The Swan Hotel at Bibury

Disappointing Stay

Our stay at The Swan was very disappointing particularly as it was termed a 'luxury' break but unfortunately this was not the case due to the following reasons.

We were not shown to our room as on arrival the Receptionist took a phone call and so we were handed our key and told how to find the room.  Our room was very 'tired' with many stains on the carpet and a worn and torn duvet cover, (I do have photos of both.)  We booked our first dinner in the restaurant which was delicious, however, on ordering steak and being asked how we would like it cooked, were rather stunned to receive an extremely unwelcome reply from the waiter of 'if you want to destroy it'; this was rather embarrassing and very unwelcome, also there were other guests next to us who possibly heard.  I was also rushed at dinner to finish one of my courses as the waiter stood by me with my next course. Unhappily, this also happened the next morning at breakfast. I do not expect to come away for a relaxing break to be hurried along with my meal.
The cooked breakfast was also disappointing it was rather dried up and felt as though it had been cooked very much in advance. All in all, a very disappointing stay as it was a break we had been looking forward to for a long time.  We went away last year (again using a 'Voucher') to a different hotel near Bath and our hotel experience was far above The Swan in every way, we had no complaints whatsoever.

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.

Gone very down hill

Just returned from a short stay at this hotel after visiting a few years ago, this hotel has gone down hill in every department.
Firstly the rooms are very tired and in need of lots of attention, we changed rooms on arrival and then upgraded to the cottage on our last evening. After speaking to a male receptionist who told us no manager was available were very disappointed and did not even want to stay in the hotel, then at the Bar found a very helpful member of staff who then said she would get us the assistant manger, they were actually the best members of staff you had and suddenly another room became available and we were able to swap.This was slightly better.
On our Final night we stayed in a cottage which was much better, but the price tag is much higher, however don't think you will sit outside peacefully as they have installed a large Trailer freezer that makes a buzzing noise 24 hours a day, not relaxing.
Food quality and service was appalling, as was the expensive price in comparison to quality and service. The following evening we opted for the pub up the road and that was great.
You have the foundations to be a fantastic Hotel/ Restauraunt again but are letting yourself down with things that could be easily rectified. you need to send a professional round to stay there a few nights and see what everyone sees and put them right. I am going to put I will not stay here again at the moment but would if you went back to the standards you were a few years ago.