The Gallery Bar was part of the Grafton Hotel, just off Oxford Road, but as the sign shown above said, it was open to non-residents. I did have a late pint in here once with some Scandinavian types on the eve of a match in the late '90s, but recall little of it apart from the dinginess. It reputedly served real ale in more recent times. The hotel was set in some fine-looking Edwardian townhouses, although inside the facilities left much to be desired when compared to modern hotels, as a search on the hotel review sites confirms. The buildings were knocked down with the justification that the rooms weren't up to modern standards and to renovate would be too costly.
Grafton Hotel, Grafton Street. (c) Adam B. at flickr.
I stayed in this hotel in 1993. It was nice and simple. I partiulary thank the chef ( Austin?), Mrs Bridy, the hotel owner as well as Helen, the receptionist.
ReplyDeleteUsed to have many a lock in in here in the mid-90s. Once you got to know the guys who worked the night bar you could sit their til dawn. Remember being ushered out as residents were coming down for breakfast. Great but hazy memories and always plenty of drunken shenanigans from fellow lock in-ers. Inevitably also went through periods of being barred :)
ReplyDelete