Wellcome Genome Campus Conference Centre & Hinxton Hall

Booked as a place to stay overnight whilst attending one of the Duxford Airshows, I don't think that this property should be classified as a hotel, rather it's glorified university accommodation... Getting to the property was odd - having to pull up at security and explain why you're visiting the site was different - and having to do the same whilst leaving the site was, again, rather bizarre. The rooms are clean, well kept and have all the amenities but they're in separate blocks and to be honest, I used to live in pretty much the same sort of room when I was student many moons ago. Those rooms were rented out too in the summer when the students weren't there... The beds had mattresses which were like trampolines, wasn't sure if I was going to end up on the ceiling or the floor every time I moved. The bathroom was pretty cramped too. We were offered the chance to partake of a buffet meal in the restaurant when we checked in - having walked past the restaurant on the way to our room, I would suggest it's better off admitting that it's a canteen! The final snag was that the only drinking water available was from a water cooler on the ground floor of our block - there were signs on the bathroom sink stating that the water wasn't drinkable. Last time I've seen signs like that were on sinks in a hotel in Spain in the 80's! The grounds are quite lovely though, and it's worth spending a little while having a wander around. Overall, great for staying in if you're a expert geneticist attending a leading edge research conference. Not so great if you're a plane spotter hoping for a nice hotel to spend the night in!

There were 40+ guests arriving in our group and they couldn't make one room available early for me as I had cycled there and needed a shower (despite having over an hours notice). Rebecca Loffman, Tracey from housekeeping and one of the receptionists were particularly unhelpful (all the other staff and the location were lovely).