This is not a traditional hotel, but actually much better. The property is historic, the rooms have real character, and everything you could want in a room is all there. The staff are delightful, helpful, and attentive. And the location is central yet completely quiet.

It's incredibly well-placed in the centre of Oxford, and given its location, competitively priced. Some of the rooms are larger/more elegant than others, with a huge bath and a private garden, but the one I stayed in this time was perfectly decent. There's no air-conditioning, but I was provided with a fan which worked well.

The hotel is well placed in the centre of Oxford, about a 10 min walk from the station. It is positioned on a quiet side street with easy walking access to Oxford's historical sites, shops and restaurants. The staff were very friendly and helpful; whilst, because of the age of the property, air conditioning wasn't available in the room, fans were provided to help successfully deal with the exceptional high temperatures. We enjoyed our stay and would use the hotel again on future visits to Oxford.

Well awesome staff . Large well equipped room .Huge shower with lots of towels . Superb location central for everything.

It was difficult to write this review. The Van Brugh hotel was in a historic building in Oxford and was well run and maintained by enthusiastic and helpful staff, facts that are reflected in my "excellent" ratings of the staff. However, the reason for my "ok" (rather than "excellent") rating for our overall stay is because we stayed at the hotel during a time in which Oxford was experiencing a consequential heatwave and our room was on an upper floor, with no air-conditioning and windows that could only be opened partially. The hotel tried hard to help by providing multiple fans (four) in the room, but -- because of the severity of the heatwave -- these were not sufficient to keep us cool, especially during our sleep time. Air-conditioning was really needed.

This room was totally a little misrepresented by the pictures and the stars on Expedia. The room was very clean, 2 of the staff people were as helpful as they could be, but 1 was horrible. The thermostat in our room was turned off or broken but the thermostat in the hallway right outside our door never got below 27°. It was so excruciatingly hot. Granted we are in a heat wave, but the windows don’t open more than 3 inches and our room faced another building so you could never get a breeze. On top of that there was a broken mini bar cooler inside of a cabinet that was just pumping out hot air. I discovered it because one corner of the room was so much hotter than the rest of the room. When I opened up the cabinet door, there was actually a blast of heat that you could see. I touched the top of the cabinet and it burnt my finger fingers. Worried about a fire. I asked person on duty who insisted that no such thing exists. I asked him to accompany me upstairs. When he saw the frig, he STILL said NONE of the rooms have mini coolers, including the suites, and even so it’s not plugged in. It’s just because of the weather that the coooler is that hot. Instead of removing frig he tried to pick up the entire cabinet. His coworker looking very embarrassed said “wait wait wait we have to unplug it!” Within half an hour the temp started coming down. Hairdryer missing a piece was replaced with one that had coil so red hot it MELTED THE BRISTLES on hairbrush. I bought a dryer next day.

A unique combination of character and comfort. Very helpful staff, impeccably clean , all services at high standards. I loved staying at Vanbrugh House Hotel and will definitely book another stay. The location couldn't be better; all the city attractions plus the train station are within 10 min walking distance, at the most.

This hotel is charming and so well located in the heart of central Oxford. I was there during a heatwave and unfortunately they don’t have air conditioning so that colored my impression a bit. I’m guessing most of the year, this isn’t a concern, but during the summer months, it was pretty toasty in the room. I stayed in one of the suites and it was very well appointed with a huge bathroom with double bathtubs. Some things to note: they don’t have elevators. I was lucky enough to be on the ground floor and they will carry your bags up, but just something to be aware of. Overall it’s a lovely hotel with Oxford charm to spare.

Wished the room included a fridge so we could have chilled our beer and wine, but the staff was wonderful and gave us fresh ice buckets each night to assist. They will be putting fridges in August is what we were told. We had room 6 and were beyond delighted to have a patio cozy patio That was larger than the room. That was a lovely compliment to the charming room. I would for sure stay at this Hotel again.

Location couldn’t have been better. Very central to all of Oxford, but remarkably quiet! If you are trying to adjust to the time zone, this is a great spot!!

The hotel is an older building that has been renovated and updated without losing its original charm. The staff are friendly and helpful and the room was clean and comfortable though like most Oxford buildings it is not air conditioned. The breakfast is very nice and we enjoyed our stay.

Very good location. Price reflects location and cleanliness. Facilities/ maintenance slightly off par. Shower taps need updating & there wasn’t a mini fridge in the hot Summer. Although had two effective fans.

Did like the character of the hotel. Location was good. Did not like heat and no air circulation. Did not like stairs up to second floor, but at least assisted by staff to carry bags up and down.

Excellent location. Rooms were clean and comfy. The staff were very helpful. We had a ground level room and had an outside garden to relax, it could have been better it was not maintained. Couldn't sit out there. They had a basic continental breakfast, but it was good. Would have been a more enjoyable stay had there been air conditioning as we stayed during a heat wave.

The location of this hotel cannot be beat. The bedding & towels were great. What was sorely lacking was air-conditioning!!! Oxford was in the middle of a heat wave and our room was stifling hot. So much so, we only went to our room if absolutely necessary. There was NO airflow, either. Even though we had two small fans in the room. Also the lay out of our room was ridiculous, with the shower right at the entrance with the sink & toilet around a corner. The breakfast buffet was VERY basic..for what was charged.

I do not think that I have stayed in a more uncomfortable hotel room than this one. There is no air conditioning. There is no elevator. The shower faucet could not be set to anything other than hot. One tiny window in the room which could not be opened more than 6 inches. The room itself was pokey. We were given a top floor room during a heat wave with a tiny portable fan which had no chance of providing any relief. The only positive was the location. Would avoid at all costs

Lovely room, beyond my expectation, and a perfect location in central Oxford. The staff was helpful and friendly too.

Our room was lovely, clean, and very comfortable with historic charm. The hotel was convenient to all that Oxford has to offer, history, culture and restaurants.

The bed linen and towels were lovely. The tea/ coffee/water were good. Helpful things like the iron, and hairdryer etc were useful. The mirror and towel rack was for a 7 ft giant ie I could only see the top of my head in the mirror and struggled to get the bath towel off the shelf. The mattress had a topper on to try and disguise the fact it needed replacing. I slept well but I was on my own. The staff were excellent and very helpful.

Staff was so sweet! Everything was close by