Swan Hotel

Average at best . The hotel is having some renovations but …….. It’s like fawlty towers but not so funny. We tried to book for dinner on route with the hotel but kitchen closes at 8.30pm on a Friday was the response , staff member didn’t offer to make keep something on a pre-order for us that could be heated up or even some sandwiches would’ve been helpful sorry Kitchen closes put the phone down. We did ask another staff member if they had any suggestions where we could find somewhere for dinner , to be met with dunno , have you booked anywhere? You won’t get in anywhere You could drive to a curry house? 20 miles away? We’ve just driven 180 miles not overly helpful. Luckily we found a really good pub in the middle of town which was quite the reverse very friendly squeezed us in ,staff were brilliant. certainly recommend that pub ,a different world (The Flacon ) When we arrived at the hotel, we were met by arguing staff, the room was clean and tidy , bed so so , not tea bags. Certainly agree with other reviews very noisy ,the guests below us kept awake as they had the TV on all night volume 10 , I know that’s not the hotels fault and a staff member did try and sort that , but not a good nights sleep. Breakfast is okay-ish, could be better, agree with other reviews package pastries etc it just seems like the staff have got something else better to do and there’s no leadership there . We almost felt like an inconvenience which is not what a hotel should be . I certainly don’t like being asked to book in for breakfast. I’ve never heard of such a thing particularly when we’re just having a buffet breakfast. We felt sorry for the one lad who was trying but was run ragged as no one else seemed bothered. Shame could be better, and that’s being kind .

We booked a table Friday evening at 7.15. We were a small group celebrating a friends birthday. On arrival we were shown to our table in the ‘bottom’ restaurant. Lovely surroundings & decor. The waiting staff were friendly and welcoming. Our meals came in good time & were hot & very tasty. However, though we commend a business for having a creche, probably not the best idea to have it sited next to the restaurant. Young children doing what they do - running in & out, slamming the door & yelling, did make it difficult to hear what was being said at our table at times. We finished our main meal and our waitress asked if we wanted anything else or just the bill. We said we would like to see the sweet menu. One of us wanted an ice cream whilst the others wanted coffee. It was 8.30pm apparently no coffee available as the machine had been cleaned & turned off! Settled for tea as they did have a kettle! To request coffee after a meal, early evening in a restaurant surely is not an unusual or unreasonable request? Is The Swan a restaurant or not? We did complain at the time, but it obviously was not the young waitress’s fault. On leaving the hotel, we could hear customers in the bar who obviously found our request for coffee a great source of amusement. The Swan is a lovey asset to our town but it needs to sort it’s identity out - does it have a fully functioning restaurant or not?

Thé shower was fabulous. That’s the highlight. They have good trade from walkers many from overseas so the breakfast menu was very disappointing. For the price paid I would expect cooked porridge not oats in hot milk. People were stocking up on the pastries as they came sealed - surely fresh each day wouldn’t hurt. It wasn’t appetising at all. Thé word is mean. Have to say thé 2 girls working in the evening were excellent and worked hard even though really busy. Well done.