Swan Hotel

Awesome place to stay along the Cotswold way! The location is perfectly placed just along the walk and right in town with plenty of shops around, the room was very comfortable, and the pub was great for dinner. This was the place we paid the least for along the way, but it far exceeded some of the other places we stayed, so highly recommend it in terms of value for money.

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 chose to stay at this venue as they take receipt and pass on your bags to the baggage transfer company. The public areas are a little on the tired side, however our bedroom was very well decorated and comfortable. Unfortunately it was just above the bar and noise levels were high until after mid night but that’s to be expected because of where it’s situated. We booked the venue in January and asked for a table reservation at 6.30pm. My biggest complaint was that they stuck us in the overflow bar area (already packed with locals) and left us to stew for 30 minutes before I went to complain. In the process I came across a lovely restaurant area (empty but laid out for service) at the rear and asked why we had not been seated here instead. They then gave us a table and I must admit that the food was freshly cooked, very good and reasonably priced. However the overall service by the staff was lacking we just got the impression that no one was in charge. Unfortunately there was a creche in an adjoining room that was full of young children who kept running through the restaurant making the dining experience challenging to say the least. They provide a buffet breakfast as standard which was very good in quality (which we prefer) and a cooked breakfast at an extra charge.

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?

We stayed for one night . Was a bit concerned when being walked to our room as they were areas that had a lot of stuff being stored but believe it was down to the place having a bit of a makeover as our room was lovely. Could not fault it. Clean, modern and bottle of water was a nice touch . The only thing that let this hotel down a bit for us was the food. We went for breakfast and for one the service , although friendly was seriously slow. They were only 2 other tables that had people sat down so not busy at all and it took nearly half an hour to bring out some sausage sandwiches. They were £6.50 each and most definitely not worth that. The sausages were anaemic ( I say sausages, it may have even just been one in the sandwich cut up), The brown sauce was a cheap vinegary one. For the price we paid for it, was definitely expecting something better. We would stay again but wouldn’t use the restaurant again.

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.