A beloved Oxford institution has been replaced by this forgettable corporate hotel

I arrived at The Store with mixed feelings; I left – not always the case – with just the same.

The EQ Group (a “leading European hospitality and investment platform with over €1.7 billion of hotel real estate across 5,000 keys”) in partnership with the Reef Group (“passionate about design, we invest in urban areas to maximise potential”) has created and now manages this new 101-room “boutique” hotel.

Nowadays, across the world, hotel management, property development and asset management go hand in hand. Some companies are principled in what they create; others far less so, seeking only profit and not remotely caring about a sense of place or the community in which they land.

The EQ Group develops branded hotels (Novotel, Ibis etc) but also “Independent Lifestyle” ones such as the excellent Hôtel Dame des Arts in Paris.

But I mourn the increasing disappearance of independent hotels, run with enthusiasm, integrity and vested interest by individuals and the emergence in their stead of so many corporate, commercial enterprises.

The former are becoming as rare as the teeth of hens, although there are, happily, still two fine examples right here in Oxford: the characterful Old Parsonage and the elegant Old Bank, founded by Oxonian Jeremy Mogford, whose wonderful private art collection lights up both addresses.

When it closed in 2020, killed off by Covid, Boswells, Oxford’s much-loved historic department store, was bought by the EQ Group and Reef, who promised to honour its history.

They could hardly be expected to recreate the treasure trove that was Boswells, founded in 1738, with its towering piles of luggage, haberdashery, pharmacy, toys and tea room but they have, they claim, created “a labyrinth of beautifully designed spaces and installations that awaken a sense of exploration and wonder”.

Really? Exploration and wonder? Installations? The place feels Scandinavian to me: slick; contemporary; simple; could be anywhere.

The marble-topped bar at the front, visible from the street, runs almost the width of the building and the entire ground floor behind is given over to all-day dining, drinking, afternoon tea and co-working, with interconnecting spaces, including sofas around a glass-fronted fire – all carefully thought out to attract off-street visitors as well as hotel guests.

Bye bye, Boswells. There’s certainly not a smidgeon of you in the bedrooms. The layout of each one, experienced hotel manager Simon Drake tells me, has been carefully planned so that guests feel immediately at ease, with space to move round the bed, unpack a suitcase, sit comfortably at a desk and so on.

Maybe so, but in mine at least, a “Deluxe SuperKing” costing between £370 and £450 per night, they forgot about any kind of character or interest.

Plain walls and curtains; window too high to see out; no artworks; tiny, functional, shower-only bathroom. I could have been in a superior Premier Inn. “Period features and playful touches with a nod to the past offer a sense of provenance and place” says the blurb. Not in my room.

The restaurant is called Treadwells, recalling a notorious 19th-century passage that once stood in its place. Treadwell Passage was full of hawkers, scavengers and intrigue, but the hotel’s attempt to recall its characters by “referencing them in playful ways throughout the menu” seems misplaced and confusing to me.

Want a full English for breakfast? Its “playful” replacement is a peculiar muffin smothered with roasted bacon, scrambled egg, spring onion, coriander and chilli with a smashed sausage patty, apparently playfully replacing a standard sausage, on the side.

Please, don’t give me soundbites. Give me nice surprises – a wow factor here and there – and give me warmth, character, heart and soul. As a matter of fact, I found both at the Store, though not on the ground floor and not in the bedrooms.

Down in the basement is a gorgeous little spa with scented thermal suite, walnut-panelled relaxation area and a couple of treatment rooms.

Here I was given a superb facial and face massage by Alicia, from Ukraine, who with her children has found sanctuary and hospitality in Oxford.

My time with her gave me heart, and right at the top of the hotel I found the wow factor: a roof terrace, part enclosed with glorious views of the dreaming spires of Oxford and the countryside beyond.

Good elements, not so good ones: as I say, mixed feelings.

Doubles from £285, B&B

1-5 Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3AG (01865 950666; thestoreoxford.com)