Ever been a tourist in your own city? Neither had we! But having spent a few days at the gorgeous Voco Hotel in Sandford-On-Thames we can highly recommend it.
Voco Hotel is in a beautiful location, built in 30 acres of riverside parkland, overlooking the River Thames.
It offers an impressive variety of rooms, views, swimming pool, spa, gym, bar and restaurant, and is situated just four miles from Oxford, the perfect base from which to explore, especially as the bus stops right outside the hotel, and taxis are easy to organise.
And while we all love visiting the city centre to shop, eat or explore, when given free rein and a two day window, you see it from an entirely new perspective. Oxford is your oyster.
Where to start then? With our contemporary, spacious, comfy room, which had all the amenities you could possibly want, as we dumped our cases and raced off to have a look around.
The enticing and welcoming Crusaders Bar & Lounge was the perfect place to plan our schedule, and where we drew up a list of things we wanted to do, see and visit.
It was a long list – we were going to be busy – and how we fitted everything in I’ll never know, but Oxford is nothing if not entertaining.
We walked for miles around the city centre, reminiscing, revisiting old haunts, trying new food, checking out exhibitions, talks, plays and pubs.
We visited The Sheldonian, The Ashmolean, The Playhouse, ate pizza in The White Rabbit, wonderful veggie food at The Punter, ate thali at Dosa Park, caught up, relaxed and unwound.
It helped that we had a wonderful base such as Voco Hotel to retreat to, where we slept like babies in the cosy beds, ate, recuperated, read, walked, swam and regenerated – somewhere to retire, regroup, recuperate and relaunch each morning.
The breakfasts, served in The River Room Restaurant, were lovely – laid out by the windows overlooking the river, a full buffet breakfast available with added a la carte choices such as avocado on toast with poached eggs.
The pool was another wonderful extra luxury, that we made full use of, the perfect way to unwind after a busy day sight-seeing. The Riverside Health Club also offers a sauna, fitness and spa facilities, as well as outdoor tennis courts, if only we’d had time!
Our departure came all too quickly, the time racing past, our escape sadly finite. But anyone looking to meet up with old friends, or get away for the night, should look no further. Voco’s perfect location, professional friendly staff and excellent facilities, make it a home from home.
Voco Hotel is at Henley Rd, Sandford-on-Thames, Oxford OX4 4GX.
A two night stay costs from £169. For further details on this and other outstanding packages go to: https://oxfordthames.vocohotels.com/offers/
