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United Kingdom
Share information and ask questions about accessible travel in the UK.
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Ibis Hotel, Cardiff, Wales
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Ibis Hotel, Cardiff, Wales
I recently visited Cardiff for a rugby international against England and stayed at the hotel Ibis (Central) in Cardiff. Here is my review of the hotel minus the photographs that you can see on my blog site.
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Ibis Cardiff Central
Churchill Way
Cardiff
CF10 2HA
WALES
Tel: (+44)29/20649250
Fax: (+44)1462/650528
The Ibis hotel is situated on Churchill Way, a short walk from Cardiff Central railway station, and opposite the Motorpoint Arena venue. It is part of the Accor group of hotels. It is probably best to plan your route to the hotel beforehand as locals don’t seem to know where it is, on a very wet Friday evening I was directed here there and everywhere before finally finding it!
There is level access in to the reception and check in went smoothly, as with all Accor hotels you can check in online a couple of days before arriving so they already have your details. They also filled in a form detailing what assistance I would need in the event of an emergency evacuation and told where to wait for this assistance to arrive. I was then shown up to my room. The accessible room was very plain and basic with the door at the foot of the bed and not a lot of room to get around it, also this meant you could not get behind the door to help you open it, you had to open it from the side.
The room had a comfortable double bed with space below if you need to bring a hoist, but there was not much room to access one side of it, though plenty on the other side. Also in the room was a flat screen tv, a desk and chair, and tea and coffee making facilities. One noticeable exception being there was no wastebasket so I had to go in the bathroom to dispose of the used teabags. Also the window was behind the desk which made it difficult to close the curtains.
The bathroom was a wet room with a shower chair provided, along with a stack of fluffy towels which came in very handy as I got drenched making my way to the hotel from the railway station. There were handrails on the walls and the shower controls appeared to be easy to reach, but I didn’t actually try it out.
Facing the shower was the toilet and wash basin. You could transfer to the toilet to your right side and there was a handrail on the other side. The wet room was a sort of plastic small room inside the bedroom and whilst the handrails were very firmly fixed to the walls they were not ‘real’ walls and I was able to quite easily make these flex by putting my weight on the rail!
The next morning a good buffet breakfast was served, both cooked breakfast and continental style, though sadly in the Capital of Wales only a full English was available not a full Welsh (which includes laverbread – which is pureed seaweed – and/or cockles), though there is a café a short walk away in the Central Market that serves a full Welsh. My view of the Ibis Central, Cardiff, is that it is not up to the standards I was hoping for, I expected something along the lines of a Travelodge or Premier Inn but my room was of a lower standard than those. I have seen online photos of their standard rooms and they seem more like I was expecting, not the ‘box’ I got. If I am in Cardiff again for a rugby international and it is the only option I would return here, but this would not be a first choice hotel for me (next rugby international I am booked in to the Mercure Cardiff Holland House Hotel & Spa.)
The blog post with pictures can be seen at: https://www.weekender.blog/2019/09/21/hotel-ibis-central-cardiff/
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7 Replies
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The bed and door position do certainly look a bit difficult in a wheelchair! Though, the bathroom looks better. Say thanks to Mikey for the help with the pictures 🙂
How accessible was the train station nearby?
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Yes the door was the main issue; the rest was just that it didn’t live up to expectations.
The railway station is very accessible, there is a disabled access loo in the underpass after you pass through the ticket barriers. The tracks are up from the station, from the underpass there are two lifts to each platform, I think it would be rare to find both lifts to a platform out of order (in the years I’ve been going to Cardiff I’ve not seen a lift out of order.)
After a rugby international there is a queueing system outside the station for various destinations but there is a special ‘accessible’ queue for disabled and you are allowed to go wait on the platform for your train. After the rugby there are always LOTS of staff on the platforms to assist everyone not just disabled.
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Thank you for the quick reply.
Great to hear about the elevators, and special queue for people with disabilities.
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The flexing of the walls isn’t very reassuring, however the details you provided of the facilities are awesome! It’s great to have this kind of information beforehand if you’re planning a trip there.
Thank you for the details!
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Over the next five months I am returning to Cardiff another 4 times for rugby internationals; I will try and stay in a different hotel to review each time (subject to cost/availability) 😀
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Please do!
Also, maybe you can write up about the stadium!
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Yes, I intend to write about the stadium after the next time I have been on my own, last month when I took a friend it was difficult to get pictures to illustrate it. I have been there about 20 times to rugby internationals but last month was the first since I began this blog. 🙂
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