Surprisingly underwhelming

My wife and I stayed at the Swan for a couple of days to celebrate our wedding anniversary. The hotel looks lovely and is situated in a picturesque village. We had booked the superior double suite, complete with 4-poster bed, cost over 500 for two nights.
However we found the hotel had a number of erratic aspects; the plumbing in our suite was erratic - the shower in particular required a degree in brain surgery to understand, resulting in unpredictable water temperature; the electric lighting in the bedroom was erratic, depending on which of the several light switches you used; the service in the restaurant was erratic, although friendly - table settings incomplete for the meal e.g. no side plate for toast at breakfast, no teaspoon with tea, slowness in clearing the table between courses.
The 4-poster bed was only standard double size, and because the duvet was either on or off, we were either too hot or too cold; accordingly we did not sleep well.
Fortunately the sun shone during our stay and the local area is very scenic, so we enjoyed our time outside the hotel.

The Swan Bibury

Parking was a lottery, first come first served. Checking in was simple, but the reception area was untidy and needed decluttering.
The room was clean, but needed updating and decorating. The en-suite bathroom was clean and well appointed, but very difficult to access the shower which was over the bath.
We had booked dinner, but the food quality was dreadful. In all fairness, when we complained, we were offered an alternative, but the cost was reimbursed. Such a shame for this class of hotel.
Breakfast was excellent and far superior to dinner t he previous evening.

Short stay at -The Swan at Bibury

My wife and I booked a short break at The Swan on our way back from Wales.

Very happy with all the staff we encountered, all very helpful and attentive without being "in your face".

We stayed in the room 12 (The Swan), again very nice, more than comfortable, the bed was lovely. Some paper was peeling off the wall but that did not distract from the stay. We did see some of the other rooms and they were even nicer...

We ate in the restaurant one evening, meal was lovely and again staff were attentive. Breakfasts were superb.

Staff were all willing to chat and answer any questions you had and also to generally pass the time of day with you if you wanted to.

All in all a very pleasant short break in a lovely part of the country.

Needs better organisation to make this into a good hotel

We stayed here on an off peak luxury break, with a four poster room and half bottle of sparkling wine and chocolates, which were in our room on arrival. The bathroom was excellent but the room needs a bit of refurbishing. There was a cupboard with a curtain across the front as a wardrobe which had in it an ironing board and iron, a hairdryer, a safe (on the floor), a large fan for cooling the room and a fan heater. We had to remove the cooling fan in order to get our clothes in, and as the room was colder than we liked it we turned the heater on, but it didn t work. We then turned on the second radiator in the room which soon had the room up to temperature.
Wanting our breakfast to be served in our room we asked for a form to fill in. Finding that there were none, the receptionist said that she would make sure we received one. Of course we didn t and after our evening meal we had to ask again, only to find out that we had been put down (against our say so or knowledge) to have breakfast at 8.45. We changed that and got a form, which turned out to be just the menu, which we then had to add to for tea, coffee, juice, toast, which kind of eggs etc we wanted. The receptionist on check in did complain that people didn t say how they wanted their eggs doing or which drink they wanted - so why not make a proper form like most other hotels do?
We ate in the restaurant both evenings, and the food was excellent with one oddity. The steak and the rack of lamb had been marinated in garlic beforehand. My husband is allergic to garlic (we had informed the hotel beforehand) but was only told after we had ordered, so he had to change his order on the first evening and we had to wait a while for our meal. To be fair to the hotel they reduced the bill (even though we did not complain).
We also had the afternoon tea on the second day there, very good. I asked for another pot of tea after it only produced one and a half cups, only to be told that there would be a charge ( 4.50). I have never had to pay for another pot of tea anywhere I have been for afternoon tea before!
This all seems rather negative, but the staff on the whole were welcoming, it just needs a bit of thought and training to make this a lovely hotel to stay in.

Lovely in a beautiful location

We stayed at The Swan for a long weekend in a 4 poster bedroom which was beautifully decorated, comfortable and spacious with a huge bath. We had a problem with the shower one morning - we couldn t turn it off - but this was resolved immediately.
The staff in the hotel and restaurant were lovely, friendly and very helpful. We had breakfast and dinner - limited dinner choice but what we had was good. The breakfasts were a little patchy-scrambled eggs appeared to be chopped boiled eggs - but the poached eggs were perfect! The smashed avo had chunks of garlic in which was unexpected for breakfast.
Parking was a bit of an issue one evening but it was Coronation weekend.

A lovely short break

We had a lovely three night break in a very comfortable hotel. Food was absolutely first class. The service at dinner was great fun. More staff training is required for the staff at breakfast.

Comfortable, friendly and welcoming.

We were welcomed in a very friendly and professional manner which continued throughout our stay.
Room facilities were good and the added extras very enjoyable.
Our bed was comfortable and the beverages tray could have had biscuits instead of chocolates,( just a personal view).
We very much enjoyed the restaurant food, the standard was excellent.