The Swan Hotel - Stafford

We chose the Swan for its central location and competitive price - a little more than the bulk standard Holiday Inn just off the M6, but breakfast thrown in. Its a very old building so the layout was quirky, and the room, although of an adequate size had a tiny window. Noise seems to travel and we were interrupted during the night by TV in a nearby room and a couple of people having a conversation. Plenty of parking which is pay and display, but you get a voucher to display from reception if you are staying. Not 100% happy about the cleanliness of the place as the carpets appeared filthy. They made the mistake of carpeting the sides of the lift with the same carpet so you could see what colour they were supposed to be! Dinner was excellent and competitively priced. Breakfast was fine. Service in both cases was OK, but sometimes not very attentive. Staff were invariably friendly, but levels of service were hit and miss. eg we had to wait 10 minutes to check out as the receptionist had 'disappeared'. We stayed on a Saturday night and the bar was extremely busy, so much so that they had two bouncers on the door. Not the place for a nice quiet after dinner drink, but this may just be a feature of Saturday night. All in all a reasonable experience and I would not rule out staying here again - but maybe give Saturday night a miss.