The Drop Inn @ Last Drop Village Hotel, Last Drop, Bolton

The pub is sited in a village square of The Last Drop village Hotel and is more attractive on the outside than it is on the inner.On entering the dining area is facing you with the carvery counter at the rear,and a crude sign with an arrow pointing you right to the 'drinks counter'.The bar area is a disappointing affair,with no cask beer and completely lacking atmosphere,with naff furniture looking well out of place amid the dark wooden beams.It was not all doom and gloom the carvery (Sunday 12 till 4)looked very tasty indeed and was very inexpensive at £5 a head.

Official page of the Bars at the Last Drop Hotel - www.mercure.com

Official page of the Bars at the Last Drop Hotel - www.mercure.com

The Drop Inn is located in a manufactured village square in the centre of the Last Drop Village Hotel and Spa which is run by Mercure. It is quiet a pleasant location with four large picnic tables outside with views of a shop selling art and another selling crafts which was mostly adorned with supposedly home made poppies for Remembrance Day. Apparently the whole site used to be a farm that has been built up over the years and a local that I got chatting too said that this was the place to be in his youth twenty or so years ago. My visit was on Saturday afternoon after slipping away from the wedding that I was attending, but unfortunately I was the only customer so I didn’t get to experience the whole ‘Drop Inn’ experience. The pub itself is basically in two halves with a food serving counter on the left hand side and the bar area on the right. It was good to see a pool table in situ and also a dartboard, but I’ve never been one to play table football – which is lucky as it was broken. There is a limited draught selection and the Guinness was very nice, but pricey for the area. Like this hotels complex’s other bar (Courtyard Bar) there is one hand pump, but this was off as the Last Drop Bitter clip was turned. There are no TVs and there was no music, but a sort of stage area is present and there are speakers around the entire pub so there must be entertainment sometimes – knowing the workings of hotels this is probably for private functions. It is hard to judge a pub when you’re the only customer, but I doubt there is much of an atmosphere here when it is busy as I’m suspect of any pub that signposts its bar as the ‘drinks counter’.