AN INSPECTOR CALLS

He pays his way... and tells it like it is

NEW YORK’S super-trendy The Standard has come to London with a dash of panache, a splash of respect for the Seventies — and a much-needed sense of humour.

The brand new hotel occupies the brutally ugly former Camden Town Hall Annexe building — which looks like a cross between a nuclear reactor and a Merchant Navy ship — just across the road from St Pancras station, and it does so with huge aplomb.

The Standard name is upside down on the sign outside the building, which is appropriate given that The Standard aims to turn hospitality on its head.

There are four young things on reception, all clearly hired for their looks as well as their organisational skills.

Nothing new there, but one of them goes out of her way to explain all the different room options, starting with Cosy Core (£199), with no windows, to full-blown suites with outside baths. We opt for a King’s Standard on the 7th floor and get a sideways view of St Pancras.

There’s kitsch aplenty, with retro taps, patterned bedspreads, a drinks trolley straight from the set of Abigail’s Party, a wraparound sofa and a canteen-style table like the ones in Sixties Wimpy Bars. My wife is not great with modern, but even she admits ‘this is fun’.

The main space downstairs is kitted out like an old-fashioned library, complete with ladders to reach the upper shelves. At one end is a bar that wants to be a pub. Double Standard is its name.

I’d be happy to eat here, but my wife likes the look of Isla, just off the library. ‘I’ll have the No. 59, please,’ she says when ordering her main course — before I warn her that the 59 is the price of a beef chop, not its number on the menu.

Dishes are mainly for sharing. We have three or four, including Jerusalem artichoke with ‘grains’ and Swiss cheese, which are all sensational.

The music is a little loud, courtesy of two chaps spinning discs in a DJ booth. But it’s all delightfully uplifting.

At breakfast, we expect everyone and everything to be hung over. Not at all. The service is low-key, gentle, diligent. I go for the ‘artichoke hash’, a most extraordinary breakfast option, saved by the little poached egg sitting on top.

To be different is easy, but to be different with such style is an art. The Standard London 10 Argyle St London WC1H 8EG standardhotels.com; 0203 981 8888. Doubles from £199 room only