Travel: 24-Hour Room Service - St David's Hotel & Spa, Cardiff

WALES IS stuffed to the brim with five-star rugby players - recent results aside - but until the opening of the St David's Hotel and Spa in Cardiff Bay at the turn of the year, the principality was as bereft of top-rated hotels as the English are of Eisteddfod gold medals.

The first five-star-rated establishment in the country is also the first hotel run here by Sir Rocco Forte and his family. The glass-and-white- metal building is well-placed for the Welsh Assembly that will swing into life in the middle of the year, and is already fully booked for the weekend of the Rugby World Cup Final in November.

Designed by Sir Rocco's sister Aga, the hotel's decor is minimalist white and, like the hotel, seems to be aimed at the business person. Documents to scan at 3am? No problem! Need a hotel with a Japanese cultural liaison officer? Dim problem, as they say locally. Children to entertain? Could be bothersome. And leave Rover chained to the railings outside.

ARE YOU LYING COMFORTABLY?

Beds: 6ft long by 5ft 6in wide - guests apparently remark on how comfortable they are. The hotel has 118 rooms, plus 18 suites, the best being the master suites with separate work and relaxation areas.

Freebies: Toiletries by Quercus, plus fruit and flowers, minimalist of course - currently three tulips per room, so no chance of catching hay fever here. If you fancy a robe, it will cost pounds 45.

Temperature: A thermostat in every room.

Bathroom: The usual range of essential porcelain products, and the bath took four minutes to fill. Greater attention has been paid to the bathrooms in bedrooms for the disabled: a sit-down, walk-in shower is complemented by a special sink, a railed toilet and lowered light fittings.

KEEPING IN TOUCH

Television: The five main channels plus one Sky Sports channel, BBC News 24 and a movie channel. "We will have 40 channels of television by November 1999", says the hotel.

Radio: Radios 2, 3, 4 and the local commercial station.

Fax and Internet: A separate ISDN socket is provided near the desk in each room.

Phone: All local calls are free, but a three-minute national rate call will set you back pounds 1.17.

Switchboard: Three calls at different times of day took 15 seconds or less to answer.

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

The St David's Hotel & Spa, Havannah Street, Cardiff Bay, Cardiff CF1 6SD (tel 01222 454045, fax 01222 487056, e-mail: reservations@fivestar- htl.wales.com)

Transport: A frequent bus service into the city centre runs from two minutes' walk away, but there is also a limousine service.

Time to international airport: Cardiff Airport is 25 minutes drive away, with direct flights to Amsterdam, Brussels, Dublin and Paris.

Trains: The London Paddington to Cardiff Central service takes about two hours. The hotel is 10 minutes by taxi from the station.

THE BOTTOM LINE

A double room, including VAT and service, costs pounds 124 per night, with junior suites pounds 250 and master suites pounds 500. Breakfast costs from an extra pounds 9.50 for Continental to pounds 70 for a full champagne breakfast for two in your room. Dinner is taken in Tides Restaurant.

I'm not paying that: The special offer of pounds 110 for single occupancy room with breakfast, and pounds 120 for double occupancy with breakfast is available until the end of April. When the Spa opens on Monday (St David's Day), several other special packages will be introduced.

Still too much? The Cardiff Backpacker Centre on the other side of town (01222 345577) charges pounds 12.50 per night for a space in the dormitory or pounds 29 for two people in a private room.