Veteran angry as Cardiff hotel prices inflated

A WELSH army veteran has been left feeling “ashamed” of his home town after being quoted hundreds of pounds to stay in a hotel during Remembrance Sunday.

Mark Lorimer, 52, said he will reconsider travelling to Cardiff for November 11 commemorations after a hike in hotel prices due to a Wales international rugby match that weekend.

Mr Lorimer, who now lives in Poole, Dorset, had planned to visit his home town with a friend to attend the annual Remembrance Parade.

But after looking online he said he was faced with prices equal to a week abroad thanks to Wales playing Australia on November 10, during the Autumn Internationals.

The former army corporal said: “I was born in Cardiff and was raised in Cardiff and I joined the army in 1984.

“For me to come up is a 160-mile journey so to drive there and back on the same day is not an option.”

He added: “Every Remembrance Day myself and a group of friends always wear a shirt, tie and medals.

“We go to the parade and have a couple of drinks to drink to absent friends.

“A friend of mine’s grandfather was in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers and he is ex-military, so we thought we would go to Cardiff for the Remembrance Day’s parade.”

After looking online Mr Lorimer found one double room on Sunday, November 11, would cost £40 at the Travelodge but £199 for the day before.

Prices on hotel website Booking. com also show hotel rooms at the Ibis budget Cardiff Centre priced at £285 for the Saturday night, and £284 for the former Big Sleep Hotel, Citrus Hotel Cardiff. Rooms at Park Inn by Radisson in Cardiff city centre are also priced at £284 for the same day, with Tanes Hotel in Newport Road charging £285 for a double room with shared bathroom.

Mr Lorimer has since been contacted by Travelodge UK, who have offered him a room in the chain’s Atlantic Wharf hotel for £70.

He said: “It’s five times the price. We are not coming down for a holiday, it’s a solemn service.

“My first thought was that something was going on and I looked straightaway at the WRU and saw Wales was playing Australia.”

He added: “I’m proud to be from Cardiff and I wanted to show my city off.

“When we come down for the rugby we stay in Newport or Caerphilly, but as it was Remembrance Sunday I wanted to be in Cardiff.”

He added that he had since been “touched” by the generosity of Cardiff residents who have offered him places to stay for the weekend in November after hearing about the situation.

He said: “I’ve stayed in thousands of hotels across the world and I’ve never seen anything like this apart from in Cardiff.

“I missed my mum’s 70th birthday as there was the Cricket World Cup. I’m just sick and tired of it.”

The army veteran’s concern follows criticism over hotel costs during other events in the city centre.

In July it was reported that Ed Sheeran fans face paying up to 16 times more than normal for a hotel room in Cardiff when the star plays the Principality Stadium in June.

Visitors to the city also had to pay higher prices for rooms during the Champion’s League Final last year and the Rugby World Cup in 2015.

Travelodge UK have been contacted for comment.