On the left is Edwards, a club offering Cardiff’s “coolest sounds”. On the right is the 1980s-themed Reflex bar, where “it’s all going Hoff” in honour of David Hasselhoff, the Baywatch star. “Cocktails £1.25 a throw” shouts a poster showing the hairy-chested actor in full, hey-ladies pose.

And in the middle is the Royal Hotel Cardiff which re-opened a few weeks ago. It had been closed for a decade and has been revamped by the slick Niche Hotel group, which has an anti-chain-hotel ethos. (The Royal first opened in 1886, and was used by Scott while planning his trip to the Antarctic in 1910.)

What on earth, I wonder, am I letting myself in for? The answer is a decent night’s stay in a clean, modern hotel that happens to be on one of Wales’s wildest party strips: St Mary Street — home of endless bars-with-bouncers, fast-food outlets, and groups of jacket-less lads with short hairstyles and lasses wearing knee-high boots.

Inside, though, all is calm minimalism: white walls, blond-wood floors, and a polite receptionist who upgrades me: “We’re quiet tonight.” Only 11 of the hotel’s 64 rooms, she says, are occupied.

I take a shiny lift, and pass along purple carpets to Room 417, which has a double bed with a black leather headboard, scarlet bedside tables, a desk, a flat-screen TV, a shower room and a view out of a small window to Cardiff Central station; a two-minute walk away. It’s comfortable, if a bit Ikea-showroom.

The Lounge Bar has a simple menu: beef curry, lasagne, hamburgers. I’m served a decent brie and bacon panini and a Bravara beer by a pleasant barman, who says “excellent, excellent” whenever I request anything.

I take a walk on St Mary Street — more short haircuts and knee-high boots — to see Cardiff Castle. I’m shocked to find a normal-looking pub near by, where I have a quiet pint of Brains bitter (£2.10), before returning through the crowds to the hotel.

Peace amid the parties at a reasonable price — and no David Hasselhoffs in the Lounge Bar.

Bottom line: Tom Chesshyre paid £119 for a B&B double: £82 promotional rates are available some days.

Sampling the fare: Two courses of bar food cost about £20 with drinks.

What we think: Good base for Cardiff nightlife.

Best thing: It’s quiet.

Worst thing: Tacky feel on St Mary Street.

Access all areas: yes.

Need to know: Royal Hotel (0870 1610807, www.nichehotels.com), 10 St Mary Street, Cardiff.

Food: 6 out of 10.
Service: 8 out of 10.
Room: 7 out of 10.

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