The best hotels in Oxford city centre

This simple, stylish 18th-century Oxford city centre hotel is a solid bet for a bed in the heart of the action. While there’s not much in the way of amenities, the location is hard to beat – just minutes by foot from top colleges and museums. A modern hotel spread across two historic buildings, Vanbrugh House blends contemporary style with period features. Its exterior is all golden Cotswold stone and inside you can expect to find embellished fireplaces, elegant wood panelling and original beams. Warm, cosy and inviting, the 22 individually styled rooms are a wonderful place to retreat after a busy day sightseeing.

The Tower House is in the thick of Oxford’s historic centre, sitting on quiet Ship Street – which is extra atmospheric at night with its old-fashioned street lamps and the spire of the Wesley Memorial Methodist Church in the distance. The eccentric hotel is set in a 17th-century town house, incorporating a tower of the 13th-century city wall. Décor is homely and simple, allowing history to speak for itself; steep winding staircases, uneven floors, narrow passages and low beamed ceilings boast oodles of character. The eight rooms vary enormously. ‘Bastion’ occupies the circular tower of the old wall and comes with a large sleigh bed and a roll-top bath.

Effortlessly hip but totally unpretentious, this converted Edwardian boozer oozes contemporary charm. Set a couple of minutes’ walk from the train station, the Saïd Business School and the River Thames on a quiet residential street, The Porterhouse is conveniently central but also wonderfully quiet. Style-wise, the hotel is bang on trend with dark blue walls, brass light fittings, tan leather banquettes and stripped wooden floors. There’s a buzz to the bar area even when quiet, a more intimate dining room and seven spacious guest rooms with similarly fashionable styling but plenty of period features to temper the modern makeover.

This outpost of Malmaison has an excellent location right in the centre of the city, within the Oxford Castle Quarter – one of the oldest parts of Oxford – and with the 11th-century Oxford Castle adjacent. The thick walls of this former prison offers guests the chance to sleep in a converted cell complete with barred windows and iron doors. Be prepared for vertiginous, glass-sided walkways, plenty of leather, black and tartan, atmospheric lighting, cavernous yet stylish communal spaces, omnipresent pop music and clever allusions to the building’s murky past. The hotel handily has exclusive parking spaces; the charge is £28.50 for an overnight stay (3pm to 12pm the next day).

This hotel across the road from Balliol college is best known for the paneled Morse Bar, where they used to ‘serve a decent pint’ to the great Inspector, invariably paid for by his sidekick, Lewis. Key staff are characterful. Ask for a room with a view: Martyr’s Memorial or Ashmolean. At dinner, expect a salmon trolley followed by a beef trolley followed by a flambée trolley, from which whole bananas are delivered in a startling whoosh of blue flame. It’s conveniently located, just by the Ashmolean Museum and within skipping distance of St John’s College, Trinity College and the Bodleian Library.

This handsome hotel is an institution and – right opposite the world-renowned Ashmolean Museum and next door to the Oxford Playhouse – easily one of the best hotels in Oxford city centre. The famous Morse Bar, where author Colin Dexter used to write his novels, has retained its handsome wood panelling, and The Alice restaurant is a real eye-pleaser, with bright pink leather booth seating and stunning scallop-like mosaic flooring. There are still some dodgy patterned carpets in the corridors – possibly owing to the hotel’s listed status and requirement to keep to period décor – but overall the contemporary take on an historic Victorian Gothic behemoth is beautifully done.