The Rotunda, Cheltenham

This was the surprise of my week in Cheltenham for the Jazz Festival. I had ignored it on my previous visits because it never really came up on the beer radar but was passing by and saw four ales advertised on the exterior board and decided to take a look and glad I did. My primary reason for visiting was because of its location dead opposite Montpellier gardens, which is the hub for the Jazz Festival with its three main concert venues and the large festival bar. The Festival Bar this year was sponsored and run by Purity, and as much as I am partial to a pint of UBU, I’m not going to pay the Festival price of £6.70 a pint. The pub has a traditional dark wood panelled interior which was formerly two rooms but now opened up into a main bar area and a connected room opposite. Each section is wooden floored and has a flat screen tele for the sports. It looks quite lived in in parts but the seating areas are comfortable. It has two vistas, the main entrance, which is on the main road facing the gardens and benefits from a large pavement area which is utilised as the outside space for the pub. It’s a lovely sun trap spot but you do get the world and his wife walking past. Then there is a second back entrance from Montpellier Street behind and this side has four outside bench seats along the pavement section. The bar supports four handpumps and during my visits Salopian Oracle and Otter Bitter were on all the time and Goffs Jester no 4 NZ Pale Ale, Goffs Cheltenham Gold, Butcombe Haka and Stroud Brewery Tom Long rotated on the other two. The Salopian Oracle was a fine pint and I tended to stay on this but did try the Otter Bitter and the Goffs Jester no 4 which were perfectly fine but not to my taste as much as the oracle. This is a very friendly pub and is epitomised by the Landlord and Landlady who are helpfulness and cheeriness personified and a clearly running a decent wet led pub (the only food on offer are toasted Paninis and baps). The only negative for me was that the Gents are in the basement down a very steep set of steps and after a couple I decided to use the toilets in the Festival site rather than risk them.

a straightforward down to earth pub in a very upmarket part of town, this had a dark interior in a traditional wood panelled style, and is basically a two roomed pub that has been opened up at the entrance. Four ales on of the ‘brown bitter’ and ‘pale ale’ variety. Outdoor seating at both sides with nice views of downtown Montpellier. I saw no menus and one guy was eating his own lunch from Co-op so I assume this is a wet led pub.

Quite a dark bare boarded interior serving 4 real ales.