A shocking display of accessibility.
1
1
Date of visit: January 2026
I am a disabled person and a carer or friend of a disabled person and a general supporter of disabled access. I have experience of challenges around: a hidden impairment, accessing toilets, dexterity or coordination and moving around.
Overall Rating
Bad
The step-free access to the place is only accessed via pressing a button for attention and then waiting to be allowed into the building. The disabled toilet is located in the middle of the restaurant area whilst the other toilets are down a private hallway and out of the view of customers eating their food. There are 2 piles of high-chairs located directly next to the disabled bathroom, hindering wheelchairs from turning easily. The carpets throughout make it very difficult to manoeuvre on wheels.
Disabled Access In and Around
Bad
There are 2 general entrances to the pub, however they both have steps and the step-free "access" is actually an emergency exit that is only accessible after you have pressed a bell for attention and have waited for someone to let you in. This entrance is very much a "back door" entrance and leads to the restaurant area of the pub via the toilets. This was incredibly demeaning and nobody should have to endure this, just to access a pub that could easily provide a ramp or step-free entrance considering there are just 2 steps into the building.
Accessible facilities: Seating at regular intervals
Parking & Transport
Good
I travelled to this place by train
The Great Western is located directly next to Cardiff Central train station and bus station. There is also a taxi rank just outside of the train station itself, so public transport is excellent from this location. There is a carpark located behind the train station, however this is a fair distance on foot and entails walking/wheeling up a bit of a hill.
Accessible Toilets
Poor
The toilet is located in the middle of the restaurant area of the pub whilst the other toilets are located down a corridor and out of view of people eating. It is difficult to enter as it is RADAR key entry and there are 2 piles of high-chairs obstructing access to the lock itself. Not only that, the staff actually blocked the entrance to the toilet so that they could clean down each high-chair in front of the door and I was left to wait until it was finished (8 chairs later..) before I could use the facilities. Once you manage to gain access to the toilet, it is a very small room and I could not turn my chair around easily at all to attempt to lock the door. Upon locking the door, I found that it does not lock from the inside and I had to use the facilities whilst hoping against all odds that nobody would open the door from the outside. (I unfortunately had not taken my phone with me otherwise I would have called my companion to mind the door for me). There was a red emergency cord alarm and a low-level sink in the bathroom along with a baby-change unit on the wall.
Facilities: Accessible toilet
Staff
Bad
The staff here were quite rude and ignored the fact that I was waiting to use the disabled toilet. I've always known Wetherspoons to be cheap and cheerful, but this time it was just a complete and utter disgrace. The cutlery was dirty with lumps of food stuck to them, the tables were sticky and dirty and the whole place was so dark inside I had to use my phone torch just to be able to read the menu, so anyone with sensory issues or poor eyesight would have a nightmare in this place!
