We will be arriving to Heathrow and taking a bus to Oxford, staying 2 nights. The second day we will be picking up a car and plan to see more of Oxford and Windsor. Avis seems to be the only major car rental ageny which offers a drop off in Ashford with a pick up in either Windsor or Oxford. Thanks to previous help on the board we will keep the car and take the Eurostar from Ashford.

Can anyone suggest a B&B or small hotel in Oxford which is fairly central as we enjoy wheelchair/walking as much as possible. We would also need a ground or 1st floor room.

Thanks to all who are helping and the great advice so far

I haven't set foot in Oxford in over a decade, but there aren't a lot of small hotels and B&B's that are really close to downtown. And because many are retrofitted from old houses and inns, they are not always the wheelchair's friend.
I also don't know how much you/your friend needs the chair. It also depends if it's a folding chair used to conserve energy, or a superdeluxe, extrawide motor chair, like my friend has. I've been in hotels where a single floor went up and down a single step several times.

I think the Randolph Hotel (now called the Macdonald Randolph Hotel), where I have visited friends many times, has a lot to offer. Very central location, street-level entry, elevator, large staff. A grand Victorian pile with a grand dining room, where visiting parents take their kids to tea. If you watch the Inspector Morse mysteries, it appears in them a lot. I took a quick look a their Web site, randoloh-hotel.com, and saw a rate of $80 per night, but I wasn't looking hard.
Great location, many pubs, restaurants, museums colleges and shops within a 1-block radius.

If that's a little rich, oxfordcity.co.uk seemed to have the most listings, for both hotels and B&Bs.
Word of caution: Locations like Iffley, Oxford , and Summertown, Oxford, are villages far from the city center. They're a short bus ride away, but not nearby. The address should say something like 24 XXX St., Oxford. And "near the university" can mean anything, as the university is made up of colleges that are spread out.

Other people must have better, more up to date information that mine though. So how about it?

The Randolph or the Old Parsonage Hotel would be two very nice centrally located hotels and both (I'm almost 100% sure) are handicapped accessible. But both would be pretty pricey.

I'd love to stay in either one - it just depends on how much you want to pay.

I was wandering north of Oxford and Henley on Thames and found a delightful
Bed and Breakfast
Try this one , it looks delightful and beautiful area and yard.
http://www.orcharddene.freeuk.com/directions.htm

There's a (not very good) set of accessibility guides at oxford.gov.uk/services/accessibility.cfm
Note they claim the bedrooms in the Randolph AREN'T "accessible". What this means is that no room has the full panoply of wide doors, supports round lavatories, big bath handles etc. You can wheel a chair from the street into lots of the rooms. But not all.

You might also try emailing the recently-opened (and not cheap) Malmaison, which is just about the closest there is in central Oxford to a hotel developed under modern accessibility rules (I said developed: bits of it go back at least to the 11th century). It was also developed under extraordinarily severe conservation rules, which often conflict with accessibility

But I'd suggest you need to rethink your travel plans. The bus from LHR to Oxford isn't at all disability-friendly: there's a narrow flight of steps up from the street, a very tight turn into the aisle and tricky seats. The most accessible (and costly) route is the Heathrow Express to Paddington, then the fast train to Oxford. I don't know whether the rather cheaper train route taking the Heathrow Connect to Hayes and Harlington works, since you need to change platforms at Hayes: check the National Rail accessibility pages for advice on getting better information.

Incidentally, a car isn't really going to help you see more of Oxford. Once you've collected your car, you've got a liability on your hands. Parking isn't just limited in quantity: in the centre almost all of it is limited to 2 hours, and the exceptions (like the Randolph's own park) are either very pricey or a fair schlep from where you're likely to want to be. The city's traffic wardens are notorious for heartless rigour (they're incentivised to maximise fines), and the mechanics of getting a UK-recognised disabled badge may be just impossible.

You could take a look at these websites...

www.oxfordcity.co.uk

www.oxford-info.com

http://www.touristnetuk.com/wm/oxfor...rd.htm#-Oxford

On this last site there is a long list of accommodation - only one or two specifically mention having disabled access, so you may need to contact the place direct.

Good luck and have a great trip.

Thank you to everyone who has replied.

Bluehour and janisj, thank you for the recomendations for Macdonald Randolph Hotel and the Old Parsonage Hotel, both look lovely.

Flanneruk, you are so right about accessibility and how that can be interpreted. When I called the above 2 hotels, they did not have what is the most important safety need, grab bars and a seat in the shower. My husband had a stroke and cannot stand in a shower nor can he get out of a tub. In our overseas travels, we have found that many of the pricy hotels do not even have one room that would meet his safety needs. I wouldn't mind staying in pricy hotel on some of our trip, but not if it means my husband cannot enjoy a shower and I have to give a bedbath! Bluehour, I am actually expecting to be a bit challenged in finding what we would ideally need and want (B&B and small hotel) so I appreciate all your information. My husband uses a folding chair with me puffing behind.

Flanneruk and julia_t thank you for giving me more to research tomorrow night.

Well, with all that pushing, you must have lovely legs! And your husband's at the right height to appreciate them.

I took another peek online, and found a new, expensive and middling-reviewed hotel, the Old Bank Hotel, but it is right in the middle of the High Street, so the location would be great. Something else to try anyway.

Also Trip Advisor had some I hadn't seen mentioned. If it's a tiebreaker, take a Banbury Road hotel over an Abingdon, Iffley or Cowley, etc., address (I think it's prettier). And go no further out than OX2 or so.

When you're in Oxford, I highly recommend a little snack/shopping at The Covered Market (all on ground level) Brown's Restaurant for lunch, tea or dinner (you'd need a cab) bump over the cobbles for a drink at The Turf off Holywell St. (people sit outside all winter, sheltered by the old city walls, warmed by aromatic fires in grates).

For its cloistered reputation, Oxford wears a lot of its beauty on the outside, so you'll have plenty to look at even just strolling down the street.
You might even find a kind student to help with the pushing so you guys can hold hands. This is a necessity if you go down to look at the river, it's a steep walk back up.

Oxford's secret monster is the Oxford Ring Road, a labyrinthine series of kind of intimidating roundabouts that make it take longer than it should to get in and out of the city, so take that into account.

I studied there for a bit, but, as I say, It was a long time ago.

Have an excellent trip!

OK - since you need true handicapped access (I was just thinking of ramps to get in to the hotels etc.) here are a couple of sites that will hopefully be helpful

http://www.goodaccessguide.co.uk/

http://www.disabledholidaydirectory.co.uk/

http://www.abletogo.com/

Now, about getting to Oxford. W/ the info about your husband, chair etc - I would DEFINITELY pick up the car at LHR. The logistics of getting from the airport to Oxford would be difficult and you'd probably both ne exhausted by the time you got there. I'd pick up the car, drive to Windsor, get over the jet lag and see the town/castle and stay the night. Early the next morning I'd drive to Oxford and stay in a B&B just outside the centre (one that has car parking) for the 2nd night.

Be sure to bring your handicap parking placard. There was a discussion of this a few months ago and I don't remember the details, but am pretty sure your placard will allow you to park in disabled spaces - which will be a HUGE help in Oxford since regualr parking is a nightmare.

Janis is, I'm afraid, likely to be VERY wrong indeed, as I said a few posts ago, about parking for foreigners in Oxford.

Most of central Oxford is simply banned to traffic. Disabled drivers with EU-standard Blue Badges (and NO other form of ID) are allowed through the checkpoints. Few non-European disability badges are recognised.

But there's a very limited number of disabled parking spaces within the cordoned area anyway, and it's almost impossible to park anywhere else. Staying out of town and trying to drive to central parking spaces just outside the cordoned area is very tough without a blue badge unless you're familiar with the city. And virtually impossible if a passenger has mobility difficulties, since there are no convenient parking spaces allowing over 2 hours' stay.

Oxford's stormtrooper wardens are respecters of no-one.

I don't think there's a solution in the centre, except possibly staying at the Malmaison. I think Gynna needs to stay out of town and taxi in. But she really needs to speak directly to the Oxford City Council accessibility people for specific advice on whether it's possible to get a Blue Badge. (44) 1865 252531 or [email protected]

PS: A long-winded, but inexpensive, alternative to taxi-ing in is to stay outside Oxford with a car, drive to a Park+Ride (oxford.gov.uk/services/park-and-ride.cfm) and get the (very disability-friendly) bus in.

flanneruk is probably right. There was a thread last Fall that (I think) mentioned that blue badges from the US could be used in EU countries - but I can't find it.

if the Malmaison doesn't work out, I'd either look for a B&B/hotel along one of the main roads into Oxford (Woodstock, Banbury, Abingdon, Iffley, etc) and taxi in - OR as flanner suggests, stay outside of Oxford altogether and use the park and rides. You could stay in an outlying village or town like Woodstock or near Abingdon and be at a Park and ride lot in a few minutes.

janisj, Flanneruk, Bluehour - thank you for your continued posts which I have not yet had the time to look into.

In my job, we have to work a weekend about every 5 weeks and it was my turn this past, crazy, busy weekend. This means that I have been working 8 days straight and I won't be off until the upcoming weekend. This schedule allows time for working , sleeping, and whatever else "needs to be done" rather than vacation planning.

Looking forward to relaxing and researching - thanks again for your suggestions! Can't believe that I can now say "less than 3 months!"

In case you get tired of pushing the wheelchair, you may be able to book an electric one from Oxford's shopmobility scheme http://www.oxfordcity.co.uk/info/disability.html

The scheme seems to only operate Mon-Fri (don't people shop on Saturdays?!), and it is not only for shoppers but for any disabled visitors.

I've not had direct experience of the scheme, but it is located in the Westgate shopping centre, which is in the city centre.

If your husband can manage the steps into the bus from LHR, it is by far the most convenient way to get to Oxford, and allows you to sit back and be driven to the centre of Oxford, where you can take a taxi to your hotel (or can walk to the Randolph).

A few hotels that you might try, which might have the facilities you require, are the Four Pillars (one on the Abingdon Rd and one at Sandford), the Hawkwell House (Iffley), and the Linton Lodge (Central North Oxford). They can all be found on hotels.com. None of these are very central, so you would probably have to take a taxi in to the city centre, but they are all in nice surroundings and have parking for residents.