Cambridge B&B close to the station to get major makeover

Formerly Tenison Towers, and now known as 'The Tenison', this charming guest house on Tenison Road has already completely overhauled one of its bedrooms. A full refurbishment is to follow later in the year

Owned by John and Frances Chance for the best part of 20 years – and now in the hands of their son James – the establishment is managed by Inga Grigaitiene, who moved to Cambridge from her native Lithuania 18 years ago.

Inga subsequently lived and worked at the B&B, quickly adapting to life in Cambridge. Frances sadly passed away two years ago.

“Frances and John and the family kind of adopted me,” recalled Inga. “At the beginning I was cleaning rooms, then I had the chance to study business management with the Open University and also did lots of research into running a bed and breakfast.

“Frances always supported me. She was my friend, my mentor, my English mother, and she was always there for me – as were John and James.”

A larger-than-life character, Inga is planning to put her stamp on the guest house and has been working on design ideas with James Cotton of Cambridge-based web design and development agency, Onespacemedia.

Inga was initially reluctant to change things from the way Frances had left them, but says that the newly refurbished room is “amazing” and expressed her gratitude to all those who have supported her.

She added: “It’s been really difficult, but everything now is so good. I’m more than excited to see the whole redevelopment.”

James said: “My mother always dreamed of having a bed and breakfast and she bought this place about 20 years ago and ran it for about 17 years. After then she retired and leased it to Inga. It’s now called The Tenison just really to reflect a more modern style.”

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