~~~~~~~~~LUXURY HOTEL NR BICESTER NEEDED~~~~~~~~

[Whoooosh]

Fancy a bit of shopping at Bicester Village and a night away with dp somewhere lovely nearby-anyone know of anywhere?

[Oati]

weston manor ?

[Oati]

the bear at woodstock - a bit further away

[WideWebWitch]

Is Oxford too far? Malmaison there looks lovely.

[CountessDracula]

Le Manoir

[Whoooosh]

CD-liking your style-just hate the Roux brothers-irrational I know.

Going to look at the others now....any other suggestions.

Found somewhere called the Feathers but would much prefer a MN recommendation.

[CountessDracula]

well that's ok then as it is Raymond Blanc not the Rouxs!

[acassiamo]

Can't give a personal recommendation but you could always try drooling over the Small Luxury Hotels site www.slh.com.

[WideWebWitch]

Why do you hate the Roux brothers? What did they do to you? Made a jus that made you puke? and cd is right, tis Blanc, not Roux there!

[WideWebWitch]

Malmaison Oxford looks lovely but you may not want to leave to go shopping , has a lot of good reviews on tripadvisor iirc.

[CountessDracula]

I do so very recommend le manoir

or is it all French chefs you have a gripe with?

[Whoooosh]

Duuuur-thank you-of course 'tis Raymond "quite gorgeous in a funny way" Blanc.

Had to work with the Roux boys once and they were bloody awful.

[Oati]

Le Manoir is the most luxurious I would say - is it near enough for you?

[Whoooosh]

I reckon 20 mins is definitely near enough.

Call me a ponce but I wouldn't want to stay in a standard room and anything other than that is astronomical...hmm-does look lovely though and the food.............

Malmaison looks interesting-no parking though which will be a complete pain in the bum.

[CountessDracula]

you can get packages so it works out cheaper

we got a deluxe room and two menu gourmands for about £500 I think

But the wine rather pushed it up

[Whoooosh]

Yep-know that feeling well CD

Have discounted The Bear as the chairs in the bar do not look at all comfortable-might help with keeping the bar bill down but I do like a bit of comfort....

[Steppy1]

how about here. 'tis situated on the M4/A34 junction at Newbury so should be about a 20 min drive northbound on the A34 to bicester village - it is fantastic (lovely spa too !!)

here's the wesbite

lovely food, lovely accommodation, lovely everything !!!

[bearsmom]

Went to a wedding at Bignell Park Hotel at Chesterton (v. close to Bicester Village) in 2001 and thought it was good (stayed just one night, food v. good, but things get lost in a bit of an alcoholic haze after the meal ...). And it's been done up a bit since then. Website is www.bignellparkhotel.co.uk. If you're planning on the trip within the next six weeks or so I wouldn't recommend staying further south down the A34 - they're resurfacing both carriageways south of Didcot and the queues are horrendous!

[Paddlechick666]

I used to work at Weston Manor, t'was a long while back but it wasn't in the same league as Le Manoir I have to say!

There's Heathfield Village which is very close, the rooms are good with huge jacuzzi in one of them but the bar/restaurant is poor. They're like converted outbuildings, actually that's exactly what they were LOL.

There's the Dashwood Arms in Kirtlington which has been converted from a pub into a luxury small hotel/restaurant here

it's about 10 mins from Bicester Village and my parents say the food is fabulous.

can't believe how much it's changed since I used to get trashed under-age in there back in the 80s LOL!

[Whoooosh]

oooh-now The Vineyard looks lovely-have emailed them.

Really like the look of the Dashwood too.

Bignell ParkI thought looked lovely until I had a closer look at the bedrooms...

Paddlechick-not doing a great job of selling Heathfield to me

[Paddlechick666]

er no, don't know why i mentioned it at all really LOL.

I would deffo say the Dashwood is great tho. the village itself is lovely, there's a beautiful old church and another good pub up the road (2 mins!).

you can have a nice stroll between The Dash and The Oxford Arms and take in the church dating back to Norman times.

don't think it's got all the whistles and bangs of the Vineyard tho.........

[Whoooosh]

Ok-having got a pretty good deal from The Vineyard-have looked at the map and decided it is bloomin' miles from Bicester.

Back to the drawing board (and Dashwood) if there are no further suggestions...

CD-still wrestling with my conscience about Le Manoir £.

[Steppy1]

didn't realise there's roadworks on the A34 otherwise it's a quick journey in the day oh well

Hartwelll House is a bit nearer...and very nice too !! Hppy hunting..would luuuurve to be having a romantic break with shopping thrown in !!

[Whoooosh]

Looking better-any more?

[Whoooosh]

Almost last bump before I book tomorrow for Thursday

[decafskinnylatte]

ooh yes, one more - the Crazy bear near Oxford - sorry don't know link - v cool, romantic hotel, fabulous rooms (some suites have jacuzzi at end of bed); fabulous food too.

Hope I'm not too late. I would always choose this one when in the area...