I recently stayed for two nights mid-week so I here is my take:

The salad bar is much improved with meats and cheeses- considering in May it was a bowl of dry salad. The hot items are really variable. One night it was tasty short ribs the next some pies which were dry and rather awful. A bit too much like BA's Tom’s empty pies, premium in name but not in the mouth. It’s still not like it was when it opened in terms of the quality of the items used.

There was never two members of staff in the lounge, only one, but I don’t see any issue with this. Daniel is real credit to the hotel and manages just fine.

I agree that 24h opening is really good.

Away from the lounge:

One lift (total two) was out of action for at least two full days which was ridiculous with 100% occupancy and in a major city they either need to upgrade their contract with Kone or give them hell. That’s the second time I have stayed where one lift was broken. I heard a lot of cussing from pax which could make its way to bad TA reviews and internal ratings or even compensation.

Breakfast still has issues, poached eggs like tennis balls, boiled eggs rock solid and all taking too long to come out of the kitchen. There is an amusing spelling mistake on the menu “You rre” instead “You’re”. It shows an attention to detail by the F&B Manager to print 100 of those. While it does not apply to Diamonds, I feel its a huge mistake to charge as much as £12 for order items when the basic cost of breakfast for is an additional £10-15 on the rate. You would feel very short changed to have a B&B rate to then be asked to pay £12 for smoked salmon and scrambled eggs or £8 for an omelette. One morning on being told I had to pay for the eggs I politely informed the waiter I was Diamond to which he replied “What's Diamond?”. He wouldn’t last a few mins over on BA to massage those egos….

I had dinner in the restaurant one night and it just wasn’t good. The chicken looked like something out of a BA lounge (sorry for BA references but regulars will have an idea of what I mean) reheated…where the skin looks dull and tasted a bit crap. The chips were not the same as before, I am sure they were once home-made now they tasted and looked like they were from a bag. An Aussie couple two tables along were complaining their rib eye was “as tough as old boots”. Consider the evidence of this, successful restaurants don’t flog vouchers on “Itison”.

The toilet in my room has been broken for months and remains broken despite I and another regular reporting it.

Finally, they are extremely short-staffed at reception. There are too many occasions where there is just one FD agent on duty because the other is in the back-office or running errands. There should be at least 3 FD staff (meaning all positions are manned) PLUS a permanent concierge on the morning and afternoon shifts. There is also no express check-out nor Digital Key implementation. You shouldn’t have to join a check-in queue to ask for an umbrella or to get a bag stored and the Honors check-in should be offered and enforced. There are some TripAdvisor reviews highlighting the queues-even a photo.