Name: Holiday Inn Express Cardiff Bay
Address: Longueil Close Schooner Way Atlantic Wharf, Cardiff
Telephone: 0800 031 8416
Rating: 4

Good

Liked: Location was ok
Disliked: Paying for Parking but couldn’t take my car out in the evening as I would lose my spot. shower too small

Superb

The stay was good but...

Liked: Lovely and clean good breakfast gteat staff
Disliked: The roomwas very small ,small bed , very hot and stuffy .

Disappointing

Liked: Breakfast was excellent - best I've had in a long time. Staff was amenable and helpful.
Disliked: Room temp was too hot and humid. no working AC no fan, the windows only opened an inch. There was no inside climate control. I was sweating just sitting in the room. Shower pressure was low.

Everything was excellent except the...

Liked: Breakfast was excellent
Disliked: Shower was hot and cold

Superb

Awful

Liked: Good location to the quayside / wharf area. Walkable to the city centre.
Disliked: My room was top floor, heat rises. The room was hot and humid. The windows wouldn’t open (photos attached), the “air con” was actually a fan making a noise that providing any form of cooling action. I told reception and asked to either open the window (they legally can’t), provide some form of air con (they couldn’t) or move me to a lower floor. They stuck a fan in the room, which conveniently showed how ridiculous the heat was. I complained again, to the manager, who politely said “tough luck”. Lana Del Ray was playing, so I had to pay an over inflated price to stew in 30c heat and god knows what kind of humidity. It was uncomfortable, I didn’t sleep, the staff couldn’t or wouldn’t help and I feel thoroughly ripped off.

Excellent

Liked: Very clean and immaculate, friendly staff and very helpful
Disliked: The room was too hot and stuffy however was provided a fan and it helped a little

Worst Holiday Inn experience

Liked: Staff were friendly during initial check-in and any enquiries we had. Location was in a quiet place so there wasn't much noise which helped. Breakfast had all the basic items you would normally expect for a breakfast buffet.
Disliked: By far the worst Holiday Inn and the worst experience as well. Location/Parking - The location is in a quiet area so there's not much noise from the city, however the car park space is limited as there is another hotel also in the same plot who share the car park - early arrivals get a parking space. The staff advised that the main road outside the hotel has parking space and they will reimburse the parking cost if we didn't get a space inside. I wasn't feeling safe or comfortable to park the car in the main road.Cleanliness - Genuinely the worst I have seen, could see small dust particles in the amenities in our room. Towels and bedsheets had stains which was a first for me. There was a stain in the toilet as well. Housekeeping needs to do a better job, this was a terrible experience for a Holiday Inn (Express or not), we were surprised how bad it turned out to be.Facilities - Room had the basic necessities as described in the booking. However the general hotel was very disappointing - lifts were out of order, vending machines were out of order it was really disappointing to witness all these.The fire alarm went off in the middle of the night and all residents were requested to wait in the car park until this was resolved. The staff did not bother updating on what the issue was or if it was a safety issue or a false alarm. It went off again twice in the early morning hours (between 3-6am) but it did stop in 10-15 seconds so must have been an issue with the system. However the whole experience disrupted our sleep and comfort as we had an early journey in the morning and had to travel a long distance, there was no staff in the reception at all during check out so we left our keys in the box.We've stayed in many hotels and Holiday Inns, this was a terrible disruptive experience. Personally did not feel any value for money due to all the disruption and numerous faulty issues.