Swan Hotel

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.

My wife and I recently hiked the Cotswold Way, and we stayed here on the fifth night of our hike. It was a perfectly serviceable experience, but one lacking the warmth and dimension of some of the other accommodations we experienced during our hike. Where other places we stayed seemed inviting and welcoming, the Swan was more perfunctory in its customer service approach. Unlike other pubs/inns where we stayed, the Swan did not offer a complementary hot breakfast--just a continental breakfast with cereals, juices and toast. And, despite being a free house, it had only two real ales on cask. The room where we stayed was very nice--well appointed, clean and, by the standards of the UK, quite spacious.

Great bar food, ideal for hungry walkers. Breakfast had good choices but was pretty busy and chaotic with only one member of staff. Friendly welcome and delighted to find our bags in the room waiting for us. Newly redecorated room was fresh and clean. Lovely views across the village. The hotel is clearly going through an update and so the hallways on the way to our room were a bit cluttered and untidy with boxes and a tumble dryer.

There was a lot of work going on which I imagine is part of an upgrading programme although, with the exception of no WiFi in our room, that was not an issue. The room was a decent size, comfortable bed, good shower and a pleasant view. We opted to eat in the bar (good bar team) and enjoyed two pleasant meals. It turned out that we were on the light breakfast rate but as that included porridge and more we were happy enough.

Public parking just a short walk. Friendly staff. Short walk to Main Street of town