The Old Swan in Harrogate

Superb large hotel with a wonderful ambience. Having hotel hopped across the UK for 21 days, the old Swan is the winner. Huge rooms, reception areas, grand dining room and loads of comfortable places to relax. Of particular note, is the lady in the coffee lounge/bar area. Her level of service, kindness, professionalism is exquisite. Perfect, friendly customer service. She really goes out of her way to make you feel welcomed.. I'm afraid I don't know her name, and did not wish to embarrass her by asking however again today 15th November she has surpassed herself with her courteous service.to myself and my partner whom is wheelchair bound.. She is an absolute credit to the hotel and indeed the hostellery industry. We have recently stayed at The White Hart 4 times, this is nice... but the old Swan is just how a hotel should be.. We will be back again soon. THANK YOU!!!

We booked 2 double rooms a long time ago and have been cancelled at the last minute due to the restaurant not being open! This was a special birthday and we were offered no compensation. Very poor customer service. Last minute it was impossible to find another stay.

Limited food menu, I suppose I expected the choice of a la carte menu, rooms clean a nice all round experience.

Be warned. Don’t stay in the god forsaken flea pit. On more than one occasion my shower had absolutely no water coming out and I needed to rinse off in the bath. It’s clearly been a lovely hotel at some point but those days are gone. It’s a good location in Harrogate though

Old fashioned comfort with lots of character. The staff are very friendly and helpful. The lounge bar with the high backed seating does need a revamp however. It's just at the end of the high street five minutes from Betty's and near the lovely municipal park.

Beautiful old hotel in a great location.

Love this hotel, ideally situated near Valley Gardens in Harrogate. Rooms are comfortable, breakfast is great. Can book evening meals in the restaurant, food is excellent. Staff are friendly.

Very nice hotel friendly staff. Clean rooms

Great traditional hotel, friendly staff, rooms were great, will definitely stay here again.

Lovely place, very clean & tidy, shame you have to pay £10 a night to park in their large car park 🤷‍♂️

Excellent staff, nice rooms, good food, and set in a quiet part of Harrogate

Excellent weekend, staff very professional and gave q very warm welcome, Hotel very clean and well cared for

One night stay, excellent room and breakfast.

Just spent New Year's Eve here. Stayed for 2 nights. Overall we had a great time. Staff were helpful and friendly. Breakfast were brilliant. The rooms are a little dated and beds too small but clean and well equipped. The only disappointment was the Gala Ball dinner. Can't believe they served steak. How was that ever going to work? I would stay here again though as very close to the lovely town

A great New Years Eve party and overnight stay. Food and service both very good. The downstairs rooms are lovely. Sadly the bedrooms need a bit of TLC, however this didn't detract from our enjoyment of the occasion

The rooms had very squeeky floors as you moved about. the old sash windows rattled all night with the wind, and were draughty, but I suppose you have to expect this in a very old Hotel the evening meals were atrocious whatever you chose, and the tiny portions were too expensive for what you recieved, on thursday evening 28th dec there was no fire lit in the bar lounge, it was freezing. I asked why there was no fire on, a young lady member of staff struggled with trying to light it but had no success, so we retired to out room at 8pm , there was no evening entertainment which would have helped , the staff were wonderfully helpful, no problems there at all, but the meals were a big let down for us, and I'm not a fussy eater , one evening we paid £9 extra for a steak, they were full of fat and tasted horrible, I think your hotel is skimping on meals to save money, if you are expecting good food please go to another hotel, dont waste your good money at this hotel

Really great for a couple of birthday nights getaway puddings iced with happy birthdays really good

Great location, friendly staff and clean room. Christmas trees all look beautiful but bar area needs new furniture and a more friendly layout. Waited from 10.55 to 11.50 to buy a coffee from the bar Sunday morning! Otherwise good value will definitely stay again.

Well placed for Harrogate town center. Car parking can be limited at busy times. Recently refurbished rooms and reception areas look good and are clean. Staff very helpful and reasonable food menu and reasonable drink choice. Afternoon tea selection is good and reasonably priced compared to other offers in the town.

We visited to see where Agatha Christie was found after going missing in 1926, a lovely old place with an atmosphere of mystery.

Quaint bijou hotel in a central location. Helpful staff generally have nice facilities and are reasonably priced. Car parking can be a little restricted.

We came here for my friends 30th birthday. We had a lovely meal with a murder mystery activity that was taken place at the same time. Very quaint hotel, nice staff and we were more than happy to accommodate our needs as my partner was running late due to finishing a 12hr shift in A&E.

Lovely ambience, friendly staff. Breakfast a must and totally delicious. Our second visit and not the last. Thank you for having us. Bar staff particularly warm and welcoming, making our stay memorable.

Very disappointed on the twin room

Your room for a disabled person(walking issues) was the furthest away from the lift you could have got. I did make hotel aware of this the week before. The room was very cold. We asked for extra heating amd blankets after we couldnt be accommodated in a different room. They were not delivered and we had to ring night manager when we got back. He produced them straight away with a polite manner and smile. The room at 6.15 & 5.15 in the morning was subject to pipes banging loudly. Lamp plugs into only plug near bed so u need to choose lamp or phone charging. Tea and coffee was put on a table near no plug sockets. Had ro move stuff around. Car parking has issues, only 5 disable spaces which 1 was kept for a wedding officiant. They were also used by non blue badge holders attending a wedding. The car park we had to use was up and back of hotel with leaves all over the very wet and slippery floor. Moss on the walkways with a lack of lighting made it a scary and slippery walk for a person with mobility issues. I was disgusted that we had to pay for this too. At breakfast we were in the middle of breakfast and went to get food leaving full cups of tea and coffee on table to find upon return evetything had been removed. All in all the stay was not enjoyable.

I have recently had my wedding at the Old Swan Hotel and I can not fault the events team! They make each event feel so special, they are accommodating to each need as well as giving advice when needed. Thankyou so much for making our day special. ❤️

Loved this traditional hotel with many kept values for good service, polite attentive staff. Warm, Spotlessly clean. Lovely original cornice in the large bedrooms & restaurant. Even the squeaky floors. We had an issue with broken sink so were moved to front of hotel overlooking beautiful Harrogate. Food was very tasty and beautifully presented. Highly recommend this time capsule hotel. Thanks to all staff for a lovely stay.

Really lovely hotel , in a beautiful location on the side of the river, handy for various attractions. Reasonably priced, with lovely food.

I loved my stay here. Myself, my husband and dog stayed for 1 night. The dog could go anywhere in the hotel except the main dining room. There were tables in the bar area (which is a very pleasant room) for us to eat. Would definitely recommend for anyone looking for a break with a dog.

Excellent location and service. Thank you

Great hotel, lovely friendly helpful staff, great location, short walk to the town centre, lovely garden walk just around the corner, highly recommend 😁😁

Hotel very classic and staff were excellent throughout. Very clean

For more about this Hotel-Review please look for other Review's. I can just say about the Location and the Location is very very nice. Hello guyz can't say anything about the Hotel cause i didn't use it. CANT SAY ABOUT ROOM & SERVICE but THE LOCATION IS VERY VERY NICE. I THINK YOU SHOULD AT LEAST BOOK IT FOR A WE, if you wanna know more about the History of this City. I've uploaded a Video to this Review.

Great location, car parking limited. Rooms okay but we had an internal view. But not there for that reason. Breakfast is a buffet style, reasonable selection. Did not have to wait for a table

£160 a night £10 to park and doesn’t include breakfast. Room dated, no kettle in room, tv not working properly. The hotel its self is beautiful and maybe that’s why the high price, but personally never worth the £160 per night.

Lovely afternoon tea but service a bit poor considering how quiet it was

Great for a light lunch in pleasant and comfortable surroundings.

We have just had a brilliant short break at The Old Swan Hotel in Harrogate. The hotel is beautiful, historic and large set in extensive grounds with super parking. The staff were all friendly and helpful, the bedroom large and comfortable. The food was delicious, we had dinner, breakfasts and a cream tea. The hotel is pet friendly. We had a trip to the James Herriot Centre included in the break which was unbelievably good value. We intend to return for a family holiday in the near future. Thank you!

Great location. A tiny bit tired in parts. Could do with plugs next to beds. Service friendly and efficient. We ate in the restaurant and the food was really top notch.

We stayed here for 2 nights recently. Can't fault the hotel or the staff. The room was basic but clean and comfortable. An iron, ironing board, hairdryer and a fan were all provided. They even sorted out us being able to park our car in a spot right outside the main entrance as my sister is currently on crutches with a broken ankle. The breakfast was fantastic as were our two evening meals. It clearly states a service charge is added to your bill(which you don't have to pay,) but we chose to because 100% of it goes to the staff. Thank you for being so accommodating during our stay.

Apart from a good location and the character of the hotel, the rest of what we encountered especially the bedrooms are terrible. Dingy, dull and the beds themselves are atrocious! The bed are very very very soft, they have no support and felt like your sleeping on a half filled water bed. We asked for a mattress topper, which was equivalent to a sheet and only available as a single and the only one in the hotel. It was pretty useless having it. The bathrooms were very tight but still clean, however the bathtub was fully blocked, 30 seconds on and you’ve got a 10cm puddle under your feet. We attended wedding here which had beautiful event rooms and a nice garden space, as well as good parking for the guests, but staying in the hotel is a certain downfall. The receptionist (Regan) did what she could and was very responses, as well as 10% money back, but still not good enough for the prices.

Went to this beautiful hotel for afternoon tea and it was absolutely fantastic! Lovely staff and amazing surroundings

A grand Hotel in a historic town offering an impressive base to explore wonderful Yorkshire.

Great hotel. Will be back soon. Excellent food and service!

Had a wonderful afternoon tea here, great food & service in a fabulous location. They even made me my own plain scones as I don’t like fruit scones. Definitely 5 star customer service. Thank you

We visited the hotel for a wedding and didn't stay over, so I cannot comment on the rooms. Initially I was apprehensive about the hotel as it took me many attempts of ringing and emailing to be able to book a room (we cancelled at a later date due to work commitments). When I mentioned that we had been trying to get through to book a room for a long time, the woman I spoke to was very defensive and unfriendly. However, on the day of the wedding all of the staff were welcoming and attentive. The hotel decor was attractive and clean. Gabriel (evening staff) in particular was very helpful and accommodating, he went out of his way to triple check a dietary requirement with the kitchen. He was lovely and polite.

We stoped here as part of a Room, Meal and Breakfast deal which strangely worked out cheaper than just room only rate. We couldn't fault this hotel. The room was spotless and had everything you needed. They had a lovely tea tray with Yorkshire Tea!! We even got a bottle of Posecco left for us in the room! The room we was supplied seem a bit of a trek from reception, however it was so quiet! We wasn't disrupted once and we even had the window open all night. The bed was comfy we had no issues with sleep. With regards to food, that also was spot on! The portion sizes on the meal deal were small but adequate enough to leave you satisfied. The breakfast buffet was delicious top quality products as well. The sausages were lovely. They also had a further selection on the menu card. If i was to nit pick the reception only had one member of staff on so took a short while to get checked in and out.

Reception manager Jamie Clarke has amazing customer service. As a travel agent we needed some help with customers and he was fab, went out of his way to get it sorted. Would recommend this hotel as they care very much.

Stayed a few times and very good. Did have one complaint that the cheeseboard supplement was ridiculous as the actual cheeseboard was terrible value. It did get credited

Fabulous hotel , great food and staff

My room was a good size but very cold and the bed was rock hard and uncomfortable pillows were uncomfortable aswell apart from that OK

Hotel setting is beautiful with lovely gardens. Our bedroom was quite small but had all the amenities you needed with a large modern bathroom. The staff were excellent ,very polite and nothing was too much trouble . Breakfast was superb too , and Harrogate is a wonderful place to visit.

Atended crime writwrs festival - 2 superb lunches - fabulous place

Only went to the Old Swan Hotel to have afternoon tea so can not comment on the rooms or service associated with them. The selection of sandwiches, scones and small buns we were served was first class. Polite young lady on reception and bar staff where we ate were good too. Could'nt really fault anything. Would recommend a visit.

The Old Swan is a large hotel in beautiful grounds, it has car parking for an extra charge, is well located for the shops and Valley Park, there is plenty to do in the surrounding areas. The rooms are very clean, neat and tidy and the meals in the restaurant were excellent.

A lovely, Victorian hotel very close to the centre of Harrogate. The rooms are well equipped, but the view isn't great and we are very close to the boiler house.

Had cream tea in the bar. Lovely big old hotel. Very smart. Good service. Easy parking.

At the crime writing festival meeting author friends, fabulous atmosphere.

My mum wanted to come see mick herron here....so i brought her to see him! She was in her element! 😉👍

Could do with freshening up looking a bit tired in places

It's an attractive building, with pleasant interior decor (needs a bit of a refresh but I'm not that fussy in that regard), friendly staff, clean rooms and ample parking and conveniently located within Harrogate. Having said that, £10 a day for off-street parking is steep. But what was rather more disappointing was the food. What arrived on our plates looked quite different to the photos on the hotel website and not only that, my marinara was a bit wet and came with two huge triangles of bread drowning in cheese and while the food overall was nice, it wasn't memorable or value for money. We had decided to add breakfast, at £10 a nose - a conceptually ok breakfast buffet brought down by the world's slowest toaster, rather wooden black pudding and overdone bacon. While dinner was 'ok', breakfast was definitely no value for money so we cancelled the last one and went to Betty's instead. Someone really needs to look at the way the Old Swan does food, pronto.

Nice place very close to town centre

Elisha looked after our wedding for us from start to finish and we can't thank her enough. All the staff looked after us and all the guests on the day and the day after and were brilliant. Great venue, great service couldn't have asked for more. Thanks Dan and Leanne

She's a little tired now, and the rooms aren't that great but she's in a great location. Parking is expensive!

Very cross about being accused of not paying for breakfast when I left, but I believed I had paid on arrival. Need to get their act together. Otherwise the room and food were fine.

Great place to stay, Great location, staff and food were lovely

Very, very small room with an almost unusably small bathroom. No air conditioning (which I expected in this price range) however, we had to ask for a fan and the window wouldn’t open more than 5cm. This, in a 31° heatwave was simply awful. Added to this, the bed was hard and the room was very basic. the interior of the hotel was dilapidated and I wasn’t informed that there was a £10 per day parking fee, additionally, there was an “optional” service charge of 10% that I was unaware of and was charged on the bill (which I had to pay on arrival, not departure) added to this the service charge was not optional because if it was I certainly would not have paid it. The restaurant was full for both evenings and therefore we had to eat out. The breakfast was a basic buffet thus we had to order something off the specials menu as neither of us like a heavy fried breakfast. The breakfast that we had was decidedly average and there was no Espresso available. We most certainly will not be returning to this hotel when we come back to Harrogate and I definitely would not recommend this place. Amendment, I have now seen via my bank that I wasn’t charged for the 10% service charge. Had I been presented with a final account upon departure, I would have known this when writing the review above, yesterday. I still wouldn’t recommend The Old Swan in Harrogate.

stayed here recently we chose the hotel as a break for our anniversary. The ‘suite’ was a sad affair the sitting room was devoid of love or taste, 2 seater sofa bed,2 chairs, 2 cushions, 1 desk, 1 phone , 1 Tv and a couple if pictures it was like a doctors waiting room without magazines, not a place you want to spend anytime in, bathroom was clean and usable old fashioned bath and very small shower head not used as we had visited the Turkish baths ! Bed was huge , comfortable with clean crisp sheets. Not enough pillows only 1 per person. Hotel lacked finishing touches , very old fashioned and of its day. Clientele a lot older than us !!! Bar environment dull and boring. Breakfast buffet style & not very hot.

We had afternoon tea here. A slow start as we waited at the bar of the room for ten minutes before asking someone on reception to find a member of staff. Beautiful room and lovely gardens - definitely recommend for surroundings and atmosphere. The food was good standard and plentiful altho the scones were not as soft as I would have expected. A lovely waiter who was very attentive but the waitress a little less cheery. Disappointing that a latte/cappuccino could not be had without extra cost - small touches like this would make us return; important when there is so much choice in the area.

My husband and I had afternoon tea at the Old Swan and then stayed the night. Everything was excellent apart from our bathroom. Our bedroom was lovely and spacious but the bathroom was cramped with a tiny wash basin. Everything else was first rate.

Was nice once... but now IMHO it's tired. Not overly priced friendly and helpful staff and a place to kip.

From the moment we walked through the door, to be by Richard, the very distinguished looking gent behind reception, nothing was too much trouble for the wonderful team who work at the Old Swan. Our room, the Agatha, was superb, our evening meal was better than we could ever have hoped for, and breakfast... everything you could wish for was available. Thank you to all the team for a very special stay.

Lovely big hotel with alot of character but in get need of a revamp in certain areas & TLC needed

Spent a night there. Dinner, bed and breakfast. Great value, lovely clean room, food excellent and staff friendly and welcoming. Would definitely go back.

Excellent venue, we had a well appointed room / suite. The buffet breakfast was very good, fresh and replenished regularly. The evening meals were basic but good quality. We had a very enjoyable stay

Had a fantastic two night stay with my sister and niece. Everything was lovely and we had a great time. Highly recommend if you want an elegant relaxing break and made to feel very welcome.

Rooms definitely in need of updating! Not enough sockets in the room. Not happy that we were charged £10 to park the car when we were a guest at the hotel!

I will start by saying that I very rarely put up a bad review for anything, but I felt compelled to write this review and put a true picture across of what this hotel is really like. I stayed at the Old Swan Hotel, Harrogate recently with my wife for one night (thank god it was only 1 night!!) We arrived at about 3pm to check in, and was told that they was a £10 parking fee for 24 hours, which i thought was reasonable, as i felt our vehicle would be safe. Once we were given our room number 389, we went to our room, on entrance to our room we found the decor was very bland and dated, Dark wood furniture , and not the cleanest of rooms, as the waste bin had not been emptied from the previous customer. The room was stifling hot couldn't open the window to air the room, as it was sealed tight, the electrical sockets not in the correct position for the amenities in the room. The bed and pillows were very uncomfortable. carpet on the cleanest. We booked through my hotel breaks, we were entitled to a bottle of wine in our room, as part of the deal, this didn't happen my wife spoke to the receptionists twice who said that was her fault and she would have the wine sent to our room, when we arrived back from our evening out, no wine had been put into our room. On check out we raised this issue with another receptionist, who said the offer was for a glass of wine on arrival only, we showed her the paperwork which stated a bottle of wine, and the young man on reception asked if we would like to have the wine to take home with us, which they duly obliged. Would we stay in this hotel again definitely not until the standards improved. Recommendations to the management train your female staff to show they enjoy there job, not once did any of the female receptionists have a smile when they greet your customers,

Lovely old hotel steeped in character, excellent breakfast and dinner staff very good and competent. Bar and wine list pricy, I suppose it's to be expected. Our room comfortable although slightly compact bathroom. Would we go again yes most certainly would. Great DBB deal with bottle of fiz on arrival.

A lovely traditional hotel with nice rooms and helpful staff

A great hotel with victorian history, needs some updating but for its age you would expect this, helpful and friendly staff but the bar prices are not victorian, very upto date and over priced.

really nice place to stay at in Harrogate and the brekkie was really nice..room was huge that we had! Only thing is, you do hear a lot if youre not a heavy sleeper

Beautiful building and a good location, but no food available for dinner when I was there which was not advised at check-in, so only found that out at 8pm when I went to the restaurant. Buffet breakfast was cold, only kept warm by a candle under each serving dish. Breakfast is self serve, but tea/coffee isn't. Fwas finally offered some tea after breakfast, just as I was leaving. Service charge on drinks, even if you walk down and order at the bar.

Beautiful building and surroundings, staff very helpful and polite, however the room was like a sauna even with the radiators off and the window open, and food was not a key selling point.

Fantastic helpful reception staff (thank you Blazej and Regan:-) , great dishes, amazing atmosphere, good location.

A interesting history of hotel and good location for most points of interest.

Friendly staff. Lovely rooms. Very nice

On a short visit quite a large hotel with lots of interesting rooms to investigate, gardens in the front of the hotel 🏨 too .

Location excellent, common areas very good (attractive dark wood panelling and wonderful cornice work in rooms and bar/dining areas).Staff seemed friendly and efficient. Our room was very tired and had a few cob webs. our breakfast 2 days running left a lot to be desired...the hot food was warm and was poorly prepared and didn't seem a lot of choice of cereals, fruit or pastries. Coffee just awful. As some have said the hotel is living on its reputation/history and could do with a refurb of the rooms.

Ideal place to stop , walking distance to town centre, would stop there again. Good value for money.

All staff except restaurant staff on the evening were friendly and helpful. Shame about those but bar staff and Richard on front desk made up for them!

Afternoon tea, food ok, ham chewy. Previous customers crumbs were still on the carpet and had to ask for refills of tea every time, staff friendly but not attentive.

A throw back to past but with modern standards. The staff were friendly and helpful any request delt with quickly and politely. The room was spotless and comfortable. The setting is stunning and a perfect spot to explore Harrogate. Breakfast was top quality. There was nothing that we could fault and are planning another visit latter in the year

Lovely large old hotel,creaky floors and uneven floors, a real experience,nice size room,fabulous shower,the bath filled up in seconds,comfy bed,nice prosecco in the room,staff very helpful,regan on reception very helpful and cheery.Great hotel,will return.

Trading in past glory! Friendly staff

Brilliant night at the murder mystery . Rooms good , breakfast excellent . We will return

My wife and I en joyed a tea which was given to us as a Christmas gift ,it was really good. Excellent quality and service.we stayed overnight and thoroughly enjoyed our stay,followed by a superb breakfast thank you for everything. Mr and Mrs John barton

Pretty good classic English manor style hotel. Walking distance to the station and convention centre. Not many amenities immediately next to the convention centre but a few minutes you can get to some cafes and restaurants. The rooms are a good size, the bathroom sizes were okay and the shower was hot. My room was warm and the bed was comfy. Traditional continental breakfast with fry up options.

Grat location but a bit overpriced. Could do with a bit of renovation.

Used by Harrogate International Festivals for series of classical music concerts. Good open room, sound acoustics and parking.