The Grand Hotel — Hotel in Great Britain

I think part of this is my fault. But only part of it.

Swansea and Mumbles are very nice. I highly recommend visiting these towns. I do not recommend this hotel.

I booked this room in haste when I realized Taylor Swift was in Cardiff the night I wanted to stay in Cardiff. Swansea looked like a nice town so I quickly booked this hotel - right across from Swansea Train Station.

As soon as a pressed the button, I thought I should change my booking; the website photos and description seemed too good to be true. But I decided to go for it. I’ve stayed in lots of small towns and small hotels - independent or small chains - and it has generally been fine.

When I arrived, the hotel smelled bad. I thought the strong perfume smell was the person in front of me at checkin but it was not. The entire hotel has an overwhelmingly intense smell of a cleaning product, maybe carpet cleaner or fabric spray - like the strongest Febreeze or Glade Plug-in ever. And it is everywhere and in everything. I thought I was maybe being a little sensitive so I checked in and went up to my room.

The elevator smelled like a bathroom with a sewer line leak - plus the cleaning product smell - so I was thinking the smell was to cover up whatever had happened. No, the hallways smelled even worse, a mix of must and mold and the cleaning product. It was intense.

In the room, 306, the smell was still strong but my brain told me it would be okay; this was a smell that other people were in all day, every day so it must be me. It was not okay. This room has no windows that open. I should asked for a new room immediately, one with an opening window.

I found the switch for the exhaust fan and turned it on. I understood that lowering the pressure in my room might draw air from the hallway but I had to try something. I also turned on the AC, mini split, hoping the filter could help but it smelled moldy and gross. Again, maybe this is why the cleaning product is so heavy. The hotel is covering up a very bad smell with a toxic chemical cleaning scent.

I went out for the day with a tiny bit of hope that the smell would be a little better when I came back. After about five hours around town, it was still very strong. Again, I should have asked for a different room with working window or booked another hotel right then; but I thought it was just me being sensitive. I turned off the fan and AC, then set off to Mumbles for some fresh air.

I got back around 21:30 and immediately tried to get another room. To my surprise, the night clerk said she liked the smell. She said it was a diffuser. I couldn’t think of a scent of essential oil even close to this smell. I sort of knew I was in trouble.

Aside: many people lost their sense of smell because of COVID. These people are out and about. They use sprays and perfumes and scents. Apparently, these people use a lot of these products and just don’t notice it at all. So my complaint is not uncommon.

When the Grand Hotel said it was fully booked, I went online and looked for rooms. The smell was so pervasive and overbearing. The smell had become a taste. I couldn’t escape it. Thankfully (?) I was in habit of carrying masks so I put on a mask and tried to go to sleep.

No sleep. Couldn’t use the AC because that made it smell like mold and cleaning fluid. I was hot and couldn’t breathe properly. I accepted my fate and waited until 6am so I could go outside and get a coffee.

If you stay here, you must get a room with a balcony or operating window. Not staying here would be a better choice. You should also not get the breakfast - everything was dirty in the bar area.

I got unlucky. I should have gone with my gut and booked another room back in April when I made plans. I should have asked for a new room immediately. I should have found another hotel immediately when I saw my room. I should have booked a room after running an exhaust fan for five hours. I didn’t and it cost me a night of sleep and generally feeling sick and gross for a night and part of a day.

I hope this...

2 night stay as we were seeing a gig in the Grand Theater. Location is spot on - a very short walk from multistory carpark (only a tenner for 2 days) and a 15 minute walk from the venue. Loved the receptionist! Was extremely pleasant and engaging, a real pleasure to deal with. Check in was ok but in order to charge to your room, you had to register your card and have sixty pounds taken from your account. You were then given a card to show at the bar (which didn't work for the first round) but you still had to sign for all charges. Much easier to just pay as you go. Anyway, we had an Executive Room on the fourth floor which on first glance looked lovely but to be honest, the housekeeping could do with a bit more attention. We had used sanitary items in our bin (which was rectified quickly) toilet paper in the toilet, the shower was dirty in places, water still in the kettle etc. Nothing major but.... The bed was massive, very comfy and loads of fluffy pillows. Very well equipped - iron, ironing board, jacuzzi, balcony and toiletries. There was a hairdryer, there were mirrors and sockets but no one had actually considered using the three in tandem so doing my hair was a bit of a mare! Bar area was lovely and the service was about as good as it could be on minimum staffing. The one real outstanding area here is the food! Evening meal was delicious and plentiful but nothing could compare to the breakfast! Really good selection of both continental and cooked breakfast and everything is made with good quality items. But for some reason they were really mean with the condiments, practically hiding them from the guests but this seemed a bit of a theme around town. Strange. The one thing that really spoiled this stay was the fact we were woken up at 8.30 this morning by some very loud workmen who were doing a job in the corridor. A bit was knocked off our bill but I would much have preferred a lie on. Oh well I don't know if we'd come back with so many other hotels in the area to try as nothing really...

Unusually me - I had to be in Swansea overnight and couldn’t find a 5 or even 4 star hotel anywhere near where I had to be. ||As you can see from my 200+ reviews, I am an exclusively 5 star hotel guest (and a very annoying and demanding one at that), so it was with huge trepidation that I booked a night at this place.||First signs were not at all good. The reception was a bit tatty and on arriving at 2.45 I was told they can’t check me in till 3.00 - so I joined a whole queue of guest waiting around the rather sad and dated lobby. ||My fellow guests were also an odd group of some rather suspicious looking characters, quite a few elderly couples, and someone checking in with just a Tesco’s plastic bag. Interesting.||After waiting till 3pm - we all got up in a line to wait to get our rooms. Something I have never experienced before! ||Whilst waiting I had seriously thought I heading back home - but….||…the receptionist was lovely and I was directed the 4th floor to one of the ‘Executive Rooms’. ||The room itself had an outdoor hot tub (not great in a cold and wet day) - a large balcony overlooking the Station (which was actually super-convenient) and other than being a little tatty and designed by someone with some really bad taste - was actually perfectly good for a night. ||The bed was very comfy, the bathroom an excellent size and the room had every amenity you would need for 24 hours.||There was a good heater/AC unit and it was no hassle to bring my small e-bike up to the room for safe keeping. There is also a great little Tesco’s opposite.||I didn’t have the courage to stay for breakfast - but I have to say - for what I needed - a place to sleep that was almost clean (just one spiders web above the bed) with lovely staff and a good sized room, right opposite the station - the Grand Hotel did the job and taught me not to be...