Oxford hotel
 

It has been many years since I've stayed in a hotel in Oxford, England. The last time was at the Old Parsonage, at the beginning of Banbury Road, a 10-minute walk, if that, to the city center. http://www.oldparsonage-hotel.co.uk/
It was a central but not overly-congested location at that time; not sure if that is the same today. Central location is very important to me.
I've done a search, but would be interested in recommendations based on recent stays. I may or may not be sharing a room: would prefer the price per person (that is, either a single, or a shared double) not to exceed $200 (approx) per person per night.
My friend, with whom I may travel, found the Galaxie online, http://www.galaxie.co.uk/
mostly good comments on tripadvisor, but it seems a good 20 minutes or so farther from the center. Anyone here familar with it?
Any suggestions welcome.

anyone?

Oxford Spires Four Pillars Hotel is walking distance to the centre. Mercure Eastgate in High Street(near St. Mary's) is more central and is ok too. Not sure of costs though. Don't know the Galaxie .....

I know nothing about hotels, but central Oxford isn't the best place for budget stays: there's very little accommodation and property prices are well up to central London levels.

The Galaxie is definitely for cycling or getting a bus (every 5 mins or so) to. North Oxford is as pleasant as suburbs can get - but the Galaxie is definitely suburban: far north even of the extraordinary late Victorian houses on a latitude with the Old Parsonage.

The Four Pillars isn't just suburban: it's a square box that could be on an industrial estate in Akron, Ohio.

Congestion doesn't get worse in Oxford: there's been no room for any more cars for decades, so the area round the Old Parsonage has scarcely changed for yonks. The Cotswold Lodge is a couple of minutes north, and those two, together with the Linton Lodge that's about 10 mins' walk further north are practically the only hotels in the nice bits of Oxford suburbia.

In the centre, the Malmaison sometimes does specials. You might check the Old Bank and the Randolph too - but they, together with the Eastgate are pretty well the only places in the centre. There are two central relative newcomers, the Eurobar and the Victoria House, which might work on a budget. And at roughly the same position south of the centre as the Old Parsonage is north is the Ethos on Grandpont, the several hundred yard long medieval causeway whose Norman arched foundations, if you look closely just under the side of the road, you can still see. Not as leafy as North Oxford - but very handy to the river.

There's a useful miniguide to guest houses and self-catering at www.dailyinfo.co.uk/venues/hotels. Blissfully free of those pathetic Trip Advisor "terrible service: the tea was too hot" whines.

PS:

Don't know if you know this, but British postcodes are extraordinarily precise. So in a city Oxford's size, input the full code into Google maps and you get a guest house's location to +/- 10 yds or so.

The Old Bank hotel is excellent, right in the centre of town. And if you have a car, it has a car park in the back. Nice restaurant too.

glad to hear that the Old Parsonage isn't now on the edge of a 4-lane highway.
Will look into these suggestions; thanks.