The Fox — Restaurant in West Oxfordshire

The Fox was a lovely place to stay while spending time with friends in Chipping Norton. We stayed for 3 nights.

Check in was super easy and casual, and the staff was delightful. We had very prompt and amazing service from the young lady from South Africa (sorry I couldn’t remember your name/if you ever want to visit Portland, Oregon we have a spare room free of charge)!

The food and drinks were a good variety for us as one of us is a vegetarian and often find it hard when dining out on the road. The atmosphere of the bar/dining area was very comfy, clean and spacious.

The room was clean and had a queen sized bed and a small desk. The shower was cute and felt amazing! It was very easy to figure out and get hot water quick. The hotel provided a free bottle of Hook Norton beer and water which was a nice surprise. Thank you!!!

Overall our stay was wonderful and we would visit again. We only have a few suggestions that hopefully you would consider for future guests.

Prior to guest arrival make sure all electronics/room amenities work. On our first night we wanted to watch a tv show before going to bed, however, the screen of death greeted us (we could hear the shows but not see them only white lines). We let the front desk know about this first thing in the morning and we did not have a TV available for the duration of our stay.

Food/Dining- keep information in the hotel information book up to date! the hotel was our base before heading out on an adventure each day. One night we got back late around 845pm. I checked the hotel book that was on the desk in our room. It stated food was available to order until 930pm. We headed down for a late dinner at 9pm and we’re informed the kitchen had already closed. Chipping Norton is a small town and other sit down restaurants appeared to be closed, we ended up going to the Kebab cart just down the road which brings me to my second thought in terms of food; Allow takeaway to be brought back to the rooms and possibly a mini fridge.

The hotel info book stated No Takeaway food is allowed in the guest rooms which made eating very inconvenient for us. It was freezing cold outside and having to eat outside is not fun especially if there is no food available to buy at the hotel.

Our issues were overall minor in our opinions and I’m sure this hotel will get better and better as time and experience continue to build this place...

Having had a fantastic Sunday lunch here we decided to round off our time in the cotswolds with an evening meal this evening. The meal that I received was not what was on the menu and only when serving it to me did they tell me they didn't have certain aspects of the meal. What they served me was bread from a shop brought plastic brand type. I kept a smile on my face and decided to make the most of it and when my main meal came out, again this was missing items the menu said I would have. I was almost finished my meal when I had realised that they had contaminated me and I had to fight not to be sick at the table. I had to unbutton my trousers and shirt to make way for my swollen stomach. We told the waitress who honestly could not of cared one bit, she was extremely put out, rude, offish and argumentative. To the point that me and my husband laughed to try and break the tension of her aggression. We was hoping the reaction would have been to inform the kitchen staff so I could of had an idea of what exactly had happened so knew what painkillers and antihistamines to take. I left having to take loads to try and relieve myself of the agony I was in. Currently I have been sick and am unable to wear trousers or a t-shirt due to the agony I am experiencing. If you are coeliac 100% avoid. As a coeliac we expect these things to happen and I know I don't get angry but to be met with such rudeness and absolute disgust that I would suggest they cross contaminated something. Well that just shows me they will do it again as they are not willing to change or try to fix the problem and that is dangerous. If she had said she will talk to the kitchen and think how they may of done it, even if she didn't think it was the kitchen, I could of accepted this. The rudeness is not okay when it was 100% this meal I had and I didn't even get what was on the menu. Gluten free intolerance. No way eat here. Coeliac, do not. I am in so much pain now and it's so sad and...

Tried to stop off here for a pint and a game of cards with my two children about 5:30 last night.

There were no tables available in the main bar area so we walked round to the - almost empty - adjacent room. So far so good - however I then approached the bar to get drinks and was immediately confronted with an extremely direct "did anyone seat you over there"? I replied no and was immediately told they were all reserved, that the tables had been "prepared" (although for the life of me I couldn't see what that meant as none were laid or had any reserved signs on them) and I would have to move. I pointed out that there were no other tables available and they directed me to two twin tables at the other end of the bar - with reserved signs on them, the occupants were "not due to arrive until 7"

Now asked politely and given some degree of reasoning I'd have happily moved but neither was forthcoming: just a very direct "take it or leave it" attitude. So instead we moved The Chequers at the other end of the market place. It's one of the oldest buildings in the town, has excellent food, a roaring open fire and a great range of ales. It also has a bar manager with a welcoming attitude. We settled into a corner for an hour or so and went home for dinner.

Passing the Fox at what must have been about 7:30 the table we had tried to sit at was .... still empty

On our way out of the Fox I did notice a large sign asking visitors to wait to be seated. However if, like me, you arrive from their car park entrance there is no such sign.

I won't be going back to the Fox or organising meet-ups there and since I'm local that's a lot of business in the...