Address: 92 - 94 High Street, Oxford OX1 4BN.

Tel: 01865 799599.

E-mail: info@oldbank-hotel.co.uk

Web address: www.oxford-hotels-restaurants.co.uk

First Impressions. Although the hotel is a recent (five months old) conversion of a Barclays bank, reception is calm without being austere.

What are the rooms like? Big, creamy, beamy; ours had an extraordinary view of the dreaming spires (Rad Cam, All Souls). TV, CD player, CDs (Kenny G), Stanley Spencer prints on the wall, no mini-bar (good news), chocs on the pillow.

The bed test. Wonderful. Huge bed with good cotton sheets (heavy but not stiff). Room was a bit hot, despite air-conditioning.

The bathroom test. Carried on the creamy-beige theme: good bath, strong shower, piles of freebies: shampoo, body lotion, sewing kit, shaving kit, tooth kit (but only one). Cotton robes.

The restaurant. The Quod Bar & Grill didn't feel like a hotel restaurant at all. Instead, a lively meeting-place with zinc-topped bar, cocktails, groovy non-studenty mixed clientele. Italian food -good buffalo mozzarella and Caesar salad; too few vegetarian options. But you can't book a table and, on a busy Saturday, we waited 45 minutes - even with priority as hotel guests. £50 for two including good bottle of wine. Cocktails £4. Breakfast was very limited for veggies (eggs only), and a bit overpriced (not included in the room rate).

The lounge. No lounge but pleasant sunny courtyard and sociable bar - buzzy, but not great if you just want to relax with a book.

What is there to see within walking distance? All the delights of Oxford: the colleges, the Bodleian Library, Christ Church meadow, the Ashmolean, the river.

What is there to see within a 10-minute drive? The city's beautiful enough.

How much a night? From £135 to £300, room only.

Would you go back? If you're paying.