Greyfriars Hideaway

Posted on May 13, 2024June 25, 2024 by heidi

Greyfriars Hideaway offers exclusive luxury self-catering accommodations in the heart of Oxford. This five-star gold-rated destination features two historic properties, The Masters Lodgings and Cloisters, which can be booked separately or together for complete privacy, accommodating up to 12 adults. Situated just steps from Westgate Oxford and Oxford Castle, the properties boast luxuriously appointed suites, modern amenities like SONOS surround sound, and access to a stunning shared courtyard garden. Guests can enhance their stay with a variety of concierge services, including private chefs, personal training, and even helicopter arrivals, ensuring an exceptional and bespoke holiday experience.

For more information, visit https://www.greyfriarshideawayoxford.com

The Randolph Hotel

Posted on October 18, 2021October 18, 2021 by heidi

The Randolph Hotel stand in the centre of Oxford is has been a symbol of this great city for over 150 years.

It began in 1864 based on the designs of William Wilkinson in preparation for the need of top-class accommodation for the purposed visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales, 2 years later.

Named after Dr Francis Randolph, the chief benefactor of The Ashomelan Museum which stands majestically opposite the hotel on Beaumont Street.

In 2000 the hotel was acquired my McDonald Hotels and excelled in providing first class accommodation for many people from across the globe. It has long been the places to stay for politicians, film stars and royalty.

Disaster stuck in April 2015, in my earlier days of Tour Guiding and I remember vividly sitting at home as events unfolded that evening. A fire broke out in the kitchens which was the result of flambering a beef stroganoff! Immediately I was stuck by the potential loss of life but somehow all 80 guests and staff were unharmed. Thanks must go to the 14 fire engines and 70 firefighters who fought the blaze. Whilst the actual damage was about 5%, the roof was badly affected, and The Randolph closed its doors for the first time in its 150-year history.

Rising like a phoenix from the ashes, it took 11 months for the hotel to be repaired and redecorated. A champagne bar was added, and all rooms revamped.

The Randolph was acquired by the American chain of hotels, Graduate in 2020 during the covid pandemic. With hotels forced to shut during ‘lockdown’, this was a great opportunity to completely redecorate and redesign the interior.

In August 2021, the hotel reopened partially for a soft opening, and it was at the time I was invited to come and stay. Prior to becoming a Tour Guide in Oxford my work took me around the world and I had stayed in some of the world’s most iconic hotels but never at The Randolph, so I was delighted.

I was apprehensive about the refurbishment but need not have worried. Once again, she has risen to become, rightfully so, one of the world’s best hotels.

As one enters from Beaumont Street, you are welcome by concierge and to the left is the famous Morse Bar. Here you will find pictures of John Thaw and Kevin Whatley (from Morse and Lewis). Sadly, the Colin Dexter plaque did not survive the refurbishment, but I like to think of him ingrained in the fabric and feel of the hotel for he was a frequent visitor. It was here, at this hotel and within The Morse bar that I once met Colin – a truly lovely gentleman.

My room was located on the 4th floor and looking out the bedroom window, I could see the tip of the Radcliffe Camera and the dreaming spires. The room was well decorated, comfortable, and cosy. The decor has a ‘hint’ to Oxford with references to famous people associated with either town or gown. The en-suite bathroom provided all that I needed with a walk-in shower.

We had breakfast that morning in the new ‘Alice’ restaurant and I can certainly recommend the smashed avocado on English muffin!

All too soon it was time to check out – my Morse / Lewis and Endeavour tour was beckoning but this time I could tell my guests all about the Graduate Randolph!

TO BOOK THE RANDOLPH CLICK HERE

The Randolph Hotel

Posted on October 14, 2020 by heidi

With the announcement this week that Oxford’s flagship hotel the Randolph is making 75 of its 84 staff redundant, it seems a good moment to reflect on the history of this iconic institution. It’s unlikely to cheer the staff right now, but the good news is that the hotel is not closing for good, just for a refurbishment by its new American owners. And when it reopens, it will still be called the ‘Randolph‘, despite earlier plans to rename it the ‘Graduate Oxford’. Perhaps somebody suggested the name lacked originality, there being 12,000 other graduates in Oxford?

For many decades the Randolph was Oxford’s only five-star hotel, which naturally made it the hotel of choice for anyone remotely rich or famous. Everyone from the future King Edward VII and King Farouk to Gorbachev and Jimmy Carter stayed here.

Indeed, Afternoon Tea at the Randolph, a glorious three-tiered experience requiring a second mortgage, has been a treat enjoyed by generations of students when their proud parents come for a visit.

Named after an 18th-century benefactor Dr Frances Randolph who left £1000 for the University galleries (now part of the Ashmolean Museum), the Randolph’s Gothic Revival style was the work of William Wilkinson, purveyor of parsonages and police stations and architect of a few grand houses and educational establishments including Saint Edwards school in Summertown.

The Randolph is both grand and central and for several years also played a key role in Oxford’s best known detective series, Inspector Morse. The Morse Bar (named specially in his honour) was author Colin Dexter‘s favourite watering hole and his hard-drinking detective made it his too. It was centre-stage in The Wolvercote Tongue, when a wealthy American guest was robbed of a jewel which looked suspiciously like it had been nicked from the Ashmolean Museum in the first place (see The Alfred Jewel and compare). The unfortunate woman’s body was later retrieved from the Cherwell River. (For lots more on Dexter’s Detectives, join an Oxford Walking Tours Morse, Lewis and Endeavour Tours

In 1993 the Randolph also starred as the place Jack (C.S.) Lewis found love. It was here In the film that he met Joy Gresham (his future wife) though the Randolph was masquerading as the East Gate Hotel, the true location of the tryst.

Some true history took place in the bar on the 24th of April 1880. It was here that three Oxford students founded what is today the world’s oldest national governing body for athletics, the Amateur Athletics Association or AAA. Let’s hope the new Randolph owners keep the plaque up in the bar to remind us of this historic moment.

More recently, in 2015, the most potentially disastrous event in the hotel’s history took place, when the chef got a little too enthusiastic whilst flambéeing a Boeuf Bourguignon. Flames and heat shot up the ventilation shaft from the basement to the roof and the ensuing blaze was a huge shock to the city.

Thankfully no one was hurt and after a few months of shutdown the hotel rose Phoenix-like from the ashes in all its splendour. We can only hope it will do the same when the virus passes and that all its staff can work again.