A couple of friends and I have just returned from our annual 2 night stay at the hilltop , this being our tenth year in a row , and I must say there has been an improvement over the last couple of years. This stay was not without incident but saw nothing that will put us off next year when we will return. The staff are always warm and friendly the room was a bit tired but none the less clean and warm and yes the tape on the carpet literally seemed to multiply overnight and has become a bit of a running joke over the years. The leisure facilities were all working this year so that's a massive improvement on last year when it was all but completely out of order. Breakfast saw the biggest improvement with more choice and the introduction of toasters and a nice little set up in the middle of the room with juices and cereals, the only downside being at breakfast on the Sunday morning when it all seemed to fall apart, there was only one young waitress who I must say did a great job of trying to keep things together when all hell seemed to have broke loose in the kitchen, she had to come and apologise for the carnage going on in the kitchen with lots of shouting and swearing that all the guests could hear who were trying to enjoy their breakfast , it was needless to say very unproffesional and seemed to have an effect on the food getting out as people were made to stand and wait for beans and the poor young girl was left to face the guests alone but she did a sterling job. That said it will not put us off next year and I'm already looking forward to it , all in all cracking value and suits our needs perfectly.

went to this hotel for a weekend break.when we arrived we were given a very run down room,holes in the walls, wallpaper hanging off .the room was dirty too ,we asked for a change of room.our new room was fine newly decorated and very clean.why not just use the good rooms in the first place?staff were very good but we thought they had too much to do!this hotel badly needs total refurb,black tape is all over the carpets.overall you get what you pay for.....

I've regularly used the Leisure Centre in our local Swallow Hotel, so the fact this chain of hotels needs investment on general refurbishment was not a surprise to me.
Yes, the decor, carpets & equipment desperately needs an overhaul; however, the room, bedding, towels etc were all clean & serviceable.
The service from staff was helpful, courteous & pleasant. A couple of minor problems were dealt with efficiently & very speedily.
The food was very good - I chose to use room service for my evening meal & this was delivered very promptly.
Breakfast was also to a good standard.
It's just a shame this chain has not invested more money into it's hotels - the staff do seem to do their utmost to make up for this and I hope to see rolling improvements in Swallow Hotels generally.
Although I have graded the rooms as 'Poor' this was more to reflect the need for a re-vamp as my room was a good enough size and had all facilities I would expect.

My wife & I stayed at the SWALLOW HILLTOP HOTEL CARLISLE from Saturday 21st Jan.2012 for 2 nights on a Bed / Breakfast / Evening meal basis. We had room 64. The bedroom was very clean but all the furniture needs replacing. The double glazed windows even had all the seals hanging out so where ineffective.

Breakfast on Sunday was a disaster. When it arrived after a long wait the mushrooms were cold & uncooked., We drew it to the gentlemans attention who served us, he took our plates back to have the mushrooms cooked,the plates were brought back 5 minutes later the mushrooms where now cooked but the bacon,eggs,tomatoes & black pudding where now stone cold because they where the same ones they had taken back & they had not been put somewhere to keep them warm. The plates where also stone cold so this did not help.
Its a shame because the Evening Meals where great as was the breakfast the day after.