With its narrow entrance tucked inconspicuously amid a row of bars and pubs it's fair to say residents and visitors alike will probably have walked countless times past this once-opulent institution without giving a second thought.
But the Royal Hotel in St Mary Street is Cardiff's oldest surviving hotel and it has a storied past that belies its subtle presence.
Throughout its rich, albeit patchy, 156-year history it has hosted explorer Captain Scott's 13-course dinner before he set off for his doomed expedition to the Antarctic, rotted in dereliction for years, undergone several revamps, and even received an abandoned baby on its doorstep.
