Holiday Inn Cardiff North M4 (Tongwynlais)
The Holiday Inn Cardiff North M4 in Tongwynlais sits just off junction 32 of the M4 motorway on Merthyr Road. The Welsh Government sanctuary portal records that the hotel was closed to the public after being taken into Home Office immigration use under the Clearsprings Ready Homes Welsh contract[1]GOV.UK[2].
Capacity
130
rooms
Per night
£170
per resident
Annual
£8.1m
estimated
Background
The Holiday Inn Cardiff North M4 is an IHG hotel of around 130 rooms on Merthyr Road in Tongwynlais on the northern outskirts of Cardiff, positioned for motorway access. The Welsh Government sanctuary portal identifies it as one of the Cardiff hotels closed to the public after being taken into Home Office immigration accommodation use under the Clearsprings Ready Homes Welsh contract[1]GOV.UK.
Cost analysis
At the £170 per person per night Migration Observatory benchmark[3], the 130 rooms imply headline taxpayer exposure of about £22,100 per night and around £8.1 million per year. The May 2025 NAO contract review flagged the Welsh portfolio as small in absolute terms but proportionally costly given limited dispersed alternatives in the local rental market[4]NAO.
Per-person per-day cost stack (benchmark)
£170- Hotel rate (room + three meals)£10059%
- Weekly cash allowance£74%
- Legal aid & casework£127%
- NHS / interpreter / utilities£1911%
- Contractor / security overhead£3219%
Cost in context
Holiday Inn Cardiff North
£170
benchmark
UK asylum hotel avg
£170
NAO
Welsh budget hotel
£60
commercial
Hostel bed
£30
commercial
Timeline
Timeline
Pre-2022
Operates as the Holiday Inn Cardiff North M4
2022
Closed to commercial guests
Taken into Home Office immigration use under the Clearsprings Welsh contract.
2025
Listed as temporarily closed
CSV travel records show the hotel temporarily closed for guest stays.
Sources
- Sanctuary: Housing (Holiday Inn Cardiff North M4 entry) — Welsh Government (Sanctuary), 2023
Welsh Government sanctuary portal recording that the Holiday Inn Cardiff North M4 was closed to the public after being taken into Home Office immigration use under the Clearsprings Ready Homes contract.
- Sanctuary: Housing for refugees and asylum seekers — Welsh Government (Sanctuary), 2024
Welsh Government sanctuary portal listing the ibis Cardiff alongside the Copthorne and Campanile as Cardiff hotels accommodating asylum seekers under the Clearsprings Ready Homes contract.
- Asylum accommodation in the UK — Migration Observatory, University of Oxford, Aug 2025
£170 per person per day in hotels (2024/25 average); used for per-hotel estimates and food/utilities breakdowns.
- The Home Office's asylum accommodation contracts — National Audit Office, May 2025
222 hotels in use; £1.296 billion annual (2024/25); per-hotel approximately £5.84 million.