Swallow Royal Kings Arms Hotel

Very convenient to the train staion, Castle, and shopping area. Lovely, comfy common areas. Excellent breakfast in elegant dining room. Perfect service. Single room, however, was the major failing. Very long and narrow, with high ceilings, the single bed was placed along the long wall with the head right next to the door to the corridor. Felt odd, but with the size and shape of the room, I don't know where else it could've gone. Paint was also old with peeling near the ceiling. That said, the bed was comfy, with nice linens. The bathroom was huge, lots of thick, fluffy towels, and plenty of shelves for toiletries, and hooks. Not sure if the ancient elevator, with two, balky manual doors was a detraction or feature. All said, good value for the money, which was modest.

Stayed at this hotel for one night only, and had very few problems. Had to knock on the door to get in after 12, and the parking out the back was a horrendous jigsaw puzzle of cars (although we did get a space)! Paid an extra 2.50 to have breakfast in the room - not to be recommended. It tasted of grease and not much else. The hotel was very central though, and the price was reasonable. The decor is a bit tired, but the staff were very friendly.

We managed to get booked for bank holiday weekend at the Royal Kings Arms, strange when every where else was fully booked. We arrived having had to ask directions to the car park which must be the worst car park in the world there are half a dozen spaces and you could get blocked in at any time as there is no space to move to get out of it. We were firstly given room 213 which from walking up the stairs was directly above the function room we had just passed all decorated for a wedding, massive relief when we realised it was a non smoking room and we had asked for smoking Someone was soon up with another key for room 402. I wouldn't have thought there would be any spare rooms available. This was a much bigger room on the fourth floor and well away from the function room. The room it self was clean but I found the whole hotel a bit tatty and certainly not extensively refurbished the towel rail in our bathroom was hanging on to the wall barely. We ordered breakfast in bed at an additional cost of £2.50 it came on time and the food was nice but items we asked for were not there and items we hadn't asked for were there. We went out for a few drinks in Lancaster then headed back to the hotel where we found the Crypt open, out of curiosity we went in to see what all the fuss was about. LOUD MUSIC firstly, then when we opened the door we saw young lads without their tops on jumping up and down and bumping into each other. We walked back through reception to our room glad we were on the 4th floor. Apart from the wedding party and the lads in the crypt we hardly saw a sole in the time we stayed at the hotel considering it was bank holiday, I wonder why!!!

A typical city-centre chain hotel. The building it-self is old and has been maintained to just keep it out the 'shabby' catagory. It won't win any interior design awards! However, the room was clean with fluffy towels, a decent shower and a comfy bed. The staff were coureous and helpful and the buffet breakfast provided of a quality you'd expect from a chain. Be warned however, the basement of the hotel has been converted into the 'crypt bar/club' which on Friday and Saturday nights is a heavy metal / rock venue. Having checked in on Friday at 11pm the sounds from the club made conversation in the reception difficult. My room was on the 4th (top) floor and from there I couldn't hear the club at all. I'm not sure I'd have liked to have been on the 1st floor however! Overall - a good value for money hotel in a great location for central Lancaster. I'd stay there again.

This is perfectly adequate town centre hotel. Friendly helpful staff. The bedroom could do with some redecoration and refurbishment but was OK for our needs. The buffet breakfast had a good choice of pastries and cooked items, although the serving staff need to WAKE UP!!!! Only problem is the small car park. Returning late evening, it was full and we had to use a "pay and display" overnight. I cannot comment on whether it was good value as we had free accommodation, due to a marketing promotion (thank you AOL) and only had to pay for breakfast

We arrived late in the evening and were greeted with a smile and a room change due to confusion about two room numbers being on the check in card. The room was cramped and the decor lacked something but adequate for our needs. Unfortunately the weather was wild and blowing a gale, the room we were in was overlooking the car park and the wind howled around it all night disturbing our sleep. In the morning the waitress was friendly and polite, the buffet could be presented with a little more care and the selection was not very wide. We did not try the cooked breakfast just the continental style. The tables were pleasantly laid out but i felt the cloths were unneccesary on such nice tables for 'breakfast'. Our checkout was quick and efficient as my car keys were returned back to me. The car park was quiet during our stay but i am sure the car park can be a nightmare during busy periods. Generally a pleasant stay even though we did not try the restaurant for a meal.

Arrived at 10.45pm to discover that it was Rock Night in the basement Crypt bar - which could be heard all over the hotel. Despite the reception assuring me that it would finish at 11pm & being allocated a 'quiet' room - the racket continued until 1am! Not great - coupled with a shabby room (imagine 1970's motel style) and waiting staff at breakfast with a surly manner, have to say I will not be returning there again & would advise others to avoid at all costs!

We booked for a two night New Year 'special'. We were a little disappointed with the room size and decor, but had a fantastic view of the castle while lying in bed!We HAD to take the age of the hotel into consideration and were amazed by the history. The food more than made up for any shortcomings. We were provided with a varied menu of superb dishes with some drinks included and wanted for nothing more. The table settings were very attractive and party games and quizes for all were included. The staff were all very attentive and worked extremely hard during our stay to make sure we had everything we wanted. All for an excellent price.

Never Again! Menzies Hotel let us down big time. Our first weekend break away from the children in 16 years, we arrived in Lancaster looking forward to our break to be told we had no room at this hotel, even though I had confirmed the booking with them by telephone only one week earlier. The hotel had over booked apparently by 30 rooms! There were many other upset people. (people that had travelled some distance to be told they had no room) They had known that they were going to over booked the day before, but had not had the decency to contact people. They were trying to blame the internet booking system, but we have since found out that this was not true, and the hotel was at fault. They had one receptionist on the desk having to deal with very upset people and frantically thumbing her way through the yellow pages to find rooms available - not acceptable, and certainly not what you would expect of a 3 star hotel! What we found most upsetting was the total lack of appology or care from the managment, they wrecked our break, and even now we have had no proper explanation as to why we were treated like this. (Appalling.Repeat of previous review comment, don't touch with a barge pole. I wished I had read the review before I booked.

After driving for over six hours we arrived at the Royal Kings Arms Hotel to be told that our room, which had been booked for over two months, had been given to a large party who needed extra room. We have stayed at many hotels and never been treated like this. DO NOT TOUCH WITH A BARGE POLE.