“Excellent”

Superb quaint hotel, much better than a square/tall box style, Building is full of character and gives a feeling of grandeur. Excellent location within centre of Bedford. Check in was quick and easy. Hotel room was excellent with superb view of the river, and extremely well equipped. Dinner was excellent, very reasonable price, as was the wine, being in a 4* star hotel taken into consideration. The staff were pleasant and extremely helpful, nothing was too much trouble. And yes, I would stay again tomorrow, if I had need to visit Bedford again.

“Bedford Town Center”

Small room but very clean and comfortable. Car parking additional £5, why not put this in the room rate?

“Short stay at Swan Hotel, Bedford”

Good hotel with good facilities. Bathroom small and height of bath side could cause problems to some people. We were informed by a waitress that gratuities added to credit card payment do not get passed on to staff. Residents arriving at the hotel should not put cash into parking machine. At check-in, your car registration number is taken and £5 per night is charged to be paid on departure.

“lovely hotel”

One criticism! On hearing fire alarm 7.30 a.m. we immediately vacated our room. We followed the crowd down the fire exit staircase. No member of staff was about to assist us. We stood outside in the rain for about 15 minutes - again there was no staff member to inform or assist us. It appeared that one of the guests had telephoned and alerted the fire brigade! It was only when two fire engines turned up that we were told that we could go back into the hotel. This episode was very badly managed. No explanation or apology was received from the management. What a shame - apart from this incident the weekend would have been perfect.

“Bedford Swan - lovely hotel”

Even though the hotel looked old fashioned when we arrived the bedrooms were very modern and had all the little things you would expect - fridge, tea tray, hairdryer, freeview tv etc. The location was perfect - 2 mins walk to the town centre where the shops are but better still on the Embankment which was lovely for a walk along in the spring sunshine. Breakfast was good - lots of choice and I got hot chocolate which a lot of hotels wouldnt bother with - usually only get tea or coffee. Would definitely stay here again.

“Petalista”

The location of this hotel cannot be beaten, it overlooks the river where there are large groups of swans - magical! Unfortunately, there was a wedding being held in the evening and too few staff to support both the wedding and the guests. One person on the bar meant they were besieged, and hotel guests had to compete with the throngs of people to get served. Bar ran out of ice, which I thought amateurish. Prior to going out we had a drink in the bar and found a group of staff in the corner talking animatedly between themselves. I've never come across this before, and for some reason, it seemed to me to be inappropriate. I used the spa facility which was basic but relaxing. I was very pleased overall, the friendliness of staff was a pleasant surprise these days, they obviously took a pride in their work, and rightly so.

“lovely hotel shame about the welcome!”

it is a nice hotel to stay in the rooms are furnished well and comfortable and of a high quality I have now stayed twice at this hotel and it is the only hotel that I have been to where the staff are, for want of a better word, snooty and come across as if they look down on you, particularity at reception (this might have been the same member of staff twice in a row) where I seem to be a bother to them when all I want to do is check in! I had the self service breakfast, all of it was cold or lukewarm, not really what I expected and certainly not enjoyable! as a side point this is the first place I have stayed where they do not have biscuits in the room!

“Disappointing”

The Swan Hotel looks great and has a lot of apparent charm. However, I stayed there ona Sunday, when there was also a large wedding party and a burlesque ball, with attendees falling over drunk from early afternoon. Despite long waits I could not get any service at the bar or restaurant, and ended up at a pub and a chinese restaurant. I would like to have sampled the evening food, but the breakfast was quite poor, both selection & quality, so perhaps it was a lucky escape. A disappointing stay.

“Beautiful hotel... Beds were disappointing...”

Pros: Beautiful hotel by the river. Hotel staff were helpful. Room was clean with beautiful modern furnishings and decor. Cons: We booked a standard double room (not twin) and yet we got twin beds put together and the twin beds had two separate single duvets. The bed by itself is comfortable, but having the gap in between does get rather annoying and uncomfortable. Accidentally turned on the tv for literally 2 minutes and got charged £9.99 communications services. Not happy. Would have made a bigger fuss about the bed and the TV thing, but as we were only staying one night, didn't really wanna bother. I don't think I will be coming back and if I do, I will make sure we get the right beds this time.

“Nice hotel, great location, mixed service.”

A lovely old building in a great location overlooking the river in Bedford. Our experience was spoiled by noisy guests and mixed service. The Swan is a busy hotel with weddings and other functions taking place. We were kept awake by inconsiderate guests until the early hours 2 nights of an 8 night stay. We experienced very good service (thank you Kirsty) and very poor service. One evening it took over an hour to get coffee and dessert in the lounge area. The buffet breakfast was also less than expected with a very 'picked over' look and indifferent attention from the staff. The parking lot is not big enough on busy nights. Cars get blocked in and if you leave, you can't get back in. As there is no other parking close to the hotel, you would be stuck.