From the DeVere chain of hotels comes this cutesy little hotel called the Mill & Old Swan. Theoretically two separate buildings, the Swan goes back to about 600 years whilst the Mill about 100 years. Decided on this hotel as I manage to negotiate very good price for my three night stay. Their pricing is highly dependent on seminars/meetings being run as they are a very conference oriented hotel. First and last night stay was at £39 inclusive of breakfast, a bargin. The second night was about £100, again inclusive of breakfast.

The two buildings are located across a road and are not physically linked. This is the Old Swan which I stayed in. Looks good eh? Unfortunately, it was very EXTREMELY poorly lit at night – so poorly lit that I was unable to even find my room which entrance was around the corner from the outside. Even the car park was very poorly lit. Getting around it made me thankful of my knee high boots, otherwise I will be completely mud splattered, as bacon was when he came to look for me. DeVere, that is really really poor for such a high quality hotel chain. Appaling, even.

The River Windrush, about 10 ft away from the front door of the hotel. If you are afraid of fast moving rivers, stay clear of this hotel. Maybe it was the snow melting, but the river burst its banks whilst I was there…making me worry about the fact that I might be flooded in the hotel!

This is The Mill. If you are looking into staying at this hotel, I would recommend requesting for a room at the Mill as it is more modern and better lit. I specifically requested for the Old Swan as they only do room service there – the restaurant is located at the Old Swan and they do not bring it across the road. So if you are staying at The Mill, you would need to walk across the road for breakfast.

Very tight fitting room – all the furniture are very bulky, and I had to literally walk around the furniture and shuffling around. My ground floor room (room 211) comes with french windows opening into a tiny patio…can imagine it being really pretty in summer but not in the snow! Has its own patio furniture and planter pots.

One note of caution – they provided me with one soap and one tube of shampoo for the whole duration of my trip. Nothing else. My coffee/tea caddy was never refilled even when I emptied it all out. They did not even change my sheets NOR towels for the duration of three days I was there. And one of the towels was disgusting with brown splotches of mud that I have used to wipe my dirty boots on my first night. They folded it up and placed it on the sink again – after me throwing it on the floor. How disgusting is THAT? Again, DeVere…you are degrading yourself to a negative star property. Even DaysInn motel provided me with fresh towels daily and a bigger array of toileteries – replenished daily and a quick call to reception if I needed more. Shame on you, DeVere.

However, there is a really nice wood burning fire at reception, with magazines abound and free tea/coffee section for the ultimate lounging in winter time. Nice comeback.

And with picturesque neighbours like this thatched roof cottage…who could resist this old world charm?

I tried walking to the Minster, but ended in the Church instead – which is about a 15 minutes walk from the hotel.

I never found the Minster…apparently I made the wrong turning and ended up in the dead end church..

This sign reminded me of my good friend drey…who is going on lent

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• Food @ The Old Swan, Minster Lovell
• Fun in the snow part 2
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