Hotels in/near Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, any advice?

ProudDUB

Looking for suggestions for a good hotel in or near Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire.

Guests will be 3 adults (one of them 85 yrs old so hotels with lots of steps may be a problem) and 2 kids, aged 10 & 12.

Would ideally like somewhere with a leisure center/pool for the kids to wind down in at days end.

Any suggestions for what to see/do in the Cotswolds, apart from Bleinheim Palace and Stratford? We will be there in mid July. Will it be tourist hell on earth at that time of year? Should we stick to doing more off the beaten track stuff to avoid mad crowds and traffic? The kids adore animals, so zoos/animal parks/working farms etc etc would be ideal for them. We'll be there for 6 days in total.

Thanks.

Procrastastudy

Oxford and part of Oxfordshire hates the car so no matter what you do the traffic can be a pain. That said if you use the Park and Ride services for the City you should be okay. The City is a maze of one way streets so take a good up to date sat nav if you are even going to attempt it. Even then certain roads change at different times of day.*

It all very much country walks in Oxfordshire. Enjoy.

Best Shopping is at Bicester Village - I'm not really into shopping but people tell me its amazing.

*There was a suggestion a few years back of making the two main roads one way at rush hour and then two way outside of rush hour - this is litterally how they think so be careful! Oxford is also the home to the bus jam - traffic jams involving nothing but busses!

dingding

Not sure if you are far from Bath but worth a day trip, do the walking tours from the pump rooms which are free, visit the roman baths and it is a nice city to walk around also.

ProudDUB

Thanks for the tips. Already have what to do during the day sorted. Still don't have the Chipping Norton hotel booked yet. Starting to panic we'll have to settle for a complete kip. Any decent holiday cottages in the area. The one place I found on TripAdvisor got terrible reviews.

Procrastastudy

Does it have to be Chiping Norton? Most places around there will be quite expensive. Fair few celebraties in the area - You might run over into Jerermy Clarkson. I have a funny feeling Patrick Stewart had digs there too.

Chipping Norton is also fairly remote - well as remote as you get in Oxforshire.

ProudDUB

Our elderly aunt lives there. We are going to see her, so we'd prefer as short a commute as possible from our hotel to her house.