On the last night of a family trip centered around seeing Mount Rushmore, we wanted to be in the heart of Denver. On the positive side, the Oxford is ideally situated one block from the 16th street Mall (a very nice fifteen-block promenade). It has some wonderful restaurants nearby (Gumbos was a treasure) and is perfectly located for access to the river trail, the performing arts center, and the various sports complexes. On the negative side, there is the snootiness of select members of the staff, a wretched cover-up smell of the room (aimed at hiding tobacco remnants), and a general lack of customer service.
When we first arrived, the curbside parking for the hotel valet had five cars occupying the entire section. After circling for roughly twenty minutes, the same five cars were there, including a van for a vendor in their lobby promoting their service. We eventually found metered parking. Upon entering the double doors to the lobby with our bags, we literally bumped into two employees on their way out the doors who rather than offer to assist, instead barreled right past us, not even noticing we were there. Perhaps they were on their lunch break, but the basic courtesy of yielding right of way to people schlepping bags or at least holding a door open as a nice gesture would have been appropriate, not as an employee, but a basic rule of etiquette.
While waiting for our turn to check in, two people popped behind the counter to collect documents from a printer. Neither took even a second to look up and at least acknowledge that they were not a desk clerk and that the one desk employee would be with us soon. This set the tone for nearly the entire stay (sans the valet at checkout, who was wonderful).
What perhaps is most vexing is that while we waited to check in, we were asked if we needed a house pet by a vendor in the lobby. While we are animal lovers, it felt a bit pressured to be hustled a dog or a cat while on vacation and checking into a hotel. Once in our room, we got a telemarketing call from their spa pushing us to make an appointment. This was after we already mentioned to the clerk at check in that we weren’t interested in the spa service.
If they would put half the effort they put into selling you more services while on site into making the stained plastic bathtub and ugly caulking a bit nicer, the rooms would be magnificent. The room itself is very well appointed, except for the bathroom. The psychotic temperature of the shower water is to be expected in an old building, but be prepared for a hot-to-icy-back-to-hot ride in the shower.
The only issue we have with the hotel itself is that we reserved a non-smoking room that they deemed to be tobacco-free after unloading enough “air-freshener” to kill any and all insects that may have been living in the room. The fact that only one of three windows opened (the other two were painted shut) didn't allow the fragrance to vent as it should have. All-in-all, it was a very below-average experience. We did have a great experience at the other two Denver area hotels we selected during this trip, but they aren't as ideally situated as the Oxford.
Be advised, this is NOT a place to stay with kids. They don’t promise to be, so it’s no fault on their part. If you wish to stay here with kids, plan many off-site activities (which there are several within walking distance).








