Victoria Hotel, Lochgilphead

The public bar here has a separate entrance to the hotel and looks and feels more like a pub than a hotel bar, which is a positive thing in my book. It’s a long narrow room with the toilets and a pool table at the end furthest from the door and the service counter in the middle. The décor is minimal, with wooden flooring and light blue and cream coloured walls and ceiling. The walls are bare except for a single poster advertising Jack Daniels whiskey. In addition to the pool table, there is a dart board, a games machine and a juke box which was playing at just the right level. Lively and obviously popular with locals, the draught beer range is nevertheless limited, with only Belhaven Best (at £2.90 a pint), Guinness and Tennent’s lager on tap. The word “Jinty’s” appears above a locked door on the opposite side of the main hotel entrance. This was, presumably, either the lounge or a disco, but currently looks shut.