The River House

The shared kitchen was clean, and it was handy to have a refrigerator. Breakfast was okay, though fresh fruit was limited to bananas, and the oil, salt and pepper were tucked away in a cupboard on the side of the kitchen, so I had to dig around to find them. The location is excellent, right in central Cardiff and easy to walk to from either the train or bus station. My private double room was clean and comfortable, with a shared bathroom very close by. The rooms and bathrooms were all kept nice and clean. Good value overall, and I’d stay again.

The self-service setup was easy enough, and check-in and check-out were simple once I watched the short videos on my phone. The location is great for Cardiff city centre, about five minutes from the central train station. There are good communal kitchen and dining spaces, and I never had to queue for a bathroom. I think I could use six of them. Parking didn’t seem unreasonable for a capital city: I paid £22 to leave my car 100 yards from the accommodation for 36 hours. The bed was comfortable enough, though it seemed to slope a little and may need some maintenance. I was very happy and would book again.

The place works well. I stayed five nights in a single budget room, mainly to watch cricket at Sophia Gardens. From there it was a short stroll along the River Taff, and Cardiff Central Railway Station and the city centre were also handy for my plans. The hotel is clean and well run, with lots of modern automation, like corridor lights that switch on when they sense you. Breakfast was enough to get the day started.

It was a pretty good stay, and the high standard of cleanliness stood out. Check-in and check-out were automated and seamless for us. Just remember your fob when you leave, as it’s easy to lock yourself out. Sorry to the staff who had to let us back in. My partner slept alright, but I found the very thin pillows made it hard to get comfortable. I took a star off for service because a lot of the staff seemed miserable. We tried to say hello and be friendly, but often got no response, especially from one woman. In the shared area and kitchen we felt unwelcome when staff were around, as if our presence annoyed them. They never told us to move or said we shouldn’t be there, but slammed things around, which came across as passive aggressive. Anna was the exception. Even with the language barrier, she seemed nice, smiled and said hello. Having Grok as the AI assistant felt like an odd choice, though it did at least give us a phone number for reaching a person. I hope the staff are being treated okay, because some seemed to hate working there.