Cardiff Travelodge is dirty, noisy, and unwelcoming like all Travelodges but also gives your room number written on the back of an envelope.
I no longer book myself in Travelodges as I have had uniformly dire times in them. But this Cardiff Travelodge was booked for me.
On arrival I was handed my room key card, half a manilla envelope with 210 written on it (my room number) and two poorly photocopied and badly torn – not neatly cut – vouchers for my breakfasts.
Tea in the morning
When I got up at 5.30 on Monday I put the kettle on only to realise the room was bereft of tea, coffee, sugar and milk. I had to shower and get dressed – the knob to make the water run from the shower, rather than bath tap was missing – and go to reception to get tea bags.
After the tepid, self-serve breakfast (no vegetarian option offered), I duly folded my bath towel over the railings to save them having to wash it. And I went out for the day.
Trevelodge left my bath towel but took the hand towel and did not replace it. Still I had tea and coffee this time.
Waking the dead
On Sunday night I was kept awake by stampeding people until the early hours. Judging by the mess on the carpet in the morning they were builders.
It had hardly been cleaned when I got back last night.
Outside, council contractors were power hosing the pavements with detergent. It literally was cleaner outside the Travelodge than inside.
All of a twitter
I tweeted a warning not to stay in a Travelodge yesterday, copying it to Facebook, and I have been inundated with replies, uniformly agreeing.
Is there a hotel chain worse than Travelodge?
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