Malmaison Oxford Hotel

Not enough praise can be heaped on the Mal in Oxford !! I have stayed there twice now and both times have been astounded by the structure, the design, the ambience and the staff !!. I spend a significant amount of my time travelling and I have to say the Mal in Oxford is fast becoming my favourite. I arrived late (ish) on Sunday night and was advised that my booking was not on the system, I gasped but straight away was told not to worry as they would be able to sort it out for me...even honoured the promotional rate that I quoted (which bearing in mind the lateish hour I was amazed at) and even gave me one of their superior rooms. All in all if Malmaison keep creating these astounding hotels and offering deals like they do, my platinum membership for Holiday Inn will not be getting renewed ! - EVER ! As a side note, I can say having stayed at Malmaison in Belfast (I was their first ever guest !), Glasgow and Newcastle I can say they all offer a superb service, backed by brilliant staff and provide you with a welcome, classy feeling. Keep it up Mal, see you soon ! Mark

We booked the suite with it's own little screeing room (take your own DVDs though, the selection at the hotel is pretty limited). When you walk into the room you are on a mezzanine and there is a free standing bath and little sitting area and to the left a screening room with a v comfy sofa with lots of cushions. Looking over to downstairs there is a large four-poster bed (the loo etc and big shower is downstairs too). The mini bar is great, what a treat to have a fridge that actually keeps the drinks cold! Lots of nice toileteries and candles dotted around. There are three great quality tv screens, all with their own DVD player, nice magazines, waffle bathrobes (bit worn actually) and slippers. There was no turn down service which was a surprise - especially at this price (£350). The breakfast was extraordinarily good with a great buffet consisting of gorgeous yoghurts, fruits, breads and pastries as well as a menu which included the usual suspects along with things like grilled mushrooms on a muffin with hollandaise AND, to my utter delight, white hot chocolate! Slight gripe - when I booked I asked that the hotel provide gluten free bread for breakfast and was told that this would be no problem. Frustratingly the message had not got through or had been ignored by the chef. Other than that, the service was absolutely excellent throughout and we were particularly impressed by Adam when we checked in. I had just completed a 10K race in the rain but our room was not available as we were so early but he organised for me to have a shower in another room. The housekeeper who also helped this to happen was also very effecient and professional. Altogther a class act. (I haven't gone into details about the building or architecture. Suffice to say that it is all very fabulous and sexy to look at.)

I have to agree with most of the reviews here - this is a fantastic hotel - the slick service you would expect of a malmaison, along with fantastic rooms and bathrooms. My only annoyance was that I spent a long time (over an hour) driving round Oxford in circles looking for somewhere (anywhere!) to park my car as the website makes it quite clear that they don't have parking facilities. This is not true!!! I eventually abandoned my car, resigned to paying out for a parking ticket, checked in, asked for advice re parking and was told that they have a car park. Would have been nice to know before circling Oxford numerous times. We ate in the Brasserie, and had a lovely meal, with excellent service from all staff. If I was being picky then I would say that the sommelier was a bit slow off the mark - if someone is employed just to look after wine then you would hope they would make it back to the table at least once after the first pour to top up but it didn't happen. I woul definitely recommend this as a hotel to visit though - it's different from the norm in a really good way.

When you arrive at the hotel you can only stand in awe in front of this architectural miracle. Architects made a fantastic job converting the jail and the cells to a stunning hotel. The lounge is quite small but very impressing. We checked in and followed the receptionistto our room which did not have a number. (it was sombodys residence I am not sure). The rooms were amazing if you like stylish rooms and dim lighting. Mattress was very comfy and bedlinens followed the quality of all Malmaison hotels (at least the ones I ve stayed at).Very nice shower and stylish bathroom. Principal colour is black. Our room was one of the best ones I reckon (same price) coz next morning we asked the receptionist to show us the cell converted to rooms and they were not as nice. Price is quite high. Saturdays is normally fixed at 140 pounds when we went and you are not going to find any cheaper to any other websites apart from their own (and expedia I think). You can find a better value on weekdays and Fridays/Sunday. It s a really beautiful hotel and I would love to go back there.

This is a visually stunning hotel. Don't miss the interior courtyard that looks like the old cell blocks.The rooms are trendy, but really not too practical as there was no where to unpack our clothes. There were NO dressers with drawers. We even called reception thinking we were missing something, but were told that there were none. We saw this as a negative. Also the beds were very firm, took some getting used to. The shower also seemed a liitle small, although the bathrom was roomy. This is centrally located in Oxford so location can't be beat. This hotel was convenient to everything in town. We didn't eat in the hotel restaurants,but appreciated the Krispie Kreme for donuts and coffe by the outer doors! Book on-line for the best price.

A few of us met and stayed at Malmaison. All "30-somethings"we concluded that the hotel had been built with us in mind ! It had all the things we like - it's trendy but not uncomfortably so, smart but in a relaxed kind of way, informal but not too casual. And everyone around us seemed to be similar ages and outlooks. We felt at home. Especially in the Visitors Room. V cool ! BUT it's not an unconditional love. The bed was hard. So hard ! As a new hotel it was clearly meant to be that way. But the friends we were with commented on the same. Half of our group slept like logs, the other half felt they'd have been better off sleeping on the floor. The air conditioning had the most annoying drip and rattle. And we heard others say the same. It's not summer yet and the air con wasnt being pushed so time will tell if this is a big problem. Watch for a bit of jiggery pokery with room types. Again, heard on more than one occasion over our time there by people at Reception or just chatting, the room type reserved was not given on check-in. We had the same happen to us. It didnt really matter for our visit, but it could matter to some (when you book the hotel there are lots of variables for shower/ bath/ location / bed type). On busy times I'd suggest allowing for a bit (a lot ) of time for them to collect your car. We hit a big check-out time and the car took forever to be brought up from the garage. I've moaned a lot - perhaps too much. I dont really mean to. It's a great hotel and we had a blast. But it's not perfect and I'd hope they learn and listen because it could help future customers. Unfortunately I'd read the Conde Nast endorsement and, altho praise indeed, it sets the hotel up for a tough challenge. Disappointments can then come much more easily.

The hotel is absolutely stunning - I would recommend the cell rooms and a visit to the Visitors Room bar. The hotel is centrally located, 5 minutes walk from the train station and 2 minutes walk to the city centre. The only problem is that the service is a little haphazard e.g. they got my room booking mixed up, lost my dinner reservation and my boiled eggs at breakfast were raw. Hopefully Malmaison will sort out the service as otherwise the hotel is great.

It's nearly, nearly there this Mal, although a little bit more of a rub from big sister Hotel du Vin might have brought the Oxford incarnation of the franchise right up there with the cream. Voted as one of the best new hotels in the World by Conde Nast this year, it is whatever its malaise, a stunning original oh my god fun hotel to stay in. I could muster complaint about the dark rooms (I know it's an old prison and Mal does like sultry), the slight inconsistencies in the food, and the fact I was charged £2.50 for some toothpaste on a £300 bill (1 night and dinner + cocktails), but for me this is absolutely, uncompromisingly an experience hotel - and that's what "boutique" is all about. I won't say any more. Bank is nice, very nice, but stay there again next time - when did you last spend a night in the cells?

I was dubious about staying in a prison conversion at first but Malmaison have done a fantastic job with this hotel. We were allocated a room in the Governor's House which was very nice but to be honest just like any other hotel room. The staff were very accommodating when I asked if we could be moved to a cell room instead and they even put us in one of the better ones with added windows (below the original barred windows) on the 'sunny' side of the prison wing. The weather was great when we were in Oxford and so the room was absolutely stunning with the sunlight pouring in. Location is as central as you can get, we were in Oxford to go to the theatre which was just a couple of minutes walk away. Within the Castle redevelopment there are a few restaurants; Carluccios, Pizza Express, Tootsies, La Tasca, Bar HaHa and Prezzo so there is almost no need to venture further, especially when it's a nice day as they all have outside seating in the pretty courtyard. I would highly recommend this hotel for a quirky and luxury stay in Oxford, it's a bit different from the norm and definitely memorable!

I am writing this review after having returned from Malmaison in Oxford. I found the hotel to be great, the location was spot on, the staff very friendly and helpful. We had a room in the Governor's wing, which are not the cellrooms, if I were to come again I think I'd opt for the cellrooms with the original cell doors, but I can't complain as I paid a discounted rate through Laterooms. I saw on a previous review about breakfast being expensive and bland, no problem we had our breakfast at Carluccio's around the corner which was great. If I had one critisism about this hotel it would be the lack of bathrobes in the bathroom and that's about it. Reception even managed to obtain us a table at Le Petit Blanc, for 9pm that night even though we did not request until 7.30pm. I would definately recommend this hotel