AN INSPECTOR CALLS
He pays his way... and tells it like it is
THINGS don’t get off to the best of starts at The Parkgate Hotel, next door to the Millennium Stadium in the centre of Cardiff. On booking, I’d been asked if a room high up (there are six floors) would be preferable.
‘Yes, please,’ I had said. But on arrival I’m given an internal room on the first floor with a hermetically- sealed window overlooking the bar. It’s dark and dreary.
I call down to reception and ask to move, saying that daylight in the morning would be a bonus — and end up on the fourth floor with another hermetically-sealed window, this time looking out towards the back of the stadium and at an office block.
It’s an improvement but only marginally — and not helped by dreaded anti-theft hangers, which are always a criminal mistake.
Parkgate opened with little fanfare in 2021, when no one was allowed to go anywhere. Its mother ship is the Celtic Manor Resort, a massive blob beloved by golfers, which is visible from the M4.
One of the big draws of Parkgate is the Rooftop Retreat Spa with a hydrotherapy pool — but you have to pay £35pp to use it even if you’re staying at the hotel. That seems mean.
The 1897 building is impressive. It used to be the Post Office, hence the restaurant named The Sorting Room. The grand lobby is overlit in the evening and the lighting in the lifts is positively piercing.
Best spot is the more muted Sorting Room, although I could do without the Motown muzak. Nothing against Motown, but why don’t restaurants realise that music is such a subjective thing. You can never please everyone, so why bother?
The food is excellent. My scallops baked in their shell with chorizo, samphire, white wine sauce and flaky pastry are a triumph. And the selfservice buffet in the morning is one of those pile-your-plate-high jobs.
I wouldn’t describe The Parkgate as a destination hotel, but if you’re destination is central Cardiff then you won’t go too far wrong as long as you choose your room carefully.
The Parkgate Westgate Street, Cardiff
CF10 1DA
02922 745595, theparkgatehotel.wales
Doubles from £125 ★★½☆☆