Beautiful Hotel

This hotel was a relief to me and my girlfriend after travelling all the way from Iceland. We arrived there close to midnight and our room was beautiful. The fountain in the garden was really soothing and it was great falling to sleep with nothing but the sound of water in our ears.

I will definitely come back to this place again and I higly reccomend this hotel. Only a short walk from the city center it is a great value.

Cheers!!!

Not for business travelers

My wife and I spent three nights at the Cotswold, appears to be primarily for the over 50 crowd.

Positives:

*excellent location

*superior dining staff

*beatiful rooms

Negatives:

*No internet access (but you can piggyback off of some of the local student housing connections--this worked for me)

*Cheap on those extras that would make this a good hotel (shoe shining kit, please!)

* paper thin walls. Bring your earplugs.

Great Find

After staying in the Cotswold Lodge Hotel last month I felt I must share my experience with all trip advisor members. This hotel was a welcome stop for my travel weary feet, when I finally checked in at gone 7pm all I wanted was a cup of tea and a friendly face - I was met by the friendly face on checking in, and had a cup of tea within 10 minutes of being in my room ( which I must say was a welcome change to some hotels). As a lone traveller I dont often feel comfortable enough to eat in the bar or restaurants, but after chatting to the helpful and friendly porter who helped me with my luggage I thought I would give the bar a try. I had a lovely uninterupted meal in the bar - the only people I saw were staff or pre dinner drinkers - no lager louts here!! how refreshing to find a hotel within the city not pushing for the quick buck of the students. I recommend this hotel for any one visiting Oxford - I'll be staying again and maybe I will try the restaurant!

Trauma

The hotel is picturesque enough, and promises much. However, I am astonished at the officiousness of the staff. On arrival, I had expressed my sense of discomfort with the swans that proliferated outside (I am scared of swans), as they all seemed to have been looking at me. However, the receptionist was far from sympathetic, and went so far as to laugh in my face and say, "what do you expect? Pigeons? Ha ha!".

The joke continued further when my room keys were handed to me. Or, rather, they weren't, as the receptionist played a bizarre game of "here they are, no they aren't", pulling them back to his chest every time I went to take them. He then looked at me and kept beabling (the noise a swan makes) as, finally, I got my keys and walked away.

I fell over on the way to my room.

Many of us have worked at this very fine hotel for many years. During our time here we have never seen a swan in the hotel grounds or on the busy Banbury Road.

Secondly, we respect our guests and we would not treat them in the way that this person was treated.

We know that this visitor did not stay at the Cotswold Lodge Hotel.

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A true retreat

My wife and I spent a week in Oxford in August. We had booked a room in another hotel but were extremely disappointed with it. When we found the Cotswold Lodge, we felt that we had found the retreat site we were hoping to have in a city we have come to love. We were graciously welcomed and well-treated throughout our stay. We would definitely return to this hotel.

Excellent, excellent, excellent

From the bottom to the top! following our complaint, see "terrible, terrible, terrible", the General Manager persuaded us to go to the Hotel for the weekend. Glad we did, excellent service, room and breakfast! No problems with our stay at all. Will visit again.

The problems over the reservations seems to be a one off as it is obviously a hotel that prides itself on customer service.

Fabulous, Friendly, Family Oriented Hotel

I was a little nervous to bring my two year old daughter to stay at such a posh hotel but we felt completely welcome immediately upon our arrival. The staff was so warm and friendly that we felt as if we were staying with relatives. We loved the courtyard rooms by the fountain. The breakfast was wonderful and room service, too. There is a cute little one-way street across Banbury Road with many little sandwich shops, restaurants and a small grocery store to get snacks at. The front desk staff helped me get all over town using the efficient bus system. I would definitely stay there again!

Pleasant, quiet, comfortable

I enjoyed my one night at this small, friendly hotel on the Banbury Road. About a mile from the centre of town, it has something of a country house feel. Good cooked breakfast, with speciality sausages (tasting of meat, not bread). Comfortable rooms, pleasant service. Recommended.

What a change!

Having spent 2 days at the Lodge I have to say I didn't miss my own bed! My wife and I needed a well earned break, and thats what we got. We were made to feel welcome from the moment we checked in. Although a little out of town that was perfect for us as it was quieter.

Although they had a conference of some sort booked all week it did not hinder our enjoyment or relaxation. We only ate in the restaurant once but it was welcoming and friendly, as were all the staff.

We will be recommending Cotswold Lodge to all our frazzled friends and we will be back very soon

Crass, terrible service

I am a regular visitor to Oxford, having studied there and lived there for several years. This hotel in a nice Victorian villa in north Oxford. It ought to be very pleasant, but my stay was ruined by officious and supercilious staff (mostly French), who clearly found it tedious to serve me a drink after a late check-in; who had the temerity to challenge me as to whether the female friend I dined with was going to stay overnight 'in which case you will have to pay a surcharge' (in fact she was just an old friend who lived round the corner - I can honestly say that this was the crassest incident I have experienced in 30 years of travel); and who tried to renege on an agreed late check out. The room was small, and the complimentary toiletries were missing; poor shower pressure. The price was also excessive, bearing in mind that this hotel is signifcantly further from the centre than the other main Oxford hotels. You would be far better off at the Bank or Old Pasronage, or, in the country just outside the City, Studley Priory.

A small thing, but a telling summary of the want of care at this hotel was that on checking-out I noted that the flowers at reception were dead.