Ask them to guarantee which rooom you will be placed in when you make your reservation!

After reading all of the positive comments regarding the Arran House I was surprised and disappointed with my stay there. I had contacted the hotel directly via phone to reserve a room for 3 nights and we discussed the best available room for our stay. My group consisted of my 2 sons (6 & 9), my mother and myself. When making the reservation I was told that the best available room for our group was a quad on an upper floor with bathroom right outside the door. Sounded good to me. When we arrived, tired from our trip from the US, we were told that our room was in the basement of the adjacent building. I mentioned my phone conversation and was told that there are no room guarantees. We were not shown to the room, or briefed on the bathroom or room amenities. Anyway, we ended up w/a triple room w/cot (not a quad) in the basement across from the kitchen w/a bathroom down the hall that the staff uses. We had a dim view of storage boxes out of our window, cleaning supplies in the hall, a constant wait for the bathroom and kitchen noise from 6 in the morning until 11 pm at night. Not the best situation. I was told that we could move upstairs the next day, but with 4 people and especially kids, it's a pain and takes time to pack everything back up again. The carbon monoxide detector battery died so it went off for a while. At first they just pulled the batteries out, but I was uncomfortable staying in the room w/o a working detector so they came back and replaced the batteries.

Some positives: the kitchen staff was great (we got to know them due to our proximity and the fact that the best way for us to get to the breakfast room was to go through the kitchen). The food was ok (offering real butter would be nice, if not expected) and nicely presented. The dining room was cozy and comfortable and the garden was attractive. Access to a computer was very helpful. The location was convenient. The desk staff was unremarkable. The kids thought of it as an adventure, and enjoyed it. My mom and I were not as happy. Overall our stay in the basement in a very "cozy" room was not what one would expect from one of Trip Advisors Top 10 B&B's in London.