SO handily situated on the banks of the River Thames, just a few minutes’ walk from the cosmopolitan and chilled city centre, the Oxford Spires Four Pillars Hotel has it nailed down when it comes to the location stakes.

And with its free parking a big selling point, you can leave the car and wander around this magnificent city that was once home to so many of the great and the good.

But it’s not just about it’s great positioning that allows you to explore this vibrant centre that, from Harry Potter to Howard’s End and the Italian Job to An Education, has provided the back drop for a number of famous movies as well as small screen successes like Downton Abbey, Midsomer Murders, Inspector Morse and Lewis. The Oxford Spires Hotel, its modern architectural design based on a Cotswold barn allowing for plenty of light and space, has so much going for it.

And if you’re not taking in the glorious architecture, great pubs and restaurants, there’s a gym and pool at the hotel’s leisure club as well as spa treatments.

The hotel’s rooms are comfortable and nicely designed, with some opening onto the gardens.

The food is very good and Deacon’s Restaurant has a table d’hôte menu and a carvery on Sundays while the excellent buffet breakfast helps you get off to a great start to the day.

They do a nicely-priced three-course dinner for £26.95 with the pan-seared scallops with chorizo to start, fillet steak and thick-cut chips for main and the “Connoisseur Cheese Platter” to finish off all heartily recommended.The Oxford Spires Four Pillars Hotel is an equally great place for couples, out for quality time together, or families looking to have plenty of fun because it’s child friendly with interconnecting rooms on offer. And of course the pool is a big draw. The staff are also very friendly.

Fact file – Hotel special offers Oxford Spires Four Pillars Hotel, Abingdon Rd, Oxford OX1 4PS, Tel: 01865 324324, www.oxford-spires-hotel.four-pillars.co.uk Four Pillars Hotels also has a further three hotels in and around Oxford: the picturesque riverside Oxford Thames Four Pillars Hotel, Oxford Witney Four Pillars Hotel and Oxford Abingdon Four Pillars Hotel.

For full details and conditions on Four Pillars Hotels’ winter offers, or to book, you can visit www.four-winter.co.uk or call 0800 374 692.

Visit the city’s many great pubs OXFORD really is spoilt for choice when it comes to truly great, traditional pubs.

Avoid at all costs the chain establishments bang in the city centre and seek out the gems just nearby.

One that can’t be recommended highly enough is the Turf Taven on Bath Place which used to be frequented by Richard Burton and Liz Taylor when they were in town.

Another cracking pub is the King’s Arms, Oxford’s oldest pub which was built in 1607, on Holywell Street.

I didn’t have a pint there, but the Eagle and Child on St Giles’ is a popular choice.

It is famous for being an old watering hole of JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis when the pair were friends and professors at Pembroke College and Magdalen College respectively.