In preparation for the annual BBS Bar Crawl to celebrate International Wheelchair Day, we thought we’d find out about the accessibility or otherwise, of the popular, UK wide, Dirty Martini Bars – Important for our team, as you know we love the odd cocktail!! Only just this week we were out trying the Botanical Cocktails at Dandelyan Bar Winner of Best Bar at 2017 BBS Awards, also ranked the best by GQ, World’s Best Bars & others. But we digress…Dirty Martini bars can be found from Cardiff to Leeds and here’s our view of their disabled access and facilities.
All the bars are have low lighting, as you’d expect for cocktail (speakeasy) bars so please note if you’re partially sighted. Design My Night say that they are all ‘happily affordable’ and all have great music with DJs. If anyone has their own review to add please contact us!
Access at Dirty Martini Bars
Last year’s Bar Crawl celebrated Euan’s Guide, Bi-annual Disabled Access Day. It was fun all round but we didn’t actually get as far as the Dirty Martini in Covent Garden, as you can see in the video below we were too ‘happy’. According to their manager it has 12 steps down, is very small and has no disabled toilet. Probably somewhere to go earlier in the Bar Crawl. Just 1 BBS Tick as it’s only accessible for an ambulant disabled person.
A better bet is Dirty Martini in Bishopsgate, in the City. It’s on the ground floor ad there’s a lift to the basement bar where they have a disabled toilet. They get a provisional 2.5 BBS Ticks.
Next is Dirty Martini St. Paul’s on the edge of The City of London. They have a ground floor bar and a disabled toilet but there are sub-levels that are only accessed via stairs so a provisional 2 BBS Ticks for this one.
Similarly for the Minories bar in The City, they have split levels. They told us that 30% of the area is accessible as there are 2 ground floor levels and a basement bar with steps down. However, they do have a disabled toilet and as with all the other bars, the floors are level surfaces (tiles or wood) so 2 BBS Ticks for Dirty Martini Minories Bar.
The final one in The City is Dry Martini at Monument. There is access and we were told to ask for the manager at the entrance to get access to the building’s lift as it’s downstairs. They also have a disabled toilet. It appears darkly lit and the floors are level smooth surfaces. 2.5 BBS Ticks.
Outside of the City bars there’s Dirty Martini Islington. This one appears brighter and like all the others there are dark smooth floors alongside areas where there are bright ‘art deco ish’ tiles so you can differentiate between areas. Access is not as good, there are 3 steps to negotiate at the front entrance and one at the side door but once in everywhere is on the same level plus there’s a disabled toilet. 2 provisional BBS Ticks for Islington.
The Mayfair Dirty Martini is in Hanover Square and is disappointing as it’s in a basement with 12 steps down. There’s no disabled toilet so only for ambulant disabled with a strong bladder. They get 1 BBS Tick for style alone!
Outside of London there’s Dirty Martini Cardiff which has a lift to negotiate 6 steps and there’s also a disabled loo. Plenty of room for dancing ’til 2.30am at weekends or for pre party cocktails. A provisional 2.5 BBS Ticks for Wales.
There’s also Leeds with a capacity of ‘290, with a range of beautiful banquettes, booths and private areas’. there is a 4-5″ step at the front to negotiate but otherwise there’s access all areas with a ramp to the seating areas. A disabled toilet is also available so 2 BBS Ticks for leeds Dirty Martini.
Dirty Martini Manchester is a bit better with flat access at the entrance, a 1″ ramp to the ground floor area and a lift to the basement bar where there’s the disabled toilet. 2.5 BBS Ticks.
Birmingham is coming soon so there’s going to be a Dirty Martini near you soon.
In summary Dirty Martini have varying accessibility and 2 of the 10 are just for ambulant disabled people. Of the rest, some have entance issues but they all have disabled toilets . Their style is uniform Art Deco glamour with plenty of alcohol and party music. We have to say well done for making their venues as inclusive as possible – we all like to party and they’re on the list for this year’s BBS Bar Crawl. If you’d like to join us please get in contact everyone’s welcome!! Hic…..