Tap into E Tap? I don't think so. (Etap Hotel)

Member Name: msvforb

Product:	Etap Hotel
Date:	03/08/09 (35 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The price

Disadvantages: Everything else

I travel around the country on a budget quite frequently and so I've become quite familiar with Travelodge, Premier Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Ibis and other budget hotel chains. One of the most recent of these to open in the UK is the E Tap chain which is part of the accor group (Ibis, Novotel etc). E Tap have opened hotels in a number of UK towns and cities over the last couple of years.

Last time I visited Cardiff there was a big event on in the city and so all the hotels we might usually have stayed in were fully booked and so we came to try the E Tap Cardiff Central. Looking at the website we were impressed, a three bed room for only £35 per night had to be a good deal, didn't it? Well no, as it turned out it didn't.

Location

The Cardiff Central hotel was a reasonable walk outside the town centre, perhaps a ten to fifteen minute walk. On first approach it was quite difficult to spot the hotel as the sign wasn't particularly prominent but as we got closer we found the entrance with no problems.

The room:

Rooms sleep up to three people but be warned with three in a room it's very cosy. The beds took the form of a double with a single bunk style overhead. The single bunk was very high and when one of our group tried getting on the top bunk she found that she couldn't sit up in bed without banging her head on the ceiling. It was at this point we decided that the only option was to move the single mattress on to the floor next to the double bed. It fit, just.

When we moved the single mattress we discovered that the underside was covered in a powder which was very reminiscent of flea powder. I have to be honest though and say that there was no sign of actual fleas.

At this point we decided to go downstairs to see if there was any chance of changing rooms. At reception we discovered that several other people were making the same request and realised that there probably wasn't a lot of point.

Other than the beds the rooms are very minimal with a wall mounted tv, dressing table and stool and a sink. There were no tea and coffee making facilities. The toilet was a single cubicle in the corner of the room and the shower cubicle was also in the bedroom with just an opaque door separating it from the main room, there wasn't really enough room to get dried/dressed by the shower so privacy wasn't really an option.

Despite the surroundings we managed to get a reasonable night's sleep as the hotel was at least quiet. Still we were all glad we were only staying the one night.

Other facilities:

The hotel bar was fairly basic with hard chairs at basic tables but served an adequate selection of drinks and snacks, at typically high hotel prices.

I'm not sure whether or not breakfast was included with our room but either way we decided not to give it a try, by that time we were just looking forward to getting out of there.

Next time I struggle to get a hotel room in Cardiff I'll go to the Youth Hostel. I won't be going back to E Tap in a hurry.

Summary: I won't be going back