Office Bar @ Southcliff Hotel, Folkestone

I wandered into the Southcliff hotel on Monday evening and found a small hotel bar with a limited standard draught range. There were a few pensioners milling about and I could hear some 1950’s music coming from the ballroom which is located to the left of the entrance. In an area to the rear of the bar is a fruit machine, pool table and plasma screen that was playing some folk music. The service was friendly, but I wondered why this hotel bar had been put on the site and I saw no reference to the Office Bar. I walked out to continue my crawl along the Leas when low and behold I found the Office Bar a couple of doors down. This is a modern bar that is part of the Southcliff, but there is little or no reference to the hotel. The entrance is down a few steps where there are a couple of tables and some chairs. Inside, the bar is found on the right hand wall where a standard draught selection alongside Amstell can be purchased. At the end of the bar a small plasma screen was showing muted Sky News and a larger plasma screen was switched off. I didn’t notice any advertisements for Sky Sports. Some chart music was playing in the background and I spotted a sign for the weekly quiz which is every Tuesday from 20:30. This isn’t the biggest place, but there is a stage on the left hand wall so I imagine some form of live entertainment takes place, although I didn’t see any upcoming events. The opening times are from 11:45 until 15:00 and 17:00 until 23:00 Monday to Thursday, 11:45 until 01:00 Friday and Saturday and midday until 22:30 on Sundays. The handful of regulars in attendance during my visit seemed content enough and the service was polite, but I’m not a big fan of bars with neon lighting and no decent beer so I do not plan a return visit.