The Prince of Wales, October 1999

I'm not normally one to rave about national chain pubs but occasionally there's one that stands out above the rest. Like many pubs in the Wetherspoons chain the Prince of Wales is converted from an otherwise derelict building, in this case an old cinema. It opened as a Wetherspoons in July 1999 and has been very popular ever since with very reasonably priced real ale and value for money food. Like all Wetherspoons there's no piped music and there's a non-smoking area too. It's just down the road from the new Millenium Stadium.

It's certainly got a vast airy interior, a clear sign of its previous use. Very much an open plan pub with a reasonably relaxed atmosphere particularly on the uppermost of the 3 levels. Bars on the lower and middle levels served the usual range of Wetherspoons beers far better kept than our local Wetherspoons here. Called in for a drink one Friday night. It was busy but the pub can obviously cater for a very large number of people and the atmosphere was far less oppressive than many of the other bars in the vicinity. Had lunch there one Sunday too. A good place for a quiet chat and quality pint of real ale and the meal was pretty good too.