The Olive Tree At The Plough, Bicester — Restaurant in Cherwell District

I booked a room as part of a birthday present for my partner (I wanted to stay closer to Silverstone for the British GP rather than driving over an hour each day from home) and was left extremely disappointed.

The room was by far the filthiest I’ve ever stayed in. In truth, I’ve stayed in cleaner hostels across Europe. The carpet hadn’t been hoovered, let alone cleaned. Even at first glance it looked dirty, and then I found a contact lens on the floor, amongst other bits of dirt. I put the contact lens in the bin that also had no bin bag in it.

In the bathroom, there is no toilet brush. The shower screen is caked in limescale and clearly hasn’t been cleaned in a very long time, if at all. The corners of the shower, the grout and the sealant were mouldy. The paint on the ceiling is flaking off and is in disrepair. The extractor fan is caked in thick dust. Then there’s the bathroom door! The back of which is painted white but is now brown with dirty, greasy hands having been all over it and never wiped down or repainted.

The fan in the room has no guard. While it’s unlikely someone would put their hand into it, I do worry about an errant towel or long hair when exiting the bathroom. Or, a child losing a finger or two when they get curious.

The tea/coffee holder hadn’t been cleaned, the bedside light flickers until you tap the bulb a few times. It does the same when you move the power block - loose connection?

I cannot comprehend how they think it’s acceptable to offer a room in this kind of condition. It’s nothing to do with the building being old, it’s just cleanliness. Their staff aren’t cleaning it and necessary repairs aren’t being made either. Frankly, I would be embarrassed to show someone to this room and at £105 for a single night, they’re charging more than many Premier Inns, which most people class as low-end. Yet, they’re clean at the very least.

They completely failed at all the basics and this has been noted in reviews over the past months and years now that I’ve looked deeper. Even with countless people (almost all of them) writing similar things to me, they haven’t actioned anything! It’s shameful.

If you’d like a single positive, I will say that the staff at check-in and at the bar were friendly and polite.

I contacted the property via the booking platform and via email and had absolutely no response in 8 days. Once they did finally respond, they took no responsibility for the issues and made no apology;...

Short version: Avoid.

Long version: Dropped in for dinner with my partner, our two boys (2 & 4) and my parents.

The first round of drinks came incomplete (my beer was missing). This went unnoticed by the waitress.

Then we ordered food and two whiskys.

Then I asked the waitress about my beer (after 20 minutes). And now I got it.

Then she came back to ask again what whiskys we ordered 5 minutes ago.

Now arrive the whiskys.

As you can see, this was already a pretty sketchy start. Now the hammer part:

Another 30-40 minutes pass without any deliveries. The waitress passes us by a few times.

Then I ask one of her colleagues about our food, who furrows his brow and goes into the kitchen. A few minutes pass and I spot him leaving the kitchen and hurriedly going behind the counter. I follow him already agitated about the situation and inquire: he tells me, that regretfully the kitchen has closed without our orders being processed. (The waitress did not forward our order)

He is apologetic and offers us to open up the kitchen to prepare the meals, and a refund for the drinks we had. At this point my boys are completely tired and hungry, out of control. We leave hungry and disappointed.

Credit goes to this waiter as he recognises how serious of an issue this is in a restaurant and promises that next time when we visit we "will be looked after". Thanks, but we were on a south England tour and it is unlikely that there will be a next time.

Later on in the evening I am told by a member of our party that they caught a glimpse of the waitress in the kitchen next to the food being prepared: she was picking off nibs off other people's orders.

A seemingly nice place ruined by an absolutely unprofessional...

My friend and I went to the Plough (Olive Tree) early on Friday last. We have been many times and always have the small plates - usually two each - which we like to share. These are always great value for money. We both don’t like big meals, so these small plates are definitely the way to go for us.

We were greeted by friendly staff and asked where we’d like to sit. We found it cold in the room, so we asked to huddle up by the radiator in a nice corner. We were given the menu, but I asked if they have a small plate menu and the lady flipped the page to the small plates menu. We looked at what we usually have and were really shocked at the prices. In the past we’ve had small plates such as the Olives and oil with sourdough for around £7, these were over £11 for the same dish. I was astounded. What a huge increase I thought. In fact all the small plates were in the region of £8.50 plus. We had 4 plates, not expensive food to produce and obviously bulked up by pitta bread/bread and crackers etc. I looked at the rest of the prices and realised that the Plough had really increased their food prices. Our 4 small plates, Parmesan chips and three glasses of wine each was over £100.

On reflection we should have ordered a bottle of white wine to share and bought an extra glass each which would have been cheaper. Our wine was £52 and our food was £53. That’s a lot of money, for in theory some tapas, and the Camembert was a mini one. I’m sorry, but we’re probably not going to come for food again, your prices are on par with London prices now. It’s just too expensive for what you’re giving. The staff were fantastic and very attentive and we had a nice evening, but sadly we won’t be returning. You’re pricing...