During a nomadic spell JEREMY SMITH lives the Oxbridge dream – if only for a month.

Want to know the best ‘hotel’ in Oxford? (the quotation marks will soon become self-explanatory...).

Clearly it’s not any one of the usual suspects. The Randolph, Malmaison, The Old Parsonage are all terrific hostelries of course but in this instance, they’re out of their league.

You could also accuse me of wrongly categorising said accommodation – that really it’s nothing more than a dressed-up B&B. And in this respect, the price I paid for my room supports this.

But truth be told, the best ‘hotel’ in Oxford sits daintily between the two, because Trinity College in Broad Street, Oxford, boasts not only one of the best addresses in the county, but also the best facilities too.

Though not in gym or spa terms.

Indeed, you may even have to share a shower, but if we’re talking National Trust-‘esque’ grounds and English Heritage-style architecture, coupled with a ‘breakfast bar’ of Arthurian majesty, then Trinity walks away with the prize.

I stayed there, cheerily, during the break between Hilary and Trinity terms (March 12-May 1) when the students are away.

Weeks before, desperately searching for somewhere reasonable but cheap to stay, I stumbled on the website oxfordrooms.co.uk And what a relief that proved to be.

With one simple click of my mouse, I was suddenly elevated from the chintz and tea-making facilities of affordable B&Bs and blandly bleak hotels to a world of Harry Potter-style elegance and class.

With a lovely large room overlooking Broad Street and the Sheldonian, complete with its own sink and refrigerator, I collapsed onto my bed and wondered at my amazing good fortune – £40 a night with fresh linen, towels, soap, and a full English breakfast the next morning, it seemed too good to be true.

But, and this is the best bit, it wasn’t (and isn’t).

In fact, it actually got better.

The next week I moved rooms so I overlooked the main quadrangle and this time even had my own living room. I’d never been smart enough to go to university, or even get my A-Levels, but now here I was living that whole Oxford/Cambridge/Harvard/ Princetown dream (hell, all I needed was a teddy bear called Aloysius and it would have been Brideshead Revisited Redux).

However – and for some of you the following provisos have been capped – I DID HAVE TO USE A COMMUNAL SHOWER and NOT ALL WASHROOMS WERE ON MY FLOOR.

Hand on heart, the bathrooms are immaculate and remember, the students are long gone, but understandably, some of you may simply be unable to relax without an ensuite facility (rooms offering ensuite facilities are available but cost considerably more).

But for me at any rate, it wasn’t a big deal.

What undoubtedly is though is the breakfast on offer – everything from yogurt to cereal to the full monty of fry ups, all taken in the college’s 17th century dining hall, inset, complete with hanging portraits and leather backed chairs.

Like Camelot but with ketchup and HP sauce.

All in all, I think I stayed in total for about a month, Monday to Friday, and I loved every second of it.

My only regret now is that I’ve told you about it...

* For further information, go to oxfordrooms.co.uk and choose your college (Keble, St Hughes, Magdalen, Queen’s and St Anne’s all offer similar facilities – I just happened to stay at Trinity). Rooms range from £36 to £92.