I stayed here with a friend for one night whilst visiting Cardiff.

The hotel is located on St Mary's Street in the heart of Cardiff, minutes away from the Millennium Stadium.

But if you're after a luxury stop-over, this isn't for you. While our experience wasn't horrific, there are a number of big downfalls to this place that I wish we'd been forwarned about. Firstly, the hotel has no lift and our room (room 5) was up 3 flights of stairs. Not ideal. Also, the hotel is located next to a fast food restaurant called 'Chicken Cottage' and while our room itself didn't smell, the corridors stank of chip fat. Not very pleasant.

The 'hotel' has no lobby or reception - it's just a doorway off the street. To check in you have to go to the sister hotel (the Sandringham) over the road. Breakfast is served there too. The only car park is about 10 minutes walk away and carries a £5 per day charge. That in itself isn't unusual in Cardiff, but this car park closes at 6pm and doesn't open again until 8am - if you need access to you car outside those hours - tough luck. Finally the shower in our bathroom was useless - you practically had to run around in it to get wet and the temperature was anything but consistent.

However, the staff are friendly, our room was small, but clean, and the beds were fairly comfy (if a little small!). Breakfast was very good, and for £65 for the room (incl breakfast), you can't ask for much more. And as for location, it's a dream. Walking distance from everything you could possibly need and on the same road as the Brewery Quarter and lots of other good eating and drinking estalishments. Location is probably the biggest selling point of this place, and if you're looking for a cheap and cheerful stopover in a great city, this isn't a bad place to stay. Perfect for young 'uns out on the tiles and ideal for backpackers, students or others looking for a clean budget stopover. I probably wouldn't stay there again by choice (I'd rather pay the extra tenner & stay at the Travelodge which is located on the same street) if, like us, you find yourselves in Cardiff with all hotels proudly displaying their 'No Vacancies' signs, you could do worse.