Hotel · Woodstock
The Bear Hotel
A Macdonald hotel in a Grade II* listed old inn on Park Street, Woodstock: 54 rooms with four-posters and suites, a restaurant, afternoon tea and dogs welcome, a short walk from Blenheim.
Dog-friendly · Wedding venues
A characterful old inn a few minutes' walk from Blenheim, with four-poster rooms, afternoon tea by the fire and dogs welcome in every room. Parking is limited, so book direct and arrive early.
- Good: Dogs welcome in any room, £15 a night (2026)
- Good: A few minutes' walk to Blenheim Palace
- Good: Afternoon tea daily, 1pm to 4pm, in the Churchill Lounge
- Good: Four-poster rooms and suites with a living area
- Worth knowing: Parking is limited, first come, first served
- Worth knowing: Calls go to Macdonald's central reservations line
About
The Bear Hotel is a Macdonald hotel on Park Street in Woodstock, with oak beams, stone walls and open fires. The hotel calls it a 13th-century coaching inn; Historic England lists it at Grade II* and dates the oldest part to the 17th century, with the present hotel formed in the 1750s. Blenheim Palace is a few minutes' walk away.
It has 54 individually styled rooms: standard doubles and kings, deluxe rooms with four-poster or canopy beds, and suites with a living area. One standard double is accessible, on request. The hotel tells a few stories of its own: a secret passageway found in the Newbold Suite, a four-poster it says belonged to Lady Randolph Churchill, Winston Churchill's mother, and a suite once favoured by Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. It also says part of the building was a glove workshop until 1974.
The restaurant serves modern British food seven days a week, the bar and courtyard have an all-day menu, and afternoon tea is served daily from 1pm to 4pm by the fire in the Churchill Lounge. Dogs can stay in any room for £15 a night and join their owners in the bar and courtyard. Parking behind the hotel is limited and free if you book direct. From the door, the Woodstock town walk and the walk through Blenheim Park are close at hand.
Opening hours and season
Restaurant open seven days; all-day menu in the bar and courtyard; afternoon tea daily 1pm to 4pm in the Churchill Lounge; room service.
The details
- Food
- Modern British
- Serving
- Afternoon tea · Dinner
- Dietary
- Children's menu
- Rooms
- 54
- Check-in
- From 3pm
- Check-out
- By 11am; midday if booked direct
- Features
- Restaurant · Bar · Garden or terrace · Open fire · Dogs in rooms · Dogs inside · Accessible rooms · Parking · Wi-Fi · Events and meetings
- Awards
- Bridebook Best of Britain (2020)
- History
- Grade II* listed inn with 17th-century origins
- Parking
- Limited parking behind the hotel, from Park Lane or Rectory Lane, first come, first served. Free when you book direct; otherwise £5 a night per its FAQ, though another page says £10.
- Without a car
- Oxford is about 20 minutes by car or 30 by bus; the A44 is two minutes away.
Photos
Tea by the fire 
Afternoon tea 
The courtyard 
Dogs welcome
Location
Nearby walks, places and things to do
- The Star Inn 0.1 km away
- The Oxfordshire Museum 0.1 km away
- The Woodstock Arms 0.1 km away
- The King's Arms 0.1 km away
Sights nearby
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Column of Victory, Blenheim
Sight · Monument · Woodstock
The Column of Victory is the fluted Doric column of 1727 to 1730 that carries a lead statue of the first Duke of Marlborough dressed as a Roman general on the high ground of Blenheim's park. Seen from Woodstock and the park's public paths.
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Queen Pool, Blenheim
Sight · Lake · Woodstock
Queen Pool is the northern arm of the lake Capability Brown made at Blenheim from 1764, above Vanbrugh's Grand Bridge, with Rosamund's Well just west of the bridge and the Column of Victory above. Reached free on public footpaths from Combe; the lakeside road is permissive.
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St Mary Magdalene, Woodstock
Sight · Church · Woodstock
St Mary Magdalene is Woodstock's church on Park Street, founded with the twelfth-century town and long a chapel of Bladon, with a Norman zigzag doorway, a classical tower of 1784 to 1786 with chimes of 1792 made to play tunes, and a sundial with odd numerals. Grade II*.
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Woodstock Town Hall
Sight · Historic building · Woodstock
Woodstock Town Hall in the Market Place was designed by Sir William Chambers and built in 1766 to 1767 at the Duke of Marlborough's expense, over an open market hall enclosed in 1898, with a marble sundial on its south wall. Grade II.