“Did you enjoy your stay, Mr Davidson?” asked the woman at check-out.

“Well, actually...” “How was your breakfast?” “Do you really want to know?”

“Of course.” She put on a brave smile. “We want your feedback.”

Feedback? She’d get feedback, all right. “The cappucci-no was insipid, the orange juice was disgusting, and the scrambled egg was the worst I’ve had since I was at boarding school.”

The smile never flagged. Had she not heard of English boarding-school scrambled egg? “Was everything else all right?” she asked sweetly, jotting down notes on the questionnaire.

“Yes,” I growled – and the odd thing was I meant it. Until shooting bullet after bullet into its foot at breakfast, the Sleep Inn had performed creditably. It is the eighth hotel in the chain, the first in the City of London, and is conveniently situated just around the corner from Tower Bridge.

A lot of city-centre budget hotels are poky, but you could have held a Royal Bank of Scotland board meeting in my bedroom, which, despite overlooking a building site, felt comfortable and airy.

For a new hotel, the bar-lobby area was a hive of activity: everything from bankers in evening dress to Dutch back-packers fresh from visiting the Tower of London. Several business groups were holding impromptu conferences on sofas, and I suspect the hotel will do well in that market.

Staff were eccentrically dressed – pin-striped jackets with jeans – as if they could not decide whether they were consummate professionals or plucky amateurs. But they were certainly friendly, considerate and keen to please.

The great shame about the hotel is that the restaurant is down in the basement, a low-ceilinged room with no natural light. Dinner was just about tolerable – someone in the kitchen was able to heat up some chicken tikka masala from a stupefyingly unoriginal menu.

But eight hours can be a long time in the life of a hotel. While I was getting my beauty sleep, the scrambled egg from hell was lying in wait for me, like a mugger in a darkened alley.

I won’t quickly forget it.

Bottom line: Max Davidson paid £106.50 for a single room (£116.50 double), including breakfast.
Sampling the fare: Dinner for two cost £45, including wine.
What we think: A useful option for a City sleepover.
Best thing: Big rooms.
Worst thing: Scrambled egg from hell.
Access all areas: Wheelchair access to bedrooms as well as public rooms.

Need to know:
Sleep Inn, 24 Prescot Street, London E1 8BB.
020-7977 5450
www.hotels-city-of-london.com

Room: 8 out of 10.
Food: 3 out of 10.
Service: 7 out of 10.
Value: 8 out of 10.

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