Bedford Swan Hotel and Thermal Spa

Stayed here for two nights whilst visiting Bedford and, overall, had a pleasant stay. The hotel itself is beautiful and full of character. It feels far more memorable than your average chain hotel, and the location is ideal for exploring Bedford on foot. My room was spacious, clean and well maintained. There was plenty of storage, tea and coffee facilities, a mini fridge and a comfortable seating area. The bathroom was spotless and the shower had good water pressure throughout my stay. There were, however, a few areas that stopped this being a five star experience. There are limited spaces at the hotel and the spaces are tight. If you can get there earlier rather than later you’re more likely to secure a space. The room was quite warm when I arrived and I couldn’t get the window open for fresh air. The air conditioning also didn’t seem to be working initially, although after some time it eventually kicked in and made the room much more comfortable. The bed was my biggest disappointment. It appeared to be a king-size bed but was actually made up of two single mattresses. Unfortunately, they weren’t secured together properly, meaning there was a noticeable join between them. I also found the mattress firmer than I would normally choose, although I appreciate that’s a matter of personal preference. I was also surprised by the bathroom toiletries. Given the standard and pricing of the hotel, I had expected something a little more premium than wall-mounted shampoo and body wash dispensers. The lift is extremely small, which isn’t a major issue but could be inconvenient for guests travelling with larger suitcases. Breakfast was probably the weakest part of the stay. The quality of what was available was perfectly acceptable, but the overall selection wasn’t particularly extensive. For a hotel of this calibre, I expected a wider variety of options and found the choice somewhat limited. Despite these criticisms, there is still plenty to like. The hotel has a lovely atmosphere, the room was clean and well presented, and the location is excellent. The issues I encountered were relatively minor rather than stay-ruining, and I would happily consider staying again if I was visiting Bedford in the future.

Great location. Superb staff and facilities.

Parking a little interesting. Only suggestion would be to make it a one way system.

My husband and I, as well as a large amount of our wedding guests, recently stayed at the hotel for a couple of nights surrounding our wedding. While we appreciated the location, the overall experience was significantly marred by a series of operational failures. After recently reaching out directly to the hotel with the below, we received a fully AI-generated response after waiting almost 3 weeks for said response, so felt compelled to share our experience. ​Upon our arrival, we were checked into a room that was already occupied by another guest. When we returned to reception to rectify this, we were unfortunately then issued a key to a second incorrect room. We were incredibly fortunate that the first room we accessed happened to be allocated to a friend and wedding guest who was thankfully not in the room at the time. Had that room been occupied by a stranger, this could have resulted in an incredibly distressing situation, as we checked in late at night when most people would have been in bed. ​Once we were finally settled in our correct room, we discovered that the air conditioning was not functioning. As this occurred at approximately 2am following our wedding celebrations, we were too exhausted to report it at the time, but the lack of climate control during the recent heatwave made for a very uncomfortable stay. ​Unfortunately, these issues were not isolated to our individual experience. ​My mother also reported that her air conditioning was non-functional, and despite her reporting it, no one attended to the issue. Upon checkout, she also received no apology or discount from the team regarding the discomfort she endured all night. ​Our photographer was also forced to change rooms immediately after checking in due to her entire carpet being wet. ​While we acknowledge and appreciate the £40 discount applied at checkout for our room, it does not reflect the significant level of inconvenience and the lapse in basic service standards we, as well as my mother and our photographer, experienced during what should have been a seamless celebratory weekend. Highlights were the breakfast, Joy (such a wonderful, helpful person), and the location. The hotel itself is quite grand and well decorated :)

Very stylish and modern

Nothing

Great location and beautiful hotel.

As an old property some issues regarding rattling windows, broken hinges need to be addressed. Lack of ability to contact hotel and ignored messages left to follow up with an item I left behind was less than impressive. I had absolutely no direct contact from them at all. The staff during my stay were excellent, including the Spa, but perhaps more staff needed to answer the phone, as more than 7 calls went unanswered and no reply to messages left.

The thermal spa was a bit disappointing to be honest in comparison to others I've been to no offer of treatments water was almost finished when we arrived at 1030am the receptionist didn't seem bothered. Then we moved on to Anna's tearoom for our traditional afternoon tea we were 30 mins early at 1245pm and they said it wasn't a problem we asked could we upgrade the afternoon tea the young lady said she would check we were willing to pay the difference she came back and said the afternoon teas were already prepared so no we couldn't that was a big mistake there were a few people who came in later surely they could've had our sandwiches at no point did anyone ask were we ok ! I would say the service was quite poor.i wouldn't say i wouldn't return but I do think they need to invest in someone trained in front of house skills.

Location , the room and the decor.

Room service