Our Favorite New Speakeasy Hidden in Cambridge

When the sun drops behind Duke Street and Cambridge settles into its evening hush, a new hotel doesn’t so much open its doors as set a scene. Lights glow through restored stained glass, the brickwork holds its age with quiet confidence, and somewhere downstairs a bar hums with the promise of conversations best kept off the record.

This is The Clements Hotel – a newly opened boutique stay that leans hard into tailored 1920s glamour, prohibition-era indulgence and well, just a touch of well-mannered menace. Think less spa slippers, more three-piece suits. (Flat caps optional. Razors, we’re told, are strictly for shaving.)

Housed in Cambridge’s original 1866 Masonic hotel – built by Irish-born Archibald Clements back when the town was still struggling to its feet – the 29-room property has undergone a meticulous multi-million-dollar restoration. The brief was clear: honour the building’s authority, strip away the clutter of time, and let the building’s inherent atmosphere do the heavy lifting.

The result is a place that feels quietly cinematic. Not loud. Not flashy. Just assured.

A Tip Of The Hat To The Man In Charge

Running the show is Cameron Kellow, a seasoned Scottish hospitality operator whose résumé includes the stewardship of Scone Palace no less and its 20,000-acre estate – the sort of place where history isn’t curated so much as managed daily. It shows.

Kellow speaks less about ‘experience’ and more about ‘feel’. The moment when a guest steps inside and instinctively lowers their voice. The way a room carries silence. The importance of places that don’t explain themselves.

‘We wanted to create something that felt established,’ he says. ‘As if it had always been here.’ Take one step inside The Clements and you’ll know they’ve succeeded, it’s like your feet already know the way to the bar!

Tailored Rooms, Not Plush Ones

The Clements’ 29 rooms are best described as tailored rather than indulgent. Restored Edwardian rooms retain their soaring ceilings and original details, while new attic-level suites look out over leafy Cambridge like a watchful perch.

There are no gimmicks. Just proportion, texture, light and restraint. Stained glass. Red brick. Timber staircases worn smooth by generations of guests. Two accessible rooms ensure the fantasy doesn’t exclude reality – a nice touch in a place otherwise dedicated to mood.

Out back, the former horse stables have been transformed into three interlinked private suites with a cottage-like intimacy. Fireplaces. Courtyards. Freestanding tubs. Terraces made for slow evenings and long drinks. Listen for long enough and you might hear a horse whinny. Probably not, but maybe.

Gallery Upstairs, Trouble Down Below

Upstairs, Gallery Restaurant overlooks the gardens and terrace, serving food that blends global influence with the famous local Waikato produce – polished, confident, and unfussy. Nearby, The Clements Café & Wine Bar shifts gears as the day wears on, moving from morning coffee to afternoon wine to evening aperitivo without ever breaking character.
But the real heartbeat of the building is underground.

Downstairs, the original 150-year-old basement has been reimagined as 1866 – a low-lit speakeasy bar inspired by Chicago’s Prohibition-era haunts. There’s live music. Craft cocktails. An intimate stage. Enough shadow to bring out everyone’s better side.

It’s the kind of place where you half expect someone to lean in and say something consequential. Where phones stay face-down. Where the night might run long.

A Proper Drink, With A Backstory

Completing the fantasy is a bespoke house gin, created by The Cambridge Distillery Co. specifically for The Clements. Based on a rediscovered 1860s Irish recipe, it’s a neat nod to Old Archibald himself – and a reminder that good drinks, like good buildings, were perfected long before anyone thought to brand them. Bootleg romance, minus the legal issues.

The New Social Heart (Again)

Located at 68 Duke Street, The Clements is perfectly placed near Cambridge’s sporting facilities, shops and cafés, and just a short drive from Hamilton and Auckland airports. It also offers a suite of event spaces – from boardrooms to lawns – for weddings, conferences and gatherings that benefit from a little gravitas.

Which is what The Clements has in spades. Not luxury for luxury’s sake. But presence. Authority. A sense that this place matters.

By order of Cambridge, The Clements has reclaimed its role as the town’s social heart – sharper dressed this time, a little more world-weary, and very comfortable operating after dark. See you there – like we always have.

Room rates start from $469.