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?

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.

Pros: -Excellent location in lovely town, easy to access from Cotswold Way -Comfortable room and bathroom with beautiful views -Fantastic continental breakfast and friendly breakfast team Cons: -Common areas are worn and clearly used as storage -Reception staff helpful but seem frustrated they have to be there -Dinner quite overcooked