The White Swan Hotel, Stratford Central, Stratford-Upon-Avon

Nice worth a look but expensive

A Fullers tied house with a magnificent interior with many Elizebethan original features and some very classy furniture and fitments.There is a small locked up wine cellar on display,two front section with real fireplaces on either side of the entrance and a charming rear snug beyond the raised island bar.Lighting is restrained and atmospheric and the restaurant exquisite with a very romantic feel.Your better half will be impressed. London Pride,ESB,Oliver Island (decent) and "Gales" Redwood was avaiable from the handpumps and the service was polite and friendly.There is also a charming side courtyard where you can eat al fresco close to the hotel entrance.The menu is expensive with starter £7,Mains around £20 but pub food options around £12 and of course most pints will set you back £4 but it's worth paying up to wander around and admire the superb interior.

Once through the doors the interior is even more impressive than the exterior. There were four ales on handpump from the Fullers range. I went for the London Pride, which was in great shape, but prices were top end. The food menu here looked good, so next I would like stop for a bite to eat.

Official site of the White Swan - www.white-swan-stratford.co.uk

Official site of the White Swan - www.white-swan-stratford.co.uk

With a prime central location overlooking the American Fountain, the White Swan is a smart, historic pub and hotel, well positioned to take advantage of the passing tourist trade. The pub has a pleasant multiple room interior which, despite feeling like most areas are set up for diners, still provides a pleasant environment for the drinker as well. As you enter, there are seating areas either side of the front door. To the right there is an impressive fireplace surrounded by a mix of sofas and similarly comfy chairs. A door on the right hand wall leads into another room with what seemed to be more formal table and chair arrangements – perhaps a dining room? On the left hand side of the pub there are some lovely carved settles and a group of comfy chairs in front of a small fireplace before the room moves through to a darker area which again appears to be more suited to those wanting food. The floor is a mix of quarry stone and woodblock with large rugs over it and there are loads of ancient looking beams and supports throughout, with the ones at the front of the pub looking particularly old and impressive. The servery can be found in a dimly lit space to the rear of the pub, which looks and feels a lot more modern than the other rooms and also acts as the hotel reception. Walls throughout have been covered with various Shakespeare related pictures, quotes, busts etc… in what was probably the most overt display I saw in any pub in town. Given the bright weather outside, several drinkers were sat on the front pavement tables which have good views over the road to the aforementioned fountain. As with the nearby Old Thatch Tavern, this is now a Fuller’s pub and four of their beers were available at the bar – Pride, ESB, Bengal Lancer and Gale’s Seafarers. I gave the Bengal Lancer a try and thought it was in fairly good shape. This is clearly a nice old building that’s worth a spending bit of time to explore, but the place felt a little bit over commercialized for my liking and although it was fine for a quick pint before heading for my train home, it didn’t strike me as somewhere I’d want to stay much longer.

Nice old building with features inside & out, close to the market. Roomy inside. No real ale on my visit here though