I've just hiked 60 kilometres along the Norfolk coast and on arrival at Poet's House Hotel, in the small Cambridgeshire city of Ely, the clawfoot copper bath in my room is looking irresistible.

I dribble in Hermes bath foam, make a long drink and lower my tired limbs into the froth. It's only when I am fully immersed that I realise I am looking straight out through picture-book windows at the facade of one of Europe's finest cathedrals, begun by William the Conqueror nearly 1000 years ago.

When I finish gazing at the Norman cathedral, I scan the bathroom and am struck by its contrasts with the religious edifice. It's new and boyishly sleek, its black-tiled floor is matched by black paintwork and a large white-walled shower around a corner.

Long soak over, I throw on a robe and step into the main room. The decor here leans to the dark side, too; the carpet and walls a plush grey, the furniture dark and the long, flowing curtains silver.

A king-sized bed, adorned with plump cushions and almost shouting "jump in", is the centrepiece.

All 21 of the Poet's House guest rooms seem to slink about inside the three Grade II-listed Edwardian properties they inhabit. There are nods to tradition - an outsized McLaughlin and Scott carriage clock on the writing desk, a body-length oval mirror on a stand and country-house style paintings. But the in-room technology is pure state-of-the-art - an iPad, Bose iPod dock and wall-mounted flatscreen television.

The hotel is stylish in a way that would have irked Oliver Cromwell, a deeply religious puritan who, during the 1630s, lived in the cottage opposite.

In the evening, I'm joined by friends from nearby Cambridge for champagne cocktails in the study, which looks across the inner-garden courtyard. Comfily arrayed with sofas and abuzz with chatter, it's an antidote to anodyne hotel bars.

Like the hotel, the food at the in-house restaurant, the Dining Room, melds tradition and innovation.

I, for instance, start with a Brixham white and brown crab cocktail that tastes of the English seaside, and continue with a trio of Sutton Hoo chicken, wild garlic and air-dried ham that has me picturing chooks and pigs free- ranging in muddy fields.

For my vegetarian friend there is an entire "Garden Dishes" menu, their ingredients largely sourced locally and for my caveman mate, a pressed pork belly and a fillet of riverside beef. We share a bowl of divine triple-cooked truffle and parmesan hand-cut chips and end, royally stuffed and in no doubt which side we'd have taken in the Civil War, with chocolate and almond battenbergs.

The following day, after an excellent breakfast, I stroll around historic Ely. I visit Cromwell's 13th century house to learn about the "man of the people" who led the only successful revolt against the English monarchy. I follow the "Eel trail" to discover more about the slithery creatures from which the city gets its name. Until they were drained in the 17th century, Ely was an island surrounded by the Fens, marshy waterways full of eels.

Ely Cathedral is simply astonishing. From the outside, with its towers up to 66 metres tall, it looks like an impregnable religious fortress. Stepping inside, my eyes are drawn skyward by vaulted ceilings and by shafts of multi-coloured sunlight streaming in through stained-glass windows.

Its scale and detail are humbling, and, when filled with the sound of its 3000-pipe organ, the entire stone building reverberates.

Ely wears its heritage lightly. Behind the cathedral is the largest collection of medieval houses still in use in Europe, the 11th century market place remains a commercial hub and the River Ouse flows prettily through town as it has done for centuries.

A short train ride from London, via Cambridge, Ely is one of England's richest but least-discovered cathedral cities.

The arrival of the sybaritic Poet's House adds un-Cromwellian comfort and gourmet food to its appeal.

Poet's House Hotel, St Mary's Street, Ely, Cambridgeshire; king rooms start from £149 ($270) a night. See poetshouse.com, visitbritain.com.

The writer was a guest of The Poet's House and Visit Britain.