I have just come back from 4 days in London with my son. We stayed in a hotel near Marble Arch.

The street in which the hotel is sited is made up of terraces of what I think are Edwardian town houses - all now adapted into small hotels. So how come ours was ranked 29th out of 1034 hotels in London by Tripadvisor.

Leaving aside the possibility that the owner had loads of friends posting comments and scoring high …

It is undoubtedly because of the staff.

The room was fine. The bathroom was small but adequate. Breakfast ( included in the prices!) was simple but good. 

But - on arriving ( too early for check - in) when I buzzed the door entry system I said ” this is Mrs Cameron. I have a booking with you” ( why did I say Mrs Cameron - I dunno) the voice at the other end said “Is that Jackie? Great , come on in!”

I was sold right at the start. The young lady on the desk took our luggage and gave us keycards. And off we went. When we came back to check in later our bags were already in our room ( I have stayed at 5* hotels where that has not happened). 

The servers at breakfast asked us how we were and what we planned to do that day - before they took the order.

We needed some sellotape - no problem.

Advice on where to eat locally ( they don’t have a restaurant - only a room for breakfast) and they gave us a leaflet with places suggested by their guests.

It was a joy.

And it is clear why it deserves its place in the top 30 hotels in London.

 http://www.darlingtonhotel.com/