The Old Parsonage - now a hotel - is a Wisteria clad stone building dating back to 1660, situated between Keble and Somerville Colleges. This smart, privately owned luxury hotel is centrally located and perfect for walking to everything Oxford. Oscar Wilde lived at the Old Parsonage for one term when he arrived late back to college, but the building long predates Oxford’s expansion north in Victorian times. Built in 1660, the year that Charles II was restored to the English throne, the Old Parsonage is like a little Cotswold inn outside the walls of medieval Oxford, As soon as you step down into its walled garden (street levels were much lower in 1660) you enter a world of log fires, oil paintings, good books and solid English fare.
The main bar with its Russian red walls covered with original cartoons and interesting portraits is open from breakfast until late serving British classics with a modern interpretation. You can enjoy lunch, afternoon teas, a cocktail or dinner in a relaxed informal atmosphere. In Summer, dining moves to the famous walled terrace where you can enjoy live Jazz every Friday evening.
The thirty air conditioned bedrooms have real character and all the up to date facilities expected of a small luxury hotel. Take a picnic and enjoy the real Oxford or join art historian and Oxford resident Isabella Underhill on a complimentary tailor-made walking and art tour of the city.
Located at the top of Oxford’s widest street, St Giles, the Old Parsonage is located close to the Jericho quarter with its excellent restaurants and curiosity shops. It’s even closer to the original Brown’s Restaurant, Raymond Blanc’s Patisserie Blanc. Taylor’s Deli and the Eagle and Child, the pub where C.S.Lewis and J.R.R.Tolkien discussed their fiction. There is almost a sense of a very well-heeled village here clustered around the 12th-century church of St. Giles.
Source & More Information: The Olde Parsonage Hotel, http://www.oldparsonage-hotel.co.uk