Stayed here on a Good Friday, Bank Holiday, 21st March 2008. Rooms small but functional. Hard mattress on a king size bed, good shower, single bunk bed over the main bed.

No tea or coffee facilities in the room... on the night we were staying, there seemed to be a teenage party going on in one of the rooms, plenty of drunk kids running up and down the corridors till about 2am... security staff sat in reception didn't seem that bothered about it.

If it were a choice of this hotel at £35 with no breakfast, or the holiday inn express down the road at £50 with breakfast, I personally would choose the holiday inn express every time. As other reviewers say, you get what you pay for, which in the case of this hotel, is not a lot.

Perhaps the atmosphere is a bit different on weekday nights, but my experience on a Saturday night was awful. Other guests were in the hallway yelling until 5am, so I didn't get much sleep. The rooms were OK - a bit grungy and small, but I expected that. The bed is a mattress that lies on a hard surface, so there's not much of a cushion. As mentioned by a previous reviewer, the parking lot is too small so I had to park on the street. Breakfast is cereal and toast. Categorize this under "you get what you pay for", which isn't much.

I stayed at the eTaps in Cardiff and Birmingham during a recent tour of Wales and the UK with a traveling theatre company over from Montreal. The place was clean, accessible, had free wi-fi in the lobby and totally helped us save on per diems!

Recommend!

JR

I booked the room because I wanted the cheapest room in Cardiff with free parking. I paid £35 for a standard room, which had a double bed (and a bunk cleverly placed across the top!).

The hotel is easy to find and very close to the centre. The staff were polite, friendly and efficient.

The room was as shown on other travellers' photos - although cold, plain and basic it had everything I needed , although I did miss not having Tea/Coffee facilities in the room, especially as I arrived late and didn't want to go back downstairs. The small TV had the main channels.

The matress (I think there was one!) was extremely firm, like sleeping on a block of wood, which didn't particularly bother me but be warned. For one night it was fine. No worse than a student's room in halls. I didn't find it particularly small but I can't imagine more than 2 people in there. The shower cubicle I had was a very good size, I had no problem with the sink being in the room but the toilet was a bit claustrophobic.

The room was clean but the white walls had quite a few scuffs and marks on it. I didn't experience any noise except the constant dull hum of the hotel's heating system.

Overall the stay was good value and I would stay again if on a tight budget. I've paid more to stay in much grottier places (a couple of the B&Bs on Cathedral Road qualify!)