Red Lion Hotel

Red Lion Hotel descritpion
Red Lion Hotel sells fast on our site. This historic coaching inn dates back to before the English Civil War. Just 3 miles from Banbury, there is a traditional bar, a restaurant and rooms with free Wi-Fi overlooking the village green.
The Red Lion still retains many original features, including old oak beams and stone fireplaces. Rooms each have a TV, a stereo, tea/coffee facilities and a private bathroom with a hairdryer.
The restaurant was once a bakery and brewery, and now serves fine English and continental cuisine. Traditional ales and fine wines are served from the cool cellars and stone vaults.
Guests at the Red Lion are only 15 miles north of historic Oxford and the spectacular Blenheim Palace. The M40 highway is less than 10 minutes away by car.
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Facilities of Red Lion Hotel
Pets :Pets are not allowed.
Activities :Golf Course (within 2 miles) | Hiking
Food & Drink :Restaurant | Bar | Breakfast in the Room
Internet :Free!WiFi is available in all areas and is free of charge.
Parking :Free!Free public parking is available on site (reservation is not needed).
Services :Room Service | Packed Lunches | Baggage Storage | Meeting/Banquet Facilities | Fax/Photocopying | Honeymoon Suite
General :Newspapers | Non-smoking Rooms | Heating | All Spaces Non-Smoking (public and private) | Designated Smoking Area
Reviews for Red Lion Hotel
Review 1:Car Park a little dark but it was 10.00pm!
Review 2:Excellent customer service. Great value for money. I ate in the pub downstairs and the food was lovely. Breakfast was also great - wide choice and fast service
Review 3:Personally I would have liked the room to be a bit cleaner - cobwebs, bits on carpet and some marks on walls.
Review 4:Great room - very quirky. Comfortable room, bar and restaurant. Helpful and friendly staff. Good food.
Review 5:The room was in need of renovation with wall paper hanging from the bathroom cieling and poorly maintained tiling. Generally clean though.
Review 6:Friendly staff and good food.
Review 7:Asked for replacement bulb for bedside light which never arrived. Had shock on receiving bill for over £100 which included lunch and 2 whiskies for someone else.
Review 8:Evening meal was excellent and breakfast more than adequate.
Review 9:I did not like the hotel allowing dogs in the Bar, where customers were eating Bar meals
Review 10:The restaurant food was excellent and the service was quick,good and friendly
Review 11:The shower pressure was very weak. and the wifi was disastrous.
Review 12:Proximity to Banbury. Nice quaint ye olde premises. Room location in the premises was quiet.
Review 13:Shower over bath was pretty much impossible to use without soaking the floor. Didn't really like having the bathroom on the mezzanine open to the sleeping area.
Review 14:Staff were really excellent, they made the place. Nice relaxing dining room and excellent breakfast.
Review 15:Stayed here a number of years ago and some parts are now looking like they haven't had too much attention since. Not a huge detractor though
Review 16:Nice homely "Olde Inn" feel. Better than a bland hotel. Very pleasant staff. Breakfast excellent
Review 17:Food disappointing and main course had to be sent back as not cooked as requested.
Review 18:Good location, friendly staff,good choice in restaurant and bar,good choice at breakfast with civilised check out.
Review 19:The wifi was neither fast nor too responsive, but it was there.
Review 20:Ancient pub with lovely touches, enthusiastic and talented staff, good food, beautiful room. The village is close to the Cotswolds, Banbury, Oxford, and makes a fairly easy drive to Heathrow. Good ale, well-kept. Parking excellent.
Review 21:Poor quality of food in evenings. Private bathroom next door to our room was too noisy. Lack of help by staff on arrival.
Review 22:Convenience and reasonable comfort
Review 23:More of a warning to other travellers: the place is full of steep stairs, so if you have any issues with that you need to make sure that you get a ground floor room.
Review 24:As always, I felt very welcome and looked after. I got my full breakfast although it was really early (just ordered the night before). Dan created a great atmosphere, really sorry to hear that she has now left, hope that does not change the place.
Review 25:Address was confusing. We put tried to enter The Green Banbury on our Sat Nav but it wouldn't accept it, Should have been made clear it is Adderbury. Only a small complaint, we found you eventually !!
Review 26:Very friendly helpful staff.Excellent food.
Review 27:Air con was quiet loud outside our room and we had the window open so it was a problem for sleeping, but we could have shut the window.
Review 28:Food and restaurant excellent. Sympathetic decor for such an old building.
Review 29:Lovely hotel could do with being updated.food could have been better was value for money,more variety of choice would have been great.
Review 30:Location was good
Review 31:"Upstairs" wasn't as good as "downstairs". Once through the passageway door to the rooms, the décor fell short of expected. There were a couple of large holes in the wall of the stairwell, which looked like they had been there for quite a while. The furniture in the room was dark wood finish, pine I suspect, which looked like it hadn't been updated in at least 15 years. It was shabby, and not shabby-chic. The tiny dresser/desk in the bedroom really wasn't suitable for working on your laptop (I was a business traveller), and the lighting needed improved also. The shower was JUST warm enough, even on its hottest setting. Nice big room, but so much could have been done with it to improve the customer proposition. Overall, just disappointing.
Review 32:Location was good. Staff were good. Food was good. Service was good. Bedroom was good size, but overall bit disappointing.
Review 33:My room was a single, with a very small shower-room which, because I'm left-handed made it very difficult to shave in the narrow space provided for the basin. Also all through the night there was a pump, I assume water, going on and off intermittently which was not condicve to continued sleep!
Review 34:Excellent Restaurant
Review 35:We enquired about heating in the room. We were told that the heating would come on in ten minutes time. except for the bathroom, it never did!!
Review 36:Convenient location
Review 37:Very bad television facilities; one cold water tap not working. In general: rooms and corridors in desperate need of refurbishing in relation to price level.
Review 38:Nice general atmosphere; friendly and helpful staff. Excellent location for visiting Oxford, Stratford, Warwick.
Review 39:Good location for our trip where we had visited Oxford then needed tostay near Banbury to visit a National Trust house. Wonderful old inn andgood food.
Review 40:We loved our room with its upstairs bathroom. The room combined the old and the new very sensitively, in that the modern installations worked well and the bed was among the most comfortable that we have come across in our travels.
Review 41:Constant noise of air con unit outside on wall. Room was very hot and we had to have the window open. Was very difficult to sleep.
Review 42:Breakfast was very good, service excellent . Bar staff helpful, rustled up a sandwich and tea for us long after the kitchen was closed.
Review 43:9 quid for a couple of single malt whisky was a little steep. (The Oban was excellent mind)
Review 44:Frendly staff and the most perfectly cooked English breakfast
Review 45:Not bad as such but room was a bit dingy with tired furniture. Cracked tiles on bath and cracked windows.Food disappointing,rather tasteless main course. Always reluctant to criticise as have run a pub ourselves and know how hard it is but food needs to be better seasoned. Was asked how wanted lamb cutlets - asked for pink and got well done.
Review 46:Location plus pleasant staff - great building with character
Review 47:Room was clean but looking a bit tired. Although not an issue for me (good sleeper) the noise from the bar could have been an issue if you wanted a level of quiet to sleep
Review 48:Location for Silverstone, WiFi, food
Review 49:We specifically asked for a quiet room,when booking, and was put in one next to the refridgeration cooling system which was extremely noisy ALL night.We were not ofered a replacement room. The restaurant was plagued with flies. Several guests complained about this. The breakfast was inedible - had lain under the hot plate for a while.
Review 50:Very clean room Lovely area to walk around
Review 51:Our first dinner choice was not available and my husband and I had ordered different dinners but that's a minor problem.
Review 52:Lovely and clean and wonderful room
Review 53:We stayed in this hotel for the last night of our Cotswold’s trip. It was a Saturday in August and everything else was fully booked. To say this place was tired is an understatement. For the price, you get dirty broken curtains covering cracked windows, disgusting carpets that have not been replaced in years, a dirty, moldy bathroom with some strange filthy black flooring and grimy shower curtain and a small, moldy smelly room. We were apparently the last guests to arrive and got stuck in room 7, which overlooks an exhaust fan that blows out hot air. The fan runs all night and it is not only hot air but it is noisy so you cannot open the windows. We stayed down the road in Bibury the night before in a 5 star place for only 30 Pounds more. There is no way this place should be charging so much for its rooms, it was frankly gross and we would never recommend this hotel to anyone. While the staff were nice, the overall rating is a zero.
Review 54:The staff were friendly but they could not really help out with the poor quality of the property
Review 55:The stairs were a nightmare to negotiate as I had a lot of equipment with me and was in room 15 which was up two very narrow staircases so not ideal for someone with a lot of cases with them and no assistance up the stairs. Even more disappointing was the level of flies in the breakfast room which was the main thing that has put me off this location. The flies were all over the pastries and we where having to sweep them away from our plates which was for obvious reasons was unhygienic and off putting and a reason for me not to want to book the next time I'm in the area for business.
Review 56:Quaint country pub hotel
Review 57:room looking tired and dusty. bed in need of new mattress . bathroom needs some tlc
Review 58:lovely location friendly staff, good food, good parking and free wi fi
Review 59:Lovely staff - friendly, helpful and polite. Vegetarian cooked breakfast included on the menu. Not too far from Cropredy - we were attending the festival.
Review 60:The duvet wasn't big enough. No shower curtain so impossible to have shower without making the floor wet. Had to run the hot water for five minutes before it became hot. However these comments are small things.
Review 61:Very helpful and friendly staff. Building has lots of character. Suited is well and its in a lovely part of the countryside.
Review 62:My only criticism is that the pillows were too hard which is a stupid thing to criticise
Review 63:The breakfast was really nice me and my husband both enjoyed it and a lot of choice . Would of liked to of had dinner there too !
Review 64:There were flies everywhere - all over the restaurant and food both at the evening meal & breakfast. There was a fly strip hanging just near our table with loads of dead flies on it - very unpleasant! We booked 2 rooms - superior rating - one was ok. The double poster bed was so uncomfortable our friends had to sleep on the sofa! It was a special treat for them so very embarrassing. The hotel cleaning standards are poor, scruffy hallways and staircases.
Review 65:The location and the history
Review 66:The bar/cellar air-conditioning unit located on the flat roof directly outside first floor bedroom windows is a major failing and indicative of poor installation/planning. The staff turned it off one night, which was kind, and forgot the next which was difficult as the unit runs on a 2 or 3 minute on/off cycle which is no fun on a warm night requiring open windows!
Review 67:Very friendly staff and good food and ground floor facilities, WiFi, parking etc.
Review 68:Have stayed here several times. It's a warm and comfy pub in one of the nicest villages in Britain. Very handy for Oxford and Stratford. On the village green the Lion is old with that feel that old lived in buildings have.
Review 69:The free wifi was through the Cloud, a public service, which requires you to register. If you're paying £100 for a night, the hotel should have its own wifi network.
Review 70:Great breakfast!
Review 71:Unfortunately we were in a room in the attic which had very steep twisty steps up to it and no shower in the bathroom. Not sure this should be classed as a superior room??? Flies in the dining room were also a nuisance.
Review 72:The food was reasonably priced and very tasty. The staff were lovely and the hot chocolate was the best I have ever had!!
Review 73:After initially fixing the burst pipe on the shower hose (by the mosthelpfull duty receptionist) I found that I was unable to use the showeras it was hand held only with no shower curtain so water ended up goingeverywhere!! The bedroom chairs were not exactly comfortable either, anarmchair would have been nice.
Review 74:Service was excellent with attentive, polite and pleasant staff
Review 75:The bedroom /bathroom were very clean but the bedroom was a little small and on the front of the hotel which meant we had to keep the windows closed. Evening meal and breakfast excellent as was the staff.
Review 76:The single room was comfortable, but a bit cramped.
Review 77:Extremely helpful and friendly staff. Good value, with free wi-fi and parking - and breakfast included. Convenient location for Banbury area.
Review 78:no one came to us after our evening meal, we eventually collared someone to get us coffees. another table were offered desserts but these weren't mentioned to us. Breakfast was nice but although we went well within the serving times we felt as though it had all been cleared away. we had to get our own cutlery!!
Review 79:The village is very pretty
Review 80:Peut-être, le bruit de la machine à bière depuis notre chambre !
Review 81:Nous avons aimé l'emplacement bucolique, l'amabilité du personnel, le confort, l'originalité de la disposition des chambres, la possibilité de pouvoir fumer sans se sentir coupable.
Review 82:Having two sinks in a bathroom can be quite nice but only if the cold tap on both of them works... Breakfast beans were nasty. Musty smell on the way up the spiral staircase doesn't fill you with joy at the prospect of your ur room at the top.
Review 83:Breakfast is cooked to order which means it is good (except the beans which were cheap and nasty) but takes an age.
Review 84:If I have to make a negative comment its regarding the toilet seat (room 5) which has seen better days. It really does let the room down.
Review 85:Very enjoyable stay at The Red Lion. The 4 poster bed was so comfy .. Like sleeping on a marshmallow. We ordered a meal in the evening in the bar area and it was really delicious. Ample choice for breakfast and lovely surroundings. Will certainly book again when in this part of the country. Thank you.
Review 86:The staff - unattentive to a point of giving you the feeling that you were intruding on them and making them do something...
Review 87:Great property, lovely and quaint, not for you if your looking for something modern
Review 88:My pillow was quite hard but other than that no complaints.
Review 89:I stayed here for a friends wedding and picked the hotel as it was convenient for the location. The room was very clean and presentable, good selection of tea and coffee and biscuits in the room. Nice staff and great selection for breakfast!
Review 90:Matress, was a little soft and had a depression/ridge running acorss it. Our 'superior' room was on the ground floor with windows facing on to patio areas with tables and chairs. fortunately, these tables were not used for long on the night we stayed. On a warm summer's night, there could be a lot of noise and lack of privacy. Could not make wifi work.
Review 91:Old world/rustic charm of the bar, restaurant and room. Very polite and obliging staff. Excellent beers, good reasonably priced restaurant. Very good breakfast included in room price. On site parking, good location for Banbury and access to M40.
Review 92:Attention to detail - curtain not on rail Corte y, looked like it had been off the rails for a while. Crack in the window pane - needs replacing. Sink in bathroom, no hot water.
Review 93:Good location, excellent food and friendly staff
Review 94:Very hard to find. The address is Banbury but the hotel is actually in Adderbury. It would have been more helpful if Adderbury had been included in the address. Also if relying on sat nav use the coordinates to find the hotel
Review 95:The staff were friendly and the room was comfortable
Review 96:Our room desperately needed refurbishing. Once elegant curtains hung now from a few hooks and wouldn't draw properly; a window was cracked and lacked a catch so it couldn't be closed; light fittings were inadequate and not all bulbs lit up.
Review 97:A well-situated inn with lots of historical appeal.
Review 98:I paid for the room weeks ago by card, had to to get reservation. On leaving it was stated that payment was due. Was sorted but I am going to check I have not been charged twice. My friend ordered kipper(s) for breakfast and got one. Stingy for a £60 room. In the room I had unless you shut the curtains during the day people in the yard out side could see you on the loo would you believe.(split level room) And I couldn't have a bath because the plug did not fit. And there were no milk tubs in the room. Apart from that it was fine.
Review 99:Lovely spot and a nice welcome.
Review 100:The condition of our room was very poor. The paint on the ceiling cracked, mould in shower and on bathroom wall, rust on radiator, filthy windows, mattress like a sack of potatoes. Overall condition of room felt to be poor and in need of an upgrade. Quality of breakfast poor .
Review 101:The building is very old and quirky and so access to rooms is by narrow steep stairs and small corridors. The room was clean and comfortable but not modern and could probably do we re-decorating at some point. Overall though it was good value for money
Review 102:Very friendly, made you feel welcome from the moment you checked in. Food is of a very good standard
Review 103:Spiral staircase entrance to rooms took a bit of getting used to - not ideal for older generation!
Review 104:Friendliness of staff - reception thro' restaurant. Easy car parking and general English village/countryside ambience
Review 105:Our only complaint was the paucity of the wine list. The one French white was not available.
Review 106:Large bedroom and the "Old English" atmosphere.
Review 107:Puzzled about being moved from bar into restaurant for same meal at same price and then told off for ordering it twice by waitress! Stairs to room 15 would be very challenging for some. Hot water far too hot.
Review 108:Nice welcome. Interesting old property. Wonderful breakfast. Room at rear gave us a quiet night.
Review 109:The window blinds in room 10 need to be repaired/replaced, they could not be adjusted which meant that light was streaming through the window at 06.00. The window did not fit properly causing a draught to blow on to the bed.
Review 110:Excellent breakfast.
Review 111:last orders was 11.30 but no one told us so went to the bar and it was closed. we did however be able to take a drink to the room with the managers approval
Review 112:the staff were very good and the breakfast was out of this world tried stuff i've never eaten before..well done The Red Lion
Review 113:Booked an evening meal, but four items on the limited menu were unavailable. Superior bedroom was far from superior.Desperately requires a make-over.
Review 114:Breakfast enjoyable. Staff pleasant and helpful.
Review 115:nothing
Review 116:nice country pub with rooms, good breakfast nice bar , great bar menu, plenty of parking, very good nights sleep in very comfortable room . have stayed here before, and will be going back.
Review 117:The only down side was our room was up a lot of winding stairs but in a hotel of this age it is to be expected.
Review 118:The manager and his staff made us feel very much at home and possessed a wonderful sense of humour which really enhanced our stay. They always had time to for a word. Very clean in all areas. We will definitely return.
Review 119:room 15 the journey up the stairs ,you needed a brandy when you arrived in bedroom.couldnt get itv on tele,staff tried but couldnt
Review 120:staff.food,place,comfort
Review 121:The bar was noisier than the road outside. I was still listening to loud music at 11.30 as the bar was beneath my room. Very difficult to get to sleep and I had an early start the next day. The shower was so tiny I struggled to get into it. I had to slide in sideways. Not fun! I'm a dress size 16 so not so fat that I should struggle.
Review 122:Natalie was amazing. She offered excellent service when we booked in and was very friendly. Considering she finished at 2am, she was bright and breezy at 8.30 the next morning. Something that was considerably lacking in another English Inn venue I had stayed in in January.
Review 123:Our bed was very uncomfortable and the stairs and route to the rooms are very steep and narrow. Not really suitable for elderly or those with mobility issues.
Review 124:The room was lovely, clean and well equipped. Good parking easy to find, meals available on the premises. Good breakfast choices.
Review 125:The wifi wasn't very good . As in most hotels. Couldn't get a connection at all in my room.as it was only a one night stay it didn't. After too much
Review 126:Nice food, well stocked bar, friendly staff.. Breakfast was especialy nice, great choice of both hot and cold items, and plenty of it .
Review 127:Superior double room, was 2 singles pushed together, next too a public toilet, so noises all night. The quilt was stained. They need to advertise correctly.
Review 128:Access stairway to accommodation very restricted very narrow corridors to room. Breakfast fine but served on over sized plates making it look small. Toast size very small (bloomer)
Review 129:Pleasant staff and good size room not sure size of a single as in double room.Good location and plenty of space in car park. Evening meals good but on small size ref portions
Review 130:Only issue is the WIFI but as the walls are so thick its not surprising its a bit hit and miss.
Review 131:Room was clean, warm and had everything you needed. Plenty of tea & coffee etc. Food in restaurant was excellent and value for money. Breakfast was quick and plentiful. All the staff were polite & helpful. Prices were very reasonable and nothing was too much trouble.
Review 132:A little more attention to detail required. Delaminated toilet seat,light bulb not working. Pelmet on four post bed detached.
Review 133:Excellent welcoming staff good food in the evening and cooked breakfast. Easy to find and off road parking Our Superior room was good size with four post bed.Staff more than compensated for minor negatives.Would stay again.
Review 134:I was in room 3, right next to the private bathroom. Someone showering at midnight was not what I wanted to hear! It was as if they were in the same room as you
Review 135:I was working at the nearby hospital, so I needed a close enough hotel with character. The Red Lion fit the bill, friendly staff, great food, a selection of good ales and a really good sized room
Review 136:Rooms in need of make over. First room offered had broken window and heating was off even though January. Give alternative room which again was cold but heating soon resolved this plus the additional plug in heater provided sort this problem. Small shower with poor water pressure. Overall, suited my 2 night stay but these rooms should not be sold as "Superior Rooms" if this was the Superior, don't book the basic. The staff try very hard but are not helped by lack of investment by the Hotel owners.
Review 137:On site parking, very good food in the bar, nice choice for breakfast and wide time slot 7am to late morning. very helpful and attentive staff, food very reasonably priced.
Review 138:There was a bathroom outside our room in the corridor which was used by other guests and we kept being woken up in the early hours of the morning with people using it, without that the room would have been quiet.
Review 139:Very welcoming and helpful staff. Good dinner, although they had run out of the dish we both wanted. Rooms clean and comfortable. Would definitely recommend the breakfast, very good attention to detail.
Review 140:My only tiny niggles were that the loo seat could have done with a bit of DIY and the shower was a tad erratic.
Review 141:We checked in very late, due to being at a gig just around the corner. The receptionist was lovely when I called to apologise and she made sure that someone was there to give us keys and show us to our room. Breakfast the next morning was perfect.
Review 142:Nothing at all!!!
Review 143:We stayed here as my business in based in Banbury and xmas party was in Banbury. Hotel was fantastic room 16 was amazing... Staff were great couldn't of done more. Breakfast 10/10 much needed fry up and plenty of orange juice.
The Fine Print
Please note that full payment is taken at time of booking.