Restaurant at the Randolph in Oxford

We’ve stayed here a dozen times in the last ten years but this will be our last stay. The lady who checked us in was dismissive and disinterested. The room was lovely but Very noisy indeed so very little sleep. The shower was cold. Properly cold. They moved us to a quieter room for the next night which was good. Shower this morning not only cold again but virtually no pressure so it took five minutes just to make sure the soap was off. Breakfast was nothing like last time. Coffee was overrun and bitter. No fruit. Yes. No fruit. Only sliced apple. I asked for some berries and was told they had none. The menu service is gone so welcome to a large scale buffet just like a conference hotel. Congealed eggs and sweaty bacon dripping in fat. Stale pastries. All this for 400 pounds a night. It used to be lovely and clearly the bean counters have taken charge and are going for the bare minimum. Apart from the check in lady, all the staff try hard Oxford’s Grand Dame is gone. A faceless homogeneous business / tour hotel is the new reality.

We stayed in a basic king room and it was just right—more spacious than expected, with a comfortable bed, great water pressure, and plenty of hot water. The staff were friendly and helpful throughout our stay. We had breakfast at the hotel restaurant every morning and really enjoyed it—solid food and great service. The location is unbeatable—right in the heart of Oxford with easy access to everything on foot. It also made for a perfect base for day trips to Blenheim Palace and the Cotswolds. Valet parking is a bit pricey, but that’s to be expected in a city center. Full disclosure: we booked mostly with points and got breakfast included with Hilton status. If we were paying full price out of pocket, we might have considered a nearby Airbnb—but if you’re good with the rate, the hotel is a beautiful and comfortable place to stay. A magical experience in the heart of Oxford.

Unfriendly, snooty, just English

A Disappointing Stay – Definitely Not Worth the Price - Feel like I have been scammed! I booked a stay at this hotel in the Royal Suite expecting a luxury experience, but what I encountered was far from it. 1. Basic Amenities Missing – No water in the suite, the dirtiest fridge in the world and an air conditioning system that was completely out of service. Despite raising concerns, I was told maintenance wasn’t available, leaving the issue unresolved. 2. Terrible Service – Breakfast was a disaster. I ordered an omelette three times before finally receiving it over 20 minutes later. Dinner service was even worse, with an hour-long wait for mains that turned out to be completely wrong. Customer service and reception do not care! Rude customer service especially from Mariana Bivol. Broken lies. 3. Shocking Lack of Attention to Detail – A hoover was left outside the door of the Royal Suite, creating a blatant health and safety risk. 4. Unacceptable Business Practices – The hotel is yet to issue the correct VAT invoice despite their mistake and as compensation for a £3.4K 2 night stay, they insultingly offered just £150. This hotel severely failed to meet even basic expectations, let alone the standards promised for a luxury stay. I would strongly advise against booking here! Attached the image of the fridge for your reference. If this doesn’t put you off booking this hotel then I don’t know what will.

Exquisite classic hotel… Great location.. BUT it is insanely expensive with standard rooms around £650 a night??? And the rooms are pretty but TINY!! sadly our breakfast was a disaster as they were so short staffed - people queuing ages just to be seated with many table needing clearing and not a server in sight…. when finally seated it was a nightmare to try and order a coffee… It was an experience but I very much doubt we’d stay again at those prices… it are way over central London prices ?

Beautiful rooms, great location and the staff work ever so hard (Eric from reception and the three guys on the concierge - get special mention). The food and drinks were also excellent. We also got beautiful chocolates and a bottle of prosecco for a suite on our wedding day. However our other room was too hot, we didn’t always get hot water in the shower and we were over charged for the spa (but they did take off the difference on second use, after flagging). We put 4 stars simply because of the price and whilst only minor, for the price, I’d expect perfect service

Great hotel , stellar location, we walked from train station, overly happy here, although breakfast and bar service seemed to be a struggle and the front desk staff this morning at 11am the mood wasn’t the most pleasant: Each and every morning we were chasing someone for help, I almost felt as if we WERE Alice the theme of the restaurant and the staff were the white rabbit, making me feel like the mad hatter. I feel they may be understaffed. We also qualified for late 4pm check out but only were granted 12pm. We booked two rooms. Lastly room 109 the water barely got hot, luke warm. Thanks for a great stay!

A gorgeous property centrally located! The staff is trying to be friendly but you can tell they are slightly understaffed. It took a while to get food and drinks. The girl at the front desk on Saturday, May 24th 2025 was a bit short with my party and I and left an unpleasant feeling for us at check out. Perhaps she was stressed, as the hotel seemed absolutely full to capacity. The bellman (whom we tipped after) was phenomenal and gave us a lovely chat before we departed for the train station. We loved our room with view of the museum!! My sister got a 30min facial at the spa and said it was phenomenal. We will probably book elsewhere in the future.

Restaurant has a certain charm. The staff seem to be working a little to hard.

For Harry Potter vibes. Don’t expect modern luxury.

This is the worst hotel I have ever stayed in my whole life. There was no hot water in the room during the entire stay. We could only take a shower with cold water every single day. The bed linen was never clean, you can always find multiple unknown dirty ink or foot prints on the sheet. The picture shows the “freshly changed” sheets on the last day. There was no service in the entire hotel, and despite the hotel’s lobby said “we welcome all race, all genders”, the waiter in the Alice restaurant was really racist. He greeted white people with smile the whole time, but ignored all Asian guests including us. I still find it hard to believe that there is a five star hotel existing in the earth that provides such a horrible experience.

I didn't stay there, I was working there, it looks a lovely place, very high end, quality.

Just NO! So booked a “deluxe room” so far from deluxe as to not be funny…Arrived at 3pm room not ready, well ready but told to wait in bar until “housekeeping had signed off”- finally got into room after waiting another 30 minutes for bellman to help me with luggage up (no diss btw n bellman, they have no service elevator nor do they have a luggage trolly)- First night the a/c (which is controlled centrally) goes out in our room (only it seems) at 4 am- reported it in the morning- came back it is still out (please note heat wave- 80 plus in room- windows only open a couple of inches) - switched rooms- a/c working but look at photos NOT the deluxe I paid for all all! Brick Wall is the view!!!) - Told by Eric (very polite young man- all of 25- totally on his own as weekend manager) that this smaller room with a view 2 feet away from a brick wall- see photo) is a deluxe I was given a refund of 50 pounds for a 2 night stay of over 500….yeah really… just avoid it is a shame on Hilton and this branch that is so shabby! (Btw this is our second room as the a/c quit working during heat wave, room was over 80 degrees- so this was the best they could offer!)

I was given a room and the AC wasn’t working. They tried to fix it but couldn’t so gave me a small electric fan and opened the window as far as they could, which is only four fingers wide. As a result, I ended up getting a migraine and I’m incapable of being productive for the whole day. Bartender in the lounge tells you they’ll be a wait for one cappuccino because he’s also serving in the dining room at breakfast time. Cherry on top is checkout is 11 and not noon like all normal hotels that cost this much

Hello, I came for drinks in the bar it was so good and ambience was so nice. Akshay at the bar was serving us and helped us to pick the best drink he is so nice and helpful

I recently visited The Snug at the Randolph Oxford. Huge shoutout to Akshay who looked after us. He was so friendly and really knew his stuff. He recommended 6–7 different cocktails based on what each of us liked, and honestly, we all loved what we got. He made sure every drink matched our tastes perfectly and gave us amazing service throughout. You can tell he’s really good at what he does. Definitely giving a full 5 stars; both to the place and especially to Akshay for making the whole experience even better :)

This hotel really impressed me with its old money vibe. Love their classic lobby- elegant, magnificent, and comfortable.

Gorgeous hotel I loved it perfect beautiful furniture

Wonderful hotel which is well maintained and staffed. The staff are very friendly and helpful, had the good fortune of staying in their largest room which was huge, most importantly the beds are the most comfortable I've ever slept in. Parking can be expensive in the area so opted for the valet service at the hotel. You won't go wrong staying here, pretty central and walking distance to the sights.

Our room was nice but it was difficult to get to given the age of the building, lots of twists and turns up and down stairs. The staff were friendly. The overall stay would’ve been fine had we not had an abysmal experience during breakfast. We reserved breakfast the night before. When we got down to breakfast, they told us it was about an hour wait. We wait our turn and come back, and when we went to the buffet, nearly everything was empty. We ended up leaving and asking for a refund. Definitely not what I expected of a “5 star hotel”.

Such a lovely and beautiful hotel. Hotel staff were very friendly and hospitable.

Always love staying here. The staff are great, the bars and lounge areas are beautiful and I love the rooms. It was a little bit cold in the communal areas but chairs close to the fires helped. Shout out to the woman who served me in the Morse bar today on her first day, hope I was a good first customer!

This is a review for their spa. Hospitality was exceptional, no faults at all. My feng shui inspired massage was very relaxing and I appreciated the advice they had provided. If you're looking for treatments, Wellness at the Randolph is not a bad choice. The spa facilities, however, is not in an ideal state. Their aroma sauna smelled like diluted urine and the doors to one of their dry saunas squeaks because the metal hinges have corroded. The sensation shower, intended to be used between sauna sessions, was also blocked so I had to cool off while swimming in used water. There's really only 30 mins of 'content' to experience here. If you're looking for more of a spa experience, I would suggest elsewhere (e.g. Aqua Sana).

One night stay. The amenities were excellent, and room layout and style wonderful. Location cannot be beaten

Our meals were very good and the service friendly and efficient but it must be said the jazz band was terrific!

Fantastic jazz night in the Alice restaurant - took requests! Thanks for a great night!

Stayed for one night in January 2025, exceptional staff and service. Our room was incredible with beautiful city views, this was definitely 5 star service !!

I checked into the Randolph Hotel in Oxford at midnight on January 27th, 2025, for a five-night stay. Unfortunately, this hotel falls far short of the standard expected from a five-star establishment. A five-star rating and heritage status should come with exceptional service, not just a fancy, modern interior. Upon entering my room, I was shocked to find a pair of dirty socks left on the floor near the bed by a previous guest—a glaring oversight and a serious breach of cleanliness. The room was freezing cold, and the bathroom floor was unbearably cold as well. At 2 AM, all I wanted was to sleep, but instead, I had to wait for housekeeping to deliver a small portable radiator, which barely helped. I was also informed that the heating was centralized and that the control panel on the wall did not work for individual rooms. To make matters worse, I had to request a pair of slippers because walking on the ice-cold bathroom floor was impossible. Later, a receptionist contradicted the housekeeper by claiming I hadn’t turned on the heating via the control panel—despite being told it was non-functional. After turning it on, the temperature improved, but I wasn’t able to sleep until 3 AM due to the ordeal. The following day, I had to repeatedly request basic amenities such as body lotion and bottled water for the minibar, which were not replenished. For a supposed five-star hotel, these are basic items that should be provided without prompting. Additionally, the staff initially failed to update my booking with the correct name, despite confirming they would. Their responses were laced with ironic undertones, and their overall demeanor was unprofessional and untrained. Throughout my stay, I’ve experienced long wait times for any request, and on several occasions, I’ve had to follow up with reception to receive what I needed, even though the hotel does not seem busy. Even a four-star hotel would offer slippers, water, and body lotion as a standard. The level of incompetence and lack of attention to detail here is unacceptable and extremely disappointing for a hotel of this caliber.

Highly recommend, the service was amazing, friendly staff, room was clean, tidy, would visit again. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Wife and I enjoyed another Graduate property. Good cocktails and a nice afternoon too.

Hotel in Central of Oxford good location. Celebrate Anniversary Diamond guest room upgraded to Junior Suite room 210 Restaurant & Bar good service. Highly recommend this hotel. We will come back to visit.

Beautiful place with good service. Sort and sweet.

Attended for an event - just there for the day. Lovely interior decor.

The room has zero noise isolation, horrible if you want to sleep at night. You can hear clearly people walking upstairs and in the hallway. The AC doesn't work at all, the room is freezing cold. That's not the worst. They have events with loud music till 11:45pm. Called front desk to complain they did nothing about this. The loud music, drums and crowd didn't stop till midnight.

Wonderful venue. Have been many times and Will continue to visit

Claire (new waitress) has provided us with great service. Thank you Claire!

Very nice rooms with complete amenities, polite service, and location is just perfect for walking around and finding food spots. Also very convenient as 25mins bus ride to Bicester village. Highly recommend.

A quality hotel with quality rooms. Well worth a stay

Well known hotel with comfortable bars and restaurants. Great service from concierge Samual aswell well as chef and service team in restaurant. The Oxford sauce, home made for ones grills chips etc is a classic.

Wow, this location was so great. Room and bed was comfortable. Onsite restaurant was convenient, but there is a plethora of cafes just outside the door. Onsite valet parking was convenient.

Stayed for one night when we visited Oxford for an event in the New Theatre. Location is perfect. Central and easy to get to. Valet parking was a bonus - most city centre hotels no longer have parking, so it was convenient to not have to worry about funding somewhere to park. The hotel is in a lovely, victorian gothic style building. Felt very "on brand" for Oxford. Our room was nice. Nice, quirky decor, clean, comfortable and well-equipped. Food in the Alice was good, and the service was quick, friendly and professional. Check in/out was a breeze. 5/5 would stay again.

Didn't stay here (we were at The Alice restaurant inside), but it looks very spacious, had very good bars and the toilets were very clean.

Refurbished bedrooms are excellent. Somewhat let down by poor breakfast service (not enough staff?) breakfast buffet only average - poorly cooked bacon and over cooked fried eggs.

Great place but service not on a 5 star level. Understaffed?

Overall I really liked the hotel. The rooms are always clean and thoroughly cleaned, which made my stay very pleasant. There is always a lot of activity in the bar in the reception hall, which creates a lively atmosphere. Although it is a bit noisy, the hotel impresses with the charm of its stylish furnishings, creating an inviting and cozy atmosphere. I'd love to come back!

Whilst it's expensive the service is impressive and the rooms are fabulous. Spacious, and extremely comfortable. Admittedly it's not the best view from the windows but everything else is great.

Perfectly good service etc. well done. Quite good cocktails too. So enjoy it for the £300 rooms But what a fake rubbish take on Victoriana but who cares eh? Good for tourists and I met some lovely tourists there bit what a theme park dump

Stay was quite nice, but overall hotel seems to be a little old. Unfortunately after service is the worst part of experience. I asked for adding company details to my invoice and clarify some discrepancies between card statement and invoice. Unfortunately I’m totally ignored since 24.09.2024.

My favorite place to stay when in Oxford. Service in the restaurant is a little slow but overall it is a fantastic hotel and location

We stay 1 night last winter, the room was too old but was heated by aircon which was very noisy. We heard steps from our door and from the above. But the breakfast was brilliant, best hush brown ever.

Luxurious hotel. Very beautiful, cozy. If you want to plunge into the atmosphere, I highly recommend it. They also have a great restaurant called Alice. Excellent cuisine (try ribeye steak - delicious), also butter and sourdough bread 🤪. By the way, the SPA is recommended, but unfortunately we didn’t have time to go there. When we come back we will definitely stay here again.

Terrible experience with Amal. He was rude, cocky, and argued with me in front of my whole family and other staff after he denied assuring me that I drink I ordered did not contain alcohol. He also ID’d my two nieces (age 9 and 12!) when I ordered drinks, which was absurd and somewhat creepy, given that it is patently obvious they are children. Moreover, he took 40 minutes to bring the sparkling water that the girls did order, and only because we asked more than three times. He also informed us that because we were sat in “the snug” - where we were directed to sit by waiters - we could not expect the same service because it wasn’t in the main bar. It does often feel like, despite the sky-high prices, dinner guests are not treated with the same courtesy as those staying over in the hotel. We come to the Randolph frequently, and it was extremely disappointing to be treated in this manner by Amal. We got the impression his colleagues had seen this kind of attitude before because they looked very embarrassed and later apologised on his behalf. Not someone who should be representing an allegedly 5 star establishment such as this.

Lovely old fashioned Englisch style, cosy and romantic. Good breakfast, lovely Englisch tea time in Drawing Room. Excellent Location.

Very grand excellent for city centre break

We visited the hotel on recommendation, and its interior really captivates you. Each space is carefully decorated. It is worth a short tour of its rooms to enjoy the emblematic English style.

Amazing place. Does the Graduate brand proud. Great people, great location.

My car had broken down outside. The night manager was extremely helpful. Prepared notices for the car to avoid a parking ticket until the AA could collect it. Allowed us to use the toilets and provided water. An absolute star.

I and my wife with a couple of friends today have an afternoon tea in this hotel. Amazing place and good food and presentation.

Great Hotel in the centre of Oxford City.Good for a City break.

Disappointing stay for the price. Inattentive and a lot of inexperienced staff, not all, but most. No great place to work from. Breakfast very disappointing and sad and same for lunch at the hotel restaurant. The service of the facilities does not live up to what you expect from the hotel.

I was in town for a conference and stayed her for four days. The hotel is very clean and nice. The staff were all very kind and considerate. My room wasn't huge, but it was very well-kept and had everything I needed. My bathroom was very large, clean, and modern. I had a beautiful view of the Ashmolean Museum from my window. I ate at the restaurant - the Alice - several times. The breakfast has lots of options. The menu during the rest of the day is good and the food was excellent. FYI, they don't have a gym. As someone who works out everyday, I didn't love that. But they do have cruiser bikes you can borrow for free. I took advantage of that in the mornings and found some bike trails (look for one from Linacre College to Marston called the Marston Cyclepath and another one along Marston Ferry Rd (B4495), which is also called Cherwell Dr. Looping that twice added up to about 10 miles. The photo is the view from my room.

This hotel has spoiled us for other hotels! We had a marvelous five-night stay. It was within a ten-minute walk of anywhere we wanted to go in Oxford--university, museums, plays, concerts, lectures. It was also an easy walk from the train station. Yes, the rooms are small, but they're carefully designed to maximize space and we had plenty of shelf space and hangers to unpack. We even had a mini-refrigerator, which I was not expecting, and the usual tea kettle items you find in most English hotels. Two things I want to single out. First, the housekeeping staff was marvelous. They were very accommodating with our schedule, which changed from day to day, and came to clean when it was convenient for us. A member of the housekeeping staff and a member of the front desk staff both helped me find a sweater I had lost in the hotel. They were efficient and also kind. My husband had a great experience with the front desk staff also when he borrowed a free bicycle from the hotel. The other thing I want to mention is that the included breakfast buffet is outstanding. The service was particularly good, with the same professional wait staff working at breakfast each day we were there. The staff there have the breakfast service down to a science but still manage to make each guest feel welcome. I would love to come here again but it's far out of my price range (for this trip, someone else was paying, which was a treat). But I will always remember this hotel with great fondness and appreciation. What a special place!

I’m not sure what makes for a 5 Star hotel in the UK, but this would definitely not be 5 stars in the states. The room was great, the bed was comfortable, shower fantastic and great water pressure. However, the service was definitely substandard for a 5 star hotel. Once I called down for an issue with the AC and they told me someone would be up in 5 minutes. 20 minutes later i was still waiting. When i checked i was told they’d be right up. At 30 minutes I called again and was told “sorry, we’ve been very busy”. Finally, after 45 minutes someone arrived and showed me how to work the AC. Something that could have been completely avoided if they had provided information in the room or on their electronic information channel. Oh well! Off to Bath and the Francis

The food came out cold, staff were rude and food was expensive. Would avoid. To give compensation they removed the optional service charge…

Horrible service and cold food, the meat tasted lovely, but was cold and service was generally horrible. We told the supervisor, but they took no accountability and had an excuse for everything. They were also banging around…

Beautiful building and setting. Upon entry, we were not welcomed, and had to ask for restaurant directions. On arriving in the restaurant, we said we booked our reservation under name ‘x’ and was told did we book under another name, which was needless as we were quite specific under the name we booked under. We were made to feel uncomfortable, and as if we did something wrong. That aside, the restaurant has a lovely interior, and grand bar area. However, the scene was quite chaotic with waiting staff being unduly noisy with the clanging of plates, cutlery, cups and the like. This problem was made worse as for some reason they have a cutlery and utensil station next to the dining tables. I can only speak for ordering the rump steak for our table, which despite a nice taste was served cold. I did not expect this from this from the restaurant. The beef while cold was served with nice potatoes and vegetables. Overall, experience was not a pleasant one, staff need retraining in service.

Sunday lunch. Cold streak. Drinks arrived AFTER food had finished. Lots of cutlery banging. Practically all staff untrained. Shame

More expensive than usual hotel! It’s really an ancient building

My recent stay at the Randolph Hotel in Oxford was nothing short of magical! We were greeted by the warm hospitality of Jaysol, who went above and beyond to ensure our comfort. We needed a place to stay for just a few hours, and Jaysol graciously accommodated us without hesitation. His professionalism and kindness truly made our experience memorable. The Randolph Hotel itself is like stepping into a scene from Harry Potter, with its historical charm and enchanting atmosphere. Situated right across from the Ashmolean Museum, it couldn't be more perfectly located in the heart of Oxford. If you're looking for a charming and historically rich place to stay in Oxford, look no further than the Randolph Hotel. And if you're lucky, you might just encounter Jaysol, who will make your stay truly extraordinary. Highly recommended!

Thanks Phil. My TripAdvisor review. Gluten Free Heaven Having previously stayed at The Randolph, my expectations were high. I am always made to feel so welcome. This visit was no exception. The staff are genuinely lovely. We were on a golf trip with friends. In the room on the right, at the back of the hotel, I forget its name, we found a box of Trivial Pursuit. I hadn't played it for years. This was an up to date version. We formed two teams and spent a couple of hours battling it out, with cocktails being brought to us by one of the staff. On one of the evenings we sat in The Morse Bar in front of a roaring fire drinking a fantastic yet inexpensive French Bordeaux. The Alice is as grand a room as you could imagine. To have breakfast in the Oxfordshire sunshine, sat on candy floss pink leather, under crystal-glass chandeliers is a wonderful way to start the day. The scrambled egg was so light and fluffy. And the gluten free cake was delicious. Now I'm back home I wish I could have the same. I had a bath in my room which, after a long round of golf was heavenly. From the goody bag awaiting us in the room to the valet parking, this is a five star experience. Date of stay: April 2024

Its fantastic hotel, Uique and friendly and helpful hotel staff.

Great location, Near shops and restaurants and bars. All staff were very friendly.

Well appointed hotel. Lovely receptionist!

Beautiful place to eat and relax

Could have been better, room was ok, had space but so dark and the shower was so small. The room was so far from the lifts , must have been an extension to the original hotel. Nice location but not a hotel to remember.

Delicious food and excellent service, all the staff were very friendly and attentive. We had an amazing evening and cannot wait to be back.

table for 4 at Acanthus Oxford. booking messed up because staff spelt name wrong. however were given a nice table so forgave . excellent meal ( we had 2 courses), nicely presented . ( only 1 very small complaint. 'espresso cafe' was TEPID and the smallest I've ever seen (I know you dont get a cupful of espresso) absolutely tiny,our french guests were amazed . despite this we all enoyed our evening .

We loved our visit. Beautifully decorated restaurant. Friendly service. We loved the food and wine. We are coming back soon.

Delicious food, great presentation, good wine, very helpful, friendly, knowledgeable and efficient staff.

La comida era excelente, pero los precios del menú no reflejaban los precios en la factura (por ejemplo, el carpaccio de ternera era 4 más caro de lo que se indicaba en el menú al hacer el pedido). Incluso después de resaltar el hecho de que la factura nos cobró de más, la camarera no se disculpó y, en cambio, afirmó que los precios de la caja eran correctos. Luego procedimos a eliminar una libra del cargo por servicio discrecional que la camarera también solicitó nuevamente por separado. En general, una práctica comercial extremadamente deficiente y una experiencia incómoda para el cliente. Si tuviera tiempo, denunciaría el restaurante para su procesamiento, ya que no cumple con los estándares comerciales.

We opted for the 3 course dinner inclusive offer for our stay at The Randolph and found the selection to be very good. The staff were very helpful and covid aware whilst serving us. The food was delicious - superbly cooked and larger portions than I was expecting. The restaurant decor is classic of a building like this - wouldnt change that at all - and wonderful views out as well! Will definitely visit again.

We had a lovely dinner for two. We were seated in front of one of the big windows - a great spot which made for a lovely photo. 2 courses and two glasses of wine and 2 cocktails came to about £110 but I had the steak. Nice ambience and social distancing in place. A great place where you can dress up or wear jeans - there was a mix of everything.

Not the most extensive menu but very good smoked salmon, sirloin steak and fish and chips. Accompanying wine is on the pricier side but then you are in the Randolph. Excellent service.

We chose this restaurant based on other positive reviews and were not disappointed. Food was excellent and fairly priced. We thought the wine was expensive. They add an "optional" service charge which we paid but it does make you think when 60% of our bill was for the bottle of wine, so most of that significant service charge was generated by them simply putting a single bottle on our table. Overall a good experience and we would happily dine there again if in Oxford. On a different note, it is disappointing that Oxford City Council charges £4.60 for evening parking nearby, which doesn't really encourage us to patronise local restaurants.

Excellent evening meal, wonderful service and attentive staff. The wine selection is good and reasonably priced. Would recommend a pre-dinner cocktail in the Morse Bar.

Really good (and surpassing expectations too): a couple of great starters, a tasty and well cooked steak, a great risotto and a couple of drinks went down easily. The service was great and we enjoyed an excellent meal in comfortable surroundings. And it felt safe too - an important consideration in summer 2020 - while efforts had gone into the safety procedures not getting in the way of a great evening.

I don’t normally write Tripadvisor reviews but feel for a special Birthday treat I should warn others (as you can see from other reviews) this 'hotel' and restaurant are certainly not 5 star and not value for money! Lets start at the beginning....hotel arrival- no greeting or warm welcome, only 1 staff member on duty so after waiting standing with bags for some time the young receptionist who was preoccupied by the previous guests and the whole check in was cold and clinical. The walk to the room was about 10 minutes down various musty corridors and up and down stairs. The room was small including the bath and the best bit of the room was the crystal glasses! Cocktails in the Cartoon Bar were ok but took 15 mins per drink to arrive despite it not being particularly busy. On walking into the restaurant in the middle of the floor were large white sheets and a slip warning sign as there had been some leak or spillage in the middle of the restaurant! The manager looked stressed and overworked despite half the tables being empty- hate to think what his blood pressure was! Again no real welcome, felt cold and almost like we were an inconvenience. We were directed to our table for 2 with a ridiculous wobbly leg (surely the staff must notice such things!). The manager took the order himself and we ordered 2 breads but weren’t asked which type so one of each arrived (brown+white), the taste of the brown one was awful so it had to go back for another white one (which is what we would have ordered if asked in the first place). Mains came out- 2 steaks one just warm but mine was verging on cold. The garlic butter was a solid chunk like it had just come out of the refrigerator. At no point during the entire meal did anyone come over to ask how the food was (so not even a chance to express my dissatisfaction) or did anyone refill glasses from our bottle of wine in the cooler. I did it for my wife and I about 4x. As the plates were being collected there was still no asking of how the meal was so I asked to see the manager and explained what had happened and asked for the bottle of wine to become complementary, which he did. Of amusement though was that we were £1 over our DBB package of £30 per person and on checkout he had still included the £1 charge - which after all the problems one would have thought he would have just ignored that! Then comes to breakfast- put into the ‘Annex part’ with its own separate half effort to replicate the main buffet set up in the restaurant area. Sat down and not offered any extras like toast and no information on what extras were available. Asked for eggs benedict and told that was fine then after a few mins I was told the chef couldn't do it as he had no buns-I mean really for a 5 star hotel! Ordered a cheese and ham omelette which eventually came and was 'ok'. The coffee took 15 mins to arrive and the selection was so poor in the Annex there wasn't even butter available! I had to ask for it and so the waiters had to get it from the main area! The lack of food in the Annex was noted by other customers and I also heard others complaining of the lack of service and facilities in the Annex. Dirty plates were not cleared- again all things that should be commonplace in a 5 star facility. So all in all for a birthday surprise the highlight was checking out! I will be emailing the manager as well separately as I often see on these reviews management request to be contacted so I will update this review following any correspondence.

We received very good service. The food was delicious, although some portions rather small. The atmosphere was great, and the table was quiet. The only problem was the staff's ability to produce French mustard (rather than English).

The decor is awesome, the food average. The table had been pre-booked but the wait for our food was exceedingly slow.

We were a party of 12 who booked for Christmas lunch. We booked for their advertised 3.30pm sitting. two days before Christmas it became apparent that they had booked us for their earlier sitting of 12.30. After checking they emailed to say it was OK we were booked in for 3.30pm. We arrived to discover there was no 3.30pm sitting and they had been expecting us at 12.30 and considered us a no-show. They did say they could feed us. The staff all looked like they wanted to go home. Before we had even sat down and found somewhere to put our coats (no-one offered to take them) they were hovering with our starters. We asked where the champagne and canapes were that were advertised as part of their Christmas package. They took the starters away and came back and served prosecco. They should not advertise champagne and serve prosecco. The main course arrived, it was lukewarm. It consisted of some turkey breast, 3 brussel sprouts, 1 carrot, 1 pig in a blanket, 1 parsnip and 3 roast potatoes plus some rather tasteless stuffing. we had to go and find someone to open wine for us, he thought 12 people asking for a 4th bottle to be opened meant we drank a lot... The pudding arrived, it was stone cold. The coffee was at least freshly made but the mince pies that came with it were the cheapest of the cheap...thick, oversweet pastry, tasteless mincemeat. For this rip off meal they charge £135 a head plus drink. They have provided a substantial refund (after chasing), and offered one of us a free night at the Randolph hotel...another own goal,as who wants to spend a night alone in an hotel? will not be going back.

Set in a fabulous location, with classic decor and incredibly presentable service, you have high expectations for such a prestigious restaurant in a very expensive hotel....However the menu is really uninspiring, not everything was cooked well to justify the cost, and whilst the presentation of the food was fabulous, you want to be asked by your waiter if you’re food was ok and not once over our three courses was we asked if the food was good or not.The menu offers what is a selection of very obvious and British food foods, and we went for the haggis pops and leak and potato soup. For the £9 the soup was very bland, but the haggis was tasty and cooked perfectly.For mains my wife ordered the pork belly, which was very well cooked, however it came with huge soggy lumps of apple and very undercooked (and I mean almost raw) pieces of sweet potato. I ordered the hake, and wasn’t told until it arrived that they had no hake and I was getting halibut (!). Which is not a problem as I love halibut, but that was completely overcooked and almost hard like it had been left out for a while before hitting the table for my consumption.We had dessert to give the chef another chance and out came a cold rice pudding with too much jam, and a treacle tart that couldn’t be homemade, and again overcooked / warmed and was set firm and not fluffy in any way.We were very disappointed to be honest. It’s not cheap and for those prices you expect things to be cooked well. We hate to moan as you’ll see by our other reviews, and yes we eat well at very good restaurants, but the least you expect is a chef doing his/her job...

Opted for the 'Festive Lunch' menu - 3 courses plus coffee and mince pies and a glass of prosecco for £40. This restaurant used to feel opulent but it now feels a little souless - some of the windows were obscured due to work going on outside - and 'cheesey' Christmas music was playing - maybe something more gentle and genteel would be better in this sort of environment.The food was fine - albeit the turkey was quite dry.Service was OK - nothing special.Just average all round

My mum and I went to eat there on Friday night as we were a guest of the hotel. We waited half an hour for our first course. I had the calamari and my mum had the pigeon. We had sat there for an hour and a half and had only had one course. The service was terrible and the staff obviously didn’t understand us. We had to ask them to hurry the chef up with our second course, it came and was a disaster. I had the pork which was over cooked and the sweet potatoes had no seasoning what so ever. My mum had the fish which was so overcooked that it was inedible. I would NOT recommend this restaurant at all.

I have to say thank you to the team here for a brilliant family lunch we had today. We all agreed that the food was great and the staff were really helpful, especially with our daughter and we felt really well looked after. We will definitely be back soon.

Went for dinner - good range of choice with all courses and especially vegetarian options (not that many upper end restaurants do in Oxford). Lovely table next to window and we also benefited from the great service from Pedro - a star! Very pleased they not only noted the request for my daughter's birthday at the end of the meal, but also on her arrival, without prompting. Very nice touch indeed. Also had a very pleasant drink in the Morse Bar - one of the best gin martinis I've had recently. Definitely recommend!

Having lunch at Acanthus was supposed to be an experience but unfortunately it was a lesson in poor service and mediocre food. The restaurant itself is located in fantastic historic facilities and has a lot of charm but the food and staff makes you shake your head wondering why something with so much potential is done so badly.

Si se encuentra en la zona y tiene la suerte de cenar en este restaurante, solicite que Pedro le sirva. Un caballero encantador, que se disculpó porque se suponía que teníamos el menú fijo, pero como el jefe de cocina no estaba bien informado, tuvo que seleccionar del menú principal. Mi otra mitad y yo elegimos el bistec de solomillo después de preguntar si podíamos hacerlo, ya que era la segunda opción más cara para comer. Aparentemente, el supervisor y el gerente no estaban muy contentos con esto, pero Pedro nos aseguró que estaba bien, luchó por nosotros y por eso tuvimos una comida increíble. Además de esto, Pedro nos dio prosecco en la casa, y se ofreció a tomarnos una foto a los dos para la ocasión (nuestro tercer aniversario).

La comida era fabulosa, el ambiente era perfecto y la habitación es impresionante, pero lo que hizo que nuestra visita fuera realmente especial fue el servicio absolutamente increíble de nuestro camarero Pedro. Muchas gracias Pedro por hacer que nuestro aniversario fuera tan especial, ¡nunca nos han tratado mejor!

Gut zu essen und das zu, dafür dass man in einem 5 Sterne Hotel ist, recht moderaten Preisen. Tolle Atmosphäre, sowohl in der Bar, als auch im Restaurant und eine sehr freundliche Bedienung machen den Aufenthalt zu einer Freude, die sogar anhält wenn das Essen kommt. Wir hatten ein sehr gutes Chateau Briand serviert auf heißen Tellern, mit neuen, gekochten Kartoffeln....immer den Chips vorzuziehen....Sauce Béarnaise alles frisch aufgekocht.....sehr lecker. Dazu einen guten Malbec.

A pesar de la impresionante decoración de la habitación y la cálida bienvenida del personal principal del vestíbulo del hotel, el restaurante fue una decepción tan pronto como nos sentamos.