The Swan Hotel, Bibury

Beautiful venue. We were recently there for a wedding and I have to say it was a great venue. Food was amazing, staff were very polite and helpful. Rooms were great and the food was top notch. Will 100% book again to just stay and admire the views and the things to do locally.

We went to celebrate our Golden Wedding. Staff were courteous and friendly and even left a greeting card in our room. The bedroom was very comfortable and well equipped. Our dinner in the restaurant was delicious- the treacle tart with clotted cream was amazing! There was a great variety of breakfast items. We had a lovely time there reliving old memories. Bibury was very busy with many tourists, but The Swan was an oasis of quiet.

We stayed in room 14, facing the iconic garden and bridge. Very lovely views. Of course a ton of tourists arrive every day and take photos of the building so you need to keep the blinds down for privacy. The room was clean, but obviously worn in and dated. The bed is a little lumpy and sunken where people have slept. There is no AC so it does get quite hot. There’s only a fan and the windows can only be opened a few inches. The shower screen isn’t wide enough so water splashes everywhere. And the toilet seat doesn’t stay up. Breakfast was average but glad to have it included. We also ate lunch at the hotel’s restaurant but it wasn’t the best with the staff not really around. There are two parking lots meant for hotel guests. But random tourists are definitely parking there with no one checking. Location can’t be beat. You get to wake up early and see Bibury before the masses arrive.

We had our wedding at The Swan and it was everything we hoped for and more. We can't thank Charlotte and the team at The Swan for the amazing job of making our day special. Everything ran smoothly, the guests loved the food, the drinks were flowing and the staff were friendly throughout. We can't wait to come back.

We went for afternoon tea this past Saturday. The location is amazing, staff attentive and the food was lovely. Reasonably priced too. Please note that the village is so beautiful so much so that on sunny days it is packed. Teamed with people so due make reservation to eat here. So good we did. Parking can be difficult is the village is packed, but on not so busy day, there is parking right outside the Swan. There is an overflow car park just past the hotel. It is well run and easy to pay - very reasonably priced too. We plan to come back outside of tourist season as it really is a lively location.

Lovely hotel with very friendly staff. It was our anniversary and a card had been left in a room. Our room was beautifully appointed (room number 4 Vole) with a very comfortable bed, crisp clean bedding and well furnished with two easy chairs and a table. The bathroom was also nicely finished with a huge stand alone bath. Our room also overlooked the river and the outside bar area.|Breakfast was freshly cooked to order and service was friendly.|We loved it here, a perfect spot to visit the gorgeous village of Bibury. The only slight issue is the lack of parking, although we were very fortunate to grab the last space. We would stay here again

Such a beautiful hotel. Room was beautiful (no.17 Otter) and there was everything available that you’d need. The products in the bathroom were gorgeous and you could smell them as soon as you walked into the main room. Towels were large which was great. Beds were comfortable but pillows were hard! Didn’t realise until 4am there were softer pillows in the wardrobe. Think it would be better to put the softer pillows on the bed as they were much more comfortable than the ones originally on the bed. Coffee/tea facilities available with biscuits and the choice of coffee for the machine was brilliant even though we don’t drink coffee! The staff were amazing they gave us a great welcome and nothing was too much trouble. We booked a table for the evening and the food was outstanding. Cooked and presented brilliantly. A very special mention to Maria the waitress she was outstanding. So helpful and her customer service was amazing. She really took an interest in the customers. She didn’t miss a trick. I told her I had a kiwi allergy and she went to the kitchen to let them know and told me before we left that she informed the kitchen to not add kiwi to the breakfast menu and would get them to set aside a separate plate for me for breakfast. Watching her work was amazing she interacted with everyone. She’d make a great Team Leader! She’d lead by example for sure! Breakfast was fantastic and offered a great selection. The hotel was very clean we will definitely return.|I had a problem with a hairdryer which didn’t blow hot but the guy on reception replaced it very quickly within 10 minutes a new one was brought to the room which he said he had tested. Great service and experience. Thank you!

We arrived yesterday afternoon after being in England for 11 days and staying at 4 different hotels in London and along the south coast. After attempting to check in we were told it would be 20 minutes and they would come to get us while we were getting something to eat...they never showed! We went back to check in and the gentleman showed us our cottage without any explanations, nothing about breakfast, which was included, the wi-fi or anything else about the accommodations, just gave us the key and left. The cottage (upstairs bedroom and bathroom and downstairs living area) is nice with the exception of no safe and the king bed is smaller than usual. I'm 6'2" and my feet hang off the end of the bed. The dinner was decent. The food was average to good but the service was wanting due to probably being under staffed. After being served our food you would have to flag down the staff for anything including waiting to pay the bill. We just got back from breakfast which is served up until 9:30. We arrived at 9 and saw the buffet had been picked over but there was some fruit and pastries still left. You could order off the menu and also go to the buffet, however by the time we ordered and went to the buffet, it was basically empty. No fruit, no pastries, no bowls for cereal or yogurt and the meat and cheese selection was almost empty. We travel extensively and rarely if ever experience these issues. This establishment is obviously having trouble hiring and or training good staff. We are staying 3 more nights and will make the best of it as we look forward to continuing our holiday in England/Wales for the next 2+ weeks.

The Swan is an often-photographed inn in the heavily touristed village of Bibury. I would highly recommend that visitors take a photo and move on to stay at any one of the many far nicer inns in the Cotswolds. The Swan is, sadly, simply shabby and neglected and a terrible value for the price point. This photo is of the wall immediately outside the door of our 300-pound-per-night room (about $390). A room in which the toilet was broken and we had to wait for almost two hours to have fixed (kind of fixed, I should say; it continued to leak for the rest of the night). Zero urgency. In fact, they first sent up two girls who were giggling in the bathroom for ten minutes before telling us that it needed a plumber. In addition to the room, we spent over 200 pounds for dinner at the restaurant (entirely mediocre in both food and setting- cold and drafty) and more in the pub. Well over 500 pounds total for one evening ($650-700!). When I checked out, I very politely mentioned that I felt that the inconvenience of not having access to our own bathroom should merit an adjustment to the room fee. The front desk person left and came back and said they could credit me 20 pounds, was that ok? I replied that I'd spent more than that in five minutes at the pub. I was certainly not looking for my room to be comped, but think that knocking fifty pounds off would have been at least a reasonable and respectful solution. She said the manager came in later that day and they would figure out a more suitable credit and get right back to me. They never got in touch with me- not even after I wrote to remind them. I had visited Bibury before by myself and thought that the Swan would be a lovely place to stay on our romantic vacation; it was anything but. Huge mistake. Caveat emptor.

This hotel was nice for a pit stop on our trek through the Cotswolds. Located right next to the Bibury trout farm (oldest trout farm in England) and just a few minutes walk to Arlington row. Beautiful scenery right outside the window. The river flow creates such a peaceful setting. Breakfast included with the stay, which was quite filling. I got the avocado toast and my husband the English breakfast. Rooms are clean and spacious but could do with a bit of updating. The elevator also needs a bit of updating. On our morning walk towards Arlington row, we were greeted by a pair of beautiful swans. They also have a private garden for guests to enjoy in front of the hotel, next to the trout farm. Our room was quite warm and the heating takes a while to cool down, but within a couple minutes of calling front desk, they arrived with a fan to help us out. Their shampoo/conditioner and body wash are all for sale, too. I absolutely loved their shampoo but I wasn't willing to pay $20 per bottle. But it was quite the treat to use while being a guest here. Great rain showers, too with a good amount of water pressure and plenty of warm water.

This review is for the pub only as we did not stay in the hotel. Lovely riverside 17th-century coaching inn located in the picturesque village of Bibury in the Cotswold. The setting is heavenly and is located across from the Bibury trout farm and the river which is there. Worthy of a stop off for refreshments.

I joined friends here for dinner. I was in the UK for two weeks on holiday and went to London, the Cotswolds and Edinburgh. My meal at Swan Hotel was the best meal of my entire vacation. I got pork belly with a scotch egg made with black sausage. Everything was fantastic. I am drooling thinking of it. My husband go the gnocchi which were like little pillows. I am not sure I'll ever get the chance to return but if I am near by I would definitely go back. YUM

As one of the other reviewers mentioned, there isn't much competition in Bibury as far as restaurants/cafes, so we ended up at The Swan Hotel. They have quite limited parking, so you may end up having to look for parking on the street or elsewhere and make your way back. We took a look at the menu as we were waiting for a table in the courtyard to open up. It looked like it would be awhile, so we went inside. There were a number of staff that were standing in a doorway, but not really doing much and Mr. Snarky had to approach one and ask about the different seating areas. If you walk into the hotel and turn right, you'll end up in the restaurant, while if you go to the left you can order off of the bar menu. Fortunately there were a couple of tables available in the bar area, so we sat down and took a look at the menu. The table hadn't been cleaned and the cloth napkin that was left from the last customers was just left on the table. For as many staff that were just standing in the doorway not doing much, it was a bit surprising. The courtyard is lovely and so is the bar area indoors with cushy seating. Across the road is a garden owned by the Swan for those staying at the hotel to use. I only knew about it because a couple came in and couldn't find any seating, inside or out, but just wanted a drink. They asked, what I can only assume to be, the manager and he told them about it, but I'm not sure if he agreed that they could take drinks from the bar over there. After lunch we did walk by the garden and while it looks lovely, I noticed that you don't get any privacy from the road or any buffer from the sounds of the road, but they did block off the view of the Trout Farm, which is surprisingly lovely. We didn't quite understand that. Anyway, the menu has many of the same things you would find on a standard pub menu, however, it is a pricey menu, especially if you are a family looking for lunch on your day out. And there were a lot of families with small children around. You order at the bar, but there are no numbers on the indoor tables. We spent over £30 for two mains and two Diet Cokes. Our meal took quite awhile to come out, so long that we wished we had ordered a starter, although I'm not sure if that would have arrived any sooner. The food that was coming out looked great and everyone seemed to be enjoying their food. Eventually our food appeared and while it looked lovely, there was quite a difference in the amount of food between my plate and Mr. Snarky's plate. I had gone for the Local Bibury Trout (seeing as how there is a Trout Farm over the road) while Mr. Snarky had ordered the Pork Belly. The plates were the same size, however mine was quite crowded with the whole trout, steamed veg, new potatoes, a grilled lemon, and some kind of white sauce. Mr. Snarky's plate looked quite bare with a square of pork belly served on some veg covered in a brown sauce that blended in with the pork belly. They really skimped on the veg. Needless to say, I could see Mr. Snarky's snarky level was beginning to rise. The trout was nice, although for those of you who don't like skin and bones on your fish, then you may want to order something else as it is a bit of a delicate process to make sure you don't eat a bone. The veg and new potatoes were nothing special and the sauce... according to the menu it is a butter sauce, but the sauce reminded me of single cream and was slightly sweet. Mr. Snarky said that the Pork Belly was nice, but the brown sauce (I think it was Hoisin) was so strong that it overpowered everything. Mr. Snarky was not happy that we had paid over £30 for a meal that was... well mediocre. Going back to the fact that there isn't much choice in the village, I guess they can get away with it. If we go back to Bibury, we'll probably have lunch at the other place or just have lunch before we get there.

Ok, we were warned that the food was going to take 45 minutes to arrive, fine. I ordered the fish and chips and it was really really greasy. Really greasy. My friends ordered the steak and ale pie and it came with skinny McDonald's style chips whereas the fish comes with normal, hand cut chips. The pie wasn't served with any veg at all. It certainly could have done with some peas or something else green to give a hint of the healthy. Food was quite pricey too for what you get. The Swan doesn't appear to have any competition in Bibury so they don't really have much incentive to get it right.

I have not tried the lunch/dinner as the previous reviewer , but have been twice for breakfast, and in my opinion one of the best breakfasts I have ever had. The continental brekkie is great, their marmalade made with Drambuie is fantastic! Freshly squeezed OJ and good coffee as well. The range of warm dishes for the breakfast are very good as well. All in, highly recommended!