HOTEL OF THE WEEK
Oxford WHERE AND WHY
Just minutes from Oxford’s Mini factory, but a world away from robots and rubber, lies this recently refurbished elegant house hotel.
Nestled in leafy residential streets in the sleepy village of Iffley, it’s based in the 19th-century manor where all-round plucky chap Francis Howard Bickerton – frequent polar explorer, soldier, flyer in both world wars and moviemaker – was born in 1889.
Hawkwell, now cleverly styled in a homage to classic Oxford tailoring (shoe lasts as hooks, lamp shades of buttoned cuffs, brogues everywhere), manages to be both sedate and busy at the same time.
ON THE MENU
Dinner choice ranges from classic beefburger (£13.95) to mushroom risotto with truffle oil (£12.95) and even a breakfast pizza (sausage, bacon, mushroom, fried egg, (£11.50).
Wash them down with the house cocktail, Shackleton’s Revenge, in honour of Bickerton’s involvement in the Endurance expedition.
WHILE YOU’RE THERE
Take a walk into Oxford or, if you are lazy, just down to Iffley Lock where you will find the Isis Farmhouse pub a mere two minutes on. Oxford can be like Tokyo in the rush hour at times, so the river route is a nice escape.
From the Hawkwell you are 20 minutes drive from Blenheim Palace, 55 minutes from the Cotswold town of Bourton on the Water, and half an hour from the shopping extravaganza of Bicester Village.
WAKE UP CALL
Rooms start from £99 a night. all.accor.com