We had a voucher from KGB Deals for two-night stay B&B tariff.

Arrived Friday afternoon, reception staff very helpful and friendly, dealt with quickly and efficiently.

Room was a little tired, but clean and comfortable. Tea and coffee facilities, decent sized bathroom, plenty of hot water. The mattress needs changing, but otherwise, the room was good and quiet.

We ate in the restaurant on the Friday - the menu had recently been changed and revamped, and the food was delicious. Good-sized portions, very tasty - we certainly went to bed full and happy.

Breakfast is buffet style - good selection, decent quality food, plenty of choice, pleasant staff and with just the right level of attention, rather than intrusive. Well done the team in the restaurant!

We used the swlimming pool which was lovely - the men's changing rooms are off the side of the smll gym, which was not a pleasant place to b! Avoid using it - people exercising with no shirts / shoes on, room smells of old sweat. We did not linger in there, but as I said, the pool was nice, good sized, decent depth, and warm. Complimentary towels for hotel guests.

We ate in the local pub Saturday night - freindly, traditional-style English pub. We atually shared a table with a member of the hotel staff and his girlfreind, which was nice as they stayd and had a conversation with us for the evening. He then served us breakfast the next morning!

I would say that the hotel is good, if a little "tired" in places, but the cost of refurbishment these days, versus the lost revenue if it has to close is a difficult one to negotiate.

The check-out staff Sunday morning was very grumpy - "coldly efficient". If the other staff had been like him, I would have given a score of 3 "average", but they weren't, and the food is excellent, so they deserve a 4.

Hotel management - please change the mattress, it has seen better days! Don't beleive me, then sleep a night in each room to see!

stayed at this hotel for 2 nights 'breakaway' offer for £150 dbb 1st night -bb2nd night.So good value which is why we chose hotel.I had read many reports on trip advisor and booked in with fairly low expectations having read how hotel was pretty tired and run down in many places so didn't expect too much which was probably about right.
first and only real disappointment was on arrival when receptionist said we wern't on special offer break as I hadn't booked online - I said i'd phoned previous evening to make booking and specifically asked staff for breakaway offer and had this confirmed by staff . Receptionist at first said there was nothing he could do and it was until i said we would go elsewhere that he said 'ok i'll do it this time but in future book online' I suggested perhaps the other member of staff should have told me this when booking. He said ' was it a Spanish guy you spoke to ' and then said that explained it !? We found this receptionist to be fairly rude and although he changed the booking it wasn't done with much grace.
The room (240) was ok and what we expected of a 3 star hotel but just a bit shabby with torn wallpaper that could easily have been replaced or fixed and that seems to be the general trend of the hotel - just all a bit shabby.
The staff were all very pleasent and helpful particularly in the restaraunt - and the breakfasts excellent. The dinner on the 1st night was average to poor with the saddest prawn cocktail my wife has ever ordered - about 6 frozen prawns on some tired lettuce and 2 quarters of limp brown bread without even butter on it.The table d'hote menu was pretty basic and if wasn't included in the price we would have been very disappointed - the house red wine was very good though and good value.
We used the swimming pool and sauna twice and found this to be really good - apart from the 'shabby' (again) changing rooms - no thats too kind - they really do need redecoration !

We had drinks in the local village pub which was really nice and the village itself is very pretty with some lovely old buildings especially the church, and on the 2nd night we went to Old harlow to eat. We had a drink in the Crown Pub 1st - the best pub in the small town , unless you like sports pubs with loads of TV's in every corner - then go to one of the other three pubs - then we had dinner at the Bengal Cottage which was truly excellent and very very busy on a Saturday night.
Overall summary - we had a really pleasent weekend break for a good value price - in what was once obviously a lovely hotel, with good swimming pool and had great breakfasts, just a shame that Swallow Hotels dont help the staff and management by investing some money ( alot needed i expect) and make this a really top hotel again.
Go there and make up your own mind - but go with low expectations and you will probably be more pleased than disappointed.

We stayed here for our wedding night in August 2010, and used their Bridal Suite.

It was a wonderful night, with wonderful service, and we still can't believe how reasonable it was (we booked a year in advance, and paid only £95 for the room and breakfast for the two of us).

We arrived late in the evening, and were checked in quickly. We found it odd the lady on reception didn't comment on the fact we were obviously in our wedding clothes, but it was late!

The room was very comfortable, and included a four poster bed and a jacuzzi bath. Everything was very clean, and although it's not the most modern decor, it was clean, well maintained and very comfortable.

Breakfast was lovely- no complaints!

We were particularly impressed with the member of staff who we met as we were leaving our room the following morning. We were struggling as we both had overnight bags, plus our wedding clothes to carry. She helped us take our things out to the car (a bit of a trek!), and offered her congratulations to us. She invited us to come back, and although we have not had the opportunity to do so yet, we would love to return for our anniversary at some point.

We would happily recommend this hotel, and feel a little guilty we neglected to tell our wedding guests about it (so we didn't meet any of them at breakfast) as it is such a lovely place to stay.

ive just had my 40th birthday do at your hotel and it was amazing thank you to all your staff for all there help. they made it more special . i would like to let you know that garetth was very helpfull and attentive and made it a very fun evening many thanks i will be happy to come again