The Swan, Cheltenham - pub details

Somewhat overrates itself on its Web site: not unpleasant but I find it utterly anodyne.

Essentially a contemporary lager house, with a nod to ale (and mine on 15/10 - Jennings Cumberland - not of the first order).

There are much better houses in Cheltenham.

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grovetown - 16 Oct 2009 16:11

I travelled up from London last weekend and on the recomendation of friends, went to The Swan.
I didnt expect to find such a unique place in Cheltenham. Decor was welcoming but funky, i especially liked picture of the Queen and school pictures of the regulars. Even though the place was packed, we got served promptly and with a smile. The food was very tasty. Good quality without being gastro. There is a very pretty walled garden out the back where we enjoyed good PImms and even better ales.
This place compares favourably with the more expensive places in Montpellier area.

Louise
Clapham

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rebeccahall - 26 May 2009 15:13

Lunched here recently while visiting friends. As Steve notes, this is a former Pub of the Year for the local CAMRA branch: in fact, I think the posters behind the bar suggest it won that title three years running (2005 to 2007). It's certainly a good pub, although I'm not sure it's in the very highest echelons of British pubs. The pub has a very nice, relaxed and airy atmosphere to it which I very much enjoyed - our friends have a young baby and it was quiet and peaceful enough for their baby to have a peaceful sleep in its pram while we all ate. Ale-wise, three were available - perhaps slightly fewer than I'd expect from a CAMRA champion but they were all interesting, and the couple of pints of Brakspears' Gold I had were very drinkable. The food was good as well, although they did that thing I dislike of having a pretty limited selection of dishes available on a Sunday.

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grecian - 26 May 2009 11:42

Very welcoming and a nice pint from mole brewery when visited, 7/10

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fat_beer_badger - 1 Jan 2008 18:32

Excellent pub, no wonder it won Pub of the year (Cheltenham 2006) - This place is usually packed on a Friday night, one of the few places I think that benifits more from the smoking ban. The staff are very friendly, and that includes the doormen, the food here is priced slightly higher than your chain pubs but thats because it's proper food, local food for local people, ... are you local? Seriosuly it's well presented, perfectly cooked, & huge portions when your plate arrives, so paying a few extra pence is irrelevant, you get exactly what you pay for.

Not a great deal of real ales on tap, tried the Harrier Lite, which is not my favourite beer but a few pints of it and I didn't care anyway. I remember drinking a strange home brew cider called Black Rat, more of this please! Haven't seen the concoction since.

The Swan is an excellent pub for any time of the day, been there on a saturday afternoon and sat alongise families, then returned later that night to meet some friends and been in a mix of students race goers (posh types) and 30 somethings.

Fantastic pub, anyone who comes to Cheltenham as soon as you get into a taxi, don't ask for your hotel, ask for the Swan, get yourself a pint and watch the wolrd go by.

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steve - 19 Nov 2007 12:04

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