What I Liked
- Excellent Price
- Free Breakfast
- Free parking
- Modern Hotel
- Top Floor Room
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The Holiday Inn Express is an excellent budget hotel near Cambridge. I had a terrific one night stay. The hotel ticked all of the boxes. I stayed on a Friday night in the middle of summer and got a great price. The hotel offers free breakfast and free parking. I stay at Holiday Inn Express Hotels frequently. I love the brand. It’s my go to hotel brand, for budget stays in the UK.
Bringing the family or a group to Cambridge? The Holiday Inn Express Cambridge flips the usual budget-hotel math. Two rooms for five people, breakfast included, for £160 — I walked in ready to compromise on comfort and walked out having paid less than a mid-range hotel's single room.
The hotel follows the reliable Holiday Inn Express playbook: modern, clean, consistent. My top-floor room was an IHG Platinum perk; the space is compact but well-designed for a night in. Ground-floor restaurant serves breakfast and dinner (closes at 9:30pm), with Twinings tea to get the morning sorted.
Since you're 10 miles from Cambridge city centre, transport is worth planning. I recommend Welcome Picks for in-city rides—it's on my Recommended Resources page along with other deals that make travel easier.
I booked two rooms for five people at the Holiday Inn Cambridge. I paid £160 for the two rooms in the middle of summer. This is an amazing price.
The price was genuinely surprising—I double-checked the booking to make sure I hadn't missed something. This rate included breakfast for five people. Indeed, all Holiday Inn Express hotels have free breakfast.
Hilton has a similar brand of hotels. They call them Hampton By Hilton. These hotels are also low cost, and come with free breakfast. Hyatt has a similar brand called Hyatt Place.
The difference is that Holiday Inn Express hotels are throughout the UK.
The location trade-off (outskirts rather than city centre) covers the gap between budget and central. It's a sensible swap.
Book your stay at the Holiday Inn Express Cambridge West here
Curious how Holiday Inn Express compares to other UK budget chains? Check my Best Western guide to see what other affordable brands offer.
The hotel is modern and is a great price. So what’s the catch?
The location of the hotel isn’t prime. You are 10 miles west from the city centre. So you would need to travel into Cambridge.
The drive is about 15 minutes in low traffic. There is a direct bus and it takes 25 minutes.
In terms of the local area, you are in a suburban town. The Holiday Inn Cambridge is behind a giant Morrisons supermarket.
The location serves a purpose. You're trading proximity to Cambridge for savings on the bill—a straightforward swap for a one-night stop. Nobody's booking this hotel to wake up inspired by the view. It's a clean bed and a hot breakfast in a quiet suburb. That's enough.
Prefer city-centre location to suburban savings? The AC Hotel Manchester makes different trade-offs but keeps the same value.
The Backs
The Backs is free and essential. Walk the strip behind the colleges along the River Cam—you'll see the Bridge of Sighs, the Mathematical Bridge, the whole Cambridge postcard. No ticket needed.
Shared Punting Tour of Cambridge
Book your ticket here for USD27. Rated 4.7* from nearly 500 reviews. A guide steers the punt while you relax and drift past the colleges. It's the quintessential Cambridge experience—peaceful, picturesque, and deeply memorable.
Cambridge University Walking Tour
Buy your ticket here for USD20. Rated 4.9* from over 370 reviews. Walk through the colleges with an expert guide. You'll see stunning architecture, but it's the stories—the history, the famous people, the traditions—that make Cambridge click. A guide makes all the difference.
Cambridge University Tour by Alumni With Optional King's Chapel
Book your tickets here for USD34. Rated 4.9* from over 2,300 reviews. Alumni lead this tour—they've studied here and have insider knowledge and passion. It's more expensive than the standard walking tour, but you get personality and depth alongside the facts. Worth the premium for a richer experience.
The Holiday Inn Cambridge is located over three floors. It has the following features:
The hotel is modern and looks very similar to every other Holiday Inn Express I have been to! Kudos to Holiday Inn Express for their consistent branding.
There is a restaurant and bar on the ground floor. They stop serving food at 9.30pm. So that’s something to be aware of.
I am a platinum member with IHG, so I was given a free drinks voucher. The usual benefit. My wife got a can of Coke with the voucher.
My room was on the top floor. Third floor. This is probably due to my status as an IHG platinum. It had the following facilities:
At the Holiday Inn Cambridge, the room is exactly the same as the room at every other Holiday Inn Express.
The room is definitely on the small side. However, I arrived at 11pm and left at 10am. So this was not an issue for me!
At the Holiday Inn Cambridge, breakfast is served in the restaurant on the ground floor. It is free to all guests. It was a traditional English breakfast. The food was frequently replaced. The following options were offered:
The offering was pretty close to a full English breakfast. You were just missing hash browns and mushrooms.
As a vegetarian, there wasn’t much on offer for me. I had some veggie sausages and toast. The sausages were ok.
There was a selection of teas. Twinings brand. The coffee was served from a machine. I didn’t have any coffee, so I can’t comment on that.
I had an English breakfast tea. It was perfectly fine.
The Holiday Inn Express Cambridge is genuinely good value. Two rooms, breakfast for five, £160—you only get that rate by being 10 miles west of the city centre, and it's a sensible trade-off. For a budget stop near Cambridge, this hotel is the obvious choice.