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Cain Valley Hotel (Wales)
by xd-o-n-z-x
The Cain Valley is a small hotel located right in the middle of a tiny town called 'Llanfyllin', in Powys, mid Wales. It is family owned.
Although 'The Cain' is a hotel, I have never actually stayed there, however I have been there for a meal and drink on many occasions. although if I am honest , I think it is used mainly as ... a bar/restaurant than an actual hotel.
I remember the first time I went there was as part of a large group of around twenty, when we were celebrating a friend's birthday. I had never been there before and so was unsure what expect. We were sat around a large table in the restaurant ; we had private dining which was very nice! I am a vegetarian and because someone else had made the booking for our group, I didn't know what the vegetarian option was, and so when I got there and they told me that it was a 'Brocoli and Cheese Bake', I was like 'oh no! I am not going to like it!' as I had always turned my nose up at brocolli. When my meal arrived at the table , I took one bite.....and it was delicious!! Ever since then I have loved brocoli and 'Brocolli and Cheese Bake' has become one of my favourite dishes!!
Since then, I have visited The Cain on many ocasions. My friends and I have been there a few times either for food or for a drink. You have three choices of where to have your meal ; you can either choose the main restaurant, or you can choose one of the two bars. When I go with my friends we always go in one of the bars ; I'm not sure , but I always get the impression that the restaurant is either for bookings or for residents, although I may be wrong.
They always have a great selection of food, and cater for vegetarians which is great and there is plenty of choice. Such main meals on their Al la Carte menu, include "Chicken fillet with a cream and mushroom sauce" and vegetarian options include items such as "Deep Filled, Tomato and Goats Cheese Tart", The meals are great value for money and you get plenty for your money too! Expect to pay around £12 per person for a two course meal.
The staff are always friendly and nothing is ever too much trouble for them. They really make you feel welcome.
I like the Cain as it is a nice quiet place to have a drink. Although it's a small town, despite it always having a few people in there , it is always peaceful with a really cosy atmosphere. It's a really old-fashioned kind of place which is full of character. It's a great place to meet friends as it's so central ; you're not far away from the local towns (Oswestry/Welshpool/Shrewsbury). It's not far away from the famous attraction 'Lake Vyrnwy' either.
If your looking for somewhere quiet to go for a meal or just a drink, then this place is ideal! You can even stay the night!
Thanks for reading!
November 4th 2010
xd-o-n-z-x (also posted on ciao under xdonzx)
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Cardiff Marriot Hotel (Cardiff)
by fit36
Location
The Cardiff Marriott is on Mill Lane right behind the New John Lewis Store. It is in a great location for the new St Davids 2 shopping centre and a number of restaurants. It is also approximately a 10-minute walk to the Millennium Stadium, the CIA and St David's Hall.
It is accessed by turning into Mill Lane at the ... bottom of St Mary Street. It was a bit tricky to find due to the new one-way system in Central Cardiff.
Car Parking
We parked in the hotel car park at a cost of £12 for a 24-hour period which I thought was expensive. The car park was well lit, very secure and parking spaces were fairly generous by today's standards. The hotel cannot be accessed directly from the car park. You have to walk outside to the hotel reception, which means if it rains you get wet.
Public Transport
Cardiff Central train and bus stations were no more than 10 minutes walk for me and you can actually see them from some of the rooms in the hotel.
Cost
We paid £125 per night for a double double bedded-room with breakfast and stayed a Thursday and Friday night.
Reception
The reception area was smart, clean and tidy and the staff efficient, courteous, helpful and friendly. I can say that they were not the 'robots' I have encountered in other hotels. They did make us feel like individuals and showed an interest in our 2 children and the activities we had planned. I felt that really did make a difference to our stay.
Guest Room
On first impression our room was clean, well maintained, comfortable and adequately sized. It was, however, a bit warm and stuffy and I found the air conditioning difficult to understand.
Views
The room had a magnificent view of Cardiff, including, the Millennium Stadium (the top of), the new Cardiff City Stadium and the Castle (which looked very nice lit up in the night.) You can also see North up into the valleys. I found the bathroom to be a bit on the small size for the 4 of us.
General Areas
The hotel was very busy (it was October half-term) and we were told all rooms were occupied.
Leisure facilities
We used the swimming pool on 2 separate days. I cannot say that the gentleman who greeted us at the Leisure club was as friendly as the reception staff. In fact he looked bored and as if he didn't want to be there.
The changing rooms were clean and well maintained and lockers were free. Good showers and spin dryers for wet swimming trunks.
The pool was great for us with 2 children as they were both able to walk into the shallow end via the steps and the adults were able to stand up the entire length of the pool. The hotel provided woggles.
There were quite a few other people using the pool but there was adequate room for everyone. We enjoyed.
Dining
I thought the prices in the restaurant were expensive so we chose to eat out on both evenings. However, on our return on the Friday night we saw a chalkboard outside the restaurant offering 2 courses for £15.95 and 3 courses for £17.95 (which I consider to be reasonable) and may have persuaded us to dine in had it been in place before we had ventured out that evening.
Breakfast was ok. I had a full cooked breakfast, some pastries and fruit. There was a choice of 6 cereals and skimmed or semi-skimmed milk (no whole). There was also toast, croissants, cheese, smoked salmon, ham and yoghurt available as well as orange, cranberry and grapefruit juices. I had a mug a coffee (not my choice) and my wife a pot of tea. The breakfast room was busy which was to be expected and we had to wait to be seated which was not. It was clean and well maintained.
All in all it was not the best breakfast experience I have had.
Problem
One big problem we encountered was the noise from a nearby nightclub on the Friday night. Even with both windows, voile and curtains closed it was unacceptable and almost impossible to get to sleep. I did ask if we could be moved to another room on the other side of the hotel but was told there were none available. We were woken at least twice before 3.30pm but not after. We were all a little tired on Saturday as a result.
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Warner Leisure Hotels
by Neil Westlake
Arranged a romantic 3dy break @ Lakeside Resort, Hayling Island. Expected a bit of luxury as that is how Warner advertised, & we upgraded to Standard Plus.
It was the worst accommodation we have ever seen, Its what can only be describe as a Butlins chalet of 30yrs ago, there were stains on the carpet & towels, cobwebs in the ... room, windows were rotten, furniture cheap and tacky, bed very uncomfortable, the pillows were so flat it felt like there were none, the bathroom did not appear clean, poorly painted tiles made sure of that, there were holes in tiles for I know not what, the towel rails were failing off wall, and the door lock stuck.
For theMeal set-up, we were allocated a table that would be shared.
We felt out of place and uncomfortable, with us being 40 and with the majority of persons being considerably older than ourselves.
We were so disappointed that we left as early as we could in the morning. In all of our experiences we have never felt the need to leave so fast.
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