VOCO Oxford Spires

They only had half a star so it registers as a review. I attended a weekend conference here as a powerchair user. It could only be described as degrading and humiliating. The hotel haven’t got a clue about accessibility and have zero desire to learn or improve. They use the age of the building as reason to not provide basic accessibility for powerchair users. They don’t believe in widened doorways (even though many have a glass panel next to them. They don’t understand a personal emergency evacuation plan and don’t put it in place. They refuse to cater for people with coeliac disease. They provided a microwave meal bought from Sainsbury’s served up in the microwave dish. It was inedible. I have no idea how this hotel got 4 stars when they cannot even wipe down an area in a kitchen and make gluten free food (despite being told multiple times I was prepared to accept the risk that they had other products in their kitchen, they said they couldn’t create a clean area and prepare and cook food in cleaned areas/pans etcetera. (Even McDonald’s can manage this!). I therefore had to buy in takeaways whilst there as they wouldn’t prepare anything other than microwave meals from a local supermarket. So access around the hotel is pretty poor. There are no paths up to the hotel suitable for a wheelchair, so if you want to do the 20 minute walk to the city centre, you have to leave by the road (not good if it’s dark). There are powered doors into the entrance and it’s relatively flat, but access stops there. The hotel won’t reserve eg breakfast tables that are specifically easier for a person to access. If tables aren’t available that are accessible it’s pretty much tough. There aren’t tables easily accessible for powerchair users. The door to access the public toilets in reception was too narrow for my powerchair. When we found it by another route it clearly did not comply with any buildings regulations as there was no way a wheelchair user could access it as there wasn’t the turning space to enter at a right angle nor space for a powerchair, let alone turning space or room for a carer. There was an alternative loo in the gym area. This was by the saunas so incredibly hot, required a very technical manoeuvre to access and needed 1-2 people to open doors and move things. They also lock access to this toilet (including when they know someone has only got the use of this one toilet) and won’t keep a staff member available to unlock it (not a radar key, but a screwdriver type thing used to lock disabled peoples access). When it comes to bedrooms there’s not a single wheelchair accessible room with a wet room. There is NOT a single wet room available at the whole of this hotel (the one in the gym is unsafe and wouldn’t meet most wheelchair users requirements). The en suite bathrooms for the ‘accessible’ rooms are so small that when you drive a powerchair in frontwards, there is no access to the toilet and definitely no space to turn. A carer could only help if they are able to climb into very small spaces. The only way to use the toilet as a powerchair user is with the door open. There is also only one grab rail for the toilet on the left in the room we had, the right hand one was too far away to be useful to anyone needing the support. Thankfully it is the left side I need most. If it had been the other way round I wouldn’t have managed at all. The toilet is not raised as advertised, it is normal height loo. The sink whilst it does have some knee space underneath is so big it’s unusable for most wheelchair users. The shower in the accessible room was up a 15-20cm step, there are no grab rails at all. A movable seat was put in the bathroom but this was unstable on the shower bottom so wouldn’t be usable bb most people. The bed was incredibly high, whilst there may have been room to put a hoist underneath, there’s no way a manual wheelchair user could transfer into this bed without a lot of help. As we arrived, a wheelchair user was leaving who said to me ‘it’s very hard here’ and they weren’t wrong. Their chair was much smaller than mine. Overall this was a humiliating and degrading experience that I would suggest other people avoid.

This historical 15th century property, alongside the river Thames, is just a 10 minute walk from Oxford city centre, built by a local builder. The East Wyke farmhouse on its property dates back to the 15th century. Owned by Intercontinental Hotel Group, now in its 20th year, where this 181 room Hotel has been refurbished and rebranded to become a very modern and stylish hotel. It stands close to the river Thames, along which a path from the hotel will take you to the river itself, which is then reasonably close to historical Oxford. It still retains its warm Cotswold stone effect, while inside, it has a comfortable, cosy contemporary deco throughout, with a nice stylish Deacons restaurant, a wonderful health club which has a Spa, steam room, Jacuzzi, a fair sized pool, a modern gym, and treatment rooms. Dining here is a pleasure, and you could include a slice of an orange marmalade chocolate tart, which honours Frank Coopers marmalade made in Oxford. Do take a drink at the Deakon lounge. Walking along the path to the river Thames, where opposite is the mouth of the river Cherwell as it enters the Thames, and Oxford college boathouse is close by, so you may even see the team training for the boat race. OUR REVIEW Approaching through Oxford the hotel was a bit difficult to find, and a close eye on the sat NAV was required to make sure we did not enter forbidden bus lanes and a hefty fine, but then quickly out on the outskirts we arrived at its gateway (photo 1). A short pleasant driveway (2) with the inviting looking hotel ahead of you, and a disabled driver should follow the signs for reception and parking. Two Disabled parking bays stand right outside the attractive hotels reception entrance (3).A plain simple reception desk awaits, (4) AND DO REGISTER YOUR CAR at reception desk, or you will be fined. The first area to look for will be Deakons restaurant (5) a spotlessly clean, modern restaurant, although quite plain (6). Wide open spaces around the bar, (7) where you can order lunch or drinks, although staff will come up to your seat to take orders. A nice relaxing seating area to enjoy your drink or a snack (8) and when lunch eventually arrives, it was very enjoyable (9). Alongside the bar is the exit for the terrace garden (10) a very pleasant area, lovely to relax there on a warm sunny day (11). Opposite the reception desk, is the unusual and attractive entrance for the toilets (12) and ample room in the disabled toilet, which is shared by ladies and gents, (13) although ladies will have to enter through the marked door for Gents to use disabled toilet. You will find grab rails and pull cord in this very clean and well looked after toilet. Behind reception desk is a convenient lift, right in the centre of the hotel (14) which will take you up to the first fooor corridors for bedrooms (15) and three disabled rooms, which unfortunately are along corridors and into another corridor (16) which is quite a push and walk for your carer. The doorway for disabled room 19 is slightly wider than other rooms (17) which we were unable to see this time for you. OUR FINAL THOUGHTS. Do enter sat NAV details for this hotel, OX1 4PS, and see if you can arrive other than driving through Oxford itself, there’s nothing for you to see anyway, as traffic are now kept out of the city centre, and it saves you worrying about entering areas that are awaiting with a hefty fine. It’s an attractive , very clean, modern hotel, well worth a visit, and certainly wheelchair friendly. We would not hesitate to recommend the hotel to you, especially for a pop in visit and drink or two, before moving on.