Bed & Breakfasts in Oxford ★★★
a bedroom, Wisteria Lodge, Oxford
Oxford B&Bs range from creaky old pensions to classy modern mini-hotels
Reid's List
★★☆
★★☆
££
Exposed timbered ceilings in an 18C barn 5 miles outside Oxford
★☆☆
££
A stylish townhouse B&B a 10-minute stroll south of the center
★☆☆
B&Bs links
- Booking.com - One of the best general booking sites out there, and one of the few that includes B&Bs (filed variously under the categories of "Bed and Breakfasts," "Guesthouses," and "Inns"). By the numbers: 282 B&Bs in London, 151 in Edinburgh, 76 in Bath.Partner
- Bedandbreakfast.com - B&B specialist listing more than 5,500 bed and breakfasts across the U.K., with more than 300 in London alone, 153 in Edinbugh, and 23 in Bath, starting at £19 ($30). User reviews help you make informed decisions.Partner
- Hotels.com - Another generalist lodging booking site with a huge representation of B&Bs: 135 in central London, 130 in Edinburgh, and 37 in Bath.Partner
- Airbnb.com - Famous network of both official and unofficial B&Bs, homestays, room rentals, and apartment and house rentals. So many I can't even post total numbers here, but for an idea: There are more than 300 private room offerings in Central London for under £35 ($54) alone. The idea of someone inflating the old air mattress for you is just a metaphor. Usually, you stay in a guest bedroom, futon, or fold-out couch. Its rates are among the lowest around, averaging £59 ($91), though charging anywhere from £15 to £160 ($24 to $247) per night, with a handful charging more. Airbnb.com is less regulated than most official or online resources, and many of the places to stay are not registered with the local authorities—which helps make them cheaper, but they are not inspected, or subject to official compaints, and certainly do not pay taxes. Buyer beware.
- Bedandbreakfastsguide.com - Online catalog that, depsite its name, lists hotels, self-catering (apartments), and pubs/inns as well. In the striclty B&B category: 118 in London, 206 in Edinburgh, 84 in Bath.
- Wolseylodges.com - A collection of 155 premier B&Bs installed in manor houses, Georgian mansions, Victorian country rectories, and the like across England, Scotland, and Wales (with a smattering in France). Just a handful in any given destination—3 each in London and Edinburgh, 2 in Bath—but all stunning. Even at this level of luxury, prices still range around £95–£140 ($146–$216) for a double (though rates on the site are presented, annoyingly, per person).
- Visitus.co.uk - A mind-boggling array of B&Bs in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland: 210 in central London, 224 in Edinburgh, 86 in Bath. No grouped mapping feature, however, and it is annoyingly database driven, with London sliced into eight geographic sections (for Central London, you'll have to sift through each of London NW, London SE, London SW, and London W; the other four sections are all way outside the center).
- Hostelz.com - Aggregator bringing together from many hostel and cheap hotel booking engines. If you select "Guesthouses" as the Accommodation Type you will find plenty of B&Bs in there.Partner
- Bedandbreakfastnationwide.com - Network of about 550 B&Bs across Brtiain and Ireland, including 43 in London (via a sister agency), 3 in Edinburgh (and another 9 nearby), and 6 in Bath (well, one atually in Bath and five nearby).
- Bedandbreakfast.eu - Massive database of 1.8 million places to stay around the world (more than 1,400 in London alone), but it is more of a classifieds site, with each property submitting and writing its own listing, and many are not, actually, B&Bs in the traditional sense. Still, a good resource for the room hunt.
General info about B&Bs in England
There are dozens of hotel alternatives, from London flats to country cottages, farmhouse B&Bs to university dorms, rental rooms to residences, and campgrounds to castles. Here's how to find the lot of them.
