The George Hotel, Hull

Historic dark interior, lots of panels, an interesting place.

The George Hotel is a nice former coaching inn situated in Hull's Old Town on the fantastically named Land of Green Ginger. The attractive black and white exterior hints at its past life as a coaching inn, with the passage through to the rear courtyard/stable block still very much apparent, albeit now blocked. Whilst admiring the facade, you might also note a plaque to the left which draws your attention to what is apparently England's smallest window - nothing more than a slit in all honesty and very easy to miss even with the plaque right next to it. This was apparently used by porters to spy on approaching carriages so that they could be forewarned of a guest's arrival and provide prompt service. Today, doors at either side of the building lead you into a single room bar with a dark panelled counter to the rear under a smart canopy and simple bar back. The room has good three quarter height wall panels around most of the room and a nice long, curved banquette along the front wall underneath the rather more conventional sized windows. A huge Worthingtons mirror dominates the right hand wall where it hangs above standard tables and chairs. There is a nice big fireplace on the other side of the room with whisky boxes, scales, bottles and other such items above it, a dartboard in a case to one side and some more simple seating options dotted around. The room extends a little to the rear right where a nice old Stones mirror and several salvers are on show near to the toilet doors which look to have some nice period signage. A decent selection of 80's and 90's tunes played throughout my very late Saturday night visit and my fellow customers comprised several elderly lone drinkers and one seemingly lost hen party. I wasn't expecting too much of an ale range here, so it was a bit of a surprise to see a row of hand pumps dispensing Abbeydale Moonshine and Deception, Bradfield Farmers Blonde, Theakston Old Peculiar, Black Sheep Bitter and the improbably named Doc Morton's Crispy Automatic Duck. The barmaid seemed friendly enough and served up a good pint of the Deception for £3.20. This is an interesting old building that I'm glad I took time out to visit. The place retains enough traditional features to mark it out as one of the city centres more interesting pub interiors and the presence of several well kept ales should be incentive enough to encourage a visit. This was probably the pub that furthest exceeded my expectations during my time in Hull and is a good option to include on any crawl.

Traditional city pub famously located in one of the most strangely named streets in the land. Staple-shaped bar with dark wood-panelled walls and not a huge amount of seating. Six handpumps on the counter, offering a cider and usuals such as Doom Bar and Wainwright through Abbeydale Moonshine and Theakston Old Peculier to Fernandes Fruit Cocktail (which I half expected to be vile with a name like that, but it's a good brewery and the concoction was not overdone and was thus quite a decent pint).