Name: The Black Swan - The Inn Collection Group
Address: Market Place, York, York, York, YO62 5BJ, United Kingdom
Rating: 8

Smoke-free property

Heating

Garden

All Spaces Non-Smoking (public and private)

Outdoor furniture

Reception desk

General

Bridal suite

Non-smoking rooms

Room service

Hairdryer

Shower/Bathtub

Shower

Wardrobe/Closet

Rooms

Iron and board

Dry-cleaning

Luggage storage

Telephone

Services and amenities

Coffee/tea for guests

Breakfast

Breakfast in the room

Restaurant

Packed Lunches

Kettle

Meals

Free Wi-Fi

Internet

Multi-language staff

Languages Spoken

Free parking

Free Parking on Premises

Parking

Fax and copy machine

Meeting and presentation facilities

Conference Hall

Business

Pets allowed

Pets

Personal protection equipment for staff

Extra decontamination measures

Personal protection equipment for guests

Contactless check-in and/or check-out

Additional measures against COVID-19

Health and Safety Measures

Location

At the hotel

Room amenities

Helmsley Arts Centre

Cleveland Way

Teesside International Airport

Leeds Bradford International Airport

The Black Swan - The Inn Collection Group

York

child-bed

child-bed-fee

external-private-bathroom

private-bathroom

shared-bathroom

10-beds

11-beds

12-beds

13-beds

14-beds

15-beds

16-beds

17-beds

18-beds

19-beds

2-beds

20-beds

21-beds

22-beds

23-beds

24-beds

25-beds

26-beds

27-beds

28-beds

29-beds

3-beds

30-beds

31-beds

32-beds

33-beds

34-beds

35-beds

36-beds

37-beds

38-beds

39-beds

4-beds

40-beds

5-beds

6-beds

7-beds

8-beds

9-beds

king-bed

queen-bed

limited-time

lounge

treatment

no-window

bay-view

bosphorus-view

canal-view

city-view

courtyard-view

garden-view

golf-view

harbour-view

inland-view

lake-view

land-view

mountain-view

ocean-front

ocean-view

oceanside

panoramic-view

park-view

partial-ocean-view

partial-sea-view

partial-view

pool-view

river-view

sea-front

sea-view

street-view

sunrise-view

sunset-view

water-view

with-view

annex

basement

main-building

1-bedroom

2-bedrooms

3-bedrooms

4-bedrooms

5-bedrooms

6-bedrooms

not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

kitchen

Lovely hotel, it was very clean and the staff were very friendly and obliging. The food was excellent and cooked to order. The hotel is beautifully decorated and cosy. Definitely recommend and their offers are excellent value for money

Excellent stay

Lovely inn right by n the square, lovely check in experience and friendly team throughout.

Room 19 very pleasant.
Lovely gardens and setting 

Food very good, had partridge salad, cheese soufflé, hake and burger. All presented beautifully and very tasty.

Breakfast was very good with a great choice.

Would highly recommend and well worth a visit

Friendly team, lovely setting

Wonderful mix of old and modern, in a superb setting right in the centre of the beautiful market town of Helmsley. Spacious room, warm, and wonderfully quiet - we stayed as part of the winter breaks offer and can’t wait to make a return visit 

Lovely hotel in a stunning location

We stayed for 3 days over Christmas, the overall impression was of a hotel who were trying to maximise profit at the expense of quality of stay. There was simply not enough staff to cope with a packed hotel over Christmas, the ones they had tried their best but were overwhelmed. The food was poor to say the least and things were running out all the time. Christmas dinner and our evening meals took an age to serve and The Christmas dinner was lukewarm at best. There was an agency chef who was commuting from Stockport who looked exhausted. The value for money was very poor, there was no residents lounge and lots of walk ins were being accepted when there wasn’t enough food for the residents. One particular member of staff was extremely surly at breakfast spoiling the experience. The owners need to take a good look at themselves as the hotel could be amazing if managed properly. They need more staff, a decent chef and a more customer centred approach or the place will die. We had paid in advance or we would not have continued to eat there as we were being served pub food at 4 star prices

A Disappointing Christmas

Back in October 2022 I reviewed the Black Swan for the first time, this is an extract......

"What stood out though were the staff. They appeared genuinely interested in us and were equally interesting individuals themselves. Many had worked here a long time. Adrian particularly deserves a mention, for encouraging us to try the cocktails. The French Martini was wonderful, and the Rum Punch went down fabulously, as did lots more, and more.
This hotel reinforced something I think every time I go out, great service will generate upsell, which will result in improving profits. Its simple really.
This is our first time in an Inn Collection hotel, and we will be booking to visit more and definitely will be heading back to The Black Swan this Winter"

.....so imagine my dismay when I returned recently to find signs everywhere saying "Please order at the bar". So we joined the queue at the bar and ordered soup. We didn't order main courses, or side orders, or desserts, or cocktails, or port. What a ridiculous situation, the hotel has implemented a penny pinching plan that reduced the spend for the two of us by at least £100/night of our stay. 
Whilst talking to other people in the bar the general view was one of dissatisfaction, indeed one regular guest announced she would be staying at The Feathers, across the square. I couldn't agree more. This is very much a case of desperate management making awful decisions that have a catastrophic impact on the brand they own.

This used to be brilliant, now its awful. We won't be back.

I made a reservation to stay here for a night several weeks ago and had an email confirmation of the date. A few days before my arrival I received a reminder email about my stay with the wrong dates on it. I contacted the place and they insisted they were right and I was wrong. After several exchanges of messages, they stated that they could change my dates (to the ones I had already booked) but an additional £50 charge would apply. 

Enough was enough, I forwarded the original booking email and they finally agreed that my booked dates were correct without a word of an apology for the annoyance they had caused me and the inconvenience they generated let alone their attitude.

On check in I was met with a cool disregard verging on immediate dislike by a couple of the staff. 

The room was basic and did not live up to the pictures on the website to a point where I consider the website pics were misleading about the room and facilities. 

Breakfast was OK but only just. The offering is basic beyond belief and totally self service apart from the service of one very basic hot item. 

It was quite a few years since I had been here, it has gone downhill and I certainly won't be going back at any point in the future. 

It's gone down hill badly.

Hotel, staff and location very good.
Food was very disappointing, limited choice, same menu each evening and had to be returned once.
Would think twice about retuning unless the food and menu are guaranteed better.


Weekend away

Delightful cheerful staff. A great location. The rooms looking out on the square are lovely - it’s very quiet in the evenings. We stay here whenever we visit Helmsley and surrounds. I could spend all day and evening people watching here

Another great stay

We needed to stay in Helmsley to attend a family event. We had stayed practically everywhere else in the area over the years, except for the Black Swan. The man negatives were that it was not clean (with dogs as welcome visitors it really should be) and the evening meal menu was astonishingly limited. (OK for one night...we had to eat elsewhere on the 2nd) and I waited 40 minutes for my sweet. Final straw was the way my bill had been inflated (though pleasantly corrected by the receptonist). Staff were helpful and friendly.

Short break n Helmsley

We are always reluctant when we go and eat out now due to poor standard food ,service and overpricing. We were instantly put at ease by Adrian his approach to customers was a breath of fresh air his moto being if the customers are happy he is happy. If only every eating establishment had an Adrian. I had the smoked haddock chowder absolutely beautiful and the wife steak pie,again top marks from the Mrs. The chocolate brownie was fresh and crisp .The wife a little jealous but still enjoyed her apple crumble. The only moan was after googling the lovely bottle of wine I had it was triple the price from the supermarket if it was double I would of expected that 

The Black Swan - The Inn Collection Group

Main amenities of the hotel

Location

Available rooms

Location

Description of the hotel

What other amenities are there?

Policies

Check-in terms and conditions

Paid on the spot

Payment