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). ]]> juliab 2009-09-23T14:58:47-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/4/2/15747/19225 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/6929/article_1165672_04205D5F000005DC_164_468x286.jpg" class="top"> <p>We were a little perturbed this weekend when we opened up the usually excellent <a href=&#148;www.mailonsunday.co.uk&#148;><i>Mail on Sunday</i></a> travel section and found <a href=&#148;http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-1165672/Hotel-review-An-Inspector-Calls-Le-Manoir-aux-Quat-Saisons.html&#148;>this review</a> of <a href=&#148;http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Le+Manoir+Aux+Quat+Saisons/ian/182105&#148;><b>Le Manoir Aux Quat&#146;Saisons</b></a>. Not only is Le Manoir meant to be one of England&#146;s top country hotels and gastro retreats (as well it should, given that its cheapest room costs £430, or $632), but when we paid a visit last year, we were pretty enchanted. <p>For a start, it&#146;s 15 minutes away from <a href=&#148;http://www.hotelchatter.com/city/Oxford&#148;><b>Oxford</b></a>, one of the best towns within an hour&#146;s distance to escape the madness that is <a href=&#148;http://www.jaunted.com/city/London&#148;><b>London</b></a>, given that the whole place and half its inhabitants look like they stepped off a film set. juliab 2009-04-02T16:02:43-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2007/12/18/143144/10 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/3/oxford_scene.jpg" class="imgborder"> <p> <i><a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/monica%20guy">Monica Guy</a> 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.</i><p> <a href="http://www.oxfordcity.co.uk">Oxford</a> is England in a nutshell. A bizarre but quirky mix of old-fashioned English country gentlemen, rampant be-gowned students and Japanese tourists. <p>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 femmefatale 2007-12-19T12:14:31-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2007/6/21/191933/303 <![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/3873/Malmaison_Breakfast.jpg" class="imgborder"><p> <p>Since we learned that sometimes booking a breakfast-inclusive package can <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2007/6/11/65727/6417/hotels/When_Breakfast_Included_Is_Cheaper_Than_a_Standard_Room_Rate">be cheaper</a>, we've paid a lot more attention to the morning meals on offer around the hotel world. So when Flickr photographer <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mildlydiverting/75346965/">MildlyDiverting</a> posted this pic of breakfast at the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Malmaison+Oxford/local/664"><b>Malmaison Oxford Hotel</b></a> we were a bit more than mildly diverted.</p><p>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:</p><blockquote><p> From &#163;255 per amandak 2007-06-22T09:07:30-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2006/4/16/203659/134 <![CDATA[<img align="right" src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/2474/jail.jpg"><p> Last September, the UK's first prison, H.M. Oxford, was converted into <a href="http://www.malmaison-oxford.com/main.asp"><b>The Malmaison Oxford.</b></a><p><a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2005/9/20/155624/397/hotels/Newest_Malmaison_Opening_in_Oxford">The NY Times</a> dropped in on the former prison-turned-hotel in this week's travel section. <p>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. <p>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.<p> <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g186361-d550129-r4310703-Malmaison_Oxford_Castle-Oxford_Oxfordshire_England-m10559.html">While some GEM0330 2006-04-17T16:49:57-05:00 Search HotelChatter string http://www.hotelchatter.com/search/