Oxford Lodging

Have you tried University Rooms? I have a room booked at Christ Church College in September and am really looking forward to it

Great suggestion, I never thought of it. Thanks! I found some availability, but considering the uniqueness of the lodging I want to discuss it with our friends before booking. We will need to store our bags the day we check out until later in the afternoon. I’ll have to see if that can be done, or if there are lockers at the Oxford train station.

I just checked at the train station and they don’t have a place to leave luggage.

Try Stasher for luggage: https://stasher.com/luggage-storage/oxford

I found lodging in Oxford to be expensive. Book early, as I booked only about 6 weeks out and had very few choices.

This will probably be more than you want to spend, but I did find it a convenient place to stay with nice amenities. In 2019, I stayed at the Porterhouse Grill and Rooms for 3 nights. It is a very short walk from the train station on a quiet residential street. The room was quite nice and included a very substantial (steak, vegetarian options) breakfast. Back then it was around 150 GBP a night (which is a lot more than I normally spend) and I suspect the price has increased.

Good Luck!

p.s. Their booking site kept changing my arrival date to one day earlier (e.g., if I entered May 20 and did a search, the booking would show arrival of May 19). I got their booking site to work by changing the timezone on my Ipad to London time.

https://www.premierinn.com/gb/en/hotels/england/oxfordshire/oxford/oxford-city-centre-westgate.html

My go to is the Premier Inn. Doing a test booking for your night would be £129 (refundable, subject to conditions) for a standard room. NB. if you book the PI, make sure you are booking the right date, seems to be a glitch that changes dates for people booking in the US.

My experience is Oxford is pretty pricy and it would be best to nail something down as soon as you can.

Thanks for the suggestions. I’m looking at the University Rooms, but options drop when I filter for luggage storage. I can’t tell if the Oxford Premier Inn has luggage storage and I’m still working on the answer to that. I checked the link for Stasher and to store 4 suitcases and 4 backpacks for about 7 hours while we go to Blenheim would cost £65. I’d rather stay somewhere that will store it for free. I like what I see with the Porterhouse Grill and Rooms and breakfast is included, which is a plus. The proximity to the train station would make it easier to collect our luggage and not have to haul it too far. I’m probably leaning towards staying there, though I’m still open to suggestions. I’ll book in the next couple of days.

I'm sorry I haven't helped more, but we never stay in Oxford hotels because it is so close to home.

I do know that the road outside the station is a narrow and busy one. Always look out for bicycles in Oxford, like Amsterdam.

Andrea, I will just add that Porterhouse stored my luggage before check in time (I arrived in the morning and check in was sometime in afternoon). I’m sure they would do the same on check out.

Thanks Nigel.

Laura, thanks for confirming they store luggage. We would want to store it before check in if we arrive before we get into the rooms, and after check out when we go to Blenheim.

Andrea, when you go to Blenheim check to see what tours are on offer. I took a garden tour and a Downstairs tour and thought they were very good. I just booked when I arrived at Blenheim, but they have options to book in advance.

Blenheim Palace offer a discount if you arrive other than in a car.... FWIW

I was on the Blenheim website and saw they give a 30% discount for using public transportation. The bus it is! Thanks for mentioning it, as I’m sure it will help others save some money. Depending on the timing I’m wondering how easy/fast it is to get a taxi to return us to Oxford. We will need to collect our luggage and get to the train station so we can continue on to Bath, and I don’t necessarily want to rely on the bus schedule. I haven’t bought our train tickets yet and the apartment we rented has self check in, but I would like to arrive early enough to go have a nice dinner as it will be our anniversary. I booked rooms at The Porterhouse Grill and Rooms. It’s close to the station, they have luggage storage and the price includes breakfast.

Laura, thanks for tip about the tours.

Andrea, where did you end up booking? We’ll be in Oxford for a couple of nights at the end of September and want to visit Blenheim Palace and be able to walk to station.

Jane, we will be staying at The Porterhouse Grill and Rooms. It’s not far from the train station and they will store luggage both before check in time and after check out.