Culloden's Qype profile

Overrated sums up this hotel. I have been here four times, stayed twice, attended a wedding, booked the spa (or tried to!) and attended a corporate training function. Perhaps my lack of excitement comes from the fact that I don’t play golf which seems to be what this hotel is all about; buggies outside and everyone in plus fours! Seriously the wedding I attended in August was a good friend of mine and she’s paid c. £50 a head for the meal which was frankly awful, cold, tatseless and had the distinct look of pre-cooked food. The spa however is wonderful if you can get booked in, the staff rarely answer wth telephone and no-one replies to emails, despite bombarding you with marketing literature to draw your interets. That said on the one occasion I successfully booked in I would say it is probably the best spa in South Wales. You’ll need to de-stress after pulling our you hair trying to book it!

UPDATED: I visited the spa again in June 2012 for a friends birthday £159 of treatments but when I came out of the first treatment and decided to shower before going for a swim, I found the showers weren’t working.n It transpired the water to the entire hotel had been cut off due to maintenance works elsewhere. Basically, no flushing loos, no showers. You are encouraged to drink plenty of water at a Spa which inevitably requires using the loo which by midday was proving very, very unpleasant. I packed up and left as the promised ‘fix’ had not happened and there was still no water.No apology from the staff and no response to my letter of complaint.

I've visited the Celtic Manor a number of times for business functions, lunch with friends and the Spa and I keep coming back to the same conclusion; it's too big to be good.
Let me explain, each time I've been there, something has gone wrong and always in a way that a small boutique hotel would not have allowed to happen or would have remedied sooner. I'm always left feeling that I'm just a money making opportunity at the Celtic and that they don't really care about the customer. 
Last Saturday I met friends for lunch in Merlin's bar,we finished lunch and chatting at about 4pm and asked for the bill. We chased the waitress again for the bill at 4:30. At 5pm two of my friends had to leave as their taxi had arrived and I chased again for the bill, eventually it arrived at 5:20pm, the waitress didn't have time to bring the wireless card machine over so I head to the bar where I wait like a lemon whilst the staff fiddle about with card machines - I have no idea what's going on and after 10 minutes of standing at the bar like a spare part they tell me none of the card machines are working and they asked if I can pay £168 by cash! by now I feel embarassed as it looks to other guests as if my card isn't working. [I had £150 cash with me and the bill was £168 - a smaller hotel woudl have accepted that as their betweork error had prevented me paying otherwise] Finally the barman takes me to a different area of the hotel and produces a 1990's VISA copy machine and eventually that's how the bills is paid. Embarassing, frustrating and to boot, children were running riot in the bar from 3pm to the extent we had to shot to talk to each other.

On Thursday I arrived for a spa day at Dylans, again with a friend - it was her birthday and her choice of spa location. After a very brief tour of the facilities we changed into our robes and slippers and went to the spa area where we were told our Therapist had called in sick and there was no alternative for our treatments that day, but we could come back another day.......they didn't seem to 'get' that we'd taken a costly day off work and that we didn't want to spend 6 hours in the gym. To add insult to injury, the manager had scuttled, leaving the lady at the desk to explain. The service was appalling.

I have a list of other moans about this place, mainly around the staff being over stretched, rude or bookings failing etc. but I have to admit I do use it for business just because of the location. I think the problems are caused through the Manor trying to squeeze every penny out the place but it's false economy - how many large Spa's would not be able to call on a stand-by therapist or offer an alternative treatment?.

If you want to play gold and eat the at the Lodge Brasserie this place does have great road networks and is ideally located for business but if you're looking for something special, something that will exceed your expectations or make you and your guests feel special, head out towards Abergavenny for a better selection of restaurants serving world class food without the attitude of the Celtic Manor

The Railway here was closed to passengers in 1941, and to goods in 1954, though the section from Blaenavon to Pontypool was in use for coal from Big Pit and other local mines until 1980. It is now maintained by a group of hard-working, enthusiastic volunteers.
The Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway was started in 1980, and continues to be maintained and operated exclusively by volunteers who form the Pontypool & Blaenavon Railway Company (1983) Ltd. Supported by the Pontypool & Blaenavon Railway Society. After Big Pit stopped producing coal in 1980, the track was lifted from Cwmbran through Pontypool to just south of Blaenavon (High Level) Station where the volunteers started running trains in 1983 and have continued continuously for over twenty five years.
Lots of information for train spotters and enthusiasts – this is the highest narrow guage railway in Wales.
The society offers a superb range of events running throughout the year (note the upcoming Santa Special – which is great fun for Kids who get presents and Mums and Dads who get mince pies and sherry!) at other times the short little journey is available at a very reasonable fare of £2.50 adult and £1.50 child – snacks and beverages are available on board again at a sensible price and Garn lakes picnic area is just a few yards away. For a family day out this is hard to beat alongside the Big Pit mining museum (Free entry!) and The nearby ironworks.

Brynmawr Museum was set up and continues to be run totally by volunteers. It was officially opened in June 2003 and quickly outgrew it’s old location to be re-located to the Carnegie building, it has received massive support from the town and expatriates of Brynmawr who have donated several items of historical significance to the collections here. These include Brynmawr Furniture, items reflecting the strong iron, steel and coal industries and the famous Semtex site (Brynmawr Rubber Company) as well as the wider historical culture including religion, education and pubs of the area.
(Call in on Thursday mornings and they might even give you some of their toast!)

The best think about the Workmasn hall is the cinema; it;s about the size of my living room (seriously!). The whole setting is like a throw-back to the 1950’s without any cheesiness - firstly it’s really cheap admission £2.50 for Adulst last time I visited and teh sweets and popcorn are also very reasonable, no, actually they are cheap! This is one fo teh few places where you could have a novel family night out for less than £20. Unfortunately because it is financially accessible there tends to be a lot of younger children visiting and they can be a bit noisy and irritating, but the staff do tend to keep them under control and pretty much everything else abouthis place, makes up for it. Situated in a side street off the main town centre in the World Heritage Town that is Blaenavon - this place is well-worth a visit.

Pourquoi tous mes avis portent sur la nourriture ..... et bien sans doute parce que je suis gourmand et je déteste mal manger! Il y a un café dans Cardiff Market qui est absolument fabuleux. L'année dernière pendant mes achats de Noël avec mon neveu de 8 ans, j'avais décidé que nous ne mangerons pas dans un McDonalds. C'est pourquoi nous avons erré entre les couleurs et le bruit du marché parce que je pensais que de s'assoir en hauteur et contempler le marché du balcon serait une bonne idée. Du balcon, nous avons vu des animaux de compagnie et nous avons été emerveillé par la toiture ancienne. Nous avons mangé un excellent petit déjeuner chaud pendant que nous regardions ce qui se passait au dessous de nous.

Why are all my reviews about food…..probably cos I’m greedy and I hate being ripped off for meals!. Well one thing about Cardiff Market is the upstairs cafe which is absolutely fabulous. Last year Christmas shopping with my 8 year old nephew I was determined we wouldn’t end up in McDonalds, We wandered through all the colour and noise of the market and thought it would be a great idea to see it all from above so we wandered up the steps to the balcony area; we saw the pets and marvelled at the ancient roof before sitting along the upstairs wall (all very safe), we had a fab cooked breakfast whilst watching the fascinating life below - even he agreed was better than McDonalds any day!

I remember as a kid visiting the museum when it was located under the town library - I was always afraid becasue one of the first exibits was a WW2 Gas mask and I found that very scary! Nowdays teh museum has a bright new home on the ground floor of the old Market Hall, beneath the Metropol Theatre. It’s run by volunteers who do a fab job of maintaining the history of Abertillery - They have stone age bronze age and Roman artefacts but for me the most important ear of the towns history was that running from the Industrial revolution when our cola helped run the world, through to the late 1970’s when the mines began to close - and life in this time is amply recalled in the museums displays which include a Miners Kitchen, along with the social aspects that dominated at the time which include of course; rugby and Webbs brewery! - Come and see Abertillery Museum particularly if you live there - it6’s worth seeing.