Pub 37, Day 13 – The Bath Hotel

By Andy

“Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed.”

― Alexander Pope

I must have walked past The Bath Hotel a thousand times. Tiny, shabby, and usually with a skip outside, I had very little desire to venture in.

However, Pubquest contains no get-out clause for skipping pubs we don't like the look of – sooner or later we had to get in The Bath.

Upon arrival, the first thing to note is that The Bath is not reminiscent of the Tardis – tiny from the outside, it seems even cosier once you're in. The second thing to note is that it is unquestionably one of the finest pubs in the region.

Most pubs have a couple of beers that I like. However, choosing your pint at The Bath is more akin to ordering food at a restaurant – only once you have read every option at least twice and painstakingly talked everyone through your thought process can you even consider making a decision.

We eventually plumped for Chocolate Marble, a porter which didn't taste of chocolate but did keep us hooked with its smoky, roasted kick.

A mere selection of The Bath's taps

One of the main reasons for starting Pubquest in the first place was the desire to drink more diverse pints than could be found in just one pub – halfway through our visit to The Bath I was almost tempted to knock the entire thing on the head and come here every night instead.

And it wasn't just the beers we were enjoying. The atmosphere in The Bath treads fine lines with the ease of an expert tightrope-walker – quiet enough to keep you happy yet busy enough to keep you entertained; friendly enough to feel welcoming but not so overpowering that you feel like the new kid at school.

Good Pub Guides were scattered nonchalantly about the place, each one dedicating a page or more to our location. Self-absorbed perhaps, but if you were writing a Good Pub Guide and neglected to include The Bath, you would need to seriously re-examine your criteria.

By the end of our visit, I was chuckling to myself at the new arrivals who were deliberating over their pint choice as if ordering food at a restaurant. After trying almost everything on the menu, I had realised that whichever beer you went for, it was guaranteed to be a success.

Pub: The Bath Hotel (66 Victoria Street, S3 7QL)
Rating: 9.5/10
Pint: Chocolate Marble
Brewery: Marble Brewery (Manchester)

NEXT UP: A knight to remember, at the Red Deer...