Novotel Cardiff Centre, Cardiff

...I think I prefer the Novotel now anyway!

~~Location, Location, Location~~

Location is a pretty important factor in choosing a hotel and the Novotel won’t be for everyone. The website lists it as being in central Cardiff, but I would argue that it’s a little further out than that. Granted it took us about 10 minutes to reach the shopping centres, but this is over quite a few busy main roads and those who aren’t so agile ...
...buildings. Half of the Novotel building was originally an old building for another purpose and it had been done up really tastefully with a glass divide between the new building and the old one.

Again, if you don’t mind walking, the hotel is a short walk away from the bay which is definitely worth a visit. The only downside to the location is probably that its quite near some rather run down warehouses which we accidentally walked ... more

As you may know by know, I’m always up for a bargain or a free holiday. So when my boyfriend got a free hotel voucher (due to a muck-up on one of his bills) we thought we’d make a weekend of it and have a mini city break. Living in the South our first choice was London, but looking through the list of available hotels we were allowed to choose from somewhere else stood out. Neither of us had ever been to Cardiff and we figured that we were close enough to get there by car and it was be a good excuse to suss it out. Our first choice was the Hilton hotel, but we were offered the Novotel. However, on visiting the city centre and seeing the Hilton from the outside I think I prefer the Novotel now anyway!

~~Location, Location, Location~~

Location is a pretty important factor in choosing a hotel and the Novotel won’t be for everyone. The website lists it as being in central Cardiff, but I would argue that it’s a little further out than that. Granted it took us about 10 minutes to reach the shopping centres, but this is over quite a few busy main roads and those who aren’t so agile may prefer the location of the Hilton.

For us though the location was perfect. The whole area in which the hotel is situated has recently been regenerated. All the shops, roads and houses are brand new – it doesn’t look like anything was built before at least 2000. The only exceptions to this are the regenerated old buildings. Half of the Novotel building was originally an old building for another purpose and it had been done up really tastefully with a glass divide between the new building and the old one.

Again, if you don’t mind walking, the hotel is a short walk away from the bay which is definitely worth a visit. The only downside to the location is probably that its quite near some rather run down warehouses which we accidentally walked through on our way into Cardiff, but I’m sure these are avoidable and we only made this mistake once! Also, when we first arrived it took a while to find the hotel as the direction we had arrived from didn’t have much signage. However on you walk into the city centre that evening we saw loads of signs pointing the other way.

~~The Hotel~~

From the outside as well as the inside the Novotel looks pretty posh. Check out my photographs to see some pictures of the new and old building together. I’ve read some other reviews on ciao that commented on the amount of building work going on to change this Novotel into a New Generation Novotel. Well I’m happy to say that all the building work is finished and the effect is great. Everything felt very posh and I felt rather out of place turning up in my trainers!

~~Facilities~~

Another advantage of being a guest at the Novotel is that we were given free access to the leisure facilities. This included a small gym, a swimming pool, a steam room and a sauna. We didn’t bring any clothes for the gym so we gave that a miss (what a shame) but we did try out the other facilities. The swimming pool was wonderful. Slightly cooler than most public swimming pools, perhaps due to the clientele of the hotel, which would mainly be business people on their own wanting to swim a few lengths. Once I got swimming though I was glad of the coolness. We went about 7pm on the first evening we were there and the pool area was practically deserted. It was lovely having the place to ourselves. The whole time we were in there I’d say only about 4 or 5 other people came in. There was also a Jacuzzi which was lovely and hot with a button on the wall to press before you got in it to produce the bubbles. This on-demand bubble device was great as it meant that the bubbles weren’t going all the time and the place felt very relaxed and calm.

The steam room was far too over powering for me, but my boyfriend tried it out. It was very hot and the mist was fragranced with something minty. This hurt my eyes before I even got in the room, but some people would like it. The sauna was much better and had a timer on the wall so you could check how long you’d been in there. There were cold showers outside the sauna and steam room as well, which were lovely and refreshing.

On the whole the facilities were great. It was the little touches that made it good. For example, guests were provided with free towels to use in the leisure suit, which saved making the hotel towels from our rooms wet. Also we were trusted just to sign in and say who we were rather than having to prove it with a key card or anything. I can’t remember exactly, but I think the swimming pool was only for people aged 14 and upwards. This meant that the whole suit was very quiet and relaxed with an air of sophistication about it. Another nice touch were the swimming-suit bags provided on the way back into the changing rooms. These are just cheap see-through grocery bags, but they were something you rally needed if you hadn’t brought a towel down with you to wrap your swimming suit back up in. I really appreciated this extra touch. I guess the only downside to the swimming pool was that it had communal (although single sex) changing rooms, but when there are so few people there this didn’t make much of a difference. There were also lockers provided in the changing rooms which you had to pay for, but you got your money back.

~~The Room~~

The room was obviously designed for people on business trips as there was one arm chair and a massive desk that dominated the room. However the desk was pretty cool and I spent a while playing with the extendable bit on wheels. Also in the room we had tea making facilities, a hair dryer, a mirror, a mini bar, a flat screen TV that doubled as a computer to search the internet, and my favourite – a port to plug your MP3 player into. The port was a really good idea as it meant that you could listen to your own music through the speakers through the TV at no extra cost.

The en suite bathroom was done up to a really high standard and included a box of tissues (which again, although not expensive, is a rather nice extra touch). The shower was nice and hot and the bath was quite deep. The door was a little stiff, but that’s all I can think of to complain about!

~~Why Cardiff?~~

So why did we choose Cardiff and what can you see there?

As I’ve already stated briefly, the hotel was ideally situated so that we could visit the bay and the town, but I thought I would briefly outline the places we visited to demonstrate what there is to see.

In the town there is a giant Primark. I know that shouldn’t be the first thing to point out about an historic city, but it really is huge. If you are a fan go take a look! Of course there’s Cardiff castle and this is well worth a visit. It was about £3 to enter the grounds (as a student) and about the same again to go into the rooms of the castle. Check out my photos below to see more about the castle. By the bay there has been a fantastic amount of regeneration work going on and we spotted several sites we recognised from the filming of Doctor Who and Torchwood! Also by the bay there are lots of restaurants which overlook the water, and while we were there there was quite a bit of live music going on.

~~Prices~~

Since we got this trip for free I’m not sure what the average price to stay here would be. However, when we arrived the signs behind reception stated that the rooms were £160/night if you booked on the spot. I’ve read other reviews where people have got rooms on last minute deals for as little as £50, so definitely check out these deals before you book with the hotel directly!

The food was another typical expense at a hotel. We decided not to eat in the hotel restaurant as firstly, it was rather overlooked by reception and the car park, and secondly, the prices were extortionate. £8 for a cooked breakfast was well beyond our league.

~~Overall~~

Overall I’d definitely recommend the Novotel Cardiff. The staff were friendly and the rooms were clean and a double bed actually meant a double bed for once! (Rather than two twins pushed together) I’d say the selling point is definitely the swimming pool and I could imagine as a business person it’d be great to go down and have a swim before a day of work (or even after!) Car parking was free for guests, but don’t forget to you’re your car back out of the car park the day after you’ve stayed. Its easy to wander into town and forget all about it and then find that you owe lots of money!

Thanks for reading and don’t forget to check out my photos! 

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