Holiday Inn Express Cardiff Bay by IHG

Our family of 5 stayed recently for 2 nights. The rooms were comfortable, staff was very friendly and helpful, giving us directions to a number of sights we asked about. The outdoor patio was really nice as it looks over the resevoir and made for a nice setting for a sunset glass of wine. Earlier that evening, my wife wife went out to the patio and it was covered in cigarette butts. For a family of non smokers, that was pretty gross, but she mentioned it to the staff and they promptly had it cleaned.

A decent hotel with clean rooms and strong Wi-Fi! The breakfast buffet was great. They had all the toppings of a traditional British breakfast, including: - scrambled eggs - baked beans - cooked tomatoes - sausage - ham They also had a yogurt, fruit, and pastry station and a great coffee machine with all kinds of coffees. The location was also great, right next to the bay and about a 20-minute walk from the city centre. The only thing I didn't like was the service. It often seemed like they didn't have enough staff, and there were times when our housekeeping seemed rushed or incomplete.

Clean and tidy room, excellent breakfast buffet, location close to the harbor and a 15-20 minute walk from the city center, and if available, space for 10 GBP parking on their premises. The downside was that the check-in terminals were not working or functioning upon arrival (longer waiting time) and the elevator was broken. Therefore, we did not have to pay the hotel's parking fees.

On arrival, we were informed that the elevator was broken. My family have mobility issues and are not capable in lifting suitcases, especially to the third floor, and we were told that we wouldn’t need to carry suitcases on check in or check out as there was no room available on a lower floor. On check out on 11th May, 7:45am, the one person on the desk (I believe her name was Ankshika) would speak to us in a very condescending way, not allowing me or my family to express our concerns and ask questions about the situation. She went on the defence. She also said that the staff offering to lift out our suitcases on check out was not said by the staff, effectively calling me a liar. She said she couldn’t leave the desk for a very long time and could only help if one of us did also as we “looked physically capable”. She was judging us on how we look not knowing our medical history. We didn’t expect her to carry our bags on her own, we were trying to ask when the next employee would be coming to assist with the bags. We would like to thank Sam and Andre for their professionalism, courtesy, kindness and overall customer service. Please provide training for de-escalation, communication skills and crisis management. I cannot communicate enough how uncomfortable, jarring our check out experience was, making us feel like a huge inconvenience. It really tainted our whole stay which is such a shame.

Room was spacious and clean. Friendly staff. Warm and cold dishes for breakfast such as yogurt, toast, croissants, sausages, bacon, scrambled eggs (didn't taste well, a powder mix maybe..?), beans, tomatoes and hasbrowns.

Great no frills accommodation, staff were great and rooms were spotless

The staff were fantastic.