The Black Swan

We’ve stayed at The Black Swan three or four times now and have had a great time each visit. We love the setting and atmosphere, from the bar and restaurant to the rooms and surrounding area. The food is delicious, with lots of choice, and the staff are lovely and attentive. This time we were celebrating my partner’s birthday. The team communicated efficiently by email and kindly arranged a bottle of Cava for our arrival, even though it isn’t usually available there. They also let me order banners and balloons straight to the hotel so the room could be decorated. My partner loved the surprise, and it made the birthday feel special. Thanks to everyone at The Black Swan. We had another amazing stay and will definitely be back. Highly recommended.

The pub itself is lovely and the service was good, but we left disappointed by the meal. We’d read the great reviews and the menu had us looking forward to dinner here. We booked a table on Thursday evening, not an overnight stay. The sirloin was tough, with a cut that felt average at best. It didn’t have the melt-in-the-mouth quality I’d hoped for. The bone marrow butter seemed bland to me and didn’t bring much to the plate. The thick-cut chips tasted as though they might have been frozen, or perhaps just needed longer in the fryer. The blue cheese sauce tasted okay but was too runny and could have had a stronger blue cheese flavour. For the price, I expected a better than average gourmet steak dinner. Maybe it was a one-off, and perhaps the steak itself wasn’t the chef’s fault, since other reviews are great, but it was a letdown.

The food was amazing, with a great menu and quality ingredients. Every dish we tried was delicious, and the friendly staff gave great service. We had a wonderful weekend at the Black Swan. The rooms are well appointed and dogs are welcome. We can highly recommend it and will definitely stay again.

The setting is wonderful, the food and drink were exceptional, and the room and bed were comfortable. We stayed overnight a couple of weeks before Christmas, and the main issue was the ill-fitting doors in room 10. The bathroom door took a shoulder charge to open, one closet door opened while the other was jammed shut, and light came in around all four sides of the main door. There weren’t many guests, so noise wasn’t an issue. I know it’s an old building and settlement may be the cause, but these small things stick in your mind and should be easy to fix.