Oxford warning
 

We would recommend any travellers to Oxford avoid the Nanford Guest House in Oxford. Although the rates are very low, in this instance, you still don't get what you pay for. The guest house is old, run-down, and dirty. The proprietor demands payment in advance for each night. Further, to the local taxi drivers it is known as "The Dump". In our opinion, that describes it very well.

I am curious--what did a night at the Nanford cost? Thanks.

Depends on the room. Singles were 28.00 pounds, doubles 38.00 pounds, and triples were 50.00 pounds.

So, why did you stay there?

Every time this thread pops up, 2 questions come to mind: <BR> <BR>1. How many taxi drivers actually called it a "dump"? <BR> <BR>2. When did the British start using the American English word "dump" instead of the British English word "tip"?

Ron: dump has more than one meaning. It is true that we use the word tip to denote a place where you stockpile rubbish. My dictionary says this sense is derived from the Danish dumpe. However, dump also has a sense meaning gloominess (perhaps heard these days mostly in the form 'down in the dumps'), allegedly derived from the German dumpf. A dump isn't necessarily a tip - it can simply be a depressing, gloomy or neglected place.

Delete 'tip' from line 2 - it doesn't make sense otherwise.

Either way, for 38 pounds for a double in a tourist town, I'd expect it to be somewhat dumpy (tippy?).

Thanks Julian. When Americans uses the word dump, it derives from garbage dump, which is why I thought tip would be the more likely English equivalent. <BR> <BR>I agree with Brian's point. Being old and run down does not seem to me to be a sin for a budget B&B, although being dirty certainly is.

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Actually - I am British and often describe unpleasant surroundings as a "dump". <BR> <BR>I also live in Oxford and whilst not hearing of this particular B&B, there will be many that are "dumps"!!!!!!!!!

Being our first trip to UK, we relied on recommendations for a lot of things from folks like yourselves, including lodging. Nanford Guest House was recommended as a nice, clean place. We were certainly aware that it wasn't going to be upscale, but we did expect it to be clean, which it was not. Since we arrived on a Saturday, there were no other accommodations available for a party of six, and so we made the best of it and stayed only one night. We then moved to Parklands Hotel, which was more expensive (84.00 pounds, triple), to be sure, but ten times more acceptable. I can only tell you what our taxi driver said, that he and other taxi drivers that he knows refer to it as the dump, that's all. I did not ask any other taxi drivers if this was so.