The Galaxie

The room was particularly small, though the price we got made it okay as a place to stay. Breakfast was pretty good, and the women working the morning service were lovely and welcoming. We had hoped to love the Galaxie, with its fancy four-star feel, but cleanliness details were hard to overlook and took away from the atmosphere. There were also odd noises at different times, possibly from the elevator, which were distracting.

The room looked nice, but some practical changes would make a big difference. Mine, on the third floor, got so hot I had to leave the windows open all night, even in February. Walking on the wooden floors late could disturb people below. The bed was two singles pushed together, and since the feet had no grips, they kept sliding apart whenever I moved. It made for a really uncomfortable night's sleep.

The buffet breakfast was very good, though a few cold meats would have been a welcome extra. We stayed two nights in Oxford and chose a large double, which was excellent. The hotel is a little outside the centre, but buses stop right outside and run frequently. There’s plenty of parking too. Highly recommended.

The bedroom was small, dark and depressing. Cheap looking ornaments and plastic fruit made the place feel like a poor imitation of a quirky boutique hotel, and I couldn’t tell what style it was aiming for. Breakfast was dreadful: plastic looking and tasting eggs, awful sausages and unpleasant shop-bought bread, with no effort to offer good local produce. The staff chatted about their night out and barely noticed guests. Later, in the lounge area, we could hear them talking about helping the owners, the plane being close to financial failure, and badly managed rotas. Those conversations should have been private. For the price, this was very poor value.