Travelodge Cardiff M4

The location and price were good, and the bed was comfortable, but the room was cold. There was a long black hair on my face while I was enjoying a bath, which must have come from the shower curtain. People in the room above were really noisy, then guests in the room next door arrived around 1am making a lot of noise. This was the noisiest Travelodge I’ve stayed in. The fire alarm went off at about 2am and kept going for 20-30 minutes. We smelled burning on our floor, but no staff came by and there was no fire engine. I’m 50/50 on whether I’d return.

Just off the M4, and the room was fine. It’s basic, but had all I needed. I could hear faint voices from other rooms, though the noise was still fine compared with other places I’ve stayed.

We were very grateful to Alan, the manager, for keeping my son’s cuddly toy for nearly six months. We live a long way away and never expected the hotel to hold onto it for so long. My wife called before I arrived to arrange collection. She couldn’t get through at first, but Cion called her back, which was lovely and something that rarely happens these days. She went above and beyond to help us. I hope I’ve spelled her name right. Our stay was really comfortable, and the staff made us feel especially welcome. Thank you to all of them.

We spent nine minutes in the room before deciding we couldn’t stay. The smell hit us as soon as we opened the door, making our eyes water. We wondered if it might be one of those scare rooms at a theme park, but it was just a filthy, foul-smelling room. Looking around for the source of the stench, we found piles of dirt, pubic and body hair, dust, food and marks from spilled drinks. Every surface was dusty, and it looked as if it hadn’t been cleaned in decades. The whole search was so panicky that I started to be sick. The corridor had already smelled bad and was covered in scuffs, dirt and other stuff we couldn’t identify. At one point I thought crawling through the local tramp’s butt crack would be preferable. We’d driven for 4.5 hours and arrived shortly after 10pm, checking in for a last-minute break with my husband and our two children. The smell at reception should’ve warned us, but we thought it might just be there. We were given a metal key, not a card, which felt like 1987 all over again. When we tried to leave, the handle came off the only exit door in our hands, leaving us stuck in that death box, breathing what felt like the stench of death. We eventually got out after calming our two children, both under 11, who had their sleeves over their mouths the whole time. My husband went to reception for help, but it took about 30 minutes to arrive. The man who turned up wasn’t wearing a Travelodge uniform, just part of an EE uniform, and wandered around the bedroom unable to use a phone or offer any real help beyond saying he couldn’t help. It was nearly 11pm and we had two small kids with us. He eventually said we’d be better off finding another hotel and recommended a Premier Inn, saying it was much better than this place. So we went there. In the car park, we warned people arriving about what awaited them, and saw the fear in their eyes as they turned away. We did get our money back and £50.00 compensation, so they did put that right, but this experience has put me off Travelodge for life. I’ve stayed in plenty of Travelodges over the years for work and pleasure, but that’s come to a screeching halt. I wouldn’t let a decomposing body stay in this hotel.