Albion, Hastings

A slightly chaotic seafront pub, the Albion perhaps lends itself to a visit at a quieter time than a bustling Saturday evening. The bare-boarded main bar is entered directly from the street, with the servery running opposite the entrance. The bar has a traditional dark wood counter with a metal top and a wide mirrored bar back, whilst seating is mostly provided by hard benches and low stools along the front wall and within a half-height panelled area to the left. A large beer board is positioned to the left of the bar, but the room’s most striking feature is the amazing wallpaper frieze that wraps around three sides of the room. A DJ booth to the left of the bar was in full swing, spinning loud tunes throughout my visit. Walls are decorated with lots of traditional photographs. A doorway to the right leads through to a restaurant space, which looked to be a more traditional area with wood panelling and simple tables and chairs across several interconnected rooms, although I didn’t explore it in full. The pub was particularly busy with families and young children during my 8pm visit. Three cask ales were available: Harvey’s Sussex Best, Harvey’s Old Ale, and Gun Base Ejection, with the latter turning out to be in reasonable condition. The staff were friendly but struggled with the large weekend crowd, leading to a long, and slightly stressful wait given how little time I had before I needed to get my train home. I found this place far too chaotic to properly enjoy, with the bizarre sight of kids everywhere, a packed bar with pounding music and staff that just couldn't cope with the whole situation. It seems like it could be a decent spot if visited at the right time, but for me this was one pub too many and I probably should've just skipped it and saved myself a race to get to the station on time. Date of visit – 21st December 2024

We really enjoyed this pub as well. Very friendly service from behind the bar and some very well-kept ales and a very enticing pie menu. Plus, some interesting pub features that you do not see every day. The Albion stands on the site of Whitby House, which was built in 1689 and licensed in 1730. Whitby House was demolished and rebuilt in 1831 and reopened in 1832 as the Albion Hotel, a coaching inn on the then fashionable Marine Parade. It went through turbulent times as a hotel until the 1930s when it was tied to Younger’s Brewery of Edinburgh and was their most southerly pub. This link with Scotland explains the bagpipes behind the bar and the tartan designs set into the wall panels in the dining room known as the Scottish Bar. For our visit the door onto George Street from the Scottish bar was open but with a rope across meaning you had to walk around to the front and enter the Marine bar from Marine parade. This makes practical sense as you then enter into the bar with the ale pumps. Four of the six pumps were in operation and alongside the ubiquitous Harvey’s Sussex Best were three ales from smaller East Sussex breweries in the shape of Mighty Mosaic Pale and Citra APA from Three Acre Brewery and Sabro from the Three Legs Brewery. We went for the two Three Acre brews, and they were both very good. There were also five real ciders available from polypins behind the bar as well. The Marine bar initially appears quite plain when you first enter, but there is some nice period features once you get your eye in. Then the dining room does come across as a tad dark with all that wood panelling, dark floor and dark furniture when you first enter but it’s a very comfortable room to sit and enjoy a beer with one of their wonderful pies. The corner section of this room also has a slightly elevated stage area and live music features at the weekend. Another positive of this one is that its Marine Parade location allows it to have several bench seats to the front of the pub and these are a nice spot when the sun is out.

A pub of two parts (and two entrances), and subject of a careful refurbishment in recent years. The beachfront public bar (accessed from marine Parade) initially appears quite basic, with limited furniture and decor dominated by a high-level frieze above the counter, but there are a few heritage features if you look carefully. The impressive dark Wm Younger & Co wood-panelling featuring various tartans makes the perpendicular lounge (with its own door off George Street) rather gloomy, but this is a more relaxing place to sit. Pie-based menu. Regular live music advertised. A total of seven handpumps is divided between the two counters, offering Hophead (£3.90), two from Three Legs - Dark Pale and English IPA - and the inevitable Harvey's when I visited. Overall, a considerable improvement from its previous incarnation as the Royal Albion.

Official site of The Albion - www.albionhastings.com

Official site of The Albion - www.albionhastings.com