Who done it?

Haitch drives me crazy too, even the BBC is guilty.

An hotel is correct as the 'h' is not sounded.

You lie down "to lie" never takes an object.

"to lay" always takes an object. You lay a book on the desk.
We lay the table for dinner, because we place cutlery and crockery on it. There isn't any real difference in meaning between to place and to lay, as long as whatever you lay, lies flat, otherwise of course you would stand it on the table, won't you?

American English doesn't seem to distinguish between lie and lay, at all, probably some dialects of British English don't either.

Both while and whilst are conjunctions and mean exactly the same according to Chambers Twentieth Century Dictionary. While can also be a noun, which whilst cannot, again according to Chambers. If that strikes you as odd, it's probably because the use of while as a noun is most common in Scotland. Do you even say it in the south of England?

You mean like "in a while?"

We use it all the time in the north of England, don't know about the south but I'm sure they do too!

Mites grow up and tites hang down.
My DD mixes up then and than. She has done so since childhood, and however much I correct her, I have never been successful.