The Coronation Hall (JD Wetherspoon), Surbiton

This large Wetherspoons pub started life as a lecture hall, opening the day before George V's coronation - hence the current name. The venue, which still presents quite a spectacular appearance on approach, has been through all the usual uses associated with such buildings - music hall, cinema, bingo hall - and now finds itself opened out to create one of Wetherspoons familiar pub conversions. You enter into the lower former foyer area which fans out a little, providing enough space for a couple of seating areas either side of the main doors. There is some lovely stained glasswork in the front windows which looked great with the sun streaming through it and made this spot quite an attractive proposition compared to the darker areas further back. Steps lead you up into the main part of the pub which is a carpeted open plan space with the bar down the left hand wall. The servery has a smart curved counter and grand bar back that boasts an unusual mirror with inbuilt clock, two stained glass panels bearing the pub's name, hop lined shelves and lots of cinema themed items including projectors, cases, film reels and a series of black and white portraits of old movie stars. The room has a high vaulted beam ceiling with each beam lined with decorative gold work. On what would have been the back wall of the hall, there is a large depiction of the night sky, replete with moon and stars, which extends along the top of the right hand wall. Beneath there is a raised seating area with small booths focussed around a large stained glass centrepiece, whilst high tables and stools run through the middle of the room, opposite the bar. A second raised seating area can be found to the rear in a wood panelled space with book shelves and a stack of board games. Stairs here lead up to a small balcony with standard tables and chairs acting as overspill. The pub was surprisingly quiet on my Saturday afternoon visit and for some reason I had to hunt high an low to find a menu anywhere. The food was the usual no nonsense stuff, served quickly and providing a much needed bit of ballast before getting stuck into the beer. There were six guest ales on the bar, plus four regulars and some ambiguous half turned pump clips which I discounted when making my choice. I ended up with a pint of Green Jack Lurcher Stout, which was magnificent and I was sorely tempted to try a couple more from the range but as always the call of the pub crawl got the better of me. I really liked this place and thought it was right up there with the best I have encountered from Wetherspoons. The very act of rescuing this building and making it available to the general public is to be applauded, but the management seem to have nailed other key factors, with friendly service, a clean environment and most importantly, excellent beer. An essential stop off when in Surbiton and very good to see it get some recognition in the 2017 Good Beer Guide.

Now this is a nice Wetherspoons but typically little natural light.At least 2 rain forests must have been cut down to supply the blond wood to furnish this place.Lovely interior though.Good selection of cask and craft keg beers.Tried 2 keg beers at bargain basement prices.Both very good.One of my fav Mc Spoons

This place has already been well described. They had a good selection of Ales on but I went for the Sheppy's Cider (£2.29) which was the final one of the 16 festival ciders for me. The main bar area inside and away from the front doors is quite dark. It's a bit like drinking in a huge Gothic cave. Overall this seemed to be an above average Spoons and it's a shame I didn't get to try the beer.

One of the more interesting Wetherspoons buildings housed in what started as a lecture hall and was subsequently a cinema until 1966, then a bingo hall and eventually a naturist club until the more prudish members of the community had it closed down. The building was originally opened in 1911 on the day of King George V’s coronation, hence the name. The angled frontage leads to light and airy foyer from where the large main bar is up a few steps. The interior is quite impressive with a fine barrel ceiling and decorative arched girders being prominent. The bar stretches along the left hand side whilst opposite, the seating is at both floor and raised levels. There is also a balcony providing fine views of the goings on below. Along with the usual history snippets, the pub’s own history is well represented with cinema memorabilia and a series of oval portraits of old movie stars. There are more stars depicted high up at the front end of the ceiling butb these are of a more astral nature alongside a few other planetary offerings which are a bit of an oddment but I’m sure they’re there for a purpose. The beer selection is always decent enough with several guests among the 12 hand pumps and I have also eaten here on several occasions. Service on both counts has always been friendly and efficient and even the customer base seems a notch above the usual Jeremy Kyle Show regulars that often blight ‘Spoons. Overall, this is one of the better outlets of the chain and can easily hold its own against the other more traditional pubs in the area.