My friends booked us a few rooms at this hotel as a Birthday present for me. We arrived quite late on Thursaday night greeted by welcoming staff who offered to park the car and carry our luggage. The lobby itself is amazing, beacuse you can see all the way up the to the top of hotel
We stayed in room 204, which was on quite a low floor. (By the way If not staying at a top floor room I would definetley recommend you take a lift up there, the view is just spectacular!) The rooms were very nice, tastefully decorated and also very comfortable. I found the bed especially comfartable! We had a view of the bay and millenium centre, we were easily entertainined by waving at passing boats from our balcony to get them to hoot at you! Didn't find the discoloured netting to seperate balconies very attractive though.
The facilites in the room were good, but nothing spectacular. The preview menu was very useful. We would have liked complimentary bottled water aswell. There was a good choice of channes on the tv, and we thought it was amazing that there were speakers in the bath so you could listen to music!
The bathroom was very clean and modern. I was also suprised about how plesant the free soaps and shampoo were. The compliemtary slippers are alo very cute!
The service at reception was very good, we asked them to book a taxi for us a one turned up almost immediatley. The downstairs bar is very trendy but also very expensive! (£30 for 3 drinks, ouch!)
But it was defnietley worth it for us because the band Oasis were in there! Later that night we saw the actor Rhys Ifans! So the hotel is defintely a favourite amongst celebs!
Brekfast was brilliant, the best i've ever had! There is a very large choice of fruit, cereals, youghurt, meat and cheese to choose from the buffet. Then you get cooked meal, I choose pankcakes with maple syrup, soo good! My coffee was slighlty cold though, I told te waitress and I got a fresh one straight away.
The highlight of our stay was the spa, it was just incredible. We went at around 10-11am, and we were the only ones there at one point. The salt water beds were lovely, and the fountain/shower. The changing room facilites are very good, very spacious and a choice of shampoos and gels to choose from. Being younger guests an ill-mannerd older woman who was also a guest did make a rude snobish comment about us, wern't too impressed by this!
Overall our stay was very enjoyable and perfect to spend my birthday at!

When you watch the sun rising and winking at you over Cardiff bay from the end of a steamy, blue swimming pool, having just idled your way through curvy channels of salty hydrotherapy pools, your expectation of what a hotel should offer goes up a notch.

Maybe I was lucky to get my room in this hotel for £115, (booked on the day) but for the first time in a handful of hotel visits I admired their pride and style; this place is not intent on parting you with your hard-earned cash for as little reward possible; this is a venue taking real care over what they're doing- and pulling it off.

The breakfast buffet was spectacular, and included in the price. (I am not a fan of breakfast served on hotplates DIY-style, but I can forgive them the slightly chewy sausages and rubbery eggs for their sheer panache). Again, there was the view over the bay, glimmering in the morning light, making Cardiff look alluring and deceptively mystical.

The only downside about this hotel could be that it is very similar to a cruise ship. Take the lay-out, the marina-theme and that slightly edgy feel of glamour trying it's hardest to triumph over functionality. It also had the eery feel of a ship caught in a storm- no-one around, public areas deserted, and anyone you see looks slightly pale and a little smug.

The irony of this vast, gleamingly modern hotel being named after the British Isles' smallest, quaintest city was not lost on me. But then I found the hotel charming in its own way- in fact I was so relaxed by the experience that the morning after my stay, as I witnessed the christening of my Godson, when he threw up all over my new white shirt then pulled a clump out of my hair it just all seemed adorable.

So, don't stay here if you want somewhere cosy, quaint and homely. Do if you love water, sophistication, style, sumptuous servings, and the illusion that you are about to set sail.

I was a bit put off after reading all the bad reviews and criticsm for this hotel, so went with low expectations, but I needn't have worried, my stay was excellent. Our room was clean, furnished tastefully and was very comfortable. We did have tea-making facilites and complimentary toiletries which a lot of reviews stated they didn't have. Maybe they have changed their policy after all the negative reviews?. The TV was very tiny but then we didn't really go to watch TV! My one and only criticsm and it was a minor one was at first I thought the bathroom floor and sink hadn't been cleaned but I soon realised it was clean but very badly stained with water marks.

We used the spa and I liked the fact it had a lift directly to the spa so we didn't have to traipse through reception dressed in dressing gowns or tracksuits! It wasn't very busy when we used it and we enjoyed our experience. The only thing was in the big spa pool I managed to walk into a low wall twice and banged my shin - I cannot be the only person to have done this. There should be something to mark there is a wall there as you can't see it through the bubbly water and it could be dangerous!

Can I just say breakfast being served until mid-day on Sunday is absolutely brilliant - thanks for that.

My family and I booked 2 rooms for a Sunday night. Cardiff is generally a bit of a challenge to drive around so we were glad when we found the hotel. We parked at the pay and display opposite which was £5 for 24hours, which is pretty reasonable considering the location.

As soon as we got in the door the guy from Concierge offered to take our luggage which was good. We checked in which took a while. The guy seemed a little confused by us, which he didn't need to be. Not sure if he was new...maybe...he just seemed to be making the process more complicated for himself than it needed to be. No offer of complimentary paper on Monday morning so not sure if there is one. The lobby itself is quite beautiful.

My dad and his girlfriend had been given a room on the 5th floor and my brother and I on the 4th which is fine considering we specified NOT interconnecting rooms, although I did consider a little strange considering they didn't actually know our ages. Ok we were 20 and 18, but we could have been 10 and 8 for all they knew.
We took the lift which had chewing gum stuck underneath one of the handrails...really not a pleasant find. Our room was 402 so facing towards the Millenium Centre and the shops in the Bay. The room was rather basic, more so than I was expecting. When you pay certain prices you expect certain facilities. The room however was clean and bright and comfortable. The bathroom was fine although the shower curtain didn't do much in the way of protecting the floor from water, but then thats much the same wherever you are.
The room also had a balcony which provided a lovely view, even on a slightly miserable day. One problem with it though is it is one long balcony, seperated by an old, dirty piece of netting - I didn't think this would be a problem at first.

The tv in the room was small, I was expecting something better, and the 'private bar' really may as well not have been there. I thought this facility was pretty much standard in hotels of 4star and above...all our had was 2 bottles of water and 2 cans of coke. Hugely disappointing. There was also no Guest Directory, or if there was it wasn't easily found or anything written in it of any importance. However the menu we found did sound very nice!

3 of us decided to try out the spa facilities. The changing rooms were very clean and I like the idea of a private lift down to the spa. The pool area was clean and the water coolers were a nice touch. Yes there were a few cups lying arounfd, but then if peopl cannot be bothered to tidy up after themselves then what do you expect?! The salt water beds were divine, like stepping into a bath! It was lovely being able to lay there and look out at the evening sky over the Bay and the Wetlands. Beautiful.

We had no meals in the hotel, I would have liked breakfast but it wasn't included in the rate so we opted out. We had dinner at a restaurant in the Bay, I think it was called Deminos (?)...anyway that was rather nice too. Even if little children did stick their tongues in the chocolate fountain(!!).

The hotel looks beautiful lit up at night, and as I've said, the room was comfortable. However...our room had an interconnecting door. I have no idea who was on the other side but I didn't take kindly to having to listen to their conversations at 1am. Nor did I appreciate having the gentleman in the room standing on his balcony peering through the netting and into our patio doors to see me lying in bed!! Really found this most unsettling. Instead of being able to lay there and look at the lights in the bay, I had to lock the doors, pull the curtains and stick the air con on instead. Really ruined things for me. I did note this on a comment card for reception on check out but can't really see what they can do about it.

I also had the problem that my hairdryer didn't work. It only gave out cold air, no matter what combination of buttons you pressed. But it happens, so I took it down to concierge who apologised and replaced it immediately. Very happy with the efficiency.

Check out was slow. Was rather busy for a Monday morning and the guy on the desk was new so I was patient for him. He soon got assistance from his manager but a few guests did seem disgruntled by the wait.


I would love to stay here again but I would be making damn sure that my room was not interconnecting and that it had a more private balcony. The rates are very expensive for what didn't really meet the 5* standards it advertises. It's almost there, just needs some updating within the bedrooms and perhaps a little more thought to what should be in there.