With less than a month to go until Christmas the festive drinks season is upon us. If you’re looking for the perfect bar to go to but you need to make sure that you can find somewhere accessible, then this is the right place for you. We’ve assembled a collection of our favourite accessible bars which can offer something a bit special – a bit of glamour – to make Christmas drinks more of an event.
First of all is Archer Street which is in Soho and is really good fun. It’s nicely decorated, with delicious cocktails but the staff are the thing that stand out. They’re all hired because they have performing arts backgrounds and will seemingly spontaneously burst into song, providing some great impromptu entertainment. They can also be almost guaranteed to be incredibly attentive and polite, as tends to be the case when you get a performer to be a waiter!
In terms of access Archer Street isn’t perfect, in fact we only gave it 2 BBS Ticks beause they don’t have a disabled toilet. But fortunately they have an arrangement with Bocca de Lupo, the restaurant next door, who let less able customers from Archer Street use their disabled toilet.
We had to include this bar in our Christmas drinks list because it’s where we’re having our own Blue Badge Style Christmas drinks next week. The BBS team are going to be there on Tuesday, which is also International Day of People with Disability!
The St. James’s Bar in the Sofitel hotel is the place to go if you want to be wowed by sheer luxury and decadence. The bar is based on Coco Chanel’s Paris pad which is quite small for a bar but this, of all times, is the season when we hear most that big things come in small packages and the level of opulence here is BIG with a capital B, I and G!
It’s expensive but worth a visit as it will stand out for its stylish elegance. It’s also easily accessible with a disabled toilet. The only warning would be for stick walkers who would need to beware of the ultra plush carpets. We gave it the full 3 BBS Ticks and would strongly recommend a visit this Christmas.
Artesian Bar at the Langham Hotel is another 3 Tick venue, the creme de la creme of accessible style. They’ve been named the world’s best bar by Drinks International for the last two years, so that’s a fairly amazing endorsement (they came a hugely disappointing 3rd in 2011; they must have been kicking themselves). The bar staff are the real deal in the world of mixology and create innovative drinks with some unique ideas. It sounds a little pretentious to say that their drinks are ‘multi-sensory journeys’ but they really are creative and quite incredible.
Cloud 23 is at the top of the Manchester Hilton, the highest point in the city. It’s somewhere to go for a memorable evening. Their range of Manchester themed cocktails sound great and although they may be a little expensive, it’s Christmas and you’re paying for the view too! The decor is daring, modern and clearly sets out its stall boldly. We gave Cloud 23 2.5 Ticks for good access. There’s a disabled toilet and a lift, as you generally expect at these sky bars – nobody’s going to go up 23 flights of stairs, regardless of how able they are.
Harvey Nichols bars in each Harvey Nicks around the country are all so dependable for a splash of drink, a taste of nibbles and a splash of tasteful decoration. We’d recommend all the ones that we have reviewed so far and expect that the others are very trendy and accessible too.
The Harvey Nichols bars in Leeds, Manchester and Bristol all got 2.5 BBS Ticks and the London bars in the OXO Tower and in Knightsbridge got the maximum 3!
The Hope Street Hotel, in Liverpool, is worthy of praise for its attitude to access alone. Whereas finding out about accessibility from most venues before get there is normally like trying to draw blood from a stone, the Hope Street Hotel have provided an access statement on their website. Of course, if everyone did this then the BBS MO would be drastically altered. Still, good to see a venue taking the initiative to show that they have good access, which they do.
The bar is big and simply designed, very different to some others in this list. There are bottled beers, a 150 bin wine and Champagne list, spirits, aperitifs, liqueurs, a wide selection of cocktails and a piano which may or may not be in use when you visit. We gave the hotel, including the bar, 3 Ticks.
The Hotel Missoni, on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, is full of fantastic decoration and colour. It’s described as the best place in Edinburgh to watch and be watched, which is, if taken the wrong way, a little sinister, but Fiona assures us that she saw some celebrities when she was there. The Missoni is featured on the World’s Best Bars website which says “in terms of visual invention, this place wins without question.” The bar is brilliant fun and is accessible – as is the entire hotel which has 3 BBS Ticks to its name.
Ginger’s Cocktail Bar in Purnell’s Bistro in Birmingham city centre. The eponymous Ginger in question is a certain Ms Rogers so you can guess from that that the bar has a 1930s theme. It embraces the classic New York cocktail bar style with Chesterfields and great drinks. There are three steps into the Bistro and the Bar but they have a bell so you can ask for help if necessary and there is a fully equipped disabled toilet.
We think these accessible bars will give a Christmas event a bit of sparkle, but do make sure to book ahead if you plan to go to any of these bars because tables at all are pretty exclusive. Some may not require you to book and if you just turn up there’s a decent chance that, seeing a wheelchair or crutches user, they will find you somewhere to sit (a perk Fiona has found out about) but it’s better to be safe than sorry! These bars are very much in demand.
We’ll be back soon with some cosier pubs for less glamorous but equally deserved end of year drinks!