Oxfordshire hotels named among best in UK by The Times

Every year experts visit hundreds of properties throughout the UK for “interesting openings and news of established hotels reinventing themselves”.

The list is compiled after conversations with "industry stalwarts and encounters with charismatic hotel staff and memorable chefs".

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Readers' comments are also scoured as well as word-of-mouth recommendations being taken into consideration. 

Described as a “showstopper throughout”, Estelle Manor in Eynsham, has been listed as second across the UK and was deemed the ‘Central Hotel of the Year'.

The grade II listed estate, nine miles from Oxford, was bought in 2018 by Sharan Pasricha, founder of Ennismore, a global hospitality developer.

The former Eynsham Hall Hotel is the country outpost of Mayfair private members’ club Maison Estelle which he founded in 2021 and is a favourite of celebrities including Angelina Jolie.

The Times said: “The elaborate bedrooms, wood-panelling, four-posters, heavily brocaded fabrics, have views over more than 3,000 acres of ambrosial countryside where pursuits range from tree walks to axe-throwing.

“Dinner might be sophisticated Chinese fine-dining or rowdy the-gang’s-all-here sharing plates in the kitchen garden.

“Its vast new spa is the not-really-necessary icing on a lavish cake. There’s also a beautifully equipped kids club for the over-threes.”

The Bell at Charlbury was ranked 52nd on the list after it reopened in early September following a complete restoration was undertaken at the 17th-century inn.

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It is the third pub with rooms from Lady Bamford of Daylesford Organic and the Times says “good things come in threes and this place proves the point perfectly”.

The pub serves a selection of hearty pub classics with ingredients from local suppliers and growers as well as from the farm at Daylesford Organic earning it a spot on the Micheline Guide.

A total of 12 bedrooms sit above the pub and The Barn, including a two-bedroom family suite.

The Times said: “Its interiors are every bit as tasty.

“In winter, real fires and exposed stone make for cosy evenings, while its acre of orchard gardens with a stream at the bottom for playing Pooh sticks promises nostalgia-filled summer nights.

“The 12 rooms have an arts and crafts ambience and are as rural and winning as a William Morris design.”

And the third hotel making it onto the list is the Old Parsonage in Oxford at number 82.

The hotel has stood at its present site since 1160 and is owned by Jeremy Mogford and is part of The Oxford Collection, which includes the Old Bank Hotel in High Street, and Gees restaurant.

The Times said: “Behind the wisteria-festooned Headington stone façade are a cosily smart restaurant and bar, plus 35 bedrooms aimed squarely at British mini-breakers and overseas visitors of means.”