Friendly comforts in the middle of Cambridge

May 18, 2008|Checking In, Patricia Harris and David Lyon, Globe Correspondents

CAMBRIDGE - The Harding House isn't shy about proclaiming itself "The best li'l guesthouse in Cambridge." The motto is even painted above the door of the 1860s Victorian-style home in our mid-Cambridge neighborhood. We were glad when new owners bought the down-at-the-heels property in 1997 and transformed a sad rooming house and apartments into a 14-room bed-and-breakfast. When acquaintances who would rather not crash on our sofa bed ask about Cambridge lodgings, this is one of the places we suggest.

When we decided to try it for ourselves, Lauren Summer, who took our phone reservation, couldn't have been more friendly. "We try to take care of you," she said, reeling off a list of inn amenities. When we showed up on a weekday afternoon, she offered us a choice of rooms. "I was planning to give you a first-floor room with a view of the yard," she said referring to a room near the kitchen and breakfast area. "But it will probably be quieter upstairs."

We settled on Room 24 on the second floor, a large square room with beige walls, blue drapes on the windows on two walls, and small Oriental-style rugs on hardwood floors. The queen bed was covered with a slightly faded, well-washed, blue-and-white bed spread, while a single bed in a corner had a mismatched floral cover. Traditional dark wood furnishings included a round table and two chairs by a window, nightstands, headboard, and armoire with TV.

A few small pieces of art and a mirror hardly enlivened the walls in our room, but the Harding House compensates by mounting exhibits featuring artists from nearby Out of the Blue Gallery. A series of landscapes made with a camera obscura lined the upstairs hallway, while landscapes and florals with bright Caribbean colors were a surprisingly nice complement to the Victorian decor of the parlor.

We had barely settled into the deep parlor couch to peruse the interesting magazine selection on the coffee table when a woman arrived to check in. Summer was unable to find her reservation and they eventually determined that the visitor had booked a different Cambridge lodging - and that the reservation had been mistakenly canceled. Summer was all calm assurance. "We'll take care of you," she said, winning an instant convert - and paying guest.

"I'm really glad I ended up here," the woman told us later as we shared a bottle of wine. On Thursday night, the inn has a wine and cheese social hour, but will prepare a plate of cheese and open a bottle of wine any night upon request. It's one of the nicer touches of hospitality, along with guest refrigerator and coin-op laundry. And though we strolled over on foot, we envied the free off-street parking, a luxury many neighborhood residents, alas, don't enjoy.