pubs/bars with good atmosphere anywhere for the festival

the engineer brighton is a racing pub if you are down south.

Do you mean in the locality of the races or anywhere in country?

the engineer is an absolute hole of a place. full of knuckle draggers and prostitutes imo

we were thinking about doing that, any good places you know of?

http://www.jpfestival.com/p/cheltenham-festival-pub-guide.html

Below is a brief guide to a selection of good and not so good Cheltenham pubs. A good route for a pub crawl is to start in The Fiery Angel, The Swan or St Paul's Tavern after the last race before working your way into the Town Centre and up to Montpellier, before finishing in Tivoli or the Suffolks. You can then do the reverse in the morning and repeat the pattern until Friday or you fall down...whichever comes first!

Or you might want to consider avoiding the town centre and going to Montpellier, Bath Road and Tivoli which now have a better range of pubs than the centre of town and will be quieter too. My NAP for Cheltenham Festival 2011 would be The Tivoli on Andover Road which in its current guise makes its debut.


Racecourse side of town


Fiery Angel on Hewlett Road - in the same ownership as The Beehive reviewed below and a similar place ie a well run modern pub with character and atmosphere with a good selection of beers. Well known for its Open Mic nights and pub quizes. On the racecourse side so it's busy with racegoers before and after racing. They do a good breakfast and a free minibus up to the course. A good first stop after the walk back from Prestbury Park.
[Fiery Angel on Facebook]


The Swan, High Street - great pub and friendly atmosphere which has a strong following from locals. Good beer and great service. They make an effort and look after customers well. Heaters and plenty of room outside for smokers or those seeking fresh air.
[Swan website]


Après and The Brewery shopping centre - This Scandinavian style large bar with lots of TV screens here for watching the racing if you can't make it to the course or want to watch replays in the evening. Some good drinks deals here but avoid the Peroni unless you've backed at least 2 winners as it's pricey! The Brewery restaurants such as Frankie and Benny's will be serving breakfasts throughout the week.
[Après website]


St Paul's Tavern, St. Paul's Road - The recently refurbed 'Tav' won't get many mentions elsewhere but is a real find. It's a really great student/local type pub with great food and excellent prices. If you want somewhere friendly and a bit quieter than town centre pubs this could be the place.
[St Paul's Tavern on Facebook]


Town Centre


Montys Bar, St. Georges Road  - Upmarket and sophisticated basement cocktail bar (part of The George Hotel) that does great cocktails around a tenner each. Good place to celebrate a big win with a quick cocktail but it can become cramped as it gets busy.
[Montys Bar website]


Revolution, Clarence Parade - aka Vodka Revs. Large venue with great cocktails, drinks and food range at reasonable prices. Good atmosphere, good music (cranked up as it gets later) and you might even get a seat. Likely to be an eclectic mix of young fashionably dressed hotties and suited and booted punters.
[Revolution Cheltenham website]


The Bank House, Clarence Steet - aka new Weatherspoons, aka posh Weatherspoons, aka 'where Que Pasa was'. Opened in October 2009. Has gone down well with locals and ****ss here is about 2/3rds the price of the racecourse and serves cheap food too. A better option than the Moon Under The Water aks 'Old Weatherspoons' on Bath Road.


Yates Wine Lodge, Crescent Terrace - Reopened just before the Festival last year after a 'massive' refit but looks pretty much the same to me. Loud and a younger crowd.
[Yates website]


Tailors, Cambray Place - great sports pub with nice open area out front with tables and benches. Easy to spot as it's a big building covered in Ivy. Plenty of large TV screens both upstairs and in basement bar which will house a live band. Good selection of beers and friendly bar staff. Last year they showed re-runs of the races. Also, not a bad place to start the day as they do a hearty breakfast.
[View Tailors on Facebook]


Montpellier


Montpellier Wine Bar - known globally as 'the Wine Bar' it's not to everyone's taste as viewed as a bit snobby by some. But that's not the case in Festival week. Great atmosphere and fun to drink outside on the pavement and get involved in some racing banter as punters walk by. I've met journos, newspaper photographers, the World Spoof Champion! and a few actors/actresses in here. Also lots of cougars looking for monied racegoers and new husbands so if you're a mature gentleman on the pull this could be the place.
[Wine Bar website]


O'Neills, Montpellier Walk - Great atmosphere, good range of drinks, racing themed, live music and it's loud. You can eat here if you get back from the course quickly. Has to be the place to go on St Patrick's Day (Thursday 17 March) where there should be a great Irish Craic fuelled by singing, dancing and ****ss. Expect some promos from the ****ss girls.
[O'Neills website]


The Queens Hotel - Overrated and extremely crowded although you will see racing 'faces' there. Unless you are staying here or have booked a chair in the bar to sleep in (I kid you not!) I wouldn't bother. Much better to skip the Queens and go to the adjacent Blanc Brasserie cocktail bar which adjoins the hotel. The restaurant there is a good place to eat too.
[Queens website]


Tivoli


The Jolly Brewmaster, Painswick Road - local type of pub with excellent selection of real ales and several draft ciders. Plenty of room in the garden for smokers. Quite difficult to find (and therefore not as busy as town centre pubs) as in middle of a residential street. Worth seeking out for the good quality drinks and friendly atmosphere.
[Jolly Brewmaster website]

The Tivoli, Andover Road - recently re-opened under new ownership after a £1 million refit and it was money well spent. Very classy and great atmosphere. Impossible to say what it will be like in Festival week but could be a great destination if you want somewhere a bit quieter and upmarket. At the time of writing (6 Feb 2011) they are offering a free glass of wine every night for Foursquare check-ins between 5pm-7pm.
[The Tivoli website]


Lansdown


Lansdown Inn - very much a sports pub with lots of TV panels so great for watching the racing if you can't make it to the course. Younger punters go here. Quite busy despite not being in the town centre and probably the best pub nearest Cheltenham Spa train station. Not a bad place to get a quick dinner after the races alhough it's the other side of town. The restaurant upstairs is usually quieter than town centre restaurants in Festival week.


The Suffolks


The Retreat, Suffolk Parade - Like the Wine Bar lots of suited and booted moneyed punters here eyeing up the horsey hotties (generally ex Cheltenham Ladies College gels) in tweed. Small garden outside for smokers. Smart, trendy, not too busy and everything is red.
[Retreat website]


The Beehive - the atmosphere really buzzes here. A good modern 'local' with a great mixed crowd. Garden outside for smokers. Great choice of real ale, lagers and cider. Good place for chatting to other racegoers and Cheltenham residents as it's friendly. Recommended.
[Beehive on Facebook]

Bath Road



The Brown Jug, Bath Road - Up and coming pub on the Bath Road that is worth the walk. Great pub food including breakfasts and daily specials plus a wide range of beers. Also great for sport on TV as they have Sky Sports and ESPN.
[Brown Jug website] [Brown Jug on Facebook] [Brown Jug on Twitter]

The Exmouth, Bath Road - Trendy pub on Bath Road popular with the old and young alike. Serves good food and there's plenty of room including a large garden. Lively atmosphere and a great alternative to Town Centre pubs.
[The Exmouth, Bath Road]

stival-pub-guide.html

Dave you are a star!!
That must have taken you all night to write, great info mate and much appreciated.
Sounds like you've had many top nights to discover the info.
Once again many thanks.
Raffy.

Dazza g, I'm already there!!!!!!!!

I'll be in Cheltenham on Monday for the first time, is there any preview night worth going to?

Royal Oak, Prestbury, Monday night £12 entry

spot on mate

ttt