Macdonald Bear Hotel — Hotel in West Oxfordshire

Having stayed at The Bear several times before Covid, we were looking forward to renewing our previous exhilarating experience. Sadly that was not to be. My first disappointment following a 3 hour journey was to find that there was no English beers on draughty, the Old Speckled Hen was off and stayed off all week. The bar assistant offered the same brand in bottled form, however I had the last two bottles on Monday and Tuesday evening, the stock was not replenished for the whole week. We were both surprised to find the evening dinner menu was printed on an A3 sheet of paper, not in book form as we remembered. We were surprised to find that there was no steak available and were told there would not be any during the week. My wife ordered the Prawn cocktail but without the Crayfish, so it came as half a dish, they could have added more Prawns to substitute the Crayfish, but NO. I ordered the Scallops, expecting them to be presented lightly browned on one face or 2, but served on a small desert plate, with the grilled Asparagus, but no they came completely browned all over, I would go as far as to say almost crosselled, again served in a glass prawn cocktail dish. My wife ordered Roasted Chicken Supreme which was so poor and so overdone she could not eat it and sent it back. In the absence of steak I ordered Lamb Tagine which was inedible so again it was returned. We decided to leave the Resturant with our two bottles wine costing Circa £39 & £58 each night. We refused to pay for the food. We were only tempted into the Resturant on the second night by the waiter advising us that they now had steak but only Sirloin. My wife had the same starter again without the Crayfish, and same result, followed by Fish & Chips, not fine dining, more Pub food. I had scallops again as I was told they were better, they were but only slightly and presented as before. I ordered Sirloin Steak medium of which I left half as it was tuff. We paid and left the restaurant. I spent £337.30 on that meal, wine and bar in two nights. We refused to use the Resturant again apart from breakfast. We ate out on Wednesday evening enjoying 8 King Prawns each for starter then Lobster Thermidor shared for main followed by Tiramisu & Lemon cheese cake, with wine & Liquors for £180.95 in Brothertons Brasserie across the road from The Bear. We had booked for 4 nights, but given our dissatisfaction & disappointment at the service we were receiving we decided to leave on Thursday rather than Friday. We are long term members of the Macdonald Hotel Vacation Club and have therefore lost 500 points by not occupying the room on...

A lovely historic coaching Inn. Restful bar and dining. We were upgraded to a suite which was delightful. King sized bed comfortable clean and warm. Smart bathroom with over bath shower. Huge white fluffy towels and gowns. Comfortable lounge area TV in two rooms. Complimentary Tassimo coffee, biscuits, tea making, water all very welcome. However our Secret Escapes deal for two nights included full breakfast plus one dinner from the Market Menu. A reasonable choice we opted for carrot and coriander soup small portion but warm and hearty, my husband had chicken liver parfait underwhelming. For our main course we had minted peas and haddock with thrice fried chips. The haddock was delicious well cooked fresh and tasty the chips were once cooked not a problem but the peas were dry and inedible. For dessert my husband had sticky toffee pudding which he said was light and delicious I had a lemon possett with fruit couli. The blackcurrant couli was sharp and not too sweet but over powered the possett the lemon barely tasted. Only 4 tables of custom in the dining room made it feel slightly intimidating with staff hovering. My husband ordered a cabernet sauvignon which was unavailable but the head waiter informed him he had another better one at the same price. It was cold metallic and sharp tasting. It sits in front of me still. Next morning we arrived for breakfast at 9.30 to be told only continental breakfast as the hotel and an area of houses had no power. Again a quiet almost empty dining room. Only half the hotel with power a request for more coffee brought a ' we have no more hot water' how come I wanted to ask when half the hotel had power? The selection on offer for breakfast had not been replenished; a little cut melon was all left if the fruit. Cereals, some brown and white bread a few croissants and muffins but no one came to ask if we needed anything or was there anything they could provide. This evening the dining room is EMPTY we went to a local pub to eat. The a la carte menu is heftily priced and bearing in mind the ambiance and low demeanor of the young waiter we are not surprised. The chambermaid was charming and doing a great job our room cleaned and well serviced the young Italian receptionist is a breath of fresh air, welcoming, smiling, helpful a joy. Bear Hotel you need a shake up. Your dour Scottish maitre de was unsmiling and foreboding to deal with certainly not a happy employee and the charming Hungarian waiter is overwhelmed when working alone. Things need a shake up for the health of...

The motto of this Hotel is “where history meets luxury” if you look at the website it really conveys this. And so I chose to book a feature suite for part of hour honeymoon experiences visiting Nocturne at Blenheim. I should have got a room with features. Jacobean four poster bed, fireplace, artwork like the website shows. Nothing could be further from the truth. First impressions is how tired and run down the hotel is. It’s not luxury, more old country pub. We were allocated a featureless room in the attic the furthest point from reception. No four poster bed, no details or features, no artwork or curios. There were no robes No coffee pods The iron was broken Room service breakfast cards but no pen, paper. We had to use my wife’s eyeliner pencil to fill these in. The shower was in the bath, which you had to climb over the toilet to get to. I couldn’t stand up as it’s in the eaves. We were a honeymoon couple as stated at booking and we got a family room with an extra bed and sofa bed. The main bed is a cheap divan with a spongy foam mattress that is non supportive and you roll into the middle. Our room was not serviced between nights despite us leaving the appropriate card on the door. This meant we had smelly breakfast trays in our bedroom on our second night. We were refused a table in the restaurant as there was a group booking of 40 Germans in. We offered to be flexible across the whole service period but were told we could only eat in the (soulless) bar. We booked for 8pm but there was no table made up for us. We just had to pick a random table. I insisted they bring us a table cloth to make it feel more special. No other efforts were made on our behalf. The food is underwhelming. My wife chose monkfish. It was not described that it came as a skewered kebab with mushrooms. Mushrooms were not mentioned at all. I have allergies to mustard and black pepper so I was presented with a plate of boiled potatoes and broccoli with two naked lamb chops. No effort to make me a dressing or sauce. (At Blenheim Orangery the next day the chef made me a bespoke meal with Rosemary roast potatoes and pan fried sea bass. Balsamic and olive oil salad dressing for the same price) Bottom line. If you are bold enough to state you offer luxury then you have to. Luxury is all about attention to detail, of which there is none at this rundown hotel. This is misrepresentation at the highest level, and they grossly...