I chose to stay for my week's stay in Bath at Oldfields based on recommendations on TripAdvisor and I'm so glad I did!
I booked one of their better King-Size rooms with a huge canopy bed and en-suite bathroom, but at the time I stayed I still managed to get a deal whereby I paid only £90 a night.

I was very impressed by the look of the hotel when I got there - it's a beautiful old house in the classic creamy Bath stone and must have been a fabulously large private residence once! It's very well maintained and has been updated and converted into a hotel very sympathetically.

I was greeted at the door by the friendly live-in managers and given a tray of tea and biscuits while I checked in. The drawing room is so elegant - a flame-effect fire which looks very real, many elegant, comfortable sofas and arm-chairs, candles lit up at night, a massive selection of free newspapers, books, games and local information, and a laptop with free unlimited broadband internet which I found very useful. There's a kettle with a wonderful selection of quality teas and coffees in the corner and you can stay there to your hearts content.

For the price I paid, the room was incredible. The bed was massive and easily the most comfortable I have ever slept in - the mattress was so thick you were high off the floor and I loved the traditional English set-up of sheets and super-soft padded blankets - in fact there were so many layers of sheets, padded blankets, throws and cushions I had to take a couple off or I would have baked! If you like a warm bed, this place is for you!
The room was thoroughly cleaned to an excellent standard every day and the little touches showed a very thoughtful staff - on my second day I noticed they'd obviously seen that I was a male guest staying in the room so they'd added some men's magazines to the selection of magazines already in the room.

There is a tray with a selection of teas and coffee to make your own drinks, and they leave a bottle of lovely mineral water and shortbread biscuits out each day.

My room faced quite a busy road which runs alongside the hotel, but it had double-glazed windows AND secondary singe glazing so with those shut, you effectively have triple-glazing and you don't hear a sound from outside, so it made no difference. The view is also softened by a little land and a high wall so you mainly see trees with the road beyond.

The bathroom comes with complimentary shampoo, two types of shower gel and handwash, all by Molton Brown, and these are also replaced daily as you use them. My bathroom had a jacuzzi-style bath which was very nice and a massive heated towel rail which kept the fluffy white towels nice and warm - though it was so hot when I got there I ended up turning it right down!

The room is very well-insulated and had a large radiator which you can adjust easily. I'm always hot though so I really appreciated the huge windows which could be opened, and - a rarity for a British hotel - an remote-controlled air-conditioning unit which was great for me.
There was a decent-sized flat-screen mounted on the wall and a DVD player.

Breakwast was served in a beautiful dining room over a good period of time and was really well cooked - apparently one of the managers is a chef and it really shows - I recommend the scrambled eggs, which are lovely and light and creamy - apparently the way of cooking them is a closely guarded secret! You could have all sorts of breakfasts including smoked salmon and eggs, traditional English or Continental - but the Continental is no excuse for giving you less food - the croissants are massive and delicious and they are happy to bring you as much as you want. There's a great selection of preserves and juices and every day I was there, sparkling Cava was on ice to help yourself to, which is a nice touch if you drink.

The staff were all lovely - the cleaning staff were very polite and discreet but also friendly. The live-in managers are incredible - nothing is too much trouble. I had forgotten to book in at the Thermae Spa before arriving and was worried I wouldn't be able to get the treatments I wanted but they arranged it all for me over the phone and I got exactly what I wanted without having the stress of sorting it out myself. They have the balance exactly right - they are friendly without being over-bearing and intrusive, and were always willing to advise me on where to go and showed a genuine interest if I wanted to chat about my day - but they are intelligent and discreet and will leave you alone when you want as well. The were a real credit to the hotel - they know exactly what they are doing.

Now - the hill. Everyone mentions the hill you have to "climb" to get to the hotel and for some people it seems to be a big problem. The hotel is about 10 minutes walk from the town centre and I think you have to accept that Bath is a very hilly town - the town itself is built in a valley and if you don't want hills, you're better off not going to Bath, because you will have to walk up them even in parts of the town centre. The hill isn't particularly steep, there's just one steepish little stretch - no more than 30 feet or so - where you walk up to the main road it's on, but it has a handrail and even a bench to rest on at the end! - so it really shouldn't present a problem unless you have specific mobility or health problems - I would say any averageadult or child really shouldn't find it any problem - I'm overweight and certainly not a fit or sporty type of person and I didn't find it very taxing. If you were particularly tired it's so close to the town centre I doubt a taxi would cost much. I certainly managed it every day without problems and I got my heavy cases up the hill on my first day without too much effort.

I hate to end on a note of criticism but I have to say my one slight concern is that the only way of getting into Bath town centre is under a subway which cuts under the main road you walk down. Now, Bath is hardly a hot-bed of crime and I certainly didn't have any issues, but if you're on your own and perhaps a little nervous, it's not the most pleasant thing to have to walk through a subway to get back to your hotel. It's only a small one and wasn't bad as they go, but I know a lot of people don't like them and I dont think there's any other route - the road is really too busy to cross and is fenced off with railings around there anyway. Still, if you do drive, they have ample free parking on the hotel and you could avoid this by driving to the hotel. Also, many hotels in Bath seem to be located in this area and unless you stay in one of the rare (and expensive) hotels in the town centre itself, I expect that this would be an issue in many Bath hotels - there were certainly plenty of other hotels I saw on my walk up to this hotel. It won't be an issue for most people, but it's worth bearing in mind and if it is an issue for you, Oldfields may not be suitable.

That minor issue aside, if this isn't a problem for you then I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Oldfields. I think it's a beautifully run hotel with discreet, friendly-but-not-overbearing, intelligent and thoughful staff all houses in a beautifully-kept, attractive old building.

I doubt I would want to stay anywhere else when I visit Bath again.