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Detail Pages
The Royal Station Hotel, Carnforth
Carnforth
LA5 9BT
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7 of 10) see review guidelines
Pub SignMan left this review about The Royal Station Hotel
As the name would suggest, this is a large hotel and bar next to Carnforth station. The venue is an important part of Carnforth's pub and ale scene, but during my visit, the main bar had been given over to a wake, so all members of the public were squeezed into a fancy modern bar in left side of building, with no sign of any handpulls (staff thankfully shuttled beer from the main bar and had printed handy ale lists from which customers could make their choices). Accessed via the hotel lobby, this bar is reached through double doors to the left, which lead into a bare boarded room with tiling around the servery, which is located to the rear right. The bar has a nice padded counter front with a polished stone top and a rather nondescript, plain bar back. A large vase of flowers at one end added a nice splash of colour and the walls have been covered in fancy modern wallpaper with some modest artwork on display, whilst the ceiling has some sort of decorative covering and boasts some impressive light features. Plush banquette booths run down the right-hand side, with tables and chairs to the left and one high table with stools under front windows, but for all the comfy furniture, the place couldn't shake the feeling of a sterile hotel bar and I wondered if the modest turnout reflected a normal evening's customer base.
Things certainly werent lacking in the beer department, with the hidden handpulls offering a choice between Handsome Cheer, Lancaster Blonde, Cloudwater Fuzzy Hazy Pale, Track Cowboy Town, Brightside Amarillo and Snowhill Copycat Ale. The barman was very friendly, giving me a warm welcome, helping me select a beer and checking to see if I was enjoying it later on. With his assistance, I ended up with a pint of the Fuzzy Hazy Pale, which was perhaps a bit too hazy for my liking, but still a flavoursome drop nonetheless.
I clearly got unlucky on this visit and didn't see this pub at its best, which is a real shame, as the great service and interesting ale range promised much. I still enjoyed my time here, even if the side bar is a bit of an anticlimax, and will just have to mark this one down for a revisit when I'm next I town.
Date of visit - 15th January 2024
On 7th April 2024
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Brainy Pool left this review about Royal Station
an atmospheric Victorian hotel that is being restored very nicely to its former glory as the heart of Carnforth. I stumbled into the modernised 'Junction Bar' which I shared with an elderly man who didn't even touch his Guinness once while I was here. only two of the six handpumps were on, there may have been more in the bigger busier bar. Titanic beers on both (including Plum Porter) so I didn't mind. great place to visit now.
On 25th August 2018
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1058 recommendations about 1023 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Will Larter left this review about Last Drop Inn (Royal Station Hotel)
The public bar, signed Last Drop Inn, was not open at the time of our visit, and drinkers were redirected to the hotel entrance and the bar on the left which backs onto the Last Drop. It was full to bursting on a Saturday afternoon, with groups of lads stood around drinking lager and ignoring the sports on tv. We could just discern one lonely hand pump on the bar by standing on tiptoes to peer over the scrum, but thought better of it. (Just as well we did, as we almost missed getting served at the Snug on the station, as it was just on two o'clock when we turned up there.)
Date of attempted visit: 27th November 2015
On 14th January 2016
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 3746 recommendations about 3483 pubs]