Holiday Inn Express CARDIFF AIRPORT

Arrived early hours and despite staff shortage and problem openings door due to key card mix-up all was resolved satisfactory. Mature gent on desk excellent. Must commend him on very good service.

This is a *most* excellent and economical place to stay outside Cardiff if you want clean quiet comfort. The staff is very friendly and helpful, they have a snooker table and a bar, the rooms are quiet and very nice, the TV service in the room is great, the room fittings are high Modernist (sleek continental European type stuff), the double bed is great, and the free included breakfasts in this hotel are excellent. You can eat a lot for breakfast, skip lunch, and eat your dinner in Cardiff central (or back at the hotel--although we didn't try that). This hotel is in a beautiful rolling hills country and waterway view location. It seems to serve UK locals passing through the area on car trips and also serves overnight tripping businessmen flying in from various UK locations and from Holland. By staying here, you get to see what the true countryside and suburban life is like--to me, this is much better than being stuck in the Cardiff central city location which is, like any city, aimed at tourists who'll pay twice the price for each night. Still, access to Cardiff central for your tourism and business interests is quite easy--a free bus at ten minutes til each hour drives you from the hotel to the little Rhoose/Cardiff Airport train stop. Once on the little diesel train, you simply buy a low cost out and return ticket. In 20 minutes coastal ride, you arrive in Cardiff central train station and then can easily walk the whole city center from there. After spending all day in the city, you return via Platform 7 at the Cardiff central train station using the return ticket you bought prior--this 20 minute ride gets you back to the little Rhoose/Cardiff Airport train stop where the courtesy bus back to the hotel will be waiting for you. Easy to work out--no expensive car rentals and cab rides! Upon leaving entirely, this hotel is most convenient because it is *at* the airport--you get your free breakfast and then a courtesy shuttle takes you to your flight. Just talk the the hotel manager the night before about your morning flight and they'll set you up for a shuttle to make your flight. Our flight was early--610 am--and yet the breakfast service starts at 400 am so we had no trouble at all. I was in Cardiff on business for a few days with one colleague and this hotel was perfect to deal with that work, to see some of the pretty countryside and suburbs, and to access all the Cardiff city tourist sites. I highly recommend this hotel if you like quiet comfort and economy.

My room was on the small side (by American standards), but certainly adequate, updated, and perfectly clean. The flat-screen TV was nice as well, as was the very hot shower. The best feature, however, was the location. You could literally walk from the terminal to the hotel, but since there's a shuttle service, you don't even have to do that. It's ideal if you have a very early morning flight out of Cardiff...I did, and it was nice not to have to worry about getting to the airport on time. Despite it's proximity to the airport, though, I never once heard a plane overhead. Oh, and there's also an hourly shuttle service to the train station, as well as a shuttle back...both free. The train, of course, isn't free...but at three pounds each way, it's not bad, either, and only about a 20 minute ride (might get expensive if you're going to be in Cardiff a long while, though). For a long stay, it'd be better to use this location as a base and rent a car, or stay downtown. So, while not a luxury hotel in the city centre, it's a great value for the price; in fact, I couldn't have stayed as economically in the U.S. Well recommended!

Clean and comfortable withan excellent buffet breakfast included. Staff really helpful-I phoned before arriving and made specific requests about our rooms which were efficiently sorted out. No noise even though close to airport. Would definitely recommend.

Excellent service and reception.