The Swan at Hay

my job is to travel around the world, which means that there will be more than one hotel during the year. this time I went on holiday. this hotel is one of the better ones. I could write a long list of positive things, like tidyness, posision or how Nice everything was. I prefer to mention the negatives: 1. food not included in the hotel price, as we made the wrong order at the arrivle point, it is partly our fault, but the price for food was nevertheless at the highest level. so we went to a cafe in town instead. 2. during afternoon tea we felt forgotten. the waiters did not know that we were coming, and felt that we were a bit in the way of the next meal. the table was booked in advance. small mistakes are allowed, we'll be back anyway!

We have enjoyed our stay at the Swan, the building has been beautifully restored, the staff are very friendly and helpful, the food is prepared using quality ingredients, and is not overpriced, the garden is lovely and gets the sun in the afternoon, exactly what we hoped for.

Called for lunch on a busy Saturday in Hay, although unlike the rest of the town the Swan was deserted. I had a steak (ordered rare and came more well done but I was too hungry to complain!). Had a dessert too. Good value and good friendly service. I was almost alone in the dining room but spoke to a lady on an adjacent table. More marketing should be done to get more diners in at lunchtime...?

We had a lovely stay at The Swan. The building and gardens are beautiful, and our room was large. The staff are super friendly, and we had the best breakfast each day. The food is good quality and cooked to order. Parking is a little tricky at the rear, but there is a car park across the lane, a short walk away. We found The Swan to be a great base for day trips around the Brecon Beacons. Traffic noise is always a possibility in properties like this on roads through a village so we understood and tolerated it. The village itself is interesting to explore. We would definitely stay here again.

My family and I recently stayed at the Swan Hotel, Hay on Wye, to celebrate my milestone birthday. I really don't have enough superlatives to describe how wonderful our entire experience was, in every respect. The beautiful setting of the hotel, in the "Town of Books" , exquisite food, expertly prepared and delivered exactly as requested and on time, for my celebration dinner, and the wonderfully friendly and professional service delivered by every single member of the hotel's team, all contributed to a birthday celebration which exceeded our expectations, in every way. Adrian and Vanessa were extremely patient and supportive in managing the logistics, and transforming my ideas into reality. Tina was exemplary in every way, providing a warm welcome and constant reassurance that all would go perfectly to plan, working hard with Nicky, to miraculously transform the Green Room private dining area into a really special venue, and supplying meticulous, yet unobtrusive, oversight, ably assisted by Sarah, so that no detail or family request was overlooked. Above all, Tina and her team took all of the stress from my shoulders, so that I was able to relax and enjoy the experience, alongside my guests!.Vicky (Head Chef) has developed a menu which caters for a wide range of dietary requirements, including Vegans/Vegetarians, and children, and my guests of all ages and dietary choices raved about the delicious food! Tom was ever present on bar service, keeping the drinks flowing.Housekeeping were no exception, delivering friendly, responsive service, throughout our stay. This is an extremely dedicated team, of which Interesting Hotels (the parent group) should be justifiably proud. Every single one of those we encountered, whether explicitly named or not, is a credit to the hospitality sector and their superlative service was appreciated beyond measure. Even the weather was obliging, ensuring sunshine for our planned canoeing adventure, and enabling us to enjoy the lovely hotel garden, which was also in constant view from our perfectly positioned room (no. 1). I can't really sing the praises of this hotel highly enough and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it as a venue for any special celebration! Thank you to all at the Swan at Hay for the wonderful memories! I recognise that this perfection didn't come without a huge amount of hard work on your part! We will definitely be back!

A good looking building as it was evidently a coaching inn, they see to have very mainly small rooms with small windows which could be quite hot in the better weather although the bathrooms are good possibly as they could be. Parking had the advantage of a large car park opposite the rear entrance Surely the place needs a better chef as a dinner item was chicken with mushrooms, whereas the chicken was hard and the mushrooms uneatable, were it not the fact that we were staying there it would have been returned to the kitchen. They boast the breakfast items were locally sourced but the sausage was so dense it was hard and unappetizing and the bacon so thick that it had dried out and again was difficult to eat. We saw people with poached eggs complaining that they were poached rock hard but it is always difficult for a chef to produce as they should be without great expertise Probably the best hotel in the town so suffer it but choose your menu wisely or eat out where you can

Lovely stay the The Swan. The staff were all lovely especially the lady on reception (sorry I don’t know your name) The room was nice and the bed was ridiculously comfortable!! Food good standard at dinner & lovely breakfast, especially the lemon muffins! Thank you for looking after us!

Excellent stay during a busy period (Hay Festival). Without exception all the team members I came into contact with were friendly and welcoming. Very good choice of breakfast dishes, both hot and cold. Hot breakfast items were cooked to order and served piping hot. Room was spotless. I last stayed here about 5 years ago and enjoyed my stay then but I think this year was even better. Delighted to say I am booked in again for Hay 2025. Prices are higher during the Festival but that is due to demand and The Swan is an easy walk to the festival and town and away from the noise of late night bars etc. Thank you to all team members. I look forward to returning.

A mediocre meal fussily over decorated, but would be adequate despite costing nearly £100 if we were not required to pay for a very poor rice pudding which we had to send back. Very poor customer sensitivity & we were told “there was nothing wrong with it”, well there certainly was & the lack of staff customer awareness was actually shocking.