Classic Lodges - The White Swan

Second visit to this hotel, friendly staff good location to visit attractions along the coast and enjoy Alnwick.
Room had some dust but was perfectly good for our stay, quiet and with tea/ coffee making facility,bathroom was good .
Evening meal had plenty of choices and the breakfast was plentiful.
The olympic woodwork is a reminder of how grand the 3 sister ships were
Had a great stay and will be back.

Great location to stay to visit in and around Alnwick unfortunately we only booked for one night which is a shame as The White Swan was a lovely place to stay in as the staff were great friendly and helpful the room had everything we needed and it was really comfortable to stay. The breakfast completed our stay fantastic

room on top floor,no offer of help with bags.am partially disabled and this lack of attention on checking in started alarm bells ringing.breakfast the following was shocking.I was in at 7.30 and all breakfast items were cold.I leftvirtually all of the food.On checking out no member of staff on reception said goodbye or asked if my stay was alright.How this place got three stars must be a misprint.Stay away from this place.

We arrived on Christmas day 2025 and the hotel was a beautiful place to stay ,
Staff were very professional and made the stay enjoyable, food was great and a lovely clean room and spacious

The hotel is in a great central location but parking is very limited. Although we arrived early at 2pm the only space available was in a very tight corner behind a ramp - the receptionist said that nobody usually parks there as it’s so difficult to get in & out of (& it was). Our room (110) was grubby with dirty skirting boards and stained / dirty curtains & carpet. I wiped all of the touch points with wipes including the dirty switches & liquid soap dispenser. The room was freezing cold when we arrived but I turned the radiator up to full, went shopping & it was fairly warm when we got back. There was no radiator or heated towel rail in the bathroom so it was cold in there & the plumbing made an awful loud noise when the shower was in use.
The room smelled slightly of cigarette smoke & one of the pillows smelled really dirty (the next day my husband looked under the pillow case & the pillow was covered in dirty brown stains)!
The next morning we went for breakfast in the beautiful Olympic Suite (the whole downstairs of the hotel was stunning) but we had to wait over 20 minutes for our coffee which also came with toast. We weren’t asked if we preferred white or brown bread & so it came with mostly white & 1 slice of brown - we prefer brown bread. The sausages were still pink & looked barely cooked & the cooked tomatoes were soggy. It seemed they were short staffed so it was hard to relax while eating my aneamic sausage, white toast & soggy tomatoes with the waitresses rushing about around us (clearing tables for the queue of people patiently waiting to be seated).
However the staff were all very friendly particularly the young lad on the bar (we ate in Hardy’s bar on Sat pm) & also the night porter who was so kind & a really lovely guy.

For a short , two nights stay , The White Swan Hotel in Alnwick is best described as adequate . On the up side , all members of staff were friendly, helpful and polite and the meals were good .In general we feel that we got good value for money .
On the downside however , and the reason why we will never stay there again , was the disgusting state of one of the quilts . It was covered in brown sweat stains , one in particular being large and deeper coloured than the rest .Had we removed the quilt cover on arrival instead of ten minutes prior to checking out then we would NEVER have slept in that bed.
The receptionist seemed very MATTER OF FACT when we showed her photos of the quilt and after two attempts by email , there has been no reply .
First and last time we will stay there .

A really good experience with lovely rooms and facilities. Staff were so friendly and very helpful. Food experience was truly excellent and for a large party it was served to the table reasonably fast and hot.
Sitting rooms and bar area was very comfortable and the history of the place made for a worthwhile stay.
The only slight drawback is the lack of a lift. For a party such as ours, mostly around the early 70,s to 80,s it was a little trying but it did not prove to be a bar to a revisit in the future.

Just spent 2 nights at the white swan and very happy with the great value experience . Ideally located to explore Alnwick the hotel is well presented with great staff who do them proud, features a delightful dog friendly bar ( Hardy's ) which has some residence privileges plus the Highley photogenic Olympic lounge where you can enjoy a very good quality breakfast.
I can find no fault with it and anyone that does really should check they have the telescope the right way around.
My only negative is the 5 hour drive for me to get there, Maybe I should live closer?
I truly hope to visit again.

On arrival at the hotel we were warmly welcomed by the staff who were extremely helpful and friendly. Hotel parking was good and secure. Our room was very large, clean, fresh, lovely big bathroom, and overlooked the back of the hotel with oblique views of Alnwick Castle and overlooking the exterior of the Olympic Suite.

The hotel itself was unfortunately rather “faded” in certain areas; particularly the Olympic Suite which I specifically wanted to see as a life long fan of Titanic and her sister ships. The room itself was still very impressive though and definitely worth seeing.

Hardys bar within the hotel has been recently refreshed and is pleasant for drinks.

However our main issue was the food served at the Hotel; particularly the evening set menu served in the Olympic suit which consisted of Fish, Chicken or Gammon served with the same vegetable medley for each. I would have expected such a well known place to have a much more varied and premium menu, and I wouldn’t recommend it as there are better restaurants/pubs close by providing more variety. The continental/full English breakfast the next morning, also served in the Olympic suite was adequate and well cooked, even though our preferred choices were unavailable.

Overall I would highly recommend staying at the hotel as fundamentally still a very pleasant experience. However if you want to to see the Olympic Suite I would suggest just paying the £2 fee charged for none residents to view it and eat elsewhere

A mixed experience, mostly positive. The staff were lovely and friendly. The room was comfy, clean but a bit odd - it was small with no room between the end of the bed and the desk - bit of a side shuffle needed. Also had to go outside to get to, it in the rain or a convoluted upstairs corridor trek where we got lost and needed a guide ( it was on the ground floor). It faced the road but there was little noise. The bar was lovely, food good. The Olympic suite was special - very interesting, but dear lord it wasn't a special experience! Three course set menu at £35 a head, (no option to only have two courses and I rarely eat three) , a weak wine list, and that was that. The place was full of coach parties, who were all eating at the same time, fair enough - but we were just tagged on the end. The food arrived so quickly you knew it had just been standing waiting with the coach party food - it was ok, nondescript, certainly not cooked to order. When the coach parties left the tables were cleared and a member of staff literally (and impressively) picked up a large round table next to us and rolled it away - all the while talking across the large room to other staff. No thought to people (mostly couples, probably anticipating a relaxing evening for two...) still eating . We might as well have been in a motorway service station or a well decorated McDonalds. Absolutely no thought to the customer experience, no music, no ambience. Very disappointing and expensive. The bar was better and cheaper as you didn't have to have a set meal. Breakfast is served in the Olympic suite as well - good choice, well presented - and is way more relaxing. I know coach parties pay the bills and people enjoy them but could you please remember the other guests who are also paying ?
Location is excellent, parking free and plentiful, although you may have to swap carparks after 24 hours
We would stay there again but not eat an evening meal there

We stayed at the White Swan for four nights as part of a coach party.
Our room on the top floor over looking the road but apart from the sash window being single glazed and banging in the wind (sorted by wedging in a beer mat) was very quiet.
The room had three single beds which were set out in a very odd fashion. The third single was at the side of the only radiator which stopped the room from being warm and cosy. After the first night we asked for a portable radiator which helped to warm the room.
We found a general lack of plug sockets where they were needed and had to trail wires to plug equiptment in.
The bathroom was very large with a walk in shower. The shower had no where to put your shower gel etc. There was only one little shelf over the sink. Apart from these things the room was clean plus the bedding and towels were all pristine.
We ate dinner in the Olympic Dining room. Staff were very helpful moving us to a quiet table so we didn't have to share due to my allergy to perfume.
The food was of a good standard but was served on cold plates, one of my pet hates.
Breakfast was a buffet. Continental breakfast was basic but acceptable, although no choice of different milks for cereals. The cooked breakfast again was quite basic consisting of bacon, sausage, fried eggs, black pudding, mushrooms, tomatoes and baked beans, The quality was fair but I felt there wasn't much choice for none meat eaters which I am on occasions. Again my biggest complaint here was the lask of warm plates. By the time I'd got my breakfast and got back to the table, the food was cold on the plate.
On the very last evening we asked to see the dinner menu, I was dismayed and very annoyed when after reading we realised there was two starters and three mains that had been on previous evenings. I spoke to the girl on reception who said it was what the chef had sent for that day and said she would get me the restaurant manager. The restaurant manager came out while I was talking to another couple but when I finished my conversation she'd walked away. I told reception we wouldn't be coming in for dinner that evening.
All in all the stay was just ablove average for a coach party holiday.
Small improvements, which would cost very little would make it a more pleasant experience. I understand hospitality is stuggling to make ends meet and keep up with the requirements of high expectations but something as basic as a warm plate is a non negotionable.

We were looking forward to our stay here, especially with the Olympic dining room as my wife is fascinated by all things Titanic and White Star Line. The website gave the impression that this was a premium hotel and we wanted a bit of luxury. Well, I can state that the hotel was a premium hotel - unfortunately the emphasis is on the word 'was'. The whole place seemed very tired. The welcome at reception was genuine and on the whole the staff were very pleasant. Our room (a family room) was on the second floor and the stairs were quite steep (but clearly referred to as such on the website). The room itself was a bit of a disappointment - 2 singles and a double, four chairs and a desk, but no desk chair, and the layout was a bit strange. The sash window had no catch so could not be secured shut, and dropped open a fraction during the night allowing more noise from the street. The other window had torn curtains that had been attempted to be repaired with staples! Everything was tired and in need of fresh paint. Although I found the beds acceptable, my wife found them far too hard. The main door did not fit that well, with light leaking all around it from the corridor, and all the doors were very clunky. The courtesy tray was stange, as it was located about as far from a plug as possible. Indeed, we had to put the kettle on a small table as the lead was too short to put it on the desk.
The Olympic dining room was indeed the star of the place. Beautiful and spectacular, no wonder the hotel uses this as its selling point. We ate here on arrival - set meal £35 for three courses. Again the staff were lovely and welcoming. The food was good without being spectacular (although 5 blueberries with the rest being watermelon and pineapple does not a fruit salad make) and I feel that it was marginally overpriced. The wine again seemed to be about 10% too expensive, but still good. What I did not like was that the service charge was automatically added to the bill without us being aware beforehand - not an issue as the service was very good. The breakfast was a mixture of both good and average. The choice of cereals etc was no better than a typical chain hotel. The hot food was very tasty, but the elements were in large pans with heavy lids and there was nowhere to put the lids whilst taking the food. Alternatives such as scrambled eggs were available but had to be asked for, and nobody explained that to us (or anyone else) on arrival.
Overall, I have given this a 2 out of 5 rating for the following reasons.
1. The website uses creative photography to imply that the hotel is actually better than it is, although the dining room and location are superb.
2. The price is too high for what is offered, although this is a premium location and does deserve a higher price than normal.
3. The food and drink are slightly overpriced, but the quality is fine.
4. The room was a complete disappointment and no room in a hotel should have stapled curtains.
We checked out a day early (and that was our decision - we did not complain and do not expect any refund (you have to pay in advance) and nobody asked why we were doing so.
Finally, we were contacted by reception to ask whether we had left a pair of glasses in our room - we hadn't. We must have missed these - which therefore meant that the cleaning staff had also missed them before our arrival! Another negative point. Not a total failure but I would not recommend this hotel unless all these points were addressed.

Stayed in The Alnwick Suite on Sunday. Just thought the heating was off, but was later told that there was a problem with the heating, could have been moved, but we asked for a fan heater to be put in the room, which warmed the room in no time.Evening Meal was very nice. Breakfast was ok,lots of choice, cereals, fruit, yoghurts, pastries & a good selection of hot items. The only complaint was the plates could have been warmer

We booked a few days at the hotel as we were treating ourselves and the hotel had a suite, . The room was okay and overlooked the front of the hotel sadly the bathroom was not so clean. Parking was very limited and on a first come first serve basis, otherwise it is advised you use an adjacent public car park. I am unsure whether there are permits issued by the hotel. We managed to park in the car park. Breakfast was truly awful, filthy serving tureens and tableware. very poor quality food and staff who seemed totally uninterested in their jobs. Thankfully ate out our first evening so made that our preferred option for the rest of the stay. There are some really good eating places nearby fortunately. If the breakfast food selection and quality were improved beyond that of the worst greasy spoon cafe, and staff morale raised high enough for at least some of them to actually engage with guests in a courteous way. Then it may well warrant a visit. I cannot comment on the evening meals, suffice to say the place never seemed to have many patrons when we looked.

Rom was lovely, large well equipped and spotless, service was very professional and friendly, food was excellent. A great value break. Couldn’t fault it.

Pretty good, albeit the room (9) was a bit on the small side.

As for the breakfast being freshly cooked, suggesting from tone of website, that it is cooked to order - just not the case, the hot breakfast was ostensibly cooked in large ish quantities and left to keep warm under those dreadful heat lamps. In my opinion, this does nothing to enhance the customer experience.in fact when I asked for a FRESHLY cooked egg, I was give the next egg from the kitchen which was also under the heated lamp.

It would be so easy to improve the food quality to get to A
a 10/10 as opposed to 4/10

A real shame because the place has so much going for it.

Very limited parking on site behind hotel. Alternative disc parking, car park C. Public areas presentable. Room 107 very tired.

The White Swan is hanging on the coat tails of its Olympia state room which while stunning to look at delivers more KFC quality food rather than the fine dining quality it promises on its web site, whether the chef was ill the day we ate or just couldn't be bothered we don't know but the belly pork appeared more warmed up catering pack than freshly cooked.
Our room had cobwebs all around the ceiling and there was mould on the tiles in the en-suite, there was a double socket hanging by one screw and our double quilt was inside a king-size cover.
We certainly wouldn't visit again unless there were vast improvements.
It's a shame as it's in a great location and it has loads of history.

The reception staff were very nice and helpful going out of their way to find things to make our stay comfortable. As it's an old building there are quirks that are hard to overcome but the bed was comfortable and spacious.

The room was adequate but needed rearranging as a hall stand type desk was placed at the foot of the bed meaning to get around the bed you had to shuffle around as the gap was probably less the 1 foot(30 cm). Not sure how good the cleaning was as there seemed to be a certain bit of dust there all our stay
The waiting staff needed teaching how to look after guests as when they cleared the tables at breakfast (only one or two actually took away empty plates whilst you had breakfast) they just went ahead regardless of guests and expected you to move out of their way.
Avoid the 3 course set meal there are lovely Turkish and Italian restaurants nearby (Efes Turkish grill house and Restorante Tirreno are great)
We had the unfortunate experience of dining there one night expecting it to be a treat it was certainly an experience the feed was adequate not really good service very poor we ordered a red wine which was delivered checked it was correct then dumped on the table. As it was a screw top I picked it up to open it and realised how cold it was. I got up with the bottle and went to the restaurant manager (who had been the one to dump it on the table). I said it's too cold to be told it was brought from the cellar so I rejected this she went to try and find a warmer one but to move avail so I asked what wine is not in the cellar ie what's kept in the bar. From this we found an adequate red wine although still slightly colder than ideal. The service! Charge is automatically added to the bill so I had it removed.

It was very good as usual. We have been there many times and it is good value for money as well with a nice breakfast which is personalised.