Nice place! We were seated near an incredibly loud table but they moved us kindly when we asked…read more Yummy food, good selection of drinks too. Nice looking both inside and out, and kind staff. Great!

Stay away. The owners of this "establishment" have ZERO flexibility. They show the lowest price…read morerates and hide the normal rates. Be sure to scroll way down when reading the terms. The terms are in the opposite order as the rates. Very deceptive.

Stopped here for lunch on the way back from Manchester. Just off the A34 at the Didcot exit…read moreservice's. Quite a nice lunch with plenty of seating inside. Quite a few tables outside on a grass area in the sun.

New owners and newly renovated. The Kingswell decor is eclectic and unique with a homey,…read moreboutique-like feel. They offer exceptional food and a variety of fare. The restaurant is wonderful as they usually have live music.

Having had several wedding guests stay here for the weekend, we decided to visit the place for an…read moreafter wedding meal with some straggling guests. Situated on the A417 between Harwell and Upton, this is primarily a hotel and restaurant, and it has that "feel" to it. The decor is a bit old fashioned and hotel like, and to be honest it's a bit dull in my opinion. The staff were very welcoming however, and were attentive. Theres a varied selection of drinks, ales, wines etc, but nothing that really stands out. There was a fairly decent selection of meals on offer. At the time of viviting, there was a 2 courses for £9 deal on, but to be honest there were only 2 meals to choose from, which was poor. The main menu had a variety of different things to choose from, steak, fish and chips etc etc, and were fairly well priced. (Steak was £12) Overall, this venue scored fairly low due to the decor, and general dining experience. I would come back, but not in any hurry, there are far better places to eat in the same price bracket

What an amazing couple day holiday stay at the old bank hotel centrally located on high Street in…read moreOxford. This is my second visit to the hotel, and I splurge this time on a room called the room with a view. An amazing patio of more than 500 ft.² greet to you as you walk into the room outside floor ceiling windows and doors. The room is super tech savvy with almost all functions controlled from a panel on the wall next to the desk. This includes automated lowering and raising of blinds for the floor ceiling windows, as well as closing and opening full length draperies for the same. The bathroom is super spacious with double sink vanities in a large walk-in shower. This would be a wonderful room for anyone to celebrate the holidays in. It's equipped with a super comfy king size bed, and down comforter. There's also two couches in the room, facing the large picture windows and a small round table with two chairs for indoor dining. But the patio is unreal and includes a larger outdoor dining table for four and two large chase lounges. What makes this room so spectacular is the views of Saint Mary's church and the whole of Oxford University. Aspires of Oxford are magical and at night it's absolutely spectacular. Everything about this hotel is five star from the service the moment you check in until you check out. Room service is fast and efficient as is maid service in the mornings. Included with the room is a fully stocked mini bar and wine refrigerator. that's updated daily. You're also given a large platter of super fresh fruit, that is also refreshed daily. There's a hot pot for making tea and a really nice coffee pod machine that makes espresso. The wall opposite the bed sports a large flat panel TV. Location of the old bank hotel is prime real estate in the center of high Street in the middle of shops, pubs and restaurants. Cross the street and you are immediately on the grounds of Oxford University a wonderful place for exploring. Can't say enough about this hotel, the physical aspects, the service, and the location. I will always choose this place when I'm in Oxford.

This is easily the best hotel in Oxford and one of the best hotels I've stayed in Britain. I had a…read moresmaller room, but it was anything but claustrophobic. The design is excellent, a beautiful desk and chairs and tables--modern and tasteful. They keep everything impeccably clean. The art collection is stunning. The bath spacious, even in my room for one. The staff are friendly, knowledgeable and charming. Coffee and tea are abundant. The lounging areas--a snook in the rear of the hotel--is a great place to prepare for the day. The food is excellent. The hotel sits on Oxford's High Street, right across from the towering All Souls College. Old Bank is a perfect hotel. I can't wait to stay there again.

Convenient hotel to stay in this area, breakfast is very good, dinner restaurant in the same…read morebuilding, food is ok. Situated on the main street, not very quiet.

I had drive down for a business meeting with the Science and Technology Facilities Council in…read moreHarwell and this was the closest affordable (£49/night) hotel available. They're not messing around when they say a good night's sleep guaranteed. The room was spacious, clean and comfortable. Even had free wifi! The service was excellent and at £49 for the one night I stayed there, I felt it was well worth every penny. As and when I need to travel down this part of the world, I'm more likely to stay here than anywhere else.

Lovely 15th century property. Nice cozy rooms in the pub and kind staff. I had some fish and chips,…read morebrought the dog, sat by the fire. Friend had the pie and really enjoyed. Good menu with varied gastropub fare offerings. I'd love to check out the hotel, they've really done a nice job restoring and maintaining the buildings and interiors. Very sweet village.

I found this a fine place for bit to eat at the adjacent restaurant from the hotel. It's very…read moreinviting with a nice little menu featuring regular pub fare. I had some fish and chips while I watched the cricket match. The fish was over cooked but tasty and the chips are fabulous. Note: I hate generalizations but I do find everything over cooked in England. It seams to me you have a few choices in food preparation I.E. Done, well done, burnt to a crisp. Perfect. Enough of that...the staff is wonderful and attentive. When I started to pay I was informed their credit card machine wasn't working. The barkeep said no worries you can pay later. That would never happen in LA! I scrounged up a few ponds and all was good. I would stop in anytime!

I couldn't rave about this place enough!! The service is absolutely unmatched. The staff are…read morefriendly and very professional and on top of everything. The rooms are so lovely and the food is pretty good too. The food is a bit expensive but my boyfriend and I came for a valentines trip and didn't mind splurging for the occasion. Each room takes you back in time and you really feel like you're in downtown abbey or the crown. It's such a beautiful place and I will 1000% be back!!

We ate there believing the food was meant to be good. This place is meant to be two rosettes…read more Service was good. Food was very blah considering. Very disappointing. I certainly would not recommend it at all to dine. Maybe for a drink? I have NO idea how they got two rosettes! I gave it 2 pointed fir ambiance.

This Hotel came highly regarded of which we saw parts. The gardens in the back our pretty, the…read morebuffet breakfast was generous, staff were pleasant, and the downtown location was very convenient. However, overall hotel room comfort did not meet expectations. When we checked in, our room was very hot due to the sun coming in the windows. The AC didn't work properly and the front desk was very slow in finding someone to solve the problem. Because we faced the street, it was too noisy to have the windows open at night to get fresh air. Perhaps I would have felt differently if given a room in the back with a view of the gardens. This was our least favorite hotel out of the six we stayed in during a 7-day walking tour.

This review is particularly for Afternoon Tea at FIG restaurant only…read more We stopped by after strolling around Chipping Campden without making prior reservation. The staffs were courteous and kindly checked for availability for us. We then were greeted and seated soon after. The service at Fig was great. The tea selections are great. The High Tea set are delicious and quite a lot! I actually enjoyed the scones quite a lot even though I don't like it that much in the States. Quality, Service, and Experience definitely worth more than 22£ per person.

The visit to the Vineyard for my birthday meal had a slightly strange timing, coming as it did on…read moreApril Fools' Day and not on my birthday! It did make me feel a bit like the queen, having 2 birthdays! The Vineyard had been on my foodie radar for awhile, from the days of chef John Campbell who held 2 Michelin stars here. So, when I started dating my girlfriend who lives in Newbury, she organised to take me here for a celebration dinner. The hotel and restaurant is definitely a dress up sort of venue and walking past the bowls of flames on the outdoor pond and through the automatic front doors made it feel like a special occasion. The whole place has light coloured decor with modern accents, which removes the air of over-bearing starchiness that can pervade some fine dining venues. We elected to have drinks while perusing the menu and 2 glasses of freshly squeezed orange juice were accompanied by some moreish canapes - large mild Ligurian olives, salted almonds and some savoury straws. Chef Daniel Galmiche has his hand on the tiller in the kitchen these days. He is described on the Vineyard's website as the king of contemporary French cooking, which are a big pair of shoes to fill. A lovely touch came at the end of the evening when he came round the dining room to meet the diners and have a short chat. He gave us a tip on how best to eat our dessert course. The menu has 4 choices in each of the starter, main course and dessert sections. It covers both meat and seafood and perhaps a couple more choices in each section would have been nice. After making our choice of food and wine, we were shown to our table. I have to say that the service from what seemed to be an exclusively French brigade was top-notch and very smooth and unobtrusive throughout the evening. We had an amuse-bouche of goat's cheese straw with beetroot tagliatelli and avocado mousse. A good idea with balance of flavours but the cheese straw proved hard to break down into small enough pieces to complement the beetroot. My starter of scallops in an oriental broth yielded top class sweet scallops cooked to perfection but the oriental accents were perhaps a little muted for my palate - however, with scallops this good, the accents were perhaps missed less. My girlfriend's starter of foie gras terrine was lovely and rich but the portion size was quite large - I helped to polish the dish off. For mains, I had Balmoral Estate venison fillet cooked to medium rare perfection accompanied by my favourite ingredient in the world - seared foie gras. Top notch ingredients cooked perfectly accompanied by salsifi, butternut squash and quince to help cut through the richness. The girlfriend had a plate of veal - slow cooked rack, braised shin and sweetbread. Again, well cooked but quite a large portion size. This meant that we had to share a pudding, both being unable to manage a whole one on our own. The girlfriend chose well - blackcurrant souffle with licorice ice cream.Chef Galmiche's tip was true - to get the full effect of the flavour combination, you had to eat the souffle and ice cream in the same mouthful. The souffle was really intensely flavoured with blackcurrant. I also have to make mention of the pianist who entertained us through the evening. He was very friendly, giving me the name of a piece he was playing that I particularly enjoyed and taking requests. We had a lovely evening here - great ambiance and venue for a celebration or date. The food is good and with a little tweaking of choice and portion size, it could be great.

Absolutely amazing…read more We stayed here for a weekend for a Valentines Day treat. The hotel was lovely, the spa very relaxing, but the best reason to come here would be the food. In fact, you could just skip the whole hotel thing so long as you can sucker someone in to driving home (or get a taxi). The friendly maitre d' greets you enthusiastically upon arrival and summons the discreet and charming sommelier. With a name like The Vineyard, you know to expect wine, but the reams of paper that contain the wine menu are just breathtaking. Every nuance of taste and knowledge are catered for, or you can merely leave your choices in the capable hands of the sommelier, who, with a discreet wink to how much you intend on spending, will guide you through the perfect accompaniments to your chosen dishes. Then comes the restaurant. You are led into a delicate tiered room bedecked with a baby grand and a talented pianist to add to the atmosphere. Outside, flames burn around the central courtyard fountain, echoing the soft glow of the intimate lighting inside. The menu is astonishing and should come laminated to prevent the odd Pavlovian accident. Even the most decisive of people can find themselves giddy at what to order. There is of course a tasting menu to reassure you, should the vital decision elude you. But whatever you pick, the rapturous praise you will bestow upon what you receive will be the same. This is gastronomy. This is the reason the French can no longer justifiably sniff at English cuisine. And I went there when it only had one Michelin star. Since my visit, another has been awarded, and the praise has more than doubled. As for cost, who the hell cares? When the food is this good, you just pay the bill and worry about your knees at a later date.

I had my wedding reception in Penny Square Barn. What an amazing venue this was for a wedding…read morereception. The barn is owned by the fabulous farmer Bruno and Gill, such wonderful people! I stayed with Bruno and Gill for B&B and one of my fondest memories is having a bottle of vino and a gas with Gill in the kitchen. Honestly Batcombe is just a fantastic place with some amazing friendly, interesting people. Bruno had just put in toilets when we got married here which was fantastic and the barn had not been used all winter so we had a lot of cleaning up to do. Its no frills but it makes it for economic sense as a wedding venue if you have the vision and want to get married in a glorious location. The main barn itself is gorgeously rustic, just put some dichroic floods as a backdrop and it becomes wonderfully atmospheric. We had a friend climb around like a monkey and do an amazing job on lighting and hung long swathes of black fabric over the not so pretty metal door entrance to the barn. In the smaller barn annex we also hung fabric to disguise the galvanised roof. We were able to have a fire going outside and allowed to have fireworks (before 10pm of course) and a flamethrowing fire engine. The villagers were just fantastic and welcoming and Bruno was an absolute star! Not only was he a bell-ringer, but he ran the bar at the village hall and made sure we had enough fuel to run the genny for the weekend. Barn does get cold at night so its worth renting a couple of space heaters. We got a TENS from Mendip council and ran our own bar which was fab. This is a beautiful quiet village so its not the spot to pound music late into the night as noise does carry but its a perfect venue for an event such as a wedding in the summer.