A former Oxford department store has been tipped to become one of the UK's most exciting hotels in 2024.

Family department store Boswells closed in 2020 and the historic building in Broad Street is being transformed into a 101-bedroom hotel with a rooftop bar and terrace.

General manager Simon Drake previously estimated the new hotel would open in the next few months despite a series of unexpected delays.

"It's very frustrating but we will now be looking to open in February or March," he said.

Mr Drake is excited by the prospect of entertaining guests on the rooftop terrace where there will be "meat smokers, parasols and heaters", with seating for 20 or 30 guests and a capacity for 60 people.

The Store, Oxford

The i published a list of the top 17 most exciting new hotels set to open in the UK this year.

This is what they had to say on Oxford's top pick: "Boswells of Oxford was one of the UK’s most prestigious department stores – a venerable institution on Broad Street that traded continuously for 282 years before the pandemic forced its closure in 2020.

"It is set to reopen to the public once again, this time as a 101-room boutique hotel, with a vibrant restaurant and café, a cosy but strikingly modern bar, and a rooftop terrace from which to gaze at those famous dreaming spires.

"Opening in Spring, doubles from £295, https://thestoreoxford.com".

Recommended reading: 

See inside Oxford's brand-new boutique hotel

Opening of The Store hotel in Oxford is delayed again

Boswells

Boswells department store closed early in 2020.

In June 2021 Reef Group completed the purchase of the building as part of a joint venture with La Salle Investment Management and Oxford City Council.

City council leader Susan Brown said: “The sensitive refurbishment of the former Boswells department store to create a quality hotel is key to the ongoing rejuvenation of our city centre.

“Adapting the spaces for multiple uses will help ensure that this iconic building thrives for decades to come, and we look forward to the next stage of this project.”

Eleanor Alexander, a design director leading the project for Reef, said in 2021 she hoped the hotel would be ready to open in the spring or summer of 2023.

One contractor on site in January told the Oxford Mail it was "a complicated job but we're now looking at an opening date in July or August - let's say August to be on the safe side."

He added: "It's going to be a fantastic four-star hotel."