Canvas Cardiff The Parade

Fraz and Sousa and the team at Cardiff Canvas made me feel welcome and at home upon my arrival despite the stress of moving in they made it easy!

I’ve had a really lovely experience staying at Canvas by Greystar. From the day I arrived, I’ve felt welcomed and well looked after. The accommodation itself provides a comfortable living environment, but what has really made my experience special is the friendliness and support of the staff. I’d especially like to thank Ms Sousan, Mr Gareth and, last but not least, Mr Farshad, for their warm welcome and for always being there whenever I needed help. Their kindness, patience and willingness to help, no matter how small the matter, have made settling into a new place so much easier for me. Moving to a new country as an international student can be quite an experience, and having such friendly and approachable people around really makes a difference. I truly appreciate all the help and support they’ve given me. I’d happily recommend Canvas by Greystar to other students looking for a comfortable place to stay, with a team that makes you feel at home. Thank you all for making my stay such a pleasant experience!

I had a great experience at the hostel. Farshad was very helpful, friendly, and always willing to assist.

I am very satisfied with Canvas. It has excellent facilities, and the staff are very friendly, kind, and helpful. In particular, Farshad and Susan have been incredibly supportive and welcoming.

Unfortunately, my experience with Canvas Cardiff was extremely disappointing. I booked my accommodation through Booking.com and completed the required verification directly with the Canvas team using my university email address. The verification was confirmed by Canvas in advance. However, upon arrival, I was initially told that I had never completed the verification and therefore could not stay. After a lengthy discussion and showing the confirmation emails as well as my Booking.com reservation, I was eventually given a key card, only to discover that it was for a room that was already occupied. After returning to reception, the situation became even more frustrating. Responsibility was repeatedly shifted to Booking.com, despite the fact that my verification and all relevant communication had been handled directly with Canvas. What made the situation particularly questionable was that apartments were still being advertised as available on the Canvas website at the time. Nevertheless, I was told that the property was fully booked and that I had to leave. Even the confirmation to Booking.com that Canvas could not accommodate me — which was necessary for Booking.com to arrange and cover alternative accommodation — was delayed for as long as possible. Overall, the experience was extremely unprofessional: the verification had supposedly not been completed, then a key to an occupied room was issued, responsibility was passed to Booking.com, and the confirmation needed to resolve the situation was unnecessarily delayed.

Trying to contact someone to help with an issue is so very hard and frustrating. There is no answer from the phone numbers provided, left multiple messages, and the reception staff can't help. I do expect to be able to speak to someone if there is an issue.

The staff especially Farshad was very welcoming and friendly

Very good staff , highly supportive

Maintenance is very fast and does the job well. Staff are very friendly and welcoming. Free pool table. The atmosphere is very calm and peaceful here unlike other student accommodations I’ve stayed in.

The staffs are nice, friendly, the room is clean

If you value privacy, I would seriously consider other accommodation. I had multiple occasions where staff entered my room because they believed nobody was inside, including once while I wasn’t fully dressed. I found this extremely uncomfortable, disrespectful and unprofessional. The room itself was also disappointing. There were cracks in the walls, damaged paintwork, and the window blinds did a poor job of blocking sunlight. I was also disappointed with the advertised weekly breakfast, as I personally never saw it during my stay. The gym is extremely small, with very limited equipment, making it difficult for more than one person to use comfortably at a time. I’ve stayed in several student accommodations, and unfortunately this was by far my worst experience. I would not choose to stay here again.

Serene, very beautiful

Avoiddd!!! I honestly would not recommend this accommodation. There are much nicer, more modern and better-located student accommodations closer to the city centre. Privacy was a major issue for me. My room was entered without permission, and on another occasion, despite clearly saying I was in the shower and asking staff to come back in 15 minutes, the staff member continued knocking and waiting outside my door. It was extremely uncomfortable and showed very little respect for personal space. The building itself also has only ONE lift, which is simply not enough for a student accommodation of this size. During check-out, I was moving a lot of heavy luggage alone from the 9th floor and was actually told that I was using the lift for too long and could use the stairs. I genuinely couldn’t believe it. Even asking to leave my luggage somewhere for a few hours before my next check-in was treated like a huge inconvenience. After living here and paying rent for almost a year - and leaving my room extremely clean - the attitude I received on my final day was honestly unacceptable. There were a few genuinely lovely members of staff, and I don’t want to include them in this criticism. But overall, based on my experience: avoid. There are far better options in Cardiff, closer to the city centre, with better facilities and a more respectful attitude towards residents.

Please don't listen to the good reviews, they are old reviews from when the building was under different management. This year has been extremely difficult living here. When I first moved in, I had small beetles all over my bed. I informed reception and put in a maintenance request and despite the urgency they took way too long to resolve. After a couple of days of this horror, they said they can try using sealant on the edges of the room to keep the insects out. I was told I had to vacate the room for this process because of the fumes or something like that. I said I have no where to go, I just moved here and I am on my own. The main receptionist suggested I get a hotel, I stated that would be very expensive and do they not have any spare rooms for one night in the building or can they not financially cover me since it is their problem. They did not reply. I sent in another maintenance request after another few days of no action, saying that I would like to move out if they are not going to help me. They did the sealant anyway without telling me. A few months after they applied the sealant, the insects started coming back. I told reception and they said to just buy something from Tesco to deal with them. I said I don't know what they are and that sort of stuff is expensive and I haven't caused them. I told them this and everything else was making it extremely difficult to live here especially with the price. They just emailed me advice on being cleanly as if I had caused the infestation. I told them I have ocd and notoriously clean thoroughly after myself. They did not respond to this or anything further regarding the insects, so I had to cellotape the corners of my room where sealant wasn't done properly and especially around my bed to stop the insects getting through the cracks. Things went off quick in my fridge, which took them months to address, making food more expensive. I said that maintenance being so untimely with the fridge and the insect infestation meant I wanted to move out because it made my time there even more expensive than it already was by far. They replied by saying not to send emails to maintenance with abusive or threatening language, which I did not use. I confronted the reception team about this and the main guy there said he had read it and it was abusive. That is not how I am, the worst thing I said was that I haven't been able to eat or sleep properly for two effing months and maintenance has been disappointing. It was SO SO LOUD all night from city road. Full of cars revving non stop and constant honking from cars for fun in the middle of the night. It was horrible, that was even with the window closed. Oh also the windows barely open in the room. The room got so hot in summer that I had to run cold showers over myself so I didn't faint. During winter we had no hot water. I was directed to a spare room to take showers until it was fixed. I said to the reception team that this was also causing me to struggle with washing dishes since hot water is required and that this is costing me a lot more money to live off bought out food since my fridge can't store anything for long and I have no hot water. I asked if they will be supplying partial refunds or financial support for the faults they had. They said they will not be doing that as these are just things that happen, which yes it isn't like they intentionally made the hot water break, but it is their responsibility to fix it timely. We were without hot water for a month. Also the washing machines are still circuit laundry meaning you're paying four quid for one wash and that isn't including drying. They actually increased the price during my last week for next year's intake. It used to be three pound something but now it is over four pounds not including extra costs if you want a longer or hotter cycle. Some staff were lovely, some were very dismissive. During checkout, the elevator was filled to the top with rancid smelling bags which leaked liquid into the elevator. It was horrific and there was little explanation on that.