Holland House Hotel Hell (Macdonald Holland House Cardiff)

Member Name: Brooke3

Product:	Macdonald Holland House Cardiff
Date:	14/04/09 (154 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: great food, big rooms

Disadvantages: bag of faeces in the bathroom

When you walk into the Macdonalds Holland House Hotel in Cardiff you can't help but be in impressed. From the outside the hotel looks very grand and the lobby is equally as impressive. You go up to the room and that too looks impressive. Huge bathrooms, spacious bedrooms overlooking the city and lots of little extra's like cd players that you don't usually get in other hotels.
So, why one star you may ask? The problem with this hotel is that on the surface everything looks great, but it's really not.

-The Rooms-
One of the things that I liked best about the room was that it was so big and the views were amazing. Every time I've stayed there I've been in a room that's high enough to see over the city and if I stand far enough back (I'm scared of heights) I really enjoy that. When the heights get to be too much for me I just close the curtains!

The rooms are very luxurious. The beds are big and very comfortable but one of the problems that I had with this hotel was that when we booked a room for three people we were put in the same room that we booked for two . The sofa that they have in the bedrooms doubles as a bed, which is actually pretty comfortable, although I wouldn't recommend sleeping two people on it, even if they do say that it's a double. The problem isn't that the bed is a sofa bed, the problem is that the way the room is set out you can't watch the television on both beds at the same time. The television stand does swing around so that you can watch television from either bed but we all wanted to watch the television at the same time so ended up sleeping all three of us in the same bed. This wasn't a major issue because the beds are huge, more than big enough for the three of us. It's more of a little annoyance.

The room also came with a CD player which I thought was a nice touch. This hotel is excellent for giving lots of extra's. If you go into the wardrobes and cupboards (all of them very generous in size) you will find a pull out tray with tea and coffee on, as well as mineral water and biscuits. The first time we stayed in the hotel there was also a used tea bag on the tray. That is not the kind of extra that I like in hotels, but is insignificant when you think about what we got in the bathroom...

The bathroom, like the bedroom, was huge. Each time we stayed we had a bathroom with a seperate bath and shower. I personally think this is a bit of a waste of space but I admit when I first walked into the bathroom I was impressed by the extravagance of it all. The bath, like everything else, is big which I loved because I love sitting for ages in the bath and it's so much more pleasant when you can stretch your legs out.
The bathroom also had a good selection of bath products. And the towels were nice and fluffy.
So, what could possibly be wrong with the bathroom?
Well, there was one little extra that they didn't advertise; a bag of faeces.
It happened the last time we stayed in the hotel (and that will be the last time ever that we stay in the hotel). We were only staying for one night and being the slobs that we are hadn't put anything in the bin. It was an hour before checkout so we ran around tidying up the room. I know that there are people who get paid to do it but having worked as a room attendant myself I think it's important to leave the room in a decent state.
I went into the bathroom and gathered up the empty shampoo bottles, opened the bin and noticed there was already something in there. I thought it was strange because I was sure that no one had thrown anything away so I investigated further. It was a bag and in the bag was something brown. Being the idiot that I am I pulled out the bag and...it stunk!
After the initial shock of finding a bag of sh*t in the bathroom of our very expensive hotel I called the manager. I was expecting her to be very apologetic. She wasn't. She was very rude in my opinion. She came up to the room and started to question me. Why had I only just noticed the bag of faeces? The smell was so bad that surely we noticed it the night before? I explained to her that it only began to smell when I pulled the bag out and that we hadn't previously opened the bin. She acted as though she didn't believe me. I don't think I look like the kind of person who sh*ts in bags and then calls the hotel manager to inform them about it and we didn't have any babies or pets (that would be the most likely explanation in my opinion).
In the end she gave us our meals for free but in my opinion that doesn't make up for the experience. Not only was it extremely unpleasant and embarassing for everyone involved, there are also a lot of health implications.

-Restaurants and Food-
I can't imagine that anyone will want read about food after that story but a hotel review wouldn't be completely without a review of the food.
The food at this hotel was amazing.
The breakfast was one of the best that I've ever had in any hotel. The selection of food was much better and more diverse than any that I've had at other hotels. I particularly liked the fruit. I know that fruit is pretty standard for breakfast buffets but there were so many different types of fruit and many of them I had not tried before. The staff serving the breakfast were helpful and attentive, every time we stayed they offered to make us eggs that weren't already part of the buffet.

Dinner in the restaurant was also excellent. It was served by very polite and efficient staff and the food itself was lovely. I had the best steak and chips that I've ever tasted. The only complaint I have is that the portions were very small and left me feeling hungry.

The restaurant and the bar were both very comfortable.

-Prices and Other Useful Information-
Macdonald's no longer have a hotel in Cardiff, the Holland House Hotel is now Mercure.

For a twin room in a Macdonald's hotel you can expect to pay around £128 including breakfast.

For a twin room in the Mercure Holland House Hotel you can expect to pay around £170 including breakfast and dinner.

Parking is available, although I don't know if it's free or not.
Driving to this hotel can be quite tricky if you don't know Cardiff because of the one way system but the hotel is in easy walking distance of the bus and train stations (took me about twenty minutes but without any luggage).

The location of the hotel is excellent, you can walk to the castle and to the main shopping centre in about ten minutes.

Check in was quick and easy and there were plenty of lifts so we never had to wait a long time for one.

Unfortunately I have never had a chance to use the leisure club or the beauty salon so I'm unable to comment on them.
-Conclusion-
I know a lot of people will think that I'm being harsh in my rating of the hotel because apart from a few little annoyances the hotel was actually very good. However, finding faeces in the bin completely ruined the hotel for me. I consider it to be such a major thing that this hotel has gone from the four stars that I would have originally given it to 1 star. Cleanliness is the most important thing to me in a hotel or any accomodation and all of my experiences in this hotel suggest that the room attendants were quite lax in their cleaning. I can sleep on an uncomfortable bed if I have to, I don't mind ordering food from domino's if the hotel restaurant is bad but what I cannot abide is dirt and you don't get dirtier than a bag of sh*t.

http://www. mercure .com/gb/ hotel-6622- mercure- holland-house- hotel-and-spa-cardiff /index. shtml

http://www.macdonald hotels.co.uk/

Summary: ...