Scot goes Dutch in Cardiff (Macdonald Holland House Cardiff)

Member Name: mouette

Product:	Macdonald Holland House Cardiff
Date:	15/12/05 (658 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very comfortable Hotel within walking distance of Cardiff City Centre

Disadvantages: None that I experienced

In September 2005 my wife and I went to see the Stereophonics play in Cardiff and, wanting to be able to take some time to look around Cardiff (recommended to all), we decided to book a hotel for a Friday and Saturday night. After a quick Internet search we settled on MacDonald Holland House, a four star hotel close to Cardiff City Centre.

We were quoted £98 for the Friday and £126 for the Saturday for a Superior Room with breakfast included. The Superior room is in fact the starting room, if you want a little more luxury you can choose from a Club Room, a Kings Suite or even the Presidential Suite. There are 160 rooms in total.

The Hotel was very easy to find, taking Junction 29 off the M4 if coming from the East (as we were) or Junction 33 from the West, and is very close to the City Centre on the Newport Road. We arrived at about 9.30pm and were warmly welcomed. Our car was quickly whisked away to the underground car park, at a cost of £8 per 24 hours.

The lobby of the hotel was spotless and designed to impress. We were greeted warmly by the reception desk staff only to be told we had arrived on the wrong day. Knowing this was wrong we persisted and were given a room without much fuss. A fair bit of toing and froing later and it turned out someone with the same name had booked in through a third party and I’d been booked in with a name that wasn’t quite mine. They were very apologetic and offered us a bottle of wine as compensation which we accepted.

Our room was lovely; very spacious, tidy and clean, with great views towards Newport and the hills to the North. We had a very comfortable queen sized bed along with chairs and a table to rest at and standard facilities such as a TV, trouser press, tea maker and hairdryer. Wardrobe space was adequate and there was a safe if required. Pluses for me were an iron and ironing board (for some unexplained reason I always need to iron something, so when there isn’t one the offending hotel takes a rapid step down in my estimation), a good sounding CD system which we put to good use after a reckless hour in Virgin and a blissful shower that should be standard in all hotels. In addition there was a well stocked and somewhat unusually reasonably priced mini bar, though we still managed to avoid the temptation.

We were situated right next to the lift system but didn’t hear it or any other residents at all. Occasionally traffic could be heard but it certainly didn’t affect our sleeping.

The bar, next to the restaurant, is large and in my view somewhat impersonal. We didn’t use it so I can’t comment further, however we did walk through it to get to the restaurant. This was also a little on the impersonal side with tables too close together but the food and service were excellent, especially for dinner, which we had on Friday night at a cost of about £30 per head with wine.

The hotel has a leisure club with a well equipped gym and swimming pool but sadly we came unprepared and had to forego exercise. My wife consoled her self by booking some of the available pampering instead (a massage and pedicure which cost about £60). There are business facilities, internet availability (you buy cards from the front desk) and, if you’re in the market, full conference facilities.

Check out was quick and easy. We were left an express check out option but as the desk was clear we thanked the staff, were apologised to again, and left happy.

The hotel is a short 10 minute walk from Queen’s Street which is where you’ll find many of Cardiff’s largest and best known shops.

I recommend this hotel full heartedly and will definitely use it again myself.
For more information: www.hollandhousehotel.co.uk

Summary: A four star hotel within close walking distance to Cardiff City centre