This is a question for all of you lucky travellers who have visited London. Recently, when asked by friends for advice on where to stay in London, as I'd never been there I gave them the name of the Hotel used by Insight "Thistle Marble Arch. Well they got back from their trip the other week and one of the first things they got around too was telling me what lousy advice I'd given them for their London stay.

They told me the Thistle Marble Arch was a poor choice for a 4 Star Hotel particularly considering how much it cost to stay there. They remarked it was generally run down, the rooms were quite musty with deteriorating trim, chipped electrical outlets, grungy carpeting and drafty windows. They also thought it's the kind of hotel used for conferences and airline crews - those who need mass bookings on a frequent basis. At breakfast they thought the queue was horrendous.

They're not normally picky people and it's hard for me to believe an Insight Hotel in London could be this bad. For those of you who have stayed there please tell me my friends just arrived at a bad time.

I stayed at the Thistle Marble Arch and found it excellent! Of course, this is compared to other hotels in Europe and London in particular. Yes, it is a hotel used by large groups and airline staff but I don't see what that has to do with the quality of the facility.

We had delicious breakfasts. The location is terrific. My room was quite good - cannot recall any particulars at the moment. I remember that the staff was helpful.

One awkward thing was that the entrance is at street level but the lobby and reception are one level up from that, accessed by escalator or stairs. There is an elevator/lift which can be accessed just off the luggage storage room if stairs and escalators are an issue - just ask a staff member.

I agree with ZeldaSue. I stayed there on two trips and found it to be more than acceptable. I had very large rooms for a single..king size beds. Rooms were kept clean and everything worked. The location is excellent for London. And the breakfast buffet ranks high for Europe. I'm sorry your friends had a less than grand experience. I would certainly stay there again.

I agree with the others. For a European hotel and for that location, it was fine.
We were there for 2 nights on arrival and one night on departure, both rooms were fine - we faced the inner "roofs". My sister and I had twin beds, I think the second time around we actually had a bigger room. Mind you, I did see a line up for the breakfast buffet, but that was probably after 9am as it got more busy, by then we were already feasting on our breakfast. The staff were making an effort to get the tables cleaned off so that everyone could be seated quickly.

I've stayed there 3 times and think it's great. Some rooms are older than others but still good. You can't beat the location.Some rooms have MUCH better views than others. Looking over Oxford Street is great... looking at the interior rooves.. not nice.
I've probably had around 10 breakfasts there and never had to queue.
Everyone's tastes are different, but I couldn't fault it.
I wouldn't give them any more advice.

The location is great, and I found the staff really nice and helpful too.
Even though I did occasionally see queues for the buffets, I think it was strictly due to the time, and it did clear fast.
The area around Oxford St that it surrounds is always busy with people, the park is right there, subway stops all over the place and shopping to your hearts content, what more can one ask for?

I totally disagree with your friends comments on the Thistle at Marble Arch OzJohn. I have stayed there for long periods of time during the last six years. I found that every room I have stayed in has been clean, and fresh. The bed was always comfortable. I have always been allocated a double room with a king bed, even though I am single. The breakfasts were fantastic, better than I have had in any hotel, and the location is fantastic. The staff went out of their way to fix anything if there was a problem. My problem once was that I had no hot water, I simply moved rooms. It wasn't too much of a hassle as I hadn't unpacked. I had a friend stay with me on a couple of occasions and even they said what a lovely hotel it was, and they commented on what a great breakfast they served. Sure the breakfast room can get crowded, but only during the peak time. There simply are not enough tables, but the breakfast room in open from 6.30am to 10.30am on weekdays and 7am to 10.30 on weekends. I always go for the 6.30am in the week, weekends, I eat breakfast in my room. You can get almost everything on the menu in the dining room delivered to your room. Another thing, I always ask for an inside room, even though there is not view. It is much quieter at night time. I did on one occasion have a room that looked out onto Portman Street, but it was far too noisy. I would stay at the Thistle Marble Arch anytime!

I realised far too late that I should never have opened a conversation on such a subjective point. What you get for what you pay will always garner views from all spectrums.

As I said at the beginning I have never been to London or to the Thistle Marble Arch and the strong defence of this establishment by members does seem to put my friends opinion at odds. In his defence he never said the breakfast was not up to scratch just that they had to wait in a queue to be given a table. Something he thought was not upto the standard of a 4 Star Hotel.

I sincerely apologise for opening this "bag of worms". In future I won't give Hotel advice if I've never stayed there and I'll let my friends read Trip Advisor reviews before travelling not after.

Now I shall withdraw into my shell and continue the planning of our European Adventure of the future.

Glad to read positive comments re Thistle Marble Arch as my travelling companion and I are having five nights there pre-tour next June. After all, it couldn't be any worse than the Kensington Hilton which Insight used when I stayed there fove six nights in 2004. At least the Thistle Marble Arch is in a convenient location.

We stayed at the Thistle Marble Arch at the beginning of our European Spotlight tour this past July and found it quite nice. While it was our first trip to London we have traveled quite a bit. The furnishing did show signs of wear but we felt our room was clean and without any musty smell. We were at the end of a winding corridor and would have liked being a little closer to an elevator (lift) it was acceptable. There was a crowd (queue) at breakfast but why not expect one if it's good. We did experience a shortage of several food items at breakfast but marked that up to just something that happens from timt-to-time. This time it happened to us.

Overall, the only thing less than expected was the doormen and porters. They didn't offer any assistance to us entering or exiting the building. But this was at the beginning of our tour and we were determined to not let this affect our attitude for the remainder of our tour.

Just my two-cents worth.

Happy Travels.