I just love this place. It's like visiting an elderly aunt who still manages to keep up a semblance of grandeur in a world where 'just about' is good enough for most people. What I like about it - not necessarily in preferential order, is its proximity to Oxford Street and if you aren't satisfied enough with that you can get the tube from Marble Arch or Bond Street and go - well almost anywhere. I love the people at the door (shall we call them porters?) whose faces have now become so familiar and the girls at the desk - friendly and efficient and always trying to ensure that they can get you the best room. Well, that's not easy! I had to book 6 months in advance to get accommodation and when horror of horrors I had to postpone it for a month all they could offer was three separate types of accommodation (including single rooms) over four days. I am not grumbling! The fact that this is acceptable to most of us who book late is indicative of the high order we rate the VSC. I love breakfast times - even although they are pretty busy. I especially love the porridge - and my husband, like me, a once upon a time regular at service messes, loves the 'full breakfast' - black pudding and all. In the evening the 'mess' turns into a lovely dining room: the food is very very good and if you want to eat here - particularly at a weekend you must book. It will be a better meal than you'll get within walking distance. I love the wide open area of the bar - enough to put any high end hotel to shame; the reading room and the other little nooks and crannies where you can curl up and just.....switch off if you don't want to socialise. Most of all I just love the buzz about this place - the staff might not remember your name but you are embraced as one of the family. Yes, it's my great aunt alright - let's hope she lives long enough to continue the good work.