The Swan At Forest Row

United Kingdom , East Sussex
Forest Row, 1 Lewes Road
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50 reviews shown

6/10

Pleasant

18 Mar 2026

Colin

Grace was awesome. Rest of staff a little standoffish and less capable. Room is a little tired with old bedding, lack of sockets (especially near the mirror) and we had a room with a large slope inside the bathroom door which was not very safe so we had to use the non-slip bath mat to safely navigate from room to bathroom. New owners need to spend a few pounds on refreshing the hotel now. Also we booked breakfast and was told that they had stopped serving it under the new owners during the week so we paid for it but had to go out and find elsewhere.

Friends_and_family Family

10/10

Exceptional

28 Jan 2026

Ewan

Friendly staff. Clean room.

10/10

Exceptional

20 Dec 2025

Rosalind

Lovely room, spacious and well appointed. All the staff were super friendly and helpful. Great atmosphere in the pub.

Leisure Family

10/10

Exceptional

18 Dec 2025

Karl

Working away from home for a week.
Found a gem of a place.
Clean, friendly and welcoming.

Business

8/10

Excellent

28 Nov 2025

Paul

Room was very clean, staff were very helpfull

2/10

Poor

17 Nov 2025

Loubna

My experience at this hotel was extremely disappointing. The staff were very rude and made judgmental comments toward me, even telling me that I “look anxious.” I’m not sure how anyone is supposed to “look,” but being spoken to like that made me feel uncomfortable and unwelcome from the start.

On top of that, the room itself was not clean. The bathroom was infested with small flies, and the overall condition of the room was far below what I expected. It’s hard to feel relaxed in a place that doesn’t seem properly maintained.

Because of the unfriendly staff and the poor cleanliness, I would never return here.

Business

8/10

Excellent

14 Nov 2025

Lynne

Very clean well equipped room on ground floor. Perfect for a dog friendly room.
Very friendly and helpful staff.
Amazing full English breakfast.
Only downside was a bit noisy in the evening, loud music and generatir noise. Ear plugs are thoughtfully provided.

Leisure Pet

8/10

Excellent

10 Nov 2025

Ian

Kingsize comfortable bed

Friends_and_family Family

8/10

Excellent

08 Oct 2025

michael

Nice rooms and staff, interesting building and location

Leisure Partner

8/10

Excellent

01 Oct 2025

ANGELA

It was a pleasant hotel for a night’s stay.

Leisure

8/10

Excellent

05 Sep 2025

Tim

Comfortable Stay

Comfortable room, good atmosphere, good beers, good food albeit a little small in portion size.
Parking is limited during busy periods.
Breakfast not until 8am
Food available until 9pm
wifi wouldnt allow streaming to netflix etc..

Business

8/10

Excellent

20 Aug 2025

Verified traveler

Swan

Helpful and friendly staff. Strange sloping floor in en-suite!

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

16 Jul 2025

Matt

The Swan, Forest Row

The Swan in Forest Row was a great place to stay. Great room, fantastic food, friendly and helpful staff.

Thanks to the team, I’ll be back to visit again in the future!

Self

10/10

Exceptional

24 Jun 2025

GRANT

Great pub with rooms

Great place to stay, very friendly staff, decent food and really comfy beds

Friends_and_family Friends

10/10

Exceptional

29 May 2025

Wendy

Lovely, comfy and welcoming

Really easy and friendly check in. Beautiful spacious room with big super comfy bed. Parking okay, not lots but we were okay.
Staff are lovely.
We had an evening meal which was delicious.
Nice touches are nice coffees in the room, nice shower gels and our dogs were welcomed too. Would definitely recommend and stay here again..

Partner

6/10

Pleasant

02 May 2025

Garry

The room was very dated and in need of some TLC, however the bed was comfortable and the bathroom had been recently renovated.

The location was very good- a quick walk to restaurants and shopping.

The rooms are above the Pub so it can be quite noisy, but once the pub closed @ 11 it was very quiet with the exception of the road traffic.

We chose other options for our meals.
Maria's was very good for breakfast and lunch. Jazz & Java had great breakfast and dinners. Service was excellent and a 5 minute walk from The Swan.

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

10 Mar 2025

John

Old English Pub and Inn, clean and well kept. The food was great and the rooms clean. We stayed the week and found the staff to be friendly and accommodating. Just what you'd imagine a village Pub should be! So happy to have found The Swan, we'll be back to stay again!

Business_and_leisure Partner

6/10

Pleasant

04 Feb 2025

Arabella Williamson

Our bed was very comfortable. Once I turned the radiator on it the room warmed up.
We had a frosty welcome. We would have appreciated an offer of help with our luggage. We are elderly and my husband struggled with the case on the stairs.
The young man who was working in the morning was delightful

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

03 Feb 2025

Sarah

Quick getaway

Amazing stay, extremely comfortable room, friendly staff, very polite and helpful.
Beautiful food.

Partner

8/10

Excellent

01 Feb 2025

Martin

Forest Row

Room was compact but comfortable. Windows only single glazed, so a but cold and misted up. Had to keep blinds shut as the view was right onto the High Street, with no net curtain. So lack of privacy 😒

Partner

6/10

Pleasant

29 Nov 2024

Matt

Ear plugs supplied next to the bed for a reason.

Beautiful room, with a comfortable bed and very clean. The food was great and service very good. However, fundamental to staying in a hotel is getting a good night's sleep.
I appreciate it's a 16th century building and probably heavily controlled in terms of building / planning regulations but my colleague in the next room and I were both kept awake most of the night by the street noise, and church bell opposite. Every hour on the hour.
Every conversation you could hear from outside, every moped buzzing around and even normal conversations from passers by.
We stayed at similarly aged hotels on our business trip who all had internal double glazing (not changing the exterior frames etc.
If you wonder why there are two jars of ear plugs next to the bed...that's why.

Shame as a lovely property and great food. Just don't expect to get alot of sleep

Business

10/10

Exceptional

20 Nov 2024

Robyn

Nice pub, friendly staff, comfy room

Leisure Pet

6/10

Pleasant

05 Nov 2024

Alexander

The welcome was warm and I was shown to my room - a large well appointed room with an immaculate bathroom. All good so far. Unfortunately, it wasn't until I went to bed I realised the constant noise of traffic on the A22 that carried on until the early hours of the morning. This coupled with the Town Hall clock that chimed every hour resulted in a night of poor sleep. I should have realised that the noise would be excessive as the Swan had provided ear plugs by the bed.

In the morning, I came down for breakfast and was quickly greeted with 'breakfast is extra'. This wasn't a problem but the price of £18.98 was excessive and I felt that being charged extra for coffee was unreasonable. The breakfast itself was fairly average and certainly didn't warrant the cost.

In places the Swan is a bit tatty and, I would suggest that the tired single glazed windows could do with being replaced to counter the noise.

Business

8/10

Excellent

03 Nov 2024

Kim

Overnight stay

Clean and comfortable room. We had a meal in the pub and the food was very good. Church bell was chiming through the night, hotel had thoughtfully supplied earplugs!

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

26 Jul 2024

Colin

Forest Row

Really nice little pub/hotel which provides great services, food, beer and the room was perfectly formed. Loved the stay and would definitetly stay again.

Partner

2/10

Poor

04 Jul 2024

Brian

Dreadful

Awful place. Avoid

Business

2/10

Poor

06 Jun 2024

Andrew

Very dirty and noisy!

Very dirty and noisy. The accommodation rooms are located by the busy kitchen entrance door and all i could smell was the kitchen and cooking all of the time (not ideal)
My room was at the front of the pub/ hotel and could hear the busy road and roundabout throughout the night.

Business

10/10

Exceptional

23 May 2024

Hannah

Exactly what you want from a nice pub with rooms. Clean, comfortable and a large bed. Nice toiletries provided, nice bedding and fluffy towels. Easy to go downstairs for breakfast or dinner or go out to the walkable options. We stayed here to enjoy 100 acre wood which is a short drive or walk away. Friendly staff at the hotel.

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

14 May 2024

Nadia

Great pub.

Very friendly pub, great food. Room clean and comfy.
Only down was the church clock chiming on the the hour every hour throughout the night.

Partner

6/10

Pleasant

01 Apr 2024

Verified traveler

Great room, but service not so good

Very nice, spacious room, and bathroom.
A bit disturbing at first was the kitchen fan outside the door, but one got used to the humming, and it was off after the kitchen had closed.
During our 2 night stay there was no room cleaning or replenishing of tea/coffee etc.
Dinner in the restaurant was excellent but pricey. They would not let us book breakfast with the room on arrival, so make sure if you want it to book with the room. Otherwise breakfast menu is more expensive. But there are lovely places in the village to have breakfast.

Partner

8/10

Excellent

28 Mar 2024

Verified traveler

A nice dog friendly pub

We stayed in a double room with an extra bed for our adult daughter, plus our dog, which was amply big enough. It was clean and comfortable, although there were signs of wear in the decor.
We had dinner which was OK but nothing particularly special. We ate in the bar because we had our dog with us so it was good they allowed dogs in the bar area. We marked it as 4 star because when we came to pay, it wasn't pointed out to us that they had already added a service charge so we automatically added another 10% and only noticed after we'd paid. Technically, our fault for not checking but it was obvious that we hadn't noticed so it would have been better if they'd said something.

Friends_and_family Family

8/10

Excellent

27 Feb 2024

Martin

Great find at a great price

Lovely room underneath the pub. Really easy parking and check in. Room very spacious, large TV, good sized shower cubicle. Bed extremely comfortable.
Tea/coffee available in room, more oat milk than cows milk sachets would be great but plentiful even for a couple.

Self

10/10

Exceptional

20 Feb 2024

Nick

Stayed at the Swan for one night as I was on a course nearby the following day. Great choice of venue, very welcoming, clean and comfortable and spacious room. All the staff were very friendly, no complaints!

Self

4/10

Poor

08 Feb 2024

Verified traveler

Not deep cleaned

We understand the hotel is pet friendly but we were unable to stay in room due to allergies. Not a deep clean as stated by staff. Cobweb over shower head dust around skirting . Room also smelt damp and black mould on grouting in shower.
We couldn't stay the night so choose to drive home. I had emailed hotel next day but had no response .

Partner

6/10

Pleasant

30 Dec 2023

Susan

We were warmly welcomed by a lovely lady I didn't catch her name) The room I requested (with a bath) hadn't been allocated to us but after a call this was sorted and the room we stayed in was lovely.
We ate in the pub, my husbands beef short rib was only luke warm, they said it would be replaced but would take 20 mins,we said just to warm properly would be ok, which was done although I did think that some money should have been taken off or complimentary drinks offered but they were not.
The breakfast was lovely but no cereal, yoghurt, fresh fruit or croissants which are usually offered at most hotels and b&b's.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

22 Nov 2023

Emily

Fun little stay

Really friendly staff. Our room which we booked last minute for a little escape, was tiny! But it was comfortable. Booking above a pub we were worried about noise and it was a little noisy but mainly from the traffic as the room is really close to the road. The staff were really cool, the pub had a great vibe, the shower was amazing, the TV perfect and the breakfast was Top. good value.

Partner

8/10

Excellent

12 Oct 2023

Kam-Yin

Bolthole for Spartan day at Ashdown Forest!

Staff were extreemly helpful and friendly. I chose this hotel because of the excellent reviews but my personal experience of the stay was that the room we stayed in (cant remember the name of the room but its situated at the first level, the first door you come to). The bathroom was lovely and clean but the main room was quite dusty. The room was very basic. Our room was detailed as a Delux Double Room but I failed to see the 'Delux' part. We also found the parking a nightmare, the pub is obviously a popular busy pub but with limited parking, when we asked where we could park if the car park was full, we were told to park in the free town/village car park about 1/2 a mile away!...HUMMM... We liked the fact that the hotel/pub was dog friendly, so we brought our dog along but we found that we were 'locked in' overnight! So if our dog had wanted to go out to relieve herself overnight (which can happen from time to time) we couldn't exit the building unfortunately.

Partner

2/10

Poor

02 Oct 2023

James

Real Life Fawlty Towers - AVOID AT ALL COSTS

We found the real life Fawlty Towers!!! What a night- we were shown to our room, walking out of the front of the pub, past the petrol forecourt, round the back near the bins, past a loud extractor fan spitting greasy air from the kitchen at you. To arrive at the 'Balfour Suite' - next problem, no electricity whatsoever and a serious damp issue in the room.
After a few minutes, we were asked to wait at the bar and offered complimentary drinks. So we had to use the touches on our phones to get changed, headed back to the bar.
All staff friendly, unfortunately, young and untrained. However Jack was excellent and we decided to eat in the pub section as there was only one other table in the restaurant.
Every single dish was awful. Some of the worst food we've ever experiences. The bill came to almost £250 and £100 was removed. Cold starters, over cooked steak, it was a farce.....which turned out to be very funny and literally everything was awful.
Then breakfast just about topped it off. After over 30 minutes, not one of us (4 people) ate the food. I tried to speak to the waiter, and he responded \"well, where have you eaten before\"- this waiter turned out to be the GM. After explaining everything that had happened, he shrugged she shoulders and said \"thank you for your feedback\".
A real shame as for £180 for the room and £150 with not even a 'sorry' from the GM, not going to be recommending or visiting ever again.

Friends_and_family Friends

8/10

Excellent

23 Sep 2023

Mike

Nice pub/hotel.
Food was good
Breakfast didn’t start until 8am which wasn’t ideal. Apart from that all ok. Would stay again.

Business

10/10

Exceptional

20 Aug 2023

Susanna

Lovely hotel - thank you

Friends_and_family Family

10/10

Exceptional

06 Aug 2023

Terry

Ideal boutique hotel/pub

Lovely staff, very friendly and welcoming, ideal for an overnight stop.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

18 Jun 2023

Geoffrey

Overnight stop

Very pleasant welcome by member of staff on arrival. Nice spacious bedroom and quiet despite the proximity to the main road.
Breakfast the next morning was good

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

31 May 2023

Mary

Convenient free parking, very nice pub, great atmosphere, food is very good. Walk to village, convenient Tessco next door. Good value with breakfast included.

Leisure Partner

8/10

Excellent

30 May 2023

Caroline

Lovely friendly staff, convenient parking, good service.

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

18 May 2023

Andrew

Lovely Stay.

Lovely stay. Very comfortable rooms. Friendly staff. Great food. Thoroughly recommend

Partner

6/10

Pleasant

14 May 2023

Paula

The room in the picture is not the room we had. They have 2 rooms which they call a Junior Suite. The one in the picture is a very large and prestigious looking room with wooden beam ceiling and a large fireplace. The room we had was just a simple room with none of the features of the one in the picture. I feel that the pictured room was worth the £178 a night but the room we had was a very poor relation to that room and in my opinion grossly over priced. I did mention to the hotel that I was disappointed with my room only to be told ‘sorry but you are in our other Junior Suite room. Breakfast was substantial but we had to wait half an hour from ordering until it arrived and the bacon was so over cooked and dry that it was not edible. On a positive note the room was clean, well appointed and the most comfortable bed I have ever slept in.

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

09 May 2023

Daniel

The staff were all amazing, great welcome and all round pleasant stay

Business

8/10

Excellent

22 Apr 2023

yen

Most is great , staffs & room &breakfast is good , but room above the bar and facing the Main Street , and after 10pm the main entrance is close , you need to take the back door ( exit door ) there is a steep stair is hard for elderly or a dogs if you want to walk the a bit .

Leisure Pet

8/10

Excellent

16 Apr 2023

Jeanine

The only way out at night was down very steep, slippery, and dark stairs. My dog could not go down the stairs for his nightly duties, so he had to hold it until morning.

Leisure Friends

10/10

Exceptional

31 Mar 2023

Jeffrey

March trip

Excellent location for what we wanted to do.
Excellent value for money.

Partner