I'm back!

It didn't take much, did it? Three begging emails, and I'm back on line.
Three things in mind.
1) The deteriorating standards in London hotels.
This week I stayed a night in the Marriott Marble Arch (£200). Why it is called "Marble Arch" I know not, as it is tucked away some distance from said Arch, and confusingly, there is another Marriott directly at Marble Arch. The hotel is being renovated, and needs it. For £200, I had a tiny bathroom with an enamel-scuffed bath, and the water was scarcely hot enough for a shower, let alone a bath. This is so frustrating, because last week I stayed in the Royal Lancaster Hotel at Lancaster Gate and again the water was not hot enough for a bath. Is this some sinister plot to stop guests from bathing and using too much hot water?

I also rue the fact that hotels seem to have stopped using plastic bin liners. The Hilton and Marriott chains certainly have. I don't believe it's on environmental grounds. Purely cost grounds. I find it unhygienic, and undesirable. I squirm at having to drop a used tea bag into a bin. It must take longer to clean, and time adds up to money.


2) Benares Restaurant, Berkeley Square, Mayfair
Last night I went back to Benares (home of "celebrity chef" Atil Kochhar)and had a very pleasant evening. I think I may have been a bit churlish in my original review a few months ago when I said the service was over solicitous. Last night the service was great, not over solicitous in the least. And the food, as it was before, was delicious.

3) Year of the Rat
I am a Rat and my time has come. Apparently it's the Chinese Year of the Rat. I don't know what this means to me or other Rats. Hopefully it means I will win the Lotto so I can finally get my architect designed house in Epping (near Rod Stewart's, perhaps), my bolt hole in Kingsand, Cornwall, and the services of a personal trainer three times a week.

It seems that I have poorly served by Chinese astrology, because according to the definition of Rats in Wikipedia, I should probably be a millionaire in my own right. Rats are "charming, passionate, charismatic, practical and hardworking. Rat people are endowed with great leadership skills and are the most highly organized, meticulous, and systematic of the twelve signs. Intelligent and cunning at the same time, rats are highly ambitious and strong-willed people who are keen and unapologetic promoters of their own agendas, which often include money and power." Coo. My colours are black, red and white and my foods pork, cabbage and peas (not sure about cabbage).