Oxford Travel Guide
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Le Manoir Celebrates Its 25th Anniversary With a Mini-Music Festival
Music festivals – scruffy affairs where you sit on the floor, hopefully in the sun, and drink your own bodyweight, right?
Not any more, they’re not. Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons - chef Raymond Blanc’s uber-posh country pile just outside Oxford – is 25 years old this year, and it’s celebrating with a mini-music festival.
But it’s no ordinary music festival. Oh no. This is Le Festival aux Quat’Saisons: an uberposh, gastro music festival and although it’s going on for three days, you’re only meant to attend for one night (presumably your stomach would give way, as would your bank balance, if you stayed any longer).
Tags: Country Hotels / Oxford Hotels / UK hotels / Luxury Hotels / Hotel Reviews / → All Tags
Has Le Manoir Aux Quat' Saisons Gone Down the WAG Route?
We were a little perturbed this weekend when we opened up the usually excellent Mail on Sunday travel section and found this review of Le Manoir Aux Quat’Saisons. Not only is Le Manoir meant to be one of England’s top country hotels and gastro retreats (as well it should, given that its cheapest room costs Ł430, or $632), but when we paid a visit last year, we were pretty enchanted.
For a start, it’s 15 minutes away from Oxford, one of the best towns within an hour’s distance to escape the madness that is London, given that the whole place and half its inhabitants look like they stepped off a film set. But yet, it’s total country manor – 15th-century manor to be precise, with the perfectly manicured grounds to match. And the rooms that we saw and stayed in were lovely and rustically simple, unlike the over-the-top frills that you get in lots of other country hotels.
Tags: Oxford Hotel Reviews / Luxury Hotels / Hotel Restaurants / → All Tags
Oxford Hotels: Grandma Versus the Rest of Us
Monica Guy is fed up with the old guard hotels of the U.K. that may have entertained her grandparents when they were tripping all over the world in their youth but have since been lasting on reputation and little else. In this new feature, she pits her grandma's favorite hotel against some of the new hip hotels popping up across the rainy motherland. Enjoy.
Oxford is England in a nutshell. A bizarre but quirky mix of old-fashioned English country gentlemen, rampant be-gowned students and Japanese tourists.
Its University is 800 years old, and so are some of its people. Others need ID for the clubs. Something for your grandparents, and a whole load of fun for you.
Tags: Hotel Breakfasts / Flickr Photos / England Hotels / Jail Hotels / → All Tags
Morning 'Prison Grub' at the Malmaison Oxford
Since we learned that sometimes booking a breakfast-inclusive package can be cheaper, we've paid a lot more attention to the morning meals on offer around the hotel world. So when Flickr photographer MildlyDiverting posted this pic of breakfast at the Malmaison Oxford Hotel we were a bit more than mildly diverted.
This attractive-looking basket is home to the breakfast-in-bed option at the Malmaison and it rather looks like something we'd like to souvenir, if we had a suitcase big enough. But since the Malmaison is housed in a former prison building, we're not actually recommending this course of action. To get this great breakfast there's a deal going there at the moment:
From £255 per night you can enjoy one of our glorious suites or super suites, champagne on ice, chocolate dipped strawberries, aromatic oils and candles, a chilled Mal CD and that all important champagne breakfast in your room.
Looks like our Flickr tipster got through the champagne before they took the picture!
[Photo: MildlyDiverting]
Related Stories:
· Newest Malmaison Opening in Oxford [HotelChatter]
· When Breakfast Included Is Cheaper Than a Standard Room Rate [HotelChatter]
· Meaningful Rice Dumplings Served for Breakfast at Grand Hotel Taipei [HotelChatter]
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More Than A Suite Cell
Last September, the UK's first prison, H.M. Oxford, was converted into The Malmaison Oxford.
The NY Times dropped in on the former prison-turned-hotel in this week's travel section.
The cells/rooms date back to the 11th century with low, barrel-vaulted ceilings, exposed brick and metal, and sliver thin windows. But, you aren't gonna suffer from claustrophobia.
The Grey Lady attests that the average room are a lot bigger than they sound (about the size of two cells and a third for a bathroom). While dim lighting might be good for setting the mood, it's not so good for writing journal entries. We suggest you bring your iBook, and take advantage of the free WiFi.
While some guests (including the NY Times reporter) said service was weak, overall the hotel's quirky style and location (five minutes from train station and other historical sights), are worth the experience.
Related Stories:
· Oxford, England: Malmaison Oxford [NY Times]
· Newest Malmaison Opening in Oxford [HotelChatter]
· Malmaison Oxford guest reviews [Trip Advisor]
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This little piggie went to the Malmaison
What more can you ask for than a picture of a stuffed piggie on a hotel bed?
It was taken at the former prison-now-turned Malmaison Oxford Hotel just last night.
Check the Flickr photostream for more pics of the hotel including the original "Do Not Disturb" sign.
Related Stories:
· Malmaison Oxford reviews [TripAdvisor]
· Newest Malmaison Opening in Oxford [HotelChatter]
Tags: Jail Hotels / Malmaison Hotels / → All Tags
Newest Malmaison Opening in Oxford
Malmaison's latest hotel opens in Oxford this November.
The property is a converted prison, which now boasts swank rooms and free broadband.
H.M. Oxford Prison, the UK's first prison, was altered surprisingly little by designers-- with its cells, basement and castellated walls largely unaltered, to host the hotel. Don't worry, the designers did add plenty of Malmaison touches, so it probably won't feel prisonesque, let's hope.
Malmaison Oxford is offering an introductory rate for £110 that includes a complimentary bottle of wine.
Good chance to be one of the first to sleep in the now renovated H.M. Oxford Prison.
Tags: Hotel Hell / → All Tags
A Case Of You-Get-What-You-Pay-For?
[Editor's Note: Doctors are always looking for cheap accommodations--those med school debts don't just go away you know. We received an email from an irate MD who just completed, what he concluded, was a sub par stay at Oxford's Nanford Guest House. As always, keep in mind the review below is just one guests opinion.]
I've stayed at a hotel called Nanford Guest House in Oxford, UK in July 2004. I went to Oxford for a short course at the University and therefore I was looking for a cheap accommodation. Because the youth Hostel was full I searched for cheap options. At every search I did this hotel (Nanford) would always pop up and I didn't manage to find bad reviews about it. Apparently the owner takes great care and effort to market his hotel at every website on B&B and cheap hotels available on the internet. So, I decided to give it a try. What a mistake!
The hotel is located in a suburb of Oxford (you can get to the University by bus only) and from the outside it looks like any other suburban Victorian house. The problem is all the rest. The owner is a very rude person which treats his guest like you wouldn't treat even your worst enemies. The rooms are old, full of mold and amazingly dirty. Just to exemplify why I say that, I found a used condom package under my bed, there were ticks in the bed and I found hair from at least two or three different people on the bed linnen. Apparently they don't change it very often (or at all). On top of that, I've found on the internet (on Trip Advisor) that the food (which I wasn't brave enough to eat) is disgusting and that the city hall has already closed their kitchen at least once.
Related Stories:
· Nanford Guest House Reviews [TripAdvisor]
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