| Hotel Rating: |  | | Reviews: 7 | Photos: 6 | | Havannah Street |
 | Cardiff The St David's Hotel & Spa Cardiff Reviews | 1 - 7 of 7 |  |
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 | The St David's Hotel & Spa Cardiff: From a Distance
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 View of the St David from
Mermaid Quay by SabrinaSummerville
I have close ties with Cardiff and have been visiting this City since I was a very young child, and since I heard about the hotel I have longed to stay here. However, each time I plan to do so, one of my many Cardiff relatives insists that there's a bed for me in his/her/their house and there goes my chance of staying in the St David. Up to last weekend (1st October, 2006) I had never even seen the exterior of the hotel.
On Sunday 1st October I begged my cousin to bring me here and in fact we got as far as Mermaid Quay, from where I took this pic, and no further as mu cousin had other commitments.
I know that some people hate tips or recommendations on hotels from people who have never stayed there, but my tip is helpful in that I advise that this hotel is pretty remote from the City Centre and not ideal for those who want to step out of their hotel and find themselves in the midst of shops.
There are, however, a myriad of restaurants of every type and nature in the immediate vicinity at mermaid Quay. Theme: HotelDirections: Cardiff Bay Area
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| The St David's Hotel & Spa Cardiff: No longer Forte, more mezzo-forte
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The St David's is no longer a Rocco Forte hotel and is managed by Principal Hotels who claim to be "Britain's best four-star conference specialist" ... so it may be dropping a star in the process. Certainly it's showing its 3-year age with some minor maintenance overlooked especially on exterior balconies and in the spa.
Staff are brisk and professional, but it's patchy - three times when I called for some information reception had to phone back because "no one is available" - but they were available to answer the phone? Didn't get that.
Buffet breakfast looks smart, but the cooked food was very poor, cold and underdone in almost all cases - raw tomatoes and mushrooms, pale pink sausage interiors and flabby bacon. Even sending it to the kitchen for a re-heating only resulted in a surface blasting, not a proper cooking. And at £35 for two (continental or cooked, same price) it's pretty steep.
The rooms, particularly the bay-facing King bedded ones, are excellent. Lovely linens, great ceiling heights, full wall of windows and a full moon over Cardiff Bay and you could be in the Caribbean or maybe crossing a great ocean on a liner, such is the nautical feel of the St David's. Bathrooms are smart but not true 5-star - showers are on chrome snakes over the bath, not a walk-in drencher, and not as spacious as, say a Four Seasons one.
The spa is well-equipped, nice changing rooms, robes, huge jacuzzi and nice pool fronting the bay ... at weekends it can be a bit chavvy with both local and visiting families, but children's bathing times are controlled and in the evenings with the light on the water, it's delightful.
With internet room rates around £150, though, this is not five-star pricing either, so for a very high quality hotel, certainly the best in the vicinity by a long chalk, it's good value and a very enjoyable experience. Theme: HotelPrice: US$120-180 » Currency ConverterComparison: more expensive than averageDirections: If driving, approach it on the A4232 from the Cardiff West/Barry turnoff, not the Cardiff City exits from the M4 otherwise you'll see the seamy side of this not entirely lovely city.
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