Vanbrugh House Hotel - Oxford

Barbara L.

Let me start with this: I absolutely love this hotel! We discovered this gem 10 years ago and stayed twice at that time. I was amazed by the beautifully designed rooms and the charm of the place. It is such a great memory. Hence why we have booked again for the New Years 2024.|Now to the point of why I have to give them 3 stars. Seems like not much happened with the hotel and the rooms at the past 10 years and that is a shame! It is such a lovely little hotel and I feel so sad that they haven’t looked after the rooms better during the years. |Our room was lovely but definitely desires some TLC. And attention to details from housekeeping was lacking big time too. For someone who has been working as a housekeeper for over 13 years I was expecting more for a hotel like this. |Please invest a bit in the up-keeping of the rooms and put more effort in the cleaning and details. It could be an absolutely amazing hotel with a little bit of work!

Emma H.

Spent New Years (31st Dec 2024-2nd Jan 2025) at the Vanbrugh House Hotel and it was lovely! Excellent location - just down from the shops and not too long of a walk (maybe max 5 mins?) to the main Westgate shopping centre.||The staff were lovely and super accommodating - including providing flutes for the Prosecco we brought ourselves, and cutlery/plates for when we got a takeaway (rained loads one night so didn't fancy traipsing around town to find a restaurant!).||We stayed in the suite which had a gorgeous bathroom (same size as the bedroom it was huge!) - two massive baths for myself and my partner to use, with a little television in the bathroom too so we could watch while in the bath. The shower was excellent too, and everything in the room was perfect. Four poster bed, super comfy and opposite a massive television which we could log into our own Netflix on. Robes and slippers too in the room!||Such good value for money and a lovely feel to the place! 100% would go back.

s C.

We stayed in the room 7 suite. Its felt dated with paint peeling and not like the advertised photos. Noise as the door has a large floor gap. Work on road outside and scaffolding all over the hotel. Alot of noise as student union is opposite. Shower floods tge bathroom if turned on full. Lamp also blew when turning on. Not worth £600 for two nights.

Helge B.

What a gem this hotel is. Located in the midst of everything of interest in the centre of the beautiful city of Oxford, yet secluded in a peaceful and quiet street. One could not ask for at better location. The rooms are cosy and comfortable, ours did even have its own private garden. However, what lifts this hotel above others, is the friendly and extremely helpful staff. They really made our stay a lot easier and comfortable. I have stayed in many hotels around the world, but I can't recall to ever have experienced a level of service that we received from the kind staff at Vanbrugh House Hotel. It really feels like a home away from home. We are definitely coming back to Oxford, and I wouldn't even consider staying anywhere else but at this gem of a hotel. We really loved it here!

Peter E.

The nicest thing about this hotel is the name. The entrance area is tatty and sets the tone for the rest of the hotel. There are virtually no public areas. The rooms are up in a warren of narrow corridors. The carpets are past their best and look a bit grubby. The room was small and a funny shape. The biggest issue was that it was filled with furniture that was far to big for it. The biggest offender is the TV cabinet which is large and in front of the bed. This leaves virtually no room to walk past and serves no purpose for storage. There is a desk that is also large. The bed is big and with sharp edges that catch your leg as you walk past. The room smelt of damp although the heating was on and there was no sign of damp other than a mould patch on the net curtain which also had a rip. The mattress on the bed was very thin and could have been a bit of foam. The sheets were OK. The bathroom was larger with a decent sized shower but low water pressure. There is a wardrobe although like almost all the furniture the handles had fallen off. The room was stuffy despite leaving the window open. Our room looked out on the dustbins one side and next doors dustbins on the other.||The staff on the front desk were nice. The location is good and it wasn't noisy.

Eliza C.

PSA: hotel backs onto a pub that runs a club night on Friday and Saturday until 1am.

I stayed here on a Saturday night in December. It was planned to be a peaceful final evening away before having my first baby (I am 9 months pregnant at time of stay / review). I was so, so disappointed with my stay here. Firstly it was £240 for one night. The room they put me in was a tiny double which was swelteringly hot even with the window open and heaters off. But that paled in comparison to the NOISE. At around 9pm it became very clear that my bedroom backed onto a pub on George Street, which I looked up and found would be open with music blaring directly through my headboard until 1am. I went to reception who didn’t seem surprised at all (presumably because they have the same complaint every weekend from all guests). They did move me to a bigger room which was empty, the noise was a bit quieter but it was still very loud until the early hours. Even if I wasn’t a week away from giving birth I’d have been horrified but given how exhausted I was and the intention for the night away being a good nights rest, I was so upset and disappointed. The beds were also very uncomfortable in both rooms.

Arlene T.

No advance information about Oxford’s low emissions zone charges.
12.50 for simple continental breakfast.
Construction work on street immediately in front of hotel started before 7.0am
Bin collection started at 6.0am
Anything but a peaceful night

Matthew T.

Room we received was nothing like the photos, it was nice enough but we ordered a superior double with a bath and height ceilings and we got a box room with low ceilings and a crappy shower next to the front door separated only by a horrible shower curtain. When I questioned it their first response was “did you request a bath?”… surely I shouldn’t have to request the things that are in the photos for the room. In their defence they did give us a discount which brought the price in line with the standard rooms (which is should be advertised as) but the mood was ruined by this point. Also bed is hard (if you like that) and no real amenities to speak of. It’s a nice enough hotel but not 4 star and definitely overpriced. Highly doubt I’ll stay again. I’ll upload the internet pics vs the actual room we got.