Oxford’s Finest Hotel Just Had An Upgrade – C&TH Gets An Early Look

The Old Parsonage’s recently launched residences, 36 St Giles, are an exciting new addition to the Oxford hospitality scene, says Simon Kurs.

Review: 36 St Giles At The Old Parsonage, Oxford

There’s a joke my darling wife often likes to tell when we’re in new company and the question of university comes up. ‘How do you know,’ she asks, ‘if somebody went to Oxford?’ A brief pause, before the punchline is delivered, eyes fixed on me. ‘Don’t worry… They’ll tell you.’

My wife is of course not wrong. That Oxbridge alumni, giddy with their own inflated sense of exceptionalism, can’t help but name drop the details of their esteemed alma mater at the first opportunity, is a justly deserved stereotype – and one entirely deserving of ridicule. As someone guilty of this crime – not least at this very moment – I bow my head in shame. But there are times when such an admission is unavoidable.

Take this hotel review. When I heard the Old Parsonage had launched two rather swish new self-contained residences, there was naturally a professional curiosity. As one of Oxford’s most venerable places to stay – not to mention the city’s only Michelin Key holder, newly minted this autumn – such a story is already news-worthy. But for anyone who spent their undergraduate days under those dreaming spires, there’s even greater significance.

The Old Parsonage was where your parents stayed if they were coming to visit, and it was where they’d take you to lunch in the cosy, clubby restaurant for a slap-up, grown-up feed, often sitting alongside bearded professors and visiting academics in tweed jackets. Sometimes, on very special occasions, you might spend the night there yourself, marvelling through your student eyes at what a grand – if slightly austere – a place this was to wake up in.

The very best hotels have the capacity to transport you – and so the Old Parsonage did. Though sitting on the buzzy thoroughfare of St Giles, about 10 minutes’ walk from Oxford’s centre, its honeyed stone and ivy-clad exterior had seemingly been plucked directly from a Cotswolds village and magically deposited in the centre of town. It was essentially a country house hotel, albeit one where a modern design sensibility had seeped into its 35 bedrooms.

STAY

So do the new residences at 36 St Giles offer more of the same? Actually, not in the slightest. This pair of apartments are housed in grand Georgian townhouse a few minutes’ walk away from the Old Parsonage’s main 17th century building, and it’s from this address that they take their name. Where the parent hotel is all roaring fires and dark-wood panelling, these rooms are airy, high-ceilinged beauties that combine subtle period features with some delightful contemporary touches, including retro-futuristic mid-century Scandi dining chairs and a cool-looking statement abstract chandelier.

Everything is noticeably high-spec here, from the De’Longhi coffee machine, part of a sleek kitchenette (Italian, of course) to the extremely comfortable handmade EPOC beds. And judging by the amount of Carrara marble that’s been used in the expansive bathroom – which, incidentally, is bigger than most most hotel rooms – no expense has been spared. There’s even a remote-controlled fireplace, a first for me.

Of course, simply throwing wildly expensive stuff at a hotel room doesn’t always guarantee success, but in this instance, the fancy amenities are complemented by bags of personality. A designer’s eye is clearly at work here, layering textures, details and colours in a loving manner not dissimilar to Kit Kemp, and a real sense of place is evident in those touches. The bookcase is heaving with tomes, almost all of which have an Oxford connection of some kind. Then there’s the artwork: it’s everywhere, huge abstract blasts of colour dominating every wall. 

The whole intention was to create a space that feels more like a home than a hotel, and boy does 36 St Giles deliver on that promise, marrying the privacy and comfort of a private residence with the kind of things you expect from a 5-star stay. Think on-demand concierge service and a proper breakfast courtesy of the Parsonage Grill. It’s a winning combination for a city-break stay.

EAT & DRINK

Preferential booking status at other establishments under the Oxford Collection’s umbrella is a perk of staying at the Old Parsonage – so it makes sense to drop by. Gees and Quod will be equally as familiar to students, both current and long departed. Gees was and remains – I’m happy to report – a bastion of relaxed civility that will be high on the list for a special meal, or when somebody else (read: mum and dad) is paying the bill. On a Friday evening, the Grade II listed Victorian conservatory, which houses the main dining room, is abuzz with a cosmopolitan crowd enjoying modern Mediterranean comfort food that’s brilliantly executed, and delivered with aplomb by the convivial front of house team. If I was to draw a comparison in look and feel, it would be to Babington House.

As for Quod: when I was studying, this city-centre restaurant, part of the Old Bank Hotel, made the best Bloody Marys in town – and that doesn’t seem to have changed, judging by the sheer number of them leaving the central onyx-topped bar on a Saturday lunchtime. Nor has the brasserie-style cooking, though I don’t recall dishes like handpicked crab with fennel salad, or ricotta and squash ravioli with sage and pine nut butter on the menu 25 years ago. (Both excellent, I have to say.)

DO

But 36 St Giles is well located for wider exploration of the city as well. It’s just far enough from the centre to avoid the tourist bustle, but still close enough to join the action in a jiffy. 

Minutes down the pavement, you’ll find the Eagle and Child, the pub where JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis used to sit and argue about literature. Keep going into town and you’ll soon reach the Ashmolean Museum and other Oxford landmarks such as the Bodleian library and the covered market. Head the other way, and you’re swiftly in the chichi environs of Jericho – possibly my favourite part of town with its array of restaurants, coffee shops and boutiques, all sat in amongst the smartly upright Victorian townhouses of Walton Street.

Jericho also boasts the city’s finest selection of grown-up cocktail bars – a fact that I was foggily aware of as a student, but perhaps not able to fully appreciate until I returned for this stay. After all, a Martini-fuelled night-time constitutional in Oxford’s crisp evening air is, I can confidently report, all the more satisfying when you have a top-class lodging to return to.

BOOK IT

Residences at The Old Parsonage at 36 St Giles start from £855 per night. oldparsonagehotel.co.uk