Stayed at Homelea to visit our daughter at Christ Church last weekend. What impressed me right from the start is Matthew's friendliness and attention to detail. This is carried through to the speed in which he responds to your enquiry, to all the little extras you find in your room like soap, shampoo, body lotion and even cotton wool puffs! It is quite clear that Matthew takes customer care very seriously and works extremely hard to ensure that you get from your stay, exactly what you want. We had enquired about restaurants in the area and when we arrived Matthew had gone to the trouble of printing us a colour map and had even highlighted the some places in pen with the bus stops marked and even the route to the local scenic walk! This was a lovely change to some of the large Lodge style Motels in the area who it seems, can't wait to kick you and your car out of the car park into the pay and display one minute past noon! Our room was small (but perfectly adequate), heated appropriately, extremely clean and nicely furnished, the mattress seemed brand new, and the bedding was crisp and flawless. The carpet was spotless and there was plenty of storage space. Towels were clean and nicely presented, and a tea tray with plenty of supplies was available (again unlike the 'larger' organisations who only give you one of everything). The shower cubicle sealant could do with freshening (being very fussy here) but the shower itself was clean and perfecty adequate. It was extremely easy to access the room any time of the day or night and Matthew ensured we knew exactly how to get in before we arrived, and when we went out later on. The room was at the back so very quiet and there was ample parking. In general the reception, kitchen and dining areas were extremely clean, fresh and well presented, with clear fire safety directions. As we had very little time we chose a simple breakfast but could have had anything we liked - what we had was fine and the coffee was excellent (we are very fussy about coffee!). As the weather was very wet Matthew lent us a spare umbrella (Matthew, it found its way home with us so I will post it back to you this week) and invited us to leave our car as long as we wanted to, which was a great benefit for us. All in all it was a pleasure to stay and you can't compare some of the really minor 'moans' above like a towel rail exactly where you might want it (there was loads of radiator space for towels anyway, what was all that about?!) with the excellent service and great value that this Guest House offers, we will definately return.

I really enjoyed my stay. The manager, Matthew, was very helpful and pleasant, (even when my credit card didn't work). The waitress was very nice, her English was charming and understandable - and super breakfast, plenty of it and well prepared. I was also very impressed when I, after my first night, asked for another duvet to put on top of my rather lumpy mattress, came home and discovered that I already had a NEW mattress installed. Can’t get better service than that!

I was in Oxford on a course for 3 days but am based in Denmark. I will definitely stay at Homelea if I am lucky enough to visit Oxford again.

Mrs. M. Schultz
Denmark

We arrived in Oxford via bus and as soon as we arrived, we called Matthew, who said he would meet us straightaway at the Guest House. He was indeed there to meet us, and was warm, friendly, and polite, immediately offering us water, tea, or coffee, and giving us a detailed introduction to a map of Oxford. He recommended the tow path, which we completely missed (it's a little tricky to find), so we just took the main road in, which was fine, if less scenic. We did, however, take the towpath for the remainder of our time in Oxford, and highly recommend it--beautiful! Our room was clean and there was ample storage space in the wardrobe. Our bed was comfortable and the shades kept the room dark in the morning. We never figured out how to keep the very small shower on, so that was irritating, and the water temperature was never stable. There wasn't any place to hang the towels, so we ended up just putting them on the radiator. This wasn't a huge deal, as they were changed daily. Matthew also very kindly allowed us to use a laptop during our two days there, as we hadn't brought ours along. Full English breakfast was delicious, and the woman who prepares it is friendly and warm (though she doesn't speak much English and misunderstood my husband when he was ordering one morning). Matthew allowed us to leave our luggage in the front hallway on the day we left, as we were just going into Oxford for the morning. I think we would absolutely return to the Homelea--it's nothing fancy, but it's clean and comfortable, the food is delicious, and the customer service is superb. Matthew does an excellent job.

Extremely disappointed with Homelea guest house. Clean, but very dingy, small room, with a tiny old tv that has only one channel, a shower that does not drain and no towel hangers at all. Breakfast was pathetic, coffee undrinkable, and fruit selection was limited to peaches from a can. Quite far from the center of town. The owner never bothered to show up at all. The whole establishment was run by two eastern-european ladies, who, although very nice, were obviously not focused on providing the best service possible. Overall, I would expect this level of comfort from a hostel, not from a 65 pounds/night B&B.