The Buttery

I was prepared for the steep stairs. I was not prepared for the lack of air conditioning. The rooms had fans only, no air conditioning, which seemed misleading as Google says all rooms have air conditioning. There is also no restaurant on site. You receive a 10% discount on the restaurant two doors down. The rooms are functional. It's an excellent walkable location. Housekeeping does get rid of the soap and shampoo every day which I thought was wasteful. They renew the entire vanity kit every day. The staff was nice and helpful. There is no laundry service at the hotel, but there is a local service that will pick it up and drop it off for around £25, depending upon weight and time. There are flyers at the front desk.

Just be aware of what this is - it is a 4-star "guesthouse" - so DON'T expect it to be a 4-star hotel experience on a great deal. The room was nice, but they seem to have engaged in a box-checking exercise to achieve 4 stars for the room (like having portable air-conditioners going out of the windows) without the feeling of a 4-star hotel. There are no public spaces in the hotel whatsoever. The location is very central, but unfortunately this means that it looks right over the wooden benches on Broad street, where you will likely have teenagers hanging out and making lots of noise until well past midnight. Parking is also on your own, which will be super expensive.

My room was large and had an electric kettle, tea and coffee; the bed was comfortable. I appreciated that the bathroom had room for me to place my toiletries, and I enjoyed their products as well. The staff was very kind, and while I was willing to take my heavy bag (in Europe for a month and going hiking so had hiking gear) up the stairs, I much appreciated the staffer doing it for me. With the windows closed, I didn't notice any street noise, and I loved the location.

A rather unpleasant stay at The Buttery Hotel While the location of The Buttery Hotel is excellent for sightseeing—making it easy to walk to many places of interest and saving us a lot of time—our overall stay was not what we hoped for. A minor point, but one that surprised us, was having to pay for the stay upon check-in rather than at checkout. The rooms were a good size and felt spacious with their high ceilings. They were well-equipped with a coffee and tea maker, and the staff replenished the tea bags, coffee pods, and biscuits daily, which was a nice touch. However, the beds were a major issue. They had old spring mattresses that were very noisy and uncomfortable, making it difficult to get a good night's sleep. The rooms also have portable air conditioning units with a vent that goes out the window. While they would certainly make a summer stay more comfortable, they are quite loud and could be a nuisance at night. The bathrooms, on the other hand, seemed to have been renovated and were a decent size. However, the most significant problem was the horrible sewage smell in our room, Room 301. It was so strong that it made our stay very unpleasant, particularly at night when we had to try and sleep with that awful odor. We did report the issue to the reception, and while the staff was always polite, we received conflicting information. One team member said the problem was from an external source, while another admitted it was a known issue from the bathroom. This left us feeling frustrated, as the hotel seemed aware of the problem but hadn't addressed it. They did offer us a 10% refund on the final bill for the inconvenience in our room, but I would still strongly recommend avoiding Room 301 if you book this hotel. Another important thing to note is that the hotel has no elevator. The stairs are quite narrow, which makes carrying heavy luggage to the upper floors very difficult. Additionally, there is no on-site parking available. Parking in the surrounding area is very expensive, costing between £25 and £30 per day. For travellers arriving by car, my recommendation would be to use one of Oxford's park-and-ride services. These cost around £4 per day for parking. From there, you can take a short Uber ride to the hotel. This method is far more cost-effective for multi-day stays. For instance, four days of parking at a park-and-ride would be £16, plus two Uber rides (around £20), for a total of approximately £36. This is a significant saving compared to the £120 you would likely spend parking in the city center for the same period. In summary, while the hotel's location and the size of the rooms were good, the lack of comfortable mattresses and the overwhelming smell in our room made for a very disappointing experience.

Minor repairs needed and you need to able to manage steep windy stairs. But it was clean, friendly and comfortable. Perfect for a short stay in the middle of the city.

Fab location but loads of stairs if u have suitcases. No parking or drop off outside either. Very expensive carpark ten mins walk with suitcase was off putting. Room was nice, clean, comfortable with two windows facing front and balliol college. Large mod bathroom, could have added somewhere to put toiletries, bag, clothes etc while showering !!.booked because room has 2 single beds for my son and myself Convient location walk to everything.

The location was superb which is why I chose this hotel. The hotel however, is basic. There was no mini fridge, no room service food or drink, and was noisy. The hotel is on a main road in Oxford’s city center and the road is very busy. Beware of the stairs - they were very narrow and steep and there is no elevator.

It is hard to beat this location, in the centre of Oxford. The rooms are comfortable, and surprisingly quiet despite the location in the heart of Broad Street. You have to climb a set of stairs to reach Reception, but the staff members are happy to help. I enjoyed my stay, and would recommend this hotel without hesitation.

Such a cute hotel! Everything was nice & clean but it was middle of May and very hot on the 3rd floor! Fan is provided but the air did not work. Climbed 3 flights of stairs so not for the elderly

The only reason this hotel doesn't rate five stars is the rather challenging entryway and steep stairs that are a nightmare for anyone traveling with luggage, which is, after all, everyone traveling. Check-in and -out was easy, the room spacious with wooden-framed windows that opened onto the busy, narrow street, which we didn't mind as it was part of the overall Oxford/Hogwarts experience. It was fun to look out the window and see turrets, professors in tweed pedaling by, students rushing around with books under their arms and groups of tourists being led around, all gazing upwards. We loved the use of real keys and the hotel fits right in with the atmosphere of history and quirkiness that pervades Oxford. Would definitely stay here again and pack lighter next time so I don't injure myself lugging my suitcase up the stairs.

Note: I only give out 5 stars to surprisingly EXCEPTIONAL, best-in-class establishments. My wife and I spent our honeymoon in the UK. We chose this establishment for the one night we were planning to stay in Oxford. This property has the best location of any hotel or bed & breakfast in the immediate area. It's right on Broad street almost smack dab in the middle of town. Frankly, the location can't be beat. We stayed in a remarkably average room. The bed wasn't very comfortable, the television had very poor reception and limited channels and the bathroom was VERY oddly designed; we had to dangerously climb onto a polished marble "step" to enter the raised bathtub area. Again, the saving grace for this property is its wonderful location. Also, the complimentary breakfast is delicious and hearty. To my knowledge, this property does not have an elevator available for guest use, so be prepared to begrudgingly carry heavy suitcases up a steep flight of stairs to the reception area, and then possibly up more steps to your room. Pleasingly, all the staff we encountered were friendly and accommodating. However, after dark, the area has a generally seedy feeling to it, with dim lighting and sketchy characters lurking about. I definitely recommend this property to anyone planning to stay overnight in Oxford. Third time's a charm: the location of this establishment is IDEAL.

Nice, clean, centrally located. The people are nice. Unfortunately the have LOUSY security on a number of different levels (I won't say anything more than that), so don't leave anything remotely valuable in your rooms. Next - who sends a window washer up at 8:15 AM? Seriously??? Some freaky teenager staring in your window when many tourists are barely awake? It's also fairly noisy - the door to the hall has no noise insulation whatsoever. Luckily there are only 2 rooms on each hall.

I stayed for two nights at The Buttery Hotel in late April 2015. My third-floor room facing the rear of the hotel was clean and quiet with good hotel-quality furniture. The hotel itself was very clean and well-presented. The bathroom was also very clean and well supplied with fresh towels each day. You may want to ask at the front desk about how the shower nozzles work; they were a bit strange for those of us used to American plumbing fixtures. If you are staying here, you should note that there is no lift, so I had to haul my bag up several flights of stairs. They may offer porter service, but I usually just manhandle my bag to where it should go. They offered a free breakfast, which was enjoyable for what was offered. I usually just have coffee and fruit in the morning, so if you are looking for an elaborate breakfast this service may not give you enough. The wifi worked well enough in my upper level room. I thought for the price offered and the location--right next to the most busy corner of Oxford--the Buttery was a very good choice of accomodations. I was not there on a weekend, but I remember how unbelievably quiet it was for almost all of the night, and I kept the windows open to enjoy the outside air. I would stay there again when I next visit Oxford, and would recommend The Buttery to anyone looking for a good hotel in the downtown area.

It is over a year since my stay at the Buttery, and I am finally writing the Yelp review they deserved at the time. All of the positives of this establishment are mentioned in the previous reviews. Great location, nice large rooms with picture windows, tasty breakfast. My five star rating is for service and courtesy. When I arrived at the Buttery for a week lecturing in Oxford, I was in a great deal of pain after an earlier surgery and a transcontinental flight where several things had gone wrong on the flight connection and I had to lift heavy luggage against doctor's orders. I walked up the stairs to check-in and two people on shift immediately took over getting my luggage upstairs to my room and finding a bucket of ice for me. Although I made clear to the driver that someone was coming to take my carry-on bag from the back seat because I couldn't lift it, my driver left to return to Heathrow before they returned to the car--it had my pain medicine and antibiotics. Anita K. spent an hour on the phone for me calling and tracking down the driver. The company refused to bring the bag back unless I paid the full round-trip car fee from Heathrow to Oxford again (over 100 pounds if I remember correctly.) Anika was appalled and offered to drive to Heathrow after her work shift and get my bag--she insisted at no charge--so that I would have my antibiotics and pain medicine that night. It was one of the kindest offers ever from a hotel staff person. I was far away from family and friends and deeply appreciated this unexpected care. (When she returned at ten at night, I insisted on paying her half of what they would have charged.) For the reminder of my stay there, the staff could not have been more compassionate, helpful, or professional. The service was memorable; hence my finally writing this review today when I ran across an old card from The Buttery Hotel. Anita K. and staff: Thank you.

Not cheap, but quiet, clean, comfortable, charming, awesome center Oxford location and full English breakfast. We were very happy with the experience, where location was critical, price a serious consideration, and comfort mattered. WIFI offered, but a total pain to hook-up for American visitors, like just about everywhere we stayed.