The Swan at Lavenham Hotel & Spa

Disappointing stay

The hotel appears full of old world charm and the public rooms and exterior are enchanting. The Restaurant is reasonable with a good breakfast and an average evening meal - suggest a dish of the day, pasta or curry is added.
Staff knowledge in the Restaurant and Bar variable - some could not outline dishes or indeed prepare drinks. Reception and Housekeeping staff good.
The Bedrooms are disappointing, especially if it is hot weather. Given the age of the building there is no air conditioning. Ancient fans are provided but these, in 28C heat were completely ineffective. The problem was the bedrooms were so hot (many guests commented on this) that we slept on top of the bed with the windows open. The issue here is traffic noise if you are on the main road. We were woken regularly from 0530 by cars and then at 0630 by deliveries to the Co-op opposite. Avoid road facing bedrooms. We had booked for four days in a Heritage Room as a special treat. The bathroom was small with no apparent ventilation and and is no more than one star although the soaps and toiletries were of a much higher standard. The room overall was tired.
Lavenham as a village is wonderful.

Beautiful hotel but restaurant very disappointing

My wife and I just love this hotel and have stayed many times , unfortunately this time the evening food was extremely disappointing
There is no A la carte menu available anymore and the sirloin and fish was below standard.
Surely a hotel of this caliber should be able to serve a decent sirloin.

The staff are superb

just ok!

staff excellent,all very friendly,not a great choice for food,brasserie slightly better choice than the gallery restaurant.
overheard some complaints about the gallery ie, meat tough and not cooked enough,but what we had was just ok...
Bin store by the carpark,not a great untidy rubbish and a large lump of discarded meat,
not a good view for customers!
Gardener mowing the lawn below our room bit earlier than we would have liked.