We stayed one night at the Riverside and had our dog along, hence we were sent to the cottages. Oh my...tired furnishings, peeling paint, damp feel, musty smell. Food in the hotel was rather average. The only thing nice to say about the place is the wonderful staff. They seemed to bend over backwards to make us feel welcome. Won't be back.

we booked our stay 2 weeks prior to our break. i read some of the reviews of the hotel and i thought aslong as i avoid the cottages we should be ok but to my dismay we where shown to the cottages. when we saw our room i must say we were pleasently surprised. the first thing we noticed was it was so cold in the room. i asked if anything could be done and a member of staff came with me and she turned the heating on. i told her we were going to the resturant for dinner so it should warm when we get back. after a nice meal we returned to our room to find it still cold i reported it again and was told it was a new boiler and they were having problems the only other room was really a single , what could we do so late we both struggled with a 3/4 bed and had a sleeplees night. the next morning to our dismay we found we had no hot water and the shower was not working either .the fact that there was no door on the toilet did,nt help. the weekend was spoiled compleatly. i feel sorry for the staff who were very helpfull. dont go here unless you are assured you are in the main building

My partner and I booked this hotel so we could go to Ladies Day at Newmarket, the Garden Cottages sounded lovely on the web-site we used to book, but they are in fact the last resort for the hotel when the main house is full. Our room had large amounts of damp on one wall and the furniture had definitely all seen better days. The door lock was feeble and as the door opened directly onto the car park it was not very secure, this however was not the major security issue as one of the windows was so warped it wouldn't actually close!!!!! Because the room was facing the car park and about 20ft from a very busy road we were woken at 6am by various delivery lorries and cars driving past. The final straw for us was the sticker saying 'DO NOT USE' in big red letters on the plug for one of the bed-side lamps. The staff were a major credit to the hotel and seemed to be working very long shifts covering a vast multitude of tasks, but always with a smile and good grace. We wrote a letter to Swallow Hotels pointing out all the issues we had experienced during our stay and we had a prompt response saying that the rooms were due for a re-vamp, if you are offered a Garden Cottage, make sure they have indeed been renovated before you book.

Seven of us spent the weekend at The Riverside as part of a larger family get together and had a wonderful time. The hotel which was once a private house has a lawn running down to the River Lark and we were lucky in having fantastic weather. Although the hotel has recently been taken over by the Swallow chain it still has the charm of a family run hotel - when did you last stay in a chain hotel and have Monopoly and Scrabble in your room? The staff were all very friendly and incredibly helpful. Having said that, on the downside, the rooms (particularly the bathrooms) are in need of updating and the plumbing is a bit temperamental but if I had to choose between a power shower and staff who genuinely want to look after you I'd choose the latter every day.