The Porterhouse Grill and Rooms

Breakfast was great, restaurant quality!

Check in experience, you are virtually checking in at a pub!

Great breakfast

Some construction on the street nearby

We had an absolutely exceptional stay at The Porterhouse. Unsurprisingly, the real highlight was the food. The côte de boeuf was genuinely one of the best steaks I can remember eating — beautifully cooked, deeply flavourful, perfectly crusted on the outside and tender inside. The sort of meal where you keep stopping to say, “this is ridiculous.” Whoever is in charge of the grill seriously knows what they’re doing. Everything about the place felt thoughtful, warm and high quality without being fussy. The rooms were lovely, the atmosphere downstairs was relaxed and welcoming, and the food was far beyond what we were expecting from a hotel restaurant. We’ve eaten very well throughout a month-long trip around the UK, and this meal still stood out. An outstanding final stop in Oxford and somewhere I would very happily return to.

It wouldn’t stop us staying there again if the opportunity arose, but our room was up two very steep, wonky, and narrow flights of stairs. It’s charming and typical of a building that age, but can be tricky for suitcases. The staff actually got our suitcases up the stairs for us because we arrived early and had to leave them (THANK YOU!), but getting them down the stairs again was a bit scary. I wouldn’t attempt it if I wasn’t reasonably young and able-bodied.

Location very close to station - and the dinner was delicious

It was a very hot night and there is no air con