One of the oldest surviving buildings in Butetown, the Bute Dock Hotel was licensed in 1839 and likely constructed that same year. The two-storey three-bay structure was later extended with a lower two-storey two-bay elevation to the south. For a period in the late 1990s the name of the public house changed to `Jug and Platter?. The Bute Dock Hotel closed in 2010, and in 2012 it was briefly occupied by the squatting group `Gremlins?. It is currently (2018) the site of a book cafe, wine shop, and publishing and marketing service.

Built in a late-Georgian style, the main three-bay elevation is symmetrical with a central entrance through a panelled double door with diamond-paned fanlight in a pilastered doorcase with cornice. The ground-floor windows are tripartite and camber-headed with keystones. The ground floor of the lower two-bay elevation is articulated by pilasters supporting paired cornice brackets. In the centre is a large tripartite bar window. To the right is a similar single window, formerly a door. To the left is a double door with rectangular fanlight. The second storey has two sash windows offset to the left of centre. The main elevation is painted brick, while the lower elevation is stuccoed. The roofs are of slate with brick chimneys. The pub sign of the Bute Dock Hotel displayed a detailed picture of a white sailing ship, docked and being unloaded by a group of men.

(Sources: Cadw Listed Buildings Database; Victorian Society Tour Notes, VS01/16; `Squatters Leave Cardiff Pub after Owners Spend Thousands on Legal Action?, Wales Online, 29.11.2012)
A.N. Coward, RCAHMW, 09.07.2018