Malmaison Oxford

Delicious food and excellent service, we had wonderful mother’s day lunch here today, quality place and highly recommended.

WOW – Just stunning! The whole hotel is completely original and offers a wonderful perspective. Perfect for an unusual get-away, and right in the centre of town.

I just wish we had tried the food!

Incredible hotel

I’ve stayed at the Mal a couple of times, once at New Year, and once for a friend’s wedding. Rooms here are pretty small, but very compact and quite inspirational if you’re looking for ideas on cramming lots of functional furniture into a small space! But decor is smart and everything is at hand, making it a great choice for a short stay.

My main gripe is with the food, which we found a little limited for vegetarians. Otherwise this is a cool little hotel in a nice, central location.

We booked the Mal Brunch/jazz Sunday which was taking place in the gardens. Unfortunately when we arrived, it transpired we had been booked to eat in the Brasserie which is inside. It would mean that we would be unable to listen to fantastic music and enjoy the lovely weather. Luckily we were talking to the Manager who did his upmost to accomodate us on the patio area instead of seeing us leave.
We didn't have brunch but lunch (which didn't bother us) which is probably one of the best I have had in a long time. The meat was cooked to perfection. Yes it is a bit dear but we don't mind paying for quality and service. We had both.

My partner and I had a nightmare of a stay at this place. I'd booked a champagne treat to stay in one of the old cells and though the room was nice (but very dim) to look at...it was FREEZING with no heating. Also the TV didn't have BBC2, the TV didn't play the radio as it was supposed to and the DVD had no DVD's to play...so why was it there. Upon complaining to the management, the Night Manager came to admit he had no idea how to even work the TV of Heating when they were working normally. This "manager" was the concierge who got our car from the garage the next morning. We were moved to a suite...where there was still no heating but air conditioning blowing out cold air through the night. The hotel tried to charge a huge amount for parking, without telling you at the time of arrival. The manager said it was sent in my confirmation email...but I never got one! In the restaurant, the food was excessively salty and the waiter entered into an arguement with the couple at the next time...offering to get them the menu again as they'd clearly not read it properly!

If this had been a cheap motel it would have been understandable but this is a posh and very expensive hotel...and a great let down.

I refused to pay on leaving and negotiated a massive discount with the real manager. I have been offered a free night but have told them I shall never darken their doorstep again.

I wonder if it just thrives on foreign tourists coming to stay in a castle and jail rather than discerning hotel guests. I would avoid this hotel.

A very reliable place for somewhere to eat. It's away from a lot of the hustle and bustle and if you need somewhere to stay I'd recommend it for that too.

Had Sunday lunch here a few weeks ago and I can't recommend it highly enough.

Both the service and food were excellent and the atmosphere was relaxed and comfortable without being being overly formal or stuffy.
With good choices on the set menu and half bottle of very drinkable house wine included in the price, I have no reason to go anywhere else when visiting Oxford again.

This is an atmospheric restaurant located in the converted cells of Oxford’s old prison in the heart of the historic Oxford Castle site. The menu changes seasonally and the food is sourced locally. Our Central Oxford team really rate this.

I had the pleasure of staying in the Thomas Lowton Robins suite at the Malmaison which is split over 2 floors which is a Bath and Cinema room floor with the bedroom and shower room downstaires.

The cinema room has a Bose system and about 100" projected image on a blank wall, it's a 5.1 sound system so make sure you take some DVD's with you as they don't provide any!! A small library would make this room better. I was prepared so brought along American Beauty but it should have been Star Wars or something a little more testing for the system.

I did email the hotel before my stay to ask them what the system was and did it play blu ray but they never wrote back.

If you need to change the region on the player go here
http://www.dvddemystifiziert.de/codefree_en/bose.html

There is no doubt that this location and building is amazing and that gets it 4 stars, they just missed that 1% detail that makes a hotel great.

£275 for there top suite was worth it and I would come back. I did not eat here and would assume it's the good Malmaison style food they serve in their other locations. The bar area was the old prison visiting room with stunning decor and as usual in Malmaison great cocktails

Great location, good price, stunning decor and styling

Would have got 5th star with some detailed thinking

We went here for my sisters 30th Birthday, it was amazing. The hotel is aconverted prison which sounds really rubbish and spooky but it is definatley worth a visit.

It has been done to such a high standard, the interior and the furnishing is gorgeous. We sat outside in the courtyard for drinks which was lovely, the staff were really friendly and helpful. The bar upstairs is really cool for some late night drinks… definately worth a visit.

This hotel is a really lovely place to stay, treat yourself to one of the old cells with a centred roll top free standing bath. It feels very odd to be so relaxed in surroundings that you associate with such a lack of freedom but its a great experience.
the rooms are lovely and well decorated.
Inside the hotel there are two bars one that is the old visitors room with huge high ceilings and small suffocating windows, they really have tried to keep the theme of an ols prison without it beoming too tacky and overdone. There is a good wine list and the food is better than average.
The hotel is centrally located so anything you want is within reach.
The only criticism is that the check in was a little slow and also some weekend the prices can be very high.

A hotel that used to be a prison?! Yep, that’s what you get here a luxury hotel that used to house people at her Majesty’s pleasure instead of their own. Go onto the wings and you see the gantries and walkways, groups of three old cells have been knocked together as rooms and a further wing has been reconstructed to create more modern shaped rooms.

The rooms themselves are modern, with comfy but not too soft beds, tastefully decorated, flat screen TV’s and DVD players and really large showers.

I really enjoyed going round the castle/prison exhibition next door to see pictures of what it used to be like before the transformation.

The only downside I found was the car parking, prisons weren’t designed with the modern day traveller in mind so there’s really only the space immediately outside the entrance to park your car and it costs around £20 per night.

Mal Maison - perhaps not your first choice as the restuarant is attached to the Hotel. However, once you enter it is quite a different type of place to eat…

It being the old prison cells. Takes a little while to get the orientation to the place, but you soon realise that the small archway you have just walked through is the doorway to a cell.

The food is very tasty and there are quite a few different dishes - try the side salad of beetroot and horseradish, but only if you like that sort of thing.

The wine list is very good, with many wines available by the glass.

And if you are feeling flush you can stay overnight, again the rooms are the old cells - knocked through obviously!

The atmosphere is great, the dishes are really special. Service is quick and attentive, which I find a rare luxury in Oxford. The fish was a bit overcooked, but still enjoyable, the wine selection beats everything I have seen in Oxford so far. They even had a bottle from the Austrian micro vineyard my friend discovered last year.

Although I haven’t stayed in the hotel (but I hear it’s excellent), the bar and restaurant areas are fantastic and great for a special occasion. Take the lift to the first floor lounge area with its super high ceiling and luxe decor, great for a pre-dinner drink. The food in the restaurant is very good, and side rooms allow for larger parties to be semi-tucked away. The toilets have comedy recordings on loop over the speakers, an interesting touch.

This hotel’s biggest attraction is it’s location. Right in the centre of the recently re-developed Oxford castle, you have restaraunts and an incredible atmosphere at your doorstep. The hotel staff are friendly, the rooms are excellent and the in hotel restaraunt is of high quality. If none of this appeals to you, the city centre and the University are only a few minutes walk away! Ideally located, with excellent facilities, the place to stay if it’s within your budget!

Wow! What an incredible location. The converted prison is full of character and they have done a great job of turning this into a lovely hotel but maintaining the old prison features! Perfectly placed in the centre of oxford. Thoroughly recommended

Fantastic location to have a look around Oxford. The hotel is one of the nicest Malmaisons I have visited. The rooms are boutique chic as you would expect and the food was delicious. Malmaison hotels really do have the most amazing quality food on room service. Great if you are travelling with a little one and cannot make the restaurant.

We stayed overlooking the courtyard and unfortunately found the night club quite noisy. In future I would request a prison room.

Breakfast was lovely but not the best mal breakfast we have had. We preferred Newcastle.

Overall, a lovely weekend break hotel.

Service excellent! Food delicious! Licked all the plates!