Oxford Hotel Banks Award

Oxford’s ongoing insomnia has been alleviated by the Old Bank Hotel on The High - no, not a narcotic induced undergraduate state but what they’ve taken to calling Oxford’s High Street.

Owned by Jeremy Mogford, the entrepreneur behind Browns Restaurants, the Old Bank Hotel is housed in a modest Georgian stone building, which used to be, yep. Mogford, somewhat better off after the disposal of said Browns to the brewers, Bass, very amicably uses the walls of the Old Bank to hang his resultant modern art collection, which includes such collectables as Stanley Spencer and the abstract painter, Sandra Blow. The rooms aren’t palatial, but are equipped to a suitable level of luxury, and allied with a service that is both discrete and ever present - and that art collection, saw Condé Nast bestow the Old Bank Most Excellent City Hotel 2010.

The Quod Brassiere, the Bank’s restaurant, serves up simple Mediterranean fare. If you fancy something more complex the hotel will reserve you a table at Gee’s Restaurant, another Mogford venture, housed in a nearby Grade 2 listed conservatory.

Centrally located and benefiting from a car park - vital in a city where it is nigh impossible to park - All Souls, Merton and Oriel are within easy reach, and if you fancy inspecting the Ashmolean’s recent £65 million facelift, borrow one of the Bank’s complimentary bicycles to visit the museum. Dream on.