The Holt Hotel

Suited us

Only stayed one night en route to elsewhere. Very nice welcome from the cheerful reception staff. Had cute attic room (albeit a distance thru the corridors from reception, bar etc...) pleasant decor - decent bathroom (great shower pressure and LARGE towels - 2 of my nice to haves in a hotel!) Bar meal was good and reasonably priced. Decent buffet breakfast and again cheerful staff around. Would stay again if we were down this way and needing a room.

run down provincial hostelry

although the hotel has great facilities and helpful and friendly staff it really is in need of a makeover. the carpet is tired and stained, the floorboards deafeningly squeeky and the bedspreads seriously seventies. we were given a smoking room instead of a non-smoking one which stank like an ashtray. there was an air-freshener which failed to cover up anything. perhaps they could have given the room a regular "febreeze" or "oust" to improve the smell. overall nor much value for money.

Traveller's tip on saving a few bucks

if coming up from london for a wedding locally and thinking of a hire car don’t waste your money. get the train from marylebone to bicester booking using national rail enquiries for a really good deal especially if you use a network rail discount card. then get a taxi. we avoided the traffic, were quicker, were able to drink and not worry about driving and saved over 50%

Not quite what we expected

The members of staff provided excellent service. However compared to beds in USA we found them very small and uncomfortable. One room had only a bath, no shower.Breakfast was good, with lots of choices for a growing family.