Ok where to begin, two of us went for the Community Shield match 13th Aug 2006, after finding the lodge on active hotels the location was perfect as it is two minutes away from the Millennium Stadium. However on arrival I found this to be quite possibly the worst hotel I have ever come across, I stayed in a youth hostel in Istanbul which compared to this was like the Dubai experience. You cannot check in until 1500 hours on the day of arrival WHY?, God himself does not know. You also have to check into the sister hotel "The Sandrigham", which resembles a hotel you would find not to far from the Phoenix Club, breaky is served there too. The Millennium Lodge has no desk or main entrance and is simply a door next to that classy fast food joint "Cottage Chicken". The hotel is located above and not only do you put on weight inhaling the fat from that place you come out looking like Mark Lemar on a bad day, it's terrible!

I continue, on climbing what seemed an eternity of stairs (there’s no lift by the way) I reached my room, lucky number three. On entering the room I found the doors to be made of what resembles wood however found them quite weak. The wiring was a diy dream which consisted of four bridged extension leads powering all of the utilities, FIRE CERTIFICATE? The bathroom seemed ok until you looked closer to find a vent hanging off the wall and shower which looked as dirty as it was and to boot either scalded you one minute or froze you the next. The closet consisted of a rail, which was good! however the permanent shelf which had been put in was that high you could not hang your clothes? But what gave us the best laugh was the beds, imagine a nineteen stone bloke sleeping in a bed made for mini-me it made me laugh, and I was that bloke. The hotel looks like Auf Wiedersehen Pet have put it together on a budget.

Oh yes, I continue so I put my stuff in and went to find the car park which was located round the corner. The concession for parking is £5 for 24 hours which is good for Cardiff. After finding the place however I was happy to find the parking was for VIP passes only under the Cardiff Arms Park Rugby Stadium on the side of the Millennium Stadium. There’s a but it closes at 1800 hours and opens again at 0800 hours no access between those times!

All in all I would not recommend the hotel at all unless you’re a backpacker; in fact no I wouldn’t even recommend it for you. It cost us £130 for one night! Expensive you say, I agree I say, ripped off due to the footie. I would recommend paying extra and staying either in the Holiday Inn, Hilton, Thistle or even staying outside Cardiff and travelling in. Location is great with everything within reach and I could not fault the staff, they are very friendly and helpful. However the positives are destroyed by the negatives and I would give it a miss.