The White Swan Inn at Pickering, North Yorkshire Review – The White Swan Inn, in Pickering is a beautiful golden stone inn, in a pretty market town on the edge of the wild North York Moors. Ideally placed for travel to Whitby or Scarborough or indeed many of the pretty picnic spots on the Moors themselves like Rosedale Abbey or Hutton le Hole.
Pickering is also the home to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, a heritage railway line often seen in films and on TV. The last time we were here we visited Goathland that was the setting for Hogsmead in the first Harry Potter films and Aidensfield in Heartbeat. On our visit this time we tried out the Segways and Treetop Challenge at Go Ape in Dalby Forest.
The Hideaway Rooms at The White Swan Inn
The White Swan offers several different style rooms. Mr Wonders and I visited before we had the children and stayed in a very plush suite. This time we had two adjoining Hideaway rooms.
Separate from the main hotel, our rooms were on the ground floor and accessed through a single door that led to two rooms. This offers great flexibility for families, you have your own room but it’s attached to the kids via a short private hallway. I rather liked the addition of the umbrellas in the hallway!
The rooms themselves are very comfortable. Ours had king size bed with crisp cotton sheets, a large flat screen TV, desk and dressing table. Hidden away there is tea and coffee making facilities and a mini bar with still and sparkling water.
Each room has an ensuite bathroom with a large bath and separate shower. The bathroom was immaculate. Indeed I saw lots of cleaning going on during our stay.
The Bothy at The White Swan Inn, Pickering
There is a lot of thought and care put into making sure you have a good time during your stay at The White Swan. Just over the courtyard from our rooms, we found The Bothy. A long room with a vaulted ceiling and large fireplace at one end, and as many large and squishy sofas as you have ever seen in a room at once!
There is a well stocked honesty bar, lots of cosy candlelight, and a myriad of glossy magazines to read. I do dream about the day when I can snuggle up with a glass of wine and read some of the glossy magazines, but in the meantime there is a stack of boardgames to entertain the family too!
In the courtyard area of The Bothy there are lots of bistro sets for long summer evenings lit by merry fairy lights.
Dinner in the Restaurant
In the evening, we headed into the restaurant for dinner.
All of the staff we came into contact with were unfailingly warm and friendly, yet courteous too. We settled into our large candlelit table for four, and prepared for a feast! Miss H chose from the children’s menu and began with garlic bread.
Mr Wonders indulged his love of seafood and went with the mussels. It’s a treat for him as I don’t like and rarely cook seafood!
My husband and son both went for an adult’s portion of fish and chips, and not a scrap was left!
Miss H went for the mac and cheese on the kids’ menu.
Finally, I chose the charcoal grilled sirloin steak with a salsa verde and hand cooked chips – delicious!
Master T then managed three scoops of ice cream:
And I, by being careful and avoiding a starter managed my favourite dish – the cheeseboard! You could choose three of five cheeses which would be perfect to share. I went completely Yorkshire and chose the Yorkshire Brie, Smoked Wensleydale and Harrogate Blue. All completely to die for, for a cheese lover like me, and made me very happy.
After a lovely night’s sleep, we heading back into the restaurant for breakfast.
Breakfast at The White Swan Inn
When we arrived we were handed menus for all the components we wanted to make up our full English breakfast, porridge or eggs. Mr Wonders and I indulged in the parts of the full English that we like (bacon, sausage, black pudding and eggs for Mr W!).
Miss H chose two soft boiled eggs and soldiers.
Master T opted to hit the buffet! We were also offered toast. The buffet comprised of croissants and pastries, cheese and continental meats, cereals, fruit and juices.
We also ordered tea and coffee and the lovely waiter suggested that hot chocolate could be made for the kids – which made Master T very happy indeed!
All in all, we had a lovely stay at The White Swan Inn, in Pickering. It’s a beautiful boutique hotel in an equally beautiful location. It has easy access to Scarborough, Whitby and York, as well as so much to see and do in its immediate area. The adjoining rooms, relaxed restaurant and cosy bothy, complete with board games make it an ideal hotel for a family stay.
Mr Wonders was overjoyed by the pretty car park with ample private parking. There was also a bike shed available and electric car chargers.
We were invited to stay and review the hotel and restaurant, but as always, all opinions expressed are my own.
This looks like a lovely hotel, it sounds like you had a great stay. The food looks delicious with a good choice, my husband would love the mussels. We often visit North Yorkshire so I will keep this hotel in mind for our next visit xx
It’s a gorgeous hotel and a fantastic location. I loved The Bothy! I also like how close it is to the Yorkshire Moors. xx