As a fresh faced Fg Off not too many years ago I used to use The Club all the time. It had recently had a shake-up, adjusted the tariffs and brought some young blood in. Frequently when on BFT/AFT, my coursemates and I would head down to London for a weekend on the town and I could generally get a basic single for about £30. I probably averaged about three nights there per month consistently, and just wanted somewhere to lay my head - not bothered about breakfast, little bottles of shampoo etc.
Now it's a different story. I see that basic rooms are still listed but I can barely remember the last time I could book a room at the club for less than about £100. Now as a poverty stricken junior first officer I can't really justify that expense when I can get a rooms in decent hotels in central London for about £50 through a certain website.
I do like the RAF Club and want to support it but at the moment it is pricing itself out of the market to a certain extent. Due to the constraints of the fabric of the building the quality of the rooms is limited and its USPs are really only it's status and address. They'll need some careful planning to succeed in the future, but I hope they do.
I don't begrudge the old Rowley Birkin types propped up in the best seats of the Cowdray Room as I aspire to be the same one day!