Another concert, another hotel. This time I was seeing Robbie Williams at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on what turned out to be the hottest June day in more than 40 years!

I was after something central (I’m not too keen to be wandering the streets of a city on my own at night!) and Cardiff Marriott Hotel fit the bill (though I have to admit to leaving the booking a little late). It was only a short walk from the hotel to the stadium and the shopping centre was practically on the doorstep too. I’d never stopped at a Marriott hotel before, but I was looking forward to my stay.

I booked the hotel room directly via their website (going through Quidco to get cashback) and I have to say they made a good impression before I’d even got there. The day before my stay, I received an email informing me of the planned road closures on the evening of my stay due to the concert. I was arriving by train, so the road closures wouldn’t affect me (apart from making walking to the stadium a lot easier!), but I still thought it was a nice touch and very useful for anyone who might be arriving by car.

I arrived at the hotel just before 3pm. There were 2 or 3 people in the queue ahead of me, but it only took a couple of minutes before I was at the desk and being checked in. The receptionist was lovely, bubbly and friendly, asking if I was going to the concert and to ask if there was anything I needed. I was checked in in no time at all and on my way up to my room.

I found Room 203 near the end of the corridor of the second floor. I opened the door to discover I’d been upgraded! I’d booked a “Deluxe” room (with 1 Queen bed), but walking in I discovered I’d got a “Superior” room (with 2 Double beds – all to myself!).

The room was a decent size with plenty of room. The beds were comfy (What? I had to try out both, just in case!), but I found the pillows way too soft for my liking. My head just sunk into them, but I like a bit of support due to a dodgy neck and shoulders.

Along with the two double beds, the room had a nice desk and leather chair (on wheels), a small table and armchair, a massive TV (far bigger than I’ve ever seen in a hotel room before!), a safe, plenty of storage, a hair dryer, ironing board and iron, trouser press, kettle, tea, coffee and even a couple of biscuits! I don’t actually drink tea or coffee, but I was impressed by the disposable take-away cups alongside the usual mugs, so guests could take a coffee out with them if they were in a rush. Basically, the hotel room had almost everything you could ever want in a hotel room (apart from the little fridge I’d had when I stopped at Novotel Birmingham Airport Hotel at the beginning of the month).

The en-suite bathroom was also a nice size. It had a deep, long bath and shower. However, I did struggle with the shower… I could get the bath running, the bath and the shower running, but not just the shower running on its own, so I ended up having a bath. I must admit, a nice long bath was very welcome though. The temperature was easy to control too.

The heated towel rail and floor were a nice touch. Not necessarily needed in this hot weather, but it’s nice not to have to walk on a cold tiled floor first thing in the morning at any time of the year!

Another nice touch was the 3 flannels, 3 hand towels and 3 bath towels (nice big ones, unlike a lot of towels at hotels), I’ve never had so many towels in a hotel room! I also loved the nice bar of soap (which left my skin feeling soft) and travel-sized hand wash, shower gel, shampoo and conditioner (I rarely see conditioner in hotels).

The only downside to the bathroom was the hair I found in the bath and one of the towels was stained.

I had a wonderful night of sleep, right up until I was woken by the woman in the room next door. There was a connecting door (locked) between our rooms which I think was letting sound through and she seemed to think that 4.30am was the perfect time to make a phone call for 20 minutes (at least, I couldn’t hear anyone talking in the room with her). I hadn’t gone to sleep until gone midnight, so I was less than impressed! (I should also point out you may hear music from local bars until around midnight).

I hadn’t noticed an option for breakfast when I was making my booking and it wasn’t mentioned at check-in either (a slight oversight, I thought), but I wasn’t too bothered as I’d arranged to meet an old friend for breakfast in the morning. However, there was a hanger in the room on which I could note down my breakfast order to be delivered to my room at a certain time in the morning, but at £16.50 for an English breakfast plus £4.50 tray charge, I thought this was a bit expensive.

Check-out was very swift and yet again they were very helpful in offering to arrange a taxi for me should I need one (I didn’t but was still grateful for the offer).

All in all, I really enjoyed my stay at the Cardiff Marriott Hotel and I’d definitely consider staying there again.