Swallow Hotel, Glasgow

Author's product rating:   

Advantages:	Great Food, Family Friendly, Relaxed atmosphere, Great Value .
Disadvantages:	Not very appealing from the exterior

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

The Glasgow Swallow is a well equipped comfortable and friendly Hotel, located a short distance outside the city centre but in an area with some of Glasgow's best attractions. It is an excellent choice for families and great value for money.

I have been to the Swallow in Glasgow with my family many times. From the outside the hotel is quite unimpressive, inside is a different story. It is well decorated and well laid out. As you walk in the door you have a reception desk in front of you, the dining room, bar and lounge to the left and lift, stairs to rooms and ballroom to the right. The main entrance has a small fountain, disabled access and is under an overhead walkway. Opposite the main door is the entrance to the leisure suite, which has a swimming pool, Jacuzzi and small gym. The leisure suite also provides beauty treatments, so you can book yourself in for some real pampering. (Always a hit with my 15 year old daughter).

Rooms
The rooms are adequately sized, pleasantly decorated and always clean. You are provided with a small hallway, a bathroom with bath, shower, toilet and sink. A television, telephone, kettle with complimentary tea, coffee and shortbread, there is a trouser press and inside your wardrobe you will find an ironing board and a full sized proper iron (not one of these tiny traveling irons). You can access the internet for a fee of around ten pounds.

Child Friendly
If you have children in your party the hotel are very accommodating, interconnecting rooms are readily available, but it's a good idea to mention you require this when you book. Your children's room will be charged at half price which is also a big bonus.

Food
Breakfast at the Swallow is brill. You have a choice of fruit juices, buffet style fry up and choice of cereals and pastries. You go to the dining room where you will be shown to your table. Waiting staff will be with you in a few moments to ask if you would like tea, coffee or toast, which arrives hot fresh and quickly. You can eat as much as you like and the price is included in your booking. The atmosphere is informal, relaxed and friendly. Many people take there coffee into the lounge to watch the massive plasma TV when breakfast is over.

Dinner
When we have visited the hotel we have always taken the bed and breakfast option as Glasgow has so many places to eat at night. You do have the option include you evening meal in your booking. If you decide to stay in the hotel to eat for the odd night, it will be billed to your room and you pay when you leave. The evening menu is a tad on the pricy side but the food is excellent. The atmosphere in the dining room at night is a little more formal. A meal for two adults and two children without wine or starters will set you back around fifty pounds.

Snacks & Room service

Outside the normal dining times you can order a range of sandwiches, wraps and various other snacks from the bar. Everything arrives freshly prepared and fairly quickly. When we come back in at night we always phone room service for tea and toast ( one of the highlights of the holiday for my youngest daughter) Usually within half an hour a huge tray is delivered to our room, with a jumbo sized pot of tea, fresh toast and a selection of mini pots of jam and honey. The staff is very accommodating as this is not on the room service menu, and they always deliver it no matter how late we phone.

Location
The hotel is halfway along Paisley Road West, on the fork with Copeland Road the home of Glasgow Rangers. If you're a Glasgow Rangers fan you'll be in heaven. Ibrox is two minutes walk from the hotel, so you can catch a game if they are at home, spend a fortune in the superstore or take a tour of the ground. Paisley Road West is lined with traditionally Rangers pubs that will be jumping with atmosphere on match days, but take note in Glasgow children are not welcome in pubs other than specifically family pubs such as Brewster's. If your not a Rangers fan fear not. The hotel operates tight security on game days and only residents are allowed in, so you don't need to worry about hoards of fans celebrating or commiserating. They have a barrier which is lowered for the occasion with a security guard that makes Arnold Schwarzenegger look like Mr Weedy. The sight of the fans departing on match day is a spectacle worth seeing in its own right. If you have a front facing room you can watch as an army of police mounted on Clydesdale heavy horses maneuvered a massive sea of fans along the road and away from the game. It's magic.

Near By Attractions
Very close to the hotel all only few minutes by car or less than 30 minutes walk are some of Glasgow's best attractions.

The Science Centre and IMAX are on the waterfront. The science centre is great for the kids but one of those places you will probably only visit once. The been there and seen it type place. The IMAX which is incorporated in the science centre is excellent. If you've never been to an IMAX it's definitely a must do. A giant cinema screen with specially produced films that are in 3-D. You actually feel as if you're in the film, difficult to put into words you really have to experience it, a definite must do.

Along Paisley Road towards the town you will find The Quay. A leisure park with a cinema, bowling alley, bingo hall and Brewster's pub. About 15 minutes walk from The Swallow, opposite the quay is Harry Ramsden's. Not my favorite place to eat a bit too pricy and formal for fish and chips.

If you travel in the opposite direction along Paisley Road West heading towards Renfrew and Paisley, you will find Braehead, A large very new shopping centre with all the major chain stores and escape a new leisure complex which hosts a snow zone where you can try your hand at skiing or snowboarding.

Value
The Glasgow Swallow Represents great value for money. If we go as a family it works out £100
For two rooms they usually work it out £70 for a double then £35 (half price) for connecting twin and round it down to £100 per night this includes breakfast. Most guides give The Glasgow Swallow a two or three star rating but I've never really understood why as I've stayed in hotels with a higher star rating that have cost twice as much and not been half as good.

My Rating
Appearance outside - 7/10
Appearance inside -10/10
Location - 10/10
Rooms - 10/10
Hospitality - 9/10
Facilities - 10/10
Value 10/10