Castle Hotels with Breakfast

A bit chilly, but otherwise perfect. It's very close to the train station, making transportation convenient, and there are many great food options nearby. The restaurant's breakfast is excellent. It's a perfect retreat, quiet yet centrally located, and the service attitude is also very good.

We arrived 30 minutes early, our room was ready so we're able to drop our things off. The room was nice, plenty of space, and a generous amount of beverages which was a change from other hotels. The location was great, the only niggle was a sticky floor.

I arrived quickly as it's close to the train station. The location is excellent! It's on the main street but wasn't chaotic or noisy, which was a plus. The self check-in/check-out kiosks made things convenient, and the staff were incredibly, incredibly friendly. The room itself was clean, and the elephant and swan towel art on the bed was especially cute. It immediately put me in a good mood when I walked in. Although there wasn't a fridge in the room, I asked at reception, and they kindly stored my wine in the hotel bar fridge, allowing my friends and I to have an enjoyable night. I was worried the window might look small from the photos, but the view was so beautiful that it didn't feel small at all.

Location was excellent. Right in the city centre. Don't be confused though, there are two Travelodges and we went to the wrong one first which was conveniently close to the train station. A short taxi ride took us to the correct one. Reception is unusually on the 3rd floor, but friendly staff. Your pass key will only unlock your floor which also has safety doors. Be careful not to put it near your phone as it desensitised it and it won't unlock anything - like mine, but a visit to the Reception fixed that. Felt very safe there as the automatic doors from street level lock at night, so no one could wander in off the street. A bar and cafe located on same 3rd floor as Reception was convenient for a drink and snack. Staff were very friendly and helpful. Cardiff has a large pedestrian area, so it was easy to walk to major shops, restaurants and pubs (recommend the Owain Glyndwr) and attractions such as Bute Park and Cardiff Castle were easy to walk to. The Christmas markets and Winter Wonderland were also close by and beautiful to view at night. Foreign money exchange was a short walk from hotel at the Queen Street shopping arcade entrance.

I have a really mixed feeling about this hotel. I booked the superior room with tree lined view and asked for a quiet room: the receptionist gave me an extremely cold and noisy room right next to the motorway and above some nightclubs. My watch has identified the noise level is over the normal limit. I couldn’t fall asleep due to the loud noise even at midnight. I called the receptionist to change a room. Unfortunately, they first gave me a standard room that the heating system was not working and much smaller than I have paid for. The two maintenance officers who came to check the heating system are very helpful and suggested to change to another room. Only by then, I was able to change to another room that matched the similar sized of a superior room, but without tree lined view. I must say that all the receptionists were friendly and polite but behind their friendliness, they are not really helpful at all. I had my dinner, a sea bass meal, at the restaurant - see the photo. The dinner and the service was both outstanding. The kettle in the room was not very clean; it could easily be cleaned by using small spray to remove the calcium. The gym and swimming pool are excellent. If you are not used to live in really loud room, please double check with the receptionists. It is also not worth to pay an extra 10 pounds per night to get a so called tree lined room with extreme loud noise. I also wonder the reason for the hotel to give customers rooms that the heating system are not working. It would helpful to check before they allocate room to customers. It would also helpful that the hotel ensure that the room has reasonable temperature before admitting guests, esp on a very cold winter night. Overall, this is not a very good experience. I was not able to sleep for a whole night. I paid extra in the hope of getting a better and quiet room but ended up with one of the worst room without getting any compensation.