MORE than 500 guests gathered at the Old Bank Hotel in High Street to celebrate its 20th anniversary.
Owner Jeremy Mogford invited friends and guests from across the city to gather at the hotel’s Quod restaurant.
There was an endless supply of cocktails and oysters on ice at the bar, as canapes were served throughout the restaurant, with a DJ set packing the dancefloor.
Hotelier Mr Mogford also owns the Old Parsonage and Gee's.
He said at the celebration on Friday: “This ongoing Oxford adventure began with Browns back in 1976. Here we all are, just over 40 years later, celebrating 20 years for Quod and the Old Bank. Where has all the time gone?
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“Along the way there have been a number of stopovers, some temporary, the Duke of Cambridge, Maison Blanc and some permanent, namely the Old Parsonage and Gee's.
“We’ve made many, many friends over these 40 years and a good number of them are here tonight.
“I would like to thank you all for your support and also thank the huge number who couldn’t make it or we couldn’t fit in!
“So, for me, tonight is all about us celebrating together the last 20 years and before as a very large family of friends.
“My ambition and vision for this place (OB & Quod) has been to create a local institution, the ‘beating heart’ of Oxford, somewhere to meet or stay for both young and older, all ages, for a multitude of reasons, a coffee or drink or some wonderful food cooked by a proper, skilled kitchen.
“I feel we have achieved my dream, we are now well and truly established in this city, along with the Old Parsonage and Gee's.
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“I would like to take this opportunity tonight of paying tribute to such an amazing group of 215 people working within the company, who have made this possible.”
Mr Mogford, who opened the Old Bank Hotel in High Street 20 years ago, completed a £5m refurbishment at the end of last year.
Over two years a major renovation scheme was completed to update bedrooms and public areas, including a new bar for Quod restaurant and a new kitchen.
There are 43 luxury bedrooms and many have unrivalled views of famous Oxford landmarks including the Bodleian Library, Radcliffe Camera and All Souls College.
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One of the most striking changes was The Room with a View, a new hotel bedroom and rooftop terrace offering stunning views of the city, which costs guests about £1,000 a night.
The history of Nos. 92 to 94 High Street, now occupied by the Grade II listed Old Bank Hotel & Quod Restaurant, is a complicated one.
The site can be traced back to the 13th century when Osney Abbey owned these properties.
During the dissolution of the monasteries in the 16th century, Christ Church bought these properties and they remained in their hands until the late 18th century.
In 1900 the family bank Parsons, Thomson & Parsons was taken over by Barclays & Co.
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When the building was converted in 1999 it was the first hotel to open in the centre for 135 years.
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