The Swan Inn

Don’t know about the previous comments but the food is great. Loved the beef and ale pie.

Oh dear, oh dear.
Arrived in dining room at 1.45 to find a notice saying they would stop taking orders for food at 1.45. Spent 10 mins at bar while one member staff worked very slowly. 10 mins after deadline they got to me. Was it possible to order a sandwich. No. Last orders at 1.45. Decided not to make any comment but ordered a couple a drinks.
There was one table free to sit on. It was festooned with the debris of previous inhabitants. We moved the debris to one side and sat down imaging the debris would be cleared. We sat for the best part of one hour without anyone ever bothering to clean up. The bar was more or less empty of customers at this point.
We were visiting an event up the road. Others had been to the pub. All commented on the poor quality of staff.
Inflexible, rude and generally lazy staff.
It gives me no pleasure to write this.
Apparently this pub is under new ownership. Where are the owners? Who takes responsibility for this? Let’s hope for a quick improvement.

This is the second time I’ve stayed at The Swan, the first being last June. I wasn’t impressed with it then and gave it a (generous) 2-​star review on Trip Adviser.
Now, however, it is under new management (again) and has improved considerably. It’s difficult to know how to grade it, and I really wanted to give it 4 stars as I did enjoy my stay, but on the other hand… ‘meh, I’ve experienced better’, which would be 2 stars. So I’ve compromised and given it three stars this time.
Let’s start with the rooms. These are lovely, really nicely decorated and appointed, and quite spacious. Each has a fruit theme, and this time I was in the Pear room. The bed was comfortable and warm, and the en-​suite was large with a bath and shower. The only minor downside was the small amount of black mould in the grout of the tiles around the shower. It’s so unsightly and really spoiled the overall impression of the room, and it’s not difficult to get rid of with the appropriate cleaner.
This room was also located at the back of the inn and was over the cooling plant, so there was an almost subliminal vibration that even extended to the bed at night, making it difficult to get to sleep. It was barely noticeable at a conscious level, but subconsciously your body is expecting an earthquake or other imminent disaster and refuses to relax. The cooler did switch off eventually so I did manage some sleep. It’s an old building dating from the 18^th Century, so you have to expect that there will be some stuff like this going on and just deal with it. But I think I will ask for a different room next time.
On to the bar and restaurant — the bar area is great, very cosy with old timbered beams everywhere — it does look the part. They have a good selection of ales on tap, including one of my favourites ‘Doom Bar.’ There’s a huge beer garden outside with children’s play area, and it’s ideally located in the centre of the village next to the green, so there’s plenty of space to spread out in hot weather. It’s a popular place with locals and is well-​supported, but then again it is really the only game in town in this small village.
The food menu has been downsized since my last visit, which is no bad thing really as they clearly could not support the size of menu that they used to front. Now it’s more basic pub fare — fish and chips, steak pies, burgers and the like — and although it’s not going to win any prizes in the haute cuisine stakes, it’s certainly more manageable and is good homely grub. I had a wild mushroom soup, which I suspect may have had a canned variety as a base, followed by a chick pea and sweet potato korma, which came with rice and a very small nan bread, and was very tasty. I was just glad that they did have a few veggie dishes to choose from.
The dessert was a rather interesting-​looking apple and blueberry pie, and it really was a pie! It looked like a large pork pie and came with a separate jug of custard — delicious.
The new staff were lovely and very friendly — they’ve only been running it for 6 weeks and are clearly keen to do their best for the place. I wish them well. So well done The Swan — I’m glad to see improvements in the place and may it continue to do so.

Being from the USA there’s always the hope of finding a pub that matches the types portrayed in movies and television shows. Well this one is better! Out of the way, unassuming and just great. The place is authentic, relaxed and friendly. The selection of beer was good, and the food has never disappointed. I have visited on several occasions and it has been consistently good. It is the one spot I make sure I visit while in the area, it’s highly recommended.

we’re not local to the malvern area, we were just hungry and saw the brown sign, best thing we’ve ever done, lovely atmosphere, tried a pint of «dragon’s blood» which was brilliant and straight from the casket, then food arrived, mine was topside of herefordshire beef, very well presented and hot and tasty, the Yorkshire puds were massive and delicious as well, the choice of veggies were great and served good n hot. Onto dessert, I chose chocolate and raisin bread & butter pudding, again faultless, and wonderful, we’ll be popping back before heading back to Hampshire, BRILLIANT