Marymarra, Mr. Smith's comments ended with his name and phone number. My comments followed.

Sorry, it looked to me as he if he was addressing one issue, then "mine"; in any case, everyone has been so helpful--I'd certainly appreciate any additional thoughts/insights.

Mary

marymarra: I am very late into this discussion - but my 2¢ worth - You will enjoy the Basil Street. It is a lovely place.

I had a feeling some might think m_kingdom meant a video game arcade. It is a small shopping arcade - plus apparently the work has been completed.

And just one word of warning (which will probably get me in trouble) - don't take any notice of m_kingdom's posts. It is too bad the poor Basil Street mgr thinks those were serious comments.

You see - m_kingdom2 sometimes posts useful info - but much more often the posts are merely meant to stir things up. He makes some truly ludicrous statements - but is really just one of our loveable (?) resident eccentrics . . . . .

Let me explain my logic:

Here is a poster with a budget (quite a large one) of 200GBP per night. The poster investigates two properties (well publicly that is) - The Berkeley, and the one in Basil Street. Anyone will accept that The Berkeley is the superior property, without question.

Basil Street is a very small property that is staid, and it was never ever a grand property, so it has no faded elegance, it's just lacking. Hence, in comparison to The Berkeley, my comments are very fair indeed. I'm sure the manager would agree that his hotel doesn't intend to be in any competition to The Berkeley, as it is simply not in that class.

So, I see it as comparing a Burberry handbag to an Asprey one - if you're offered both, and for a little bit more you can have the Asprey one, then why not take it?

So I'd reiterate my advice to book The Berkeley, it's much more comfortable, and has facilities beyond compare.

Janis--thanks so much. So you think Basil Street is ok? The room configuration is hard to find (as I'm sure you know). The location seems good as well for what we are doing. I was all set on Basil Street, then I was getting advice that seemed to be steering me away from the place so I appreciate your opinion and insight. Thanks again,

Mary

Mary

Mary, without being vulgar, how much are you being quoted for a family room?

If it's closer to 100 then of course you choose Basil Street, if not, then reconsider. It's very difficult to give advice that's not based on figures, otherwise it's all too subjective.