Macdonald Bear Hotel

All rooms come with comfortable beds, a work desk, a flatscreen television, ironing facilities, tea and coffee making facilities, a seating area and an en-suite bathroom with bathrobes. Premium rooms also include Nespresso coffee machines and suites have four-poster or canopy beds.

Although most of the accommodation is upstairs, there are some ground floor rooms including one that is wheelchair-accessible.

Dogs are welcome to stay for an additional £15 per pet per night (no charge for guide dogs).

There is free Wi-Fi wireless internet access throughout the hotel.

The decor in the 54 guest rooms is of a more traditional style to highlight the historical aspects of the building. Many of the rooms feature exposed oak beams and some of the rooms have ornate antique-style furnishings while others have a more contemporary feel to them. This style fits in quite nicely with the historical nature of both the building and the town but it can seem a little dated to guests used to staying in more modern hotels.

Like many other English buildings of a similar vintage, the Bear Hotel is reputed to be haunted. Apparently, local legend has it that there is a ghost in room 16 who turns the lights on and off.

Other facilities at the hotel include a restaurant with a refined brasserie-style menu with seasonal local produce as well as Scottish beef and salmon (a nod to Macdonald’s Scottish heritage). There is also the Churchill Lounge where you can enjoy afternoon tea.

Room service is available 24 hours a day.

The hotel gets very mixed reviews with people either loving or hating it. The general consensus is the that it is a charming place to stay but it can appear somewhat dated (to be expected in an older building) and the food here is not quite to the same standard as other places in town. Our advice is to stay here if your budget allows but go elsewhere to eat as Woodstock has quite a good choice of nice places to eat out.

The Bear Hotel is right in the centre of Woodstock. The Oxfordshire Museum is across the road and the bus stop for buses into Oxford or Chipping Norton is only a three-minute walk from the hotel. The main gate to Blenheim Palace is a five-minute walk but it takes around 10-minutes to walk to the actual palace.

Parking is available, but it costs £10 per night.