Hostel opposite Cardiff's Principality Stadium that became a 'crack den' is transformed

Wales Online

5 hours ago

Hostel opposite Cardiff's Principality Stadium that became a 'crack den' is transformed
The Nos Da hostel is in one of Cardiff's most prominent locations overlooking the River Taff
The newly transformed hostel
(Image: John Myers )
A once popular Cardiff hostel that turned into a "crack den" full of used needles, human excrement and crusty mattresses has been completely transformed. Nos Da bar and hostel, as it used to be called, became plagued with issues like fly-tipping and anti-social behaviour after it closed following successive Covid-19 lockdowns.
However, it will soon reopen as a bar and accommodation called On the River after having gone through an extensive clean up operation and refurbishment work.
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The father and son team who took it on, Mike and Michel Catris, have opened up on the huge task they had on their hands to turn the building around. Never miss a Cardiff story and sign up to our newsletter here.
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Father and son, Michel and Mike Catris, were behind the transformation of the old Nos Da bar and hostel which is set to reopen as On the River
(Image: John Myers )
"We were walking around, there were needles all over the place, there was human excrement on the walls, there were rats," said Michel.
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"It was rough. We had 42 mattresses, used mattresses that were like poppadoms that we had to get rid of.
"There was graffiti all over the walls. It was like something out of... a film where they've gone into a crack den. It was massive crack den."
Michel's father, Mike, said the team who had to clean up the the property after it was bought collected 14 buckets of needles.
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He said: "It was worse than you'd ever seen on TV." Michel added: "You were coming out of here and you were itching. It was pretty rough.
The state of Nos Da before a major council clean up operation
(Image: John Myers )
The outdoor area of On the River as it is now
(Image: Ted Peskett )
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"The first six to eight weeks were spent literally stripping everything back, cleaning everything. It was almost like a hazmat suit job.
"We were scrubbing everything back to bear bones, getting everything to a state where we were happy bringing people in here to work on it.
Nos Da became plagued with issues like littering and anti-social behaviour after it closed down
(Image: Jonathan Myers )
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Mike Catris said 14 buckets of needles were collected after their own clean up operation at Nos Da
(Image: John Myers )
"We couldn't have brought people to work in here that weren't specialists at that stage. It would have been impossible.
"We've got to remind ourselves sometimes how bad it was and actually how far we've come."
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The main bar area of the former Nos Da bar and hostel before it was refurbished
(Image: Michel Catris )
The main bar area at On the River in Cardiff as it is now
(Image: On the River )
Cardiff Council sent in their own specialist team to clean up the outdoor section of the former Nos Da hostel, which was littered with used needles and other rubbish, in 2022.
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The building was sold in 2023 after being going on the market for £1m. It has been a long road for it to get to where it is currently, but the new owners said they hope they can now bring some positivity to the area.
On the River is situated on the River Taff and looks out onto the Principality Stadium
(Image: John Myers )
Michel said: "A lot of the comments we had when we literally first started breaking ground on it was 'oh, you're not turning it flats are you?' or 'you're not turning it into a big high rise'.
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"I think as soon as we turned around and said... it is going to be a bar and a communal space and a cafe, they were so behind getting something off the ground because of the situation after Nos Da closed.
"It's been such an eyesore and a bit of a black mark on the community."
Another picture of the main bar area at On the River in Cardiff
(Image: On the River )
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The accommodation element of On the River, which is made up of 11 rooms for up to 32 guests in total, will be open from Saturday, June 28.
They will then open the bar, initially just for Friday, July 4 and Saturday, July 5, in time for the Oasis gigs in Cardiff.
The coffee shop will also open from this weekend, but it will remain open.
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The bar will then reopen for the Stereophonics concerts on Friday, July 11 and Saturday, July 12 and remain open thereafter.
The accommodation at On the River is open from this weekend
(Image: WalesOnline/Rob Browne )
It can accommodate up to 32 guests and has 11 rooms in total
(Image: WalesOnline/Rob Browne )
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As well as the outdoor bar for event days, the site will also be able to accommodate street food vendors.
Mike and Michel said they are also exploring the possibility of having events like live music, comedy nights, quiz nights and open mic nights.
During the day and quieter hours, the ambition for the site is to host running clubs, cycling clubs and dementia cafes.
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Mike said: "It's all well and good trying to make a killing on your weekends, but we want to feed back to the community during the week as well.
During quieter hours in the day, the owners of On the River hope to run a dementia cafe from the premises
(Image: On the River )
"It belongs to them as well as us."
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Both father and son are experienced businessmen, but neither have taken on something in the hospitality industry.
Mike said: "It's still daunting. It's something I've never done before.
"I'm a civil construction engineer by trade, but I've gone off as a developer into care homes and mental health units which I sold off some years ago.
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Mike and Michel Catris said this is the first time they've taken on something in the hospitality industry
(Image: WalesOnline/Rob Browne )
"This is totally unique to anything I've done before and not something I necessarily thought I'd end up doing, but by default really we've [settled?] into it."
Michel added: "It's landed on our laps a little bit. We had a previous business partner whose idea was the accommodation and the pub.
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"We loved the accommodation idea and he had to really convince us on the pub side of things and we've since parted ways but we were so far gone in it, we inherited that as an idea.
On the River will soon be open
(Image: John Myers )
"It is daunting because you see so many pubs struggling and failing [with] the economic situation the way that it is, but I think once we knew we were doing it, it was grab the bull by the horns and make it the best possible thing that we can.
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"I'm a firm believer that if we make it as good as we can possibly make it then we're giving it the best possible chance of success. That's all we can do."