The Swan At Hay

The room was very clean and the shower worked very well. The hotel is a little dated in places but this does give it some character. Staff were very pleasant, helpful and attentive. Good beer available in the bar (HPA) and the food was excellent both at dinner and breakfast. The evening dining area was a little quiet during our stay, somewhat lacking in atmosphere but there was a larger party being catered for separately so perhaps this would not always be the case. Parking is a bit limited but there is a large public car park just across the road which we used during our stay so no problems there. The location of the hotel is excellent for the town, which is well worth a visit. A short walk gets you to the many book shops, other artisan shops and cafes/pubs (and the castle).

We thought that overall it was a little expensive but no doubt this was the going rate for Hay on Wye, which is a lovely little town. Well worth a visit. Lots of bookshops! You could browse for hours. Plenty of places to eat. Good food. The castle was an excellent diversion for an hour or so- great exhibits and multimedia presentations.

Conveniently located in town with a great garden for sitting out in.

Staff were all very friendly and helpful in a great position and a really lovely building full of charm the garden was great to sit in to relax

The room was a little jaded but. Was clean

Lovely old coaching inn with original features.

Our front room was noisy with road traffic.No lift for our luggage.

Location was great

Room was noisy, food was ok but nothing special

The staff were great and the location was fabulous. The bed was very comfortable.

We were in room 11 which needed a bit of TLC. The bedding and towels had seen better days.

Good location, comfortable

Conveniently located in the heart of the town where our car was secure. Nice restaurant and breakfast was a scrumptious. The staff were amazing and extremely helpful.

Narrow staircase but not a deal breaker.

Great food, friendly staff, bike storage

Bedroom could do with some TLC

Location very good. Small car park very useful. Big bed

Although dog friendly, not in main dining area which tbh the only comfy looking area to eat. Ended up in the garden as the area to eat with dogs is very uncomfortable and a bit gloomy. The garden unlit and felt a little abandoned. No offer of dessert. Poor choice at bar. Generally needing an update, no netflix etc just terrestrial tv and intermittent WiFi. Quite expensive for room only

Breakfast was good with a reasonable selection on offer. Often juice jugs and pastries ran out so you had to ask for more - met with politeness and prompt action by staff. Room was simply fitted out, clean and had a really good shower. As with age of property, you can hear voices in the room next door, they also had the TV on loudly. Thankfully, sleeping after 10pm. Hotel has a variety of lounge areas, garden and bar, which we made use of and liked a lot.

Dinner was a mixed experience, cold mushy peas, very small piece of cod in batter and over salty mushroom gnocchi, so didn't quite meet value for money. Surprised as there were no issues with the cooked breakfast. Breakfast table set for two instead of three was slightly annoying.

The friendliness of the staff.The professionalism and how personable everybody was especially acting manager Sarah who went out of her way to make us feel welcome. Room was very comfortable and had been modernised. Food menu had variety and was tasty and well presented

Liked everything about the Swan at Hay

Lovely hotel and attentive staff. Room was nice, and lovely to have a bath

A bit expensive and an extra dog charge

The staff were could not have been more charming and helpful and were the big plus. The evening meal lamb dish was excellent (praise to the chef) despite not being as pink as I’d have liked.

It looks like the management have taken their eye off the ball: Light in corridor/stairs so low it is difficult to see steps and a phone torch required to get key in lock in evenings. Wash basin waste partially blocked so v slow draining. With a wonderful Georgian saloon as the dining room, it takes a feat of laziness/disinterest to turn the decor into a grim inhospitable cheap eatery. Get a good interior designer pronto. It could so easily be a destination venue. Good + ambiance = an excellent restaurant.

Was in room 17 - needs a proper solution to the outside door closing quietly into that building as very few people observe the sign to close the door quietly and it makes it hard to sleep.

General ambience is great but attention to detail is not there.

The food, both evening meal and breakfast were very poor. Catering standards, preparation and ingredients were of a poor quality.

Great hotel, super staff, fantastic location.

Location is excellent

Lacked atmosphere in the bar and reception areas

Good location. Nice garden. Good food

Quite noisy as bedroom was right on the main road; no space in the car park or on the electric charging station (those spaces were being used by cars that weren’t even electric)

Location was perfect near the town and near my cycling route. It was also opposite a paid car park where I could park after checking out The room in the coach house was very quiet overnight

Missing bulb in the bathroom Small amount of black mould in the shower Beautiful dining room Friendly attentive staff

A lovely central location that suited our needs.

Just the steep steps but this is the UK.

Lovely receptionist named Sarah.

Two of us were put in the Coach Rooms, an annexe across the car park. The stairs up to our room were downright dangerous; there was dust and cobwebs in the bedroom, and the en suite toilet was installed far too low to the floor. The floor of the room leant downhill.

Nice choice of dishes on the menu, both for dinner and breakfast

Battered fish was overdone and dry. Really not good. Breakfast was not hot and all the poached eggs were overdone. This is serious for eggs benedict!

Very relaxing surroundings . Great gardens Place to chill. Excellent friendly helpful staff

N/A

Close to town. Finally some one with big towels to use and not hand towel size to use. Food was good and reasonably price. Nice bar area. Parking on site. Nice beer garden.

Very pleasant stay in the Swan at Hay. Never been to Hay on Wye before decided to stop off on way home from Wales. We had dinner in the garden room restaurant which was excellent. Breakfast was of a good standard. Our double room was comfortable and the shower one of the most simple to operate I’ve ever come across. It’s well placed for shops etc

Room fairly small no lift was the only low score but the type of property it is I didn’t expect a lift.

Friendly staff. Clean, quiet and comfortable room. Decent breakfast. Well located for all the town's attractions. The room was large and spotlessly clean.

Bathroom was rather basic. Decaff coffee at breakfast tasted like instant coffee. The car park was small and already full, however there was a public car park very close by.

Quiet and easy living. Street parking

A bit busy for the staff

Dichtbij geweldige boekwinkels en mooie tuin.

Zeer beperkte parkeergelegenheid op eigen terrein ( binnenplaats). Weliswaar parkeerterrein (betaald) dichtbij maar om de 4 uur nieuw parkeerticket kopen. Je kunt niet per dag betalen.

Convenient for the town. Staff excellent as always. It was comfortable.

A few items needed attention in the room e.g. the blind didn’t close properly in the room and the attachment to the blind in the bathroom was loose. Small things.

Great position, lovely big clean rooms, staff were all very helpful.

Car park was very small, some of the food was a bit disappointing for the price.

Very personable staff.

Rather worrying to see a rat running around the garden of the hotel and one begins to wonder about the hygiene standards of the hotel. The rooms are cramped and certainly not good value for money.

Location was fine

Noisy floors. Small rooms. Expensive. Parking was difficult. We would have liked a heads up about the tour of Britain taking up all the spaces in their car park. TV didn’t work.

It is a convenient place to stay in Hay on Wye if you wish to visit the bookshops

The room was very hot. Service at breakfast time was quite slow

The staff were very helpful, and the receptionist who checked me in went above and beyond really. The restaurant staff fitted me in for dinner without me having to book which I hadn't realised that I was supposed to do. The room was clean and comfy with a good sized bathroom.

A good hotel, with friendly staff and a superb breakfast

Well located with limited parking.

Dinner served 5.30 to 8pm

Good sized room. Easy to find. Nice restaurant. Lovely staff

Car park very tight. Ev charging unavailable.

The location was great and the hotel had a lovely beer garden

The lack of attention from the Breakfast staff , we were sat at our table for 10 mins and no one had come to take our order just for a pot of tea, we had to go and find them and they were outside chatting to each other. The food overall was just ok. For the amount of money you pay to stay there we felt the quality of service and overall state of the hotel was disappointing.

Excellent location, very lovely staff, comfortable room, nice garden.

Rather minimal for a listed building - the bar and lounge could be more ‘cosy’. The bar food (fish & chips) was disappointing.

Location is good. Garden is very pleasant. Lovely to have a fan laid on during the hot weather. Staff mostly helpful and polite.

Overall we found the hotel to be underwhelming for £210 per night. Fan didn’t work in the bathroom, dusty radiator, dirty marks on the ceiling, only one chair in a room for two people. Breakfast not as advertised (hash brown not hash browns, no black pudding as per menu listing in the full breakfast). In the veggie breakfast the ‘mashed avocado’ was served quite black and unappetising so therefore remained untouched. One round of toast each in a breakfast costing £18 per head? Disappointing.

Location - just outside the centre of the town; on site parking; friendly, helpful staff; ability to eat in restaurant from bar or main menu.

Dirty drinking glass in shower room. Rather expensive main menu and fish & chips were ‘off’.

Lovely location. Dining area and garden were exceptional. Staff were friendly and helpful

The stairs up to our rooms in the coach house were very difficult with cases

The room and staff

The cooking of eggs was not to our liking

Location was good and spacious room. Nice restaurant and relaxing bar area. Bed was comfortable with cool bedlinen.

Restaurant food was very good but expensive considering portion size. Limited choice of teas in the room ie no fruit teas or drinking chocolate as normally provided in such accommodation.

Great location near to amazing riverside walks

All good

Room very clean and tidy comfortable and food very good. Staff extremely helpful and friendly. Good choice of menu too

Sadly ...No ordinary tea bags !

Food was terrible. A total rip off

Dinner

room was lovely, found the shower cubicle little small, the garden was very nice, we had great weather, could do with cushions on the chairs for bit more comfort outside. but overall good

Great option for an overnight stay following a full days hike along Offas Dyke. The room was spacious and had comfortable beds. The staff were excellent, very friendly and helpful. We enjoyed the breakfast which had a good selection of cooked and non cooked options. The garden is also a great space to enjoy an evening meal outdoors. On checking out we made good use of the baggage storage and communal areas to relax in before moving on to our next accommodation.

It is quite expensive

nothing

The room was basic, but provided a bed and a shower, but was 'tired' like most of the hotel. I have never booked a hotel without breakfast, but was told I hadn't this time. As it transpired, it didn't matter, as we had dinner in the evening, which from the menu, looked good, but was so bad, we decided not to 'risk' breakfast. We felt sorry for the young staff, who were pleasant enough, but we feel were 'fighting a losing battle'. "Some you win and some you lose". With this hotel we lost badly, but some lessons have been learnt.

Breakfast was very good - eggs Benedict with salmon and the next day with ham. Dinner was good but not as good.

0

Good choice of breakfast

Room size

A good hotel with courteous staff and a beautiful garden

Nice hotel and close to town. Comfortable rooms and nice breakfast

Only limited parking but public car park opposite which is an alternative option

Lovely room. Huge comfy bed. Very well appointed. Staff friendly and super helpful. We needed to wait for the EV charger to be available - staff very helpful in facilitating access to charge our EV. Garden great. Lots of space to relax inside if we preferred. Breakfast seriously yummy!

Nothing really. Breakfast pricing could be a bot clearer - what you get, for which price.

Fabulous location, lovely gardens

Good location and parking available

Too much light coming through the curtains even at night due to street lights

Lovely room with tall ceilings. Comfortable bed. Friendly staff. Nice and clean. Lovely garden.

Food was just ok. Parking is limited so needed to park in the next door car park at a cost.

Comfortable room. Friendly staff. Nice garden area.

Poor food. Low quality.

A lovely hotel welcoming & friendly staff. Good restaurant My fourth visit

Lage

Wirkte ziemlich abgewohnt, Essen im Restaurant war wirklich nicht gut, sehr kleiner Parkplatz und schnell voll,

Lovely room, helpful staff. Good location.

Evening meal was average at best

Nice and clean, comfortable.

There were very few to channel options. The room out in the courtyard was quite small with a very steep stairway to get to it.

Central location to the town centre of Hay on Wye. Bedroom was spacious. Good breakfast. Staff were very good, friendly and helpful. Lovely beer garden.

The traffic noise from the main road especially from about 5am onwards. We had to keep the bedroom window open as the weather was hot! The hotel car park is small. Evening meal was average.

Very friendly staff. Very close to the plethora of book shops

The young lady in charge when we arrived was very impressive. The location of the hotel is good because Hay is fun as a place. Handy places close by to walk the dogs in a very green setting -- we brought two dogs. Our electric car was charged very efficiently.

The main bad thing was my wife's tomato and mozzarella main course at dinner. Bizarrely, it came drowned in a dark spicy pesto kind of heavy drizzle, and she believes it had chilli in it even after she explained she is allergic to chilli. So that was disappointing and she sent it back, and she asked for a standard tomato and mozzarella (in the form that would be served in most restaurants around the world, after all). Unfortunately, it came back now with half a mozzarella of extremely lumpy quality and a tiny tomato salad. She then asked if she could have some olive oil on it, which after all would be served on such a salad in the restaurants of the world. The young waitress went back to ask. "We have no olive oil" came back the reply from the kitchen. This reply seems absurd. It indicates to us that the chef was simply grumpy with my wife. It is inconceivable to us that the Swan at Hay on Wye has no olive oil in its substantial kitchen. So we will probably never go back to this establishment. This culinary part of our stay was unusually poor and odd.

I booked the Swan at Hay through the booking .com portal. I can tell you the hotel was quiet by the time I arrived. Check was easy and I was directed to my room which was in the old stables. Breakfast was extra. there was the choice of continental or English. I chose the continental which was very good with many options within that to satisfy anyone. A shortcoming was the bar had no beer, only rather expensive lagers. Over £9 for a pint and a bag of peanuts!!

No Beer.

Perfect location, lovely gardens, very friendly staff. One of the receptionists in particular was extremely helpful.

N/A

Very clean rooms. Very comfortable bed (although a little small for a double). Lovely hotel

Breakfast was extra. Understaffed so had to hunt for someone to serve in the bar.

The location was great and the staff were lovely. The hotel was clean and comfortable. It’s an old building so the rooms are quirky as you would expect.

We found our room a little cramped with not enough storage but we did have our golden retriever with us so we had to accommodate her crate.

View over garden from Room 1. Generous buffet breakfast. The artwork on the walls. High windows. Wine on the garden in evening sunshine

A lift, obviously.

Great location and staff were super lovely and helpful! It has a lovely beer garden for the nice weather so it is a perfect place to stay when visiting the area.

Quite expensive for just a room rate for one night.

Staff were professional friendly and welcoming. Bed comfortable.

Room hot window did not open. Decor and fittings tired.

Central! Good position! Great garden! Staff brilliant!

Poor shower! Toilet drains noisy! Toilet/bathroom door not closing!

Very flexible staff, great location

Poached eggs not runny!

Location

Dated Tired 4 star is questionable

Ein ordentlicher Landgasthof.

Die Küchenleistung ist verbesserungsfähig , der Backfisch war verkocht und innen total weich. Das junge Frühstückspersonal war vollkommen überfordert. Das Hotel soll 4 Sterne haben, ich gebe maximal 3. Im Vergleich zu ähnlichen Häusern einer 3 Wochen-Rundreise ist das Haus deutlich zu teuer.

Location in town was good and nice big bed

Lack of parking, should say limited parking when booking. No draws for clothes in our room only hanging space. Website should be updated as states the hotel has a bistro when not there. Limited fresh fruit at breakfast.

A comfortable, well situated hotel. Helpful, polite and well informed staff. Rooms fairly standard. Beds comfortable.

Location. Free parking if available. Clean comfortable. Staff were pleasant and friendly. Large room and bathroom. Pizza was fab.

Decor a bit tierd. Set up as a twin but no sockets by one bed.Attention to small details required. Poor choice of drinks on hospitality tray.UHT milk and limmited supply. Only shower jel provided in bathroom, if not providing shampoo etc make it clear on website.. Cobwebs on ceiling. Fan did not work. Only able to open upper sash window.Stain on carpet . Missing curtain tie. Bathroom needs refit shower very poor broken and didn't fit in the fitting could only use hand held. Choice of music in dining room dire. Breakfast cooked food average bun for a bacon roll hard and dried out had to complain. Stayed end 2025 bit disappointed this time.

Perfect location for exploring this beautiful part of the world and for the Hay Festival.

I have stayed at the Swan twice. I love it for its location and great restaurant with a garden.

At breakfast, the cooked breakfast is always good, but the buffet / continental never really seems to be restocked so if you arrive later during breakfast hours, many items are gone.

This review is a difficult one, because it was not all bad, but events marred the experience. The room was in the old stable block, not an issue, and was fine, good size and comfortable bed, nice spacious en-suite. The hotel is well located just on the outskirts of the town and only 5-10 mins walk to town centre and the old bookshops for which it is well known. There is a lovely garden area for a sundowner, well anytime really. There is parking at the hotel but very limited, 8-9 tops and very tricky to get in and out; relies on everyone parking well!! we were lucky and got a space. Luckily there's a public car park nearby which is free from 6pm to 8am. Receptionist was good.

The problems started at the bar when it became quite obvious that they were short staffed. Two G&T's took rather a long time to arrive as there was only one barman serving 2 bars. He was actually very good, but just too much to do with taking food orders from the casual bar as well as drink orders from the casual side and the lounge. We had booked dinner in the Dining room and while the Menu's were delivered quickly, ordering was slow and delivery even worse. We waited 55 minutes for the main course to actually arrive and when it did both meals were inedible. We obviously refused to pay other than the wine which was quite nice!! it became apparent that the "Chef" only knew how to cook Burgers and chips! Probably a trainee to satisfy bar snack requirements but no idea about main menu courses! We were somewhat concerned as to how the cooked breakfast would go, but it was surprisingly respectable and quite quick. Obviously the "real Chef" was back on duty. The young waiters were OK, but a little bit too chatty with each other rather that being attentive to the client's.

Sehr gute Lage. Wunderbares Himmelbett!

It was tired and the shower was leaking into the wardrobe. Location doesn’t get better but room wasn’t at all what I expected considering celebs stay there for the festival.

Looked very tired and wardrobe was smelly due to water leaking from shower.

Food was fabulous, both dinner and breakfast. Staff very helpful. Nice bar and lounge.

Room was up a narrow staircase in the annex. Bulbs not working, rather tired room.

I want my money back I had tell there, on leaving time!!!

Staff

Good staff

N/a

The staff were lovely

Dated, small rooms with v thin walls and courtyard noise from about 530 am

Centrale ligging, stijlvol hotel

Parkeerplaats was vol, kamer heel klein, niet heel schoon.

Welcoming staff

Back garden was nice.

The stairs to our room were horrible; not the cleanest; furnishings have seen better days; nothing really cheerful about the place.

Everything

Good location & the staff were generally very helpful and friendly.

It’s a little old fashioned in places. Onsite parking is very limited. The quality of the food at dinner was very average with far better options elsewhere.

Was a amazing trip into a time warp Exactly as I imagined England 50 years ago bar the lovely modern convenience

Nothing to dislike

Food very good, the staff is excellent

Decor looked tired, slightly overpriced