Princess Louise, Holborn, WC1

Randomness Guide to London - Princess Louise entry

Randomness Guide to London - Princess Louise entry

The Princess Louise is a gem of a pub, in that the interior has been carefully restored to her original fantastic Victorian opulence by Sam Smith. And as previous reviewers have commented it is worth visiting for this alone, even before considering the decent Sam Smiths OBB on hand pump at still under £2 a pint. An absolute brilliant display of decorative tile displays, cut glass and gilt mirrors, and richly ornate plasterwork cover the walls. And then the wonderful feature of the individual drinking cubicles put back in using the finest carpentry, each having their own personal bar space. And the passage down to the toilets and the toilets themselves are a work of art. I’ve often caught ladies sneaking into the Gents to have a look at the tiling (they said). The only downside of the Princess Louise is that it is rightly very popular, and as the cubicle areas, brilliant that they are, do make the available space quite small it can be an uncomfortably busy place to drink. That is unless you are lucky enough to get a group of you into one of the cubicles, which we were on Friday evening when everyone else was taking advantage of the sun and drinking on the pavement. And then I cannot think of anywhere better to enjoy a pint and conversation in London. And to add a couple of facts not previously mentioned, the pub was originally built in 1872 and takes its name from Queen Victoria's fourth daughter.

Its all been well documented but this is a pub worth a visit purely for the superb interior. A huge island bar, panelled walls with tiled inserts, a spectacular ceiling with a tiled frieze below, supported by decorative columns. The entrance step and side corridor have mosaic floors and the original snob screen dividers have been remade and replaced. Fantastic mirrors too. The place positively gleams as well. Superb and laudable restoration, other breweries please take note. Oh, and Sam Smiths OBB at 1-86 a pint in this location!

I wish that all pubs had multiple screens like this one as it is perfect for escaping and hiding from conversational parasites that seem hell bent on ruining your evening (not that I met any in here). The Old Brewery bitter was nice and the Scottish barman was friendly and professional. I think that this is the best SS pub I've been into and I sometimes wish that I could have the same partitioning put into my local pub.