reception are hard working but once you have their attention they are chatty and helpful.
The shop has different seasonal novelties every time, including jams, the bottles of toiletries you get in the rooms. At Xmas until Jan 6 they ad a Xmas tree in the hallway hung with slices of orange.
Breakfast is included if you book directly with the hotel and they also have dinner, bed and breakfast. A separate dining room is used for the dinners and special events. Lots of people hold birthday lunches and dinners here. There's also a basement bar area off the tea lounge which is next to the large dining room. An outdoor area has benches, if the weather suits outdoor dining.
For breakfast you can have a standard or vegetarian grill or scrambled eggs with smoked salmon. Instead of fattening chocolates with the dinner, morning or afternoon coffee, you can order biscuits, or biscotti.
The Champagne Dinner
The Champagne dinner was at long tables which was convivial, like a wedding. We got to know one couple while waiting before the meal, and another two couples during the meal.
During the introduction to the wines we received practical information from John, who is a master of wine, who kept us entertained with his self-deprecating humour, such as, 'I added this wine because it wouldn't sell in the shop. Thank you for helping me to get rid of it.. Some of you are serious drinkers, while the rest of you just drink for fun.'
I have done level one of the WSET training. My husband took levels two, three, and the diploma, as well as being a wine educator. Believe me, a master of wine is like a professor and really knows about the subject.
The dinner included canapes passed around to go with the starter wines.
The main course of curry seemed as odd choice. But went down well.
We also raised our eyebrows at the dessert of sticky toffee pudding, which sounded more like a pub lunch than a gourmet hotel with Champagnes and sparkling wines. However, the dessert came with walnuts on top and was very more-ish.
Sticky toffee pudding with ice cream and walnuts at the Old Bridge Hotel. Photo by Angela Lansbury.
The menu makes it clear that you must not be shy about mentioning allergies or dietary requirements. They do not want last minute stresses and changes, but want you to be happy and the chef to know what is needed well in advance. They cannot guarantee a nut free kitchen because they serve nuts in some dishes. I am allergic to shellfish, and was able to clarify that the dishes had none. As for nuts, I love nuts, so this place suited me.
The Best Breakfast
I feared that after dinner, breakfast might be boring or disappointing. Not at all. I had yogurt with crunchy granola, which I enjoyed although I fear for my crumbling teeth with crunchy items. I sucked slowly. My husband had the muesli with yogurt and fruit compote hidden underneath. Very satisfying. His double espresso was too strong, so instead I ordered cappuccino which was just right.
We arrived early for breakfast and secured a table by the window. We normally end up on the banquettes at lunch time, having driven up from London. It was a treat to sit by the window. Although it was raining, we could watch visitors arriving or walking back to the car park, and staff manipulating the decorations.
Useful Websites
https://www.oldbridgehuntingdon.co.uk/
https://www.oldbridgehuntingdon.co.uk/eating-and-drinking/
