The best hotel in Wales.
This accolade was awarded to The Parkgate Hotel in Cardiff at the AA Hospitality Awards 2024, a telling seal of approval for the property, which is housed in the Grade II-listed former Headquarters Post Office and County Court building. on Westgate Street.
Keen to see for myself what impressed the AA inspectors, I board a GWR Express at London Paddington (see data box for details on its’long weekend‘ ticket offers, including Cardiff) with my dear mother and head west to the Welsh capital at 200 km/h to stay at The Parkgate, laptop and video camera in hand.
Mother Thornhill is under strict instructions to have a splendid and delightful weekend, but also to be on the lookout for any imperfections that the AA inspectors may have missed.
The challenge was enthusiastically taken up: Mother T, 83, was excited to be part of MailOnline’s hotel review team and revisit a city she hadn’t visited in 60 years.
When last in Cardiff, the Portland stone Post Office Building, completed in 1897, would have included a large double-height entrance hall housing a public counter area, with counters on three sides and desks on the center.
The post office moved in 1983, but the large double-height entrance hall remains and makes an impressive first impression (although it’s a shame the red mailbox outside is covered in graffiti).
White columns rise to a coffered ceiling, guests at marble tables nibble on afternoon tea sandwiches, and front-of-house staff have beaming smiles.
Ted Thornhill is staying at The Parkgate Hotel in Cardiff, declared best hotel in Wales at the AA Hospitality Awards 2024. Upstairs is his Deluxe Junior Suite.
The Parkgate Hotel has a ‘swoon-worthy’ spa (above), featuring heated loungers and ‘amazing’ views
The property is officially a four-star hotel, but it feels like five stars in this glamorous, immaculate lobby and already worthy of the title of “best hotel.” A vibe that never really dissipates.
Our accommodation is on the fourth floor: a Deluxe Junior Suite consisting of two independent double rooms (no. 426 and 427) with a connecting hallway.
Any hotel room worth its salt should be a magnet that draws you in every time you try to leave.
Test passed. I could move.
Mesmerizing views of the skyline, the adjacent Welsh National Stadium (Principal Stadium), the castle and the hills beyond can be enjoyed through a balcony and floor-to-ceiling black-framed windows that wrap around the space on three sides; Cross the parquet floor to the back of the space to enter a very stylish bathroom with rain shower and Elemis toiletries, while lounging opportunities come courtesy of not only the luxurious king-size bed but also a stylish blue sofa
And the Parkgate Hotel is clearly going for extra points with bedside power sockets on either side and ample tea and coffee making facilities. There is a kettle with tea and coffee bags and a Nespresso machine.
Although the cameras seem like magnets, Mother Thornhill and I cannot stay long, as we will only be here for one night.
Then you’ll wander into town for a harborside lunch at Cote (very friendly staff) and a leisurely boat trip around the harbor and up the river to picturesque Bute Park, home to the fascinating castle complex.
Afternoon teas are available at The Parkgate Hotel in the ‘glamorous’ lobby lounge (upstairs)
The Sorting Room, the brasserie-style restaurant with two AA-Rosettes in the hotel lobby
LEFT: Welsh lamb main course from Ted’s Sorting Room. RIGHT: Ted’s ‘neutron bomb of a dessert’ called ‘chocolate cake textures’
Then it’s back to the hotel for a pre-dinner trip to the swoon-worthy spa: a sixth-floor paradise with stunning views from its pool and heated loungers through even more floor-to-ceiling glass.
Ma T is stunned.
We arrived with beaming cheeks at The Sorting Room, the brasserie-style restaurant with two AA Rosettes on the hotel’s lobby level that was once filled with handwritten letters and brown paper packages.
Now it is paneled in dark wood, surrounded by sumptuous banquettes and filled with excited diners eager to see if the kitchen lives up to the rose window’s expectations.
He does it.
My Scotch egg starter with Monmouthshire-raised pork and chorizo is as comforting as they come, while the main course, a ‘celebration of Welsh lamb’, is definitely worth celebrating. It consists of a trio of lamb delicacies that will delight the palate: melt-in-the-mouth slices covered with a herb crust, a mini lamb shank pie and a lamb belly terrine, accompanied by a parsnip puree. oven with salt and red wine juice.
A dish worth highlighting: first class certified delivery.
And as PS, you might want to mention the ‘chocolate cake textures’, a chocolate neutron bomb that defeats me. It’s so intense that I only make it halfway and I have a sweet tooth or three.
The service, for its part, is for the most part fast and cheerful, but there is room for improvement here.
The waiter delivering our plates never knows who is eating what; which in a restaurant with two Rosettes and when it is a table of two… it is a bit of poor quality. And because each dish is dropped unceremoniously, we never have to check to see if there’s anything else we’d like.
One of those fruity, drinkable red wines, for example (which I invoke separately).
Luxurious: Shown above is one of the hotel’s most premium rooms: the Tower Suite
Cardiff Castle (above) is just a few minutes walk from the Parkgate Hotel and is a “mesmerizing” experience.
The Parkgate Hotel is located in the Grade II listed former Head Post Office and County Court building on Westgate Street.
And at the end comes a moment that leaves a slightly bitter taste: our head waiter urges us to leave a review of the restaurant on Tripadvisor and throws his name tag at me, practically demanding that I take a photo so as not to misspell his name. in the review’.
I’m not allowed to write anything for Tripadvisor, but that’s not the complaint because the waiter wouldn’t know, but rather that this kind of pressure is in bad taste, inappropriate in a classy hotel like The Parkgate.
One of the housekeepers we pass in a hallway also urges us to mention her in a review when we comment on our “beautiful room,” and from her we learn that the staff has financial incentives for mentions. So I understand the compulsion, but it’s a bit of an intrusive practice.
Although in the grand scheme of the stay, an objection.
The next day, after returning to The Sorting Room for a rich buffet breakfast, we wandered around the fascinating castle, which is just a few minutes’ walk away, and returned to the lobby to collect our bags before taking the train back to London.
The smiles continue to shine at the reception.
The best hotel in Wales? Given that rooms at The Parkgate Hotel start at just £85 per night, according to Google, hoteliers will have to work harder to knock it out of its prime position.