Blue Gates Hotel, Smethwick

Not much to add to the comprehensive story telling below. The building really needs a blue plaque to celebrate this story. Amusing that Malcolm X thought Smethwick worse than Harlem! My visit - taken aback by two things. The volume the music was being played at. A mix of Indian music and cheesy xmas songs at a filling rattling volume. And the prices. Large Jamesons and a Guinness.... £7.20.

This is a detached pub and former hotel. It is a 1930s build, which replaced an earleir hotel on the same site and with the same name - indeed, there were likely two previous incarnations. It is in a 17th century style, executed in brick, with large sash windows and dormered mansard roof. There is a projecting enrance tower, and blue shutteres are attached to the lower frontage windows as a pun on the name. The interior is a huge open plan room, all around the central island serving bar. There is a dart board, table footy game and a couple of pool tables. The decor is mainly cream, with some wood panel and it mainly has perimeter seating. A few mixed prints adorn the walls. There is a TV - somewhat awkward for most to see, which had general programmes on. The service was friendly and the clientele mixed and cosmopolitan - watch out for the impromptu dancing by the semi-merry locals - driven by coutry and western music on the jukebox. Beer; no real ale, just the usual keg stuff, with a decent enough M&B MILD. A place that is so big, i am sure it nearly always feels empty, no matter how many are in. Nothing for the real ale fan, but friendly and ok for a swifty.