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Reviews of The Swan at Forest Row

4 out of 5
The Swan at Forest Row
1 Lewes Road, Forest Row, England

Reviews

8.8

Excellent

Rating 10 - Excellent. 45 out of 75 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 20 out of 75 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 7 out of 75 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 1 out of 75 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 2 out of 75 reviews" "

9.4/10

Cleanliness

9.4/10

Staff & service

8.8/10

Amenities

9.0/10

Property conditions & facilities

8.6/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

10/10 Excellent

Hannah, Fancott

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Exactly what you want from a nice pub with rooms. Clean, comfortable and a large bed. Nice toiletries provided, nice bedding and fluffy towels. Easy to go downstairs for breakfast or dinner or go out to the walkable options. We stayed here to enjoy 100 acre wood which is a short drive or walk away. Friendly staff at the hotel.
Stayed 2 nights in May 2024

10/10 Excellent

Nick

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed at the Swan for one night as I was on a course nearby the following day. Great choice of venue, very welcoming, clean and comfortable and spacious room. All the staff were very friendly, no complaints!
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2024

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Not deep cleaned
We understand the hotel is pet friendly but we were unable to stay in room due to allergies. Not a deep clean as stated by staff. Cobweb over shower head dust around skirting . Room also smelt damp and black mould on grouting in shower. We couldn't stay the night so choose to drive home. I had emailed hotel next day but had no response .
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2024

6/10 Okay

Susan

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
We were warmly welcomed by a lovely lady I didn't catch her name) The room I requested (with a bath) hadn't been allocated to us but after a call this was sorted and the room we stayed in was lovely. We ate in the pub, my husbands beef short rib was only luke warm, they said it would be replaced but would take 20 mins,we said just to warm properly would be ok, which was done although I did think that some money should have been taken off or complimentary drinks offered but they were not. The breakfast was lovely but no cereal, yoghurt, fresh fruit or croissants which are usually offered at most hotels and b&b's.
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2023

10/10 Excellent

Emily

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Fun little stay
Really friendly staff. Our room which we booked last minute for a little escape, was tiny! But it was comfortable. Booking above a pub we were worried about noise and it was a little noisy but mainly from the traffic as the room is really close to the road. The staff were really cool, the pub had a great vibe, the shower was amazing, the TV perfect and the breakfast was Top. good value.
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2023

10/10 Excellent

Paul

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2023

2/10 Terrible

Matt

Stayed 1 night in Jun 2023

8/10 Good

Kam-Yin

Liked: Staff & service, room comfort
Bolthole for Spartan day at Ashdown Forest!
Staff were extreemly helpful and friendly. I chose this hotel because of the excellent reviews but my personal experience of the stay was that the room we stayed in (cant remember the name of the room but its situated at the first level, the first door you come to). The bathroom was lovely and clean but the main room was quite dusty. The room was very basic. Our room was detailed as a Delux Double Room but I failed to see the 'Delux' part. We also found the parking a nightmare, the pub is obviously a popular busy pub but with limited parking, when we asked where we could park if the car park was full, we were told to park in the free town/village car park about 1/2 a mile away!...HUMMM... We liked the fact that the hotel/pub was dog friendly, so we brought our dog along but we found that we were 'locked in' overnight! So if our dog had wanted to go out to relieve herself overnight (which can happen from time to time) we couldn't exit the building unfortunately.
Stayed 2 nights in Oct 2023

2/10 Terrible

James

Travelled with group
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Real Life Fawlty Towers - AVOID AT ALL COSTS
We found the real life Fawlty Towers!!! What a night- we were shown to our room, walking out of the front of the pub, past the petrol forecourt, round the back near the bins, past a loud extractor fan spitting greasy air from the kitchen at you. To arrive at the 'Balfour Suite' - next problem, no electricity whatsoever and a serious damp issue in the room. After a few minutes, we were asked to wait at the bar and offered complimentary drinks. So we had to use the touches on our phones to get changed, headed back to the bar. All staff friendly, unfortunately, young and untrained. However Jack was excellent and we decided to eat in the pub section as there was only one other table in the restaurant. Every single dish was awful. Some of the worst food we've ever experiences. The bill came to almost £250 and £100 was removed. Cold starters, over cooked steak, it was a farce.....which turned out to be very funny and literally everything was awful. Then breakfast just about topped it off. After over 30 minutes, not one of us (4 people) ate the food. I tried to speak to the waiter, and he responded "well, where have you eaten before"- this waiter turned out to be the GM. After explaining everything that had happened, he shrugged she shoulders and said "thank you for your feedback". A real shame as for £180 for the room and £150 with not even a 'sorry' from the GM, not going to be recommending or visiting ever again.
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2023

8/10 Good

Alicia

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2023

10/10 Excellent

Daniel

Stayed 1 night in Sep 2023

8/10 Good

Mike

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice pub/hotel. Food was good Breakfast didn’t start until 8am which wasn’t ideal. Apart from that all ok. Would stay again.
Stayed 4 nights in Sep 2023

10/10 Excellent

Susanna

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Lovely hotel - thank you
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023

10/10 Excellent

Terry

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Ideal boutique hotel/pub
Lovely staff, very friendly and welcoming, ideal for an overnight stop.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023

6/10 Okay

Jacqueline

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2023

10/10 Excellent

Geoffrey

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Overnight stop
Very pleasant welcome by member of staff on arrival. Nice spacious bedroom and quiet despite the proximity to the main road. Breakfast the next morning was good
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2023

10/10 Excellent

Mary

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Convenient free parking, very nice pub, great atmosphere, food is very good. Walk to village, convenient Tessco next door. Good value with breakfast included.
Stayed 1 night in May 2023

8/10 Good

Caroline

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Lovely friendly staff, convenient parking, good service.
Stayed 2 nights in May 2023

10/10 Excellent

Ian

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in May 2023

10/10 Excellent

Andrew

Stayed 1 night in May 2023

10/10 Excellent

Andrew

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Lovely Stay.
Lovely stay. Very comfortable rooms. Friendly staff. Great food. Thoroughly recommend
Stayed 2 nights in May 2023

6/10 Okay

Paula

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
The room in the picture is not the room we had. They have 2 rooms which they call a Junior Suite. The one in the picture is a very large and prestigious looking room with wooden beam ceiling and a large fireplace. The room we had was just a simple room with none of the features of the one in the picture. I feel that the pictured room was worth the £178 a night but the room we had was a very poor relation to that room and in my opinion grossly over priced. I did mention to the hotel that I was disappointed with my room only to be told ‘sorry but you are in our other Junior Suite room. Breakfast was substantial but we had to wait half an hour from ordering until it arrived and the bacon was so over cooked and dry that it was not edible. On a positive note the room was clean, well appointed and the most comfortable bed I have ever slept in.
Stayed 1 night in May 2023

10/10 Excellent

Daniel

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
The staff were all amazing, great welcome and all round pleasant stay
Stayed 2 nights in May 2023

8/10 Good

yen

Travelled with pets, Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Most is great , staffs & room &breakfast is good , but room above the bar and facing the Main Street , and after 10pm the main entrance is close , you need to take the back door ( exit door ) there is a steep stair is hard for elderly or a dogs if you want to walk the a bit .
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2023

10/10 Excellent

Katy

Stayed 1 night in Apr 2023

8/10 Good

Jeanine

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities
The only way out at night was down very steep, slippery, and dark stairs. My dog could not go down the stairs for his nightly duties, so he had to hold it until morning.
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2023

8/10 Good

Michael

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2023

10/10 Excellent

Jeffrey

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
March trip
Excellent location for what we wanted to do. Excellent value for money.
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2023

6/10 Okay

Stephen

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Neighboring church bells rang every hour on the hour, and housekeeping had not replaced towels, toilet paper and soap. Quickly remedied when told.
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2023

6/10 Okay

Shelley

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
The property was a lovely pub, the room was spacious and lovely and clean. The staff were excellent and so friendly and it came with a delicious breakfast. I would have given this hotel a glowing review if it wasn't for the noise. The windows are only singled glazed and it's right next to a road and a church so there is noise all night from cars, bikes and church bells. You can't actually hear any noise from the pub but when people come outside you can hear every word they are saying which isn't really a problem as the pub isn't open late but unfortunately on my last evening there a load of yound adults used the pub car park as a hangout and we're very loud and revving engines ect. The pub was shut and I had no idea who to contact about it. I had a big exam the next day so it really put a downer on the trip. I did email the next day as I'd left my electric toothbrush in the room so I asked if I could come back and get it but it's been almost 2 weeks and I've not had a reply.
Stayed 3 nights in Mar 2023

10/10 Excellent

Michael

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2023

10/10 Excellent

Elizabeth

Business traveller
Liked: Staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Comfy bed, fabulous breakfast.
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2023

8/10 Good

Fabien

Stayed 1 night in Feb 2023

10/10 Excellent

Julie

Stayed 1 night in Feb 2023

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Disliked: Room comfort
Good but a couple of bits to be wary of.
Nice room, polite and friendly staff etc. all the standard good bits. But there is a church across the road that rung it’s bells every hour through the night and kept waking us up so our sleep was terrible. Also, the breakfast was served cold, and is served 9-11 on a weekend. Not 8-10 as stated on hotels.com and watch out if you are tall as there are lots of low ceilings/doorways/beams.
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2023

10/10 Excellent

Jerry

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Highly recommended
Excellent hotel and amazing staff
Stayed 2 nights in Jan 2023

10/10 Excellent

Rounak

Stayed 1 night in Dec 2022

10/10 Excellent

Katie

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Definitely recommend
Lovely warm welcome on arrival. Room was beautiful, clean and had everything we needed. Would recommend to anyone wanting to stay in the area
Stayed 2 nights in Dec 2022

8/10 Good

Richard

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2022

10/10 Excellent

Stephen

Stayed 1 night in Nov 2022
Response from swan on 23 Nov 2022
Thank you

10/10 Excellent

Mary

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Lovely big comfy bed in large room, warm & clean, good breakfast and lovely staff. Very small cups in room for tea, used large plastic glasses instead.
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2022
Response from swan on 23 Nov 2022
Thankyou for your review glad you enjoyed your stay.

10/10 Excellent

Francis

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Yet again a wonderful stay I find stuff absolutely fantastic the food fantastic service superb Comfort 10 out of 10 I cannot fault this I cannot for
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2022
Response from swan on 23 Nov 2022
Thank you so much for your kind review glad you enjoyed your stay with us again,

10/10 Excellent

Wai Keung Eric

Stayed 1 night in Nov 2022

10/10 Excellent

Gary

Stayed 1 night in Nov 2022
Response from swan on 16 Nov 2022
Thank you for your 10 out of 10

10/10 Excellent

Philip

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Short break visiting family.
Very welcoming check in, easy parking. Spotless room. Very comfortable bed. Everything we needed. Even ear plugs as it is quite noisy until the pub shuts (which is a very reasonable time). Breakfast was lively both days. Evening meal was delicious.
Stayed 2 nights in Nov 2022
Response from swan on 11 Nov 2022
Thank you for your kind review, glad to hear you had a nice time here at the Swan.

10/10 Excellent

Laura

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
A wonderful nights stay. Brilliant breakfast, great facilities and a super comfy bed and in an ideal location. Staff were lovely and very welcoming and attentive.
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2022
Response from swan on 28 Oct 2022
Thank you very much for your review.

10/10 Excellent

Nichola

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2022
Response from swan on 21 Oct 2022
Thank you for your 10 out of 10

8/10 Good

Marc

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Really enjoyable stay.
Really enjoyable stay in a clean, well maintained hotel. The staff were friendly and the breakfast tasty. The only downside was that there was no remote for the tv.
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2022
Response from swan on 12 Oct 2022
Hello, thank you for your review, glad you had a lovely stay and met some of our amazing staff. Sorry to hear about the tv remote. We will double check.

6/10 Okay

James

Stayed 1 night in Sep 2022
Response from swan on 26 Sep 2022
Thank you for your review

10/10 Excellent

Chris

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
pre holiday stopover
Family stay 2 rooms adjacent, good food dinner and breakfast 🍳. Excellent full English could have had some cereals, these were not offered that said we didn’t ask and the cooked meal was more than enough.
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2022
Response from swan on 16 Sep 2022
Thank you for your review, glad you had a nice family stau.