Royal Hotel Cardiff

Such a weird experience. I booked through OYO, the “official” site apparently. Although there are many good reviews, I wish I’d paid more attention to the lower rated reviews. They are spot on. Don’t expect to check in early without paying more. We arrived at 2:10, and although our room was ready, we could only check in if we paid extra for early checking in. A first for us. We declined and returned an hour later and got our room. We were given room 306. The third floor hallway had a strong musty, damp smell that thankfully didn’t reach our room, but we were disappointed by the cleanliness of the room. The floor was sticky, and the edges of the room and bathroom were not clean. The room had enough space and the bed was fairly comfortable (and the sheets thankfully were clean), but the air conditioning was crap and the windows didn’t open (and it was 30+ outside). When we asked about the ac, we were told that it’s an old building and they have no maintenance. They did, however, provide a fan, which helped a bit. Location is convenient to the train station, but definitely not in the nicest part of the city. I’m glad we didn’t pay a lot! Overall, I would not recommend.

Stayed here for one night and unfortunately the first impressions weren’t great. Check‑in was advertised from 3pm, but when we arrived at 3:20pm we were told to wait in the bar area. This space felt more like a train‑station waiting room, full of people also waiting to check in. We were third in the queue, yet several groups who arrived after us were checked in first. The staff member came to ready us our name, which added to the confusion. The bar wasn’t open either, so we couldn’t even get a soft drink while we waited. We didn’t get checked in until after 4pm. The hotel is old, so some smells around the building are to be expected. Our room was small but had everything we needed — iron, kettle, hairdryer, etc. It was warm, and only one window opened as the rest were locked. The air‑con wasn’t great, but the bed was comfortable. However, I kept noticing a smell of smoke even though neither of us smoke. The next morning I found the source: a cigarette butt on the floor next to the bed, which was quite off‑putting. Breakfast was okay with plenty of options. The building itself is confusing to navigate — level access is at the rear of the property. When we arrived, we used the stairs and didn’t realise reception was on the second floor, so we ended up carrying our cases up six flights of stairs. Despite the issues, the price was reasonable, so I would stay here again.

We booked a superior king (room 501). It has definitely seen better days! Mould around the bath and in the grouting,,a stained sink, sash windows painted shut ;despite inner windows that opened), a broken mini fridge and broken air con. Dirty laundry was heaped on the landing throughout our stay. We wrote an email of complaint but got a response merely saying the room is not advertised as having air con. Nothing else addressed at all!